Start with your budget. What can you afford to spend? How many days are available for travel? Budget for all the little things that the family may need, such as food, comfort stops along the way, lodging, emergency purchases and gas if you're driving.
Figure out where your family members want to go and what they want to do. Be sure to have a full-fledged discussion beforehand. Schedule ample time for important stops along the way.
Consider the various transportation options: bus, car, plane or train. Each mode of travel comes with different variables for scheduling, costs, accommodations and time tables that can be combined into a first-rate vacation. For some families, bikes and horses are great alternatives.
Plan a cross-country bus trip. You can book your family's own tickets or you can sign up with one of many tour companies offering cross-country bus trips. When you sign up with a bus tour company, they handle most details for you, such as itinerary, hotels, dining arrangements and day trips, plus they usually provide experienced escorts to help out along the way.
Drive a car or motor home on your trip. This is probably the second-cheapest alternative (after bicycling), but this approach requires a lot of driving. Plan to split up the driving if you can between two or more licensed drivers along for the trip.
Ride a train. Amtrak and other companies book tours and take care of many details for you. They have sleeper cars, serve food and can book hotels for you too. Prices are often very reasonable.
Go over the details of your travel arrangements and destinations.
Double-check your budgets for food, gas (if driving), other transportation, lodging and extras by multiplying a typical day's expenditure by the number of days you expect to travel. Build in some padding to deal with unexpected costs.
