The thought of travelling with your entire family can be both exciting and scary at the same time. While there’s joy in sharing new memories with the people you love, being in another country with a large group of people also takes careful planning or it could easily lead to disaster.
From getting a private coach charter in Cairns to planning everything as early as you can, here are some tips that would surely be useful in ensuring that everyone is comfortable during your family trip.
Think about every person who’s travelling with you
The trick to ensuring that you have a comfortable family trip is to consider each person in your entourage. If you’re bringing your elderly parents, think about how they would likely enjoy this holiday. If you’re bringing your children, think about what might cause them stress during a trip. By thinking about everyone’s styles, limitations and stressors, it would be easier for you to plan a trip that everyone can enjoy.
Start planning as early as you can
If you’re used to planning trips a week before you leave, you have to do things differently if you’re travelling with a group. In fact, booking things as early as six months before your holiday makes the best sense because it gives you enough time to plan everything well without having to rush or settle.
Start with your flights and accommodations since they will take up the biggest chunk of your budget. Booking early allows you to find the best deals on airfare and hotels, especially since most of these companies offer discounts for groups. While you’re at it, you can also start booking activities, tourist spots and even restaurants that you’d like to visit during your holiday.
Always think about logistics
One of the biggest challenges in travelling with a large group is transportation. Since it’s difficult to take public transport and expensive to hire several taxis every time you’re going out, you need to make sure that you have transportation that can accommodate your entourage comfortably and take you around town during your trip.
Your best option here is to go for a chartered coach that’s big enough to fit your entire family and all your things while you’re on a holiday. A coach is also the most convenient form of transportation that you can use to visit different tourist spots since it’s spacious, big and comfortable where your family members can catch some rest while you’re travelling.
Create a well-balanced itinerary
You might want to see and experience as many things as possible during your holiday, but you have to consider that not everyone in your group might enjoy the same. So for starters, take it easy on the itinerary by keeping activities to a minimum daily. Instead of overscheduling things, focus on one or two experiences so your group can really enjoy each activity without feeling the need to rush to another location. It’s also very important to allocate individual time for each of your family members.
Give them the option to opt in or out of an activity, especially for the elders who might not enjoy some things that the younger ones do. You should also set aside a few hours of “free” time that your entourage can use to do the things they like without having to tag along with the group. They can explore local markets, do some shopping or even just take a well-deserved nap, so they can be energised once you resume your activities for the day.
Set your budget wisely
Here’s the truth: travelling with a group is expensive. But that doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice the quality of your trip or spend more than what you can afford just to go on a family holiday. The trick here is to set a budget and keep track of it. Allocate your budget for the non-negotiables like your flights, accommodation and transportation.
But you should also never take for granted the smaller expenses like your meals, activities and shopping because these things can add up quite quickly and eat up your entire budget. A good way to stay on top of things is to track all your spending to know exactly where you could be spending more than what’s needed.
Don’t do it all alone
Of course, you don’t have to do all the planning and organising on your own. When you’re travelling with a large group, it’s best to designate people for certain things or activities, so you can also enjoy the trip and not always worry about everything going right during your trip. Now if you’re travelling to Cairns and you still haven’t found the right transportation, get in touch with us so we can find you the perfect coach for your needs.
