Family holiday thoughts

When I take a leisurely walk around town I cannot help but peer into the travel agents window, I eye up all of the deals and think how nice it would be to just stroll in and book a last minute getaway. It was only yesterday I felt my bank card jingle when I came across a fantastic deal to jet away to Turkey on an all-inclusive break, in a 4 star hotel. Priced at only £399 per person I was incredibly tempted, but deep down I knew the money that I was thinking of is being saved away for a house deposit…

So I pushed the thoughts of sunny holidays out of my mind…

For now anyway.

We don’t currently have any plans for a family holiday this year, but I am hoping this will change in due course. I would love nothing more than to whisk Leo away to blue skies, days at the beach chasing the surf and building sand castles for a week or two. Watching his face beam from all of the excitement, and just having chance to relax away from the hustle and bustle that comes with everyday life.

Of course taking our family of 3 away on holiday means we have to hunt out the best family friendly resorts and hotels. We have to take a number of things into consideration before booking a holiday… Flight durations, transfer time to the hotel, the actual hotel, and even the resort we would be staying in. If we are going to go all inclusive we need to have an idea of what the food is like, especially having such a fussy eater on our hands in the form of Leo.

Before I ever book anything I always hunt out reviews on TripAdvisor, so I can find out what other guests thought of their visit. I can find out everything, even the bits that they wouldn’t publicise on their website. This is an essential bit of research for me, before parting with any money and committing ourselves to the unknown. Another site I have found incredibly helpful is Away with the kids. They are essentially a directory for family holidays, and they feature the UK, Ireland, Scilly, Channel Islands and even abroad. You can put in the details of where you wish to go, whether you want to go glamping or stay in a hotel and they will pull up a list of places that suit your needs.

In a day and age where information is so easily accessed via the internet, we really do have the world at our feet. We can look into the hotel we wish to stay in, we can find out other people’s experiences on the same holiday… We have all of the tools to make an informed decision.

As a parent who has to make a number of informed decisions before we decide to travel, I love having so many opportunities to do my research before committing.

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