Decide on a destination. Involve the kids. Look at travel websites and travel brochures. Sit down as a family to discuss possibilities.
Decide on the type of vacation. Places like Classic Journeys give families a choice of Cultural Walking Adventures, Culinary Tours and Family Tours. You always have the option coming up with your own type.
Budget for the family vacation. There's nothing quite as disappointing as planning for exotic adventures than to arrive at your vacation spot and find that you have to count coins. Budgeting does not have to mean cheap; it just means knowing how much money you realistically have to spend.
Apply for passports. If you all ready have passports, make sure they are up-to-date. Because you received passports at the same time, it would be easy to think that all passports where current. Passports for adults last for 10 years, but those for children are good for 5 years.
Visit your physician. It's important to be current on vaccines. Depending on where you're traveling, your family may need other shots as well. To ensure that your trip is fun your entire time, visit your physician.
Visit travel forum web sites. See our Resources section below for more information. People who post are knowledgeable, helpful and candid in their posts. They will tell you the best hotels to stay if you have small children to teenagers, including which hotels are family friendly and where to get a fabulous meal for reasonable a reasonable price.
Visit the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the U.S. Department of State's website. (See Resources below.)
