Six Steps to the Perfect Family Getaway.

For the past couple of years my family and I have held an annual get together in the summer. We usually rent a house or cottage preferably on the water and all chip in to enjoy a few days of R&R (not the booze - well not that kind anyways, ha ha) and plenty of good times.

Imagine waking up to this!

Here's how you can plan your family or friends getaway:  

Pick a Date - Send an e-mail to everyone who is interested with a few available dates. The date with the most votes wins.

Find Accommodation – Once you figure out how many are planning on attending your get together you will have to find a place with enough room to accommodate everyone.  This is trickiest part, although you would be surprised how many people rent their homes and cottages for the summer. You can find sites on provincial websites, kijiji and various property management companies.  It is always nice to end your day with a campfire so be sure to ask what amenities are available when booking your accommodations. It may seem like a lot of money but remember you are splitting this 3-4-5 ways.

Plan Your Meals – Instead of everyone bringing a whole bunch of food send out an e-mail with all the meals for your stay broke down by day.  Example, Monday – breakfast, supper etc. Ask everyone to fill in which meals they would like to plan to make. If you are really on the ball you can get them to send you what they are planning on making and create a menu for everyone to have. You don't have to get fancy either, keep the meals easy like a breakfast casserole, or pulled pork sandwiches or freeze a pot of  spaghetti sauce to bring.

Plan Your Days-  Find out if there are any local attractions like beaches, vineyards, gardens etc, and send out a little e-mail describing some of the local attractions to everyone.  If you are planning on doing a beach day let people know as certain beach essentials will need to be packed.  Bring along some board games and a deck of cards for if you have a rainy day.

Fun Things to Bring – Glow stick are always a hit whether you are young or old, same applies to bubbles, hula hoops and fireworks (although always use extreme caution) and of course marshmallows if you plan on having camp fires.

A vacation would not be a vacation without a few drinky poos. One idea I came up with was to ask people to bring one “local” drink to share with everyone. It could be a bottle of wine from a local vineyard close to their home or beer from a local brewery or maybe there all-time favorite cocktail. 

Last and most importantly – Take lots of pictures/videos, enjoy every minute with your family/friends, focus on making memories that will last forever. Life goes by way to fast, take time to stop and nurture  relationships. It may seem like a lot of work to plan something like this but once you do it you realize the cost of time with those that you love is priceless.

Happy planning!

xoAngela
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