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One of the nicest parts of family life is being able to plan adventures and day trips to share together. It’s the best way to make memories, see a bit of your own country, and spend some time together away from gadgets and electronic distractions. But for a day trip to go as smoothly as possible, especially when small children are involved, one thing is absolutely essential – planning. The trip itself should be part of the fun, so try to build that into proceedings. And day trips are a really great way of spending time together if you can’t afford a vacation. If you can really get organised and use some great online tools and useful items, then you can really make the most of your day trip and just focus on having a great time together.
Set Your Schedule For The Day
Getting sorted with your ideas of what you want to do and where you want to go is the most fun part of any day trip. Hop onto your local destination website to research what attractions are in a reasonable radius of where you live to fit within a day trip – you’ll likely discover places on your doorstep that you never even considered before. It’s great to give kids an opportunity to contribute to this process and tell you where they’d like to go – it makes them much more involved. There might be seasonal events, special activities, farmers markets and other attractions happening at certain times of the year or week, so make sure to research the best day to go. Try to plan a schedule with parts that appeal to all parts of the family, from adults to kids, so everyone gets something out of the day.
Pack Your Essentials
A day trip checklist can be really useful for reminding you of what you want to take with you for your trip. Take account of weather conditions and make sure your family is dressed for whatever you may encounter, from packing bathing suits and space-saving microfibre towels, to ensuring that you have enough sun cream if it’s going to be hot. Make sure everyone is wearing comfortable shoes if you plan on doing some walking, take reusable shopping bags if you want to pick up some souvenirs, and give everyone a refillable metal water bottle to keep them hydrated. It’s also good to think about items such as a light down filled jacket to cope with any sudden temperature drop, a rucksack to hold essentials and a phone holster so that you can have your phone close to hand in order to capture some photos of your day.
Think About Refuelling
Plan your day around opportunities to eat and drink – either finding coupons for local restaurants or making sure that you pack a great picnic to enjoy together. Little children especially can quickly go into meltdown mode if they get hungry or thirsty, so stock up your bag with juice pouches, fruit and granola bars in case of any unexpected detours or delays. You’ll be glad that you did!