Family vacations aren’t always fun and stress-free. It takes weeks and maybe months of planning to make sure that thing would go smoothly yet some things can get out of hand. Instead of reminiscing about the awesome things you have done on your family vacation, you end up remembering horrible moments instead.

While things may not go as planned, hopefully, in the end, the happy memories would outnumber the bad ones, and maybe, the unfortunate events can be something you can laugh at later on, and maybe be a good story to share.

While we hope for the best, it doesn’t hurt to prepare for the worst things that can happen. And despite the things that could go wrong, we still go on family vacations as vacation activities are valuable contributors to the cohesion of the family.

Here are some of the things you should watch out for when going on a family vacation and how to avert potential disasters.

Bad Destinations

When traveling with a big group, it would be hard to find a vacation destination, that pleases everyone. It seems, that than traveling with a big family, that you are bound to disappoint someone when choosing which place to go to. And when you pick out another location, you might just make someone else unhappy with the move.

Try looking online for locations that would fit everyone’s idea of fun. There are family all-inclusive locations, which are safe bets when it comes to family vacations or if you are traveling with family who are over the age of 21 it might be really fun to go to an all-inclusive adult resort. These would include activities that everyone can enjoy.

Stomach Flu

Sometimes, we just can’t help it, but pick up the virus, right in the middle of the planned fun activities. And someone just has to succumb to it just long and bad enough to ruin everything. And it seems that all activities would have to be limited to where relief can be found nearby. And as soon as one-member recovers from it, another one takes a hit.

As doctors would always say, stick to your daily hygiene, and washing of hands regularly can keep you safe against many diseases. Also, it is not just the virus that can give you an upset stomach. Try to make sure that you avoid food whose manner of preparation may be questionable, like those being sold in the streets, no matter how good they look and smell, and how tempting they may be.

Tantrums

When traveling with small children, you know that at some point, someone will have a breakdown. You’d be lucky if you only have it once while on the plane, if not, you’d have it on a daily basis, multiple times, getting unwanted attention from everyone around you, giving you looks as if to say you are not doing a good job as a parent.

Bring toys to keep them busy, and pack along your tablet and load them with tv shows that the kids watch or movies that they like, or load them up in your cars entertainment system so that everyone can watch them together. Or try to play games during the trip that everyone can participate in. This will keep them from getting bored, especially when the trip takes several hours.

Forgotten Things

In all the excitement about going on a long-awaited trip, you fail to notice something is missing among the things that you have been packing. You’d either be halfway to your destination, or too late to turn around when you realize that you forgot to pack something. Sometimes, you’d find out about only when you start looking for it while unpacking in your hotel room. Be it the charger for your electronic gadget, your favorite toothbrush, and sometimes, your underwear.

Make a list of the things you need to bring, and update them every time you think up of something, and cross them out from your list once you have actually placed them in the bag. That way, you can make sure that you got everything ready to go.

Bad Accommodations

In the age of the internet, just about everything you need to know can be searched online. And a lot of us, rely on pictures of hotels, rooms, and hotel amenities to figure out which ones are the best. But these pictures can actually be deceiving, and sometimes, we get to figure that out for ourselves once we get to the hotel, where it may be too late to make changes.

Try to look for online reviews, and look for pictures of the hotel posted on websites and booking sites. Look for travel blogs or social media posts of those who have been to the same hotel. You can also try to call the hotel to ask about their amenities to make sure that they have not made any changes to their property that haven’t reflected yet on their online information.

Unexpected Weather Conditions

While we dream of sunny beaches or moonlit or starry strolls along the streets of famous cities, don’t be too hasty to think that things might turn up to a little bit cloudy. Bad weather can be unpredictable and can block out the sun for a sunny afternoon while building sand castles with the kids.

No one can make weather predictions with 100% accuracy. In general, try to avoid going to places, on months where bad weather can be expected. Go with the seasons, and you’d have a higher chance of getting that perfect weather. And if it does go bad, any weather changes that go against the weather season is bound to stop sooner than usual.

Delayed Flights

There are things that we just don’t have control over. And one of the most frustrating is finding out about flight schedule troubles. Nobody expects to spend half their vacation at the airport terminal, waiting for their flight to get ready.

As much as possible, airlines, and the airports would prefer to have everything run on schedule. Any delay entails unwanted costs to the airlines and scheduling dilemma to those who run the airport. When things go awry, talk to the airline representatives for alternate flights, or call your travel agency. They sometimes have alternate flights you can get transferred to, and they can sometimes do this free of charge.

In spite of all the possible problems we encounter, we can’t help it but still go on family vacations as we regard experiences like travel to be fulfilling. Plan the whole thing, but leave room for spontaneity. Take note of the solutions we offered for the common problems encountered on vacations. This allows you to react to things that don’t go as planned, and do stuff you didn’t expect, and get things to go towards the right direction, and still make the vacation awesome.