Every time I need to plan for a family trip, to a new place, I wonder how others plan their trips. I sorted of come to the following strategy:
- Choosing the destination. It depends the length of our vacation, driven by school breaks. If we can spend 10+ days, then I’d be more ambitious. If we have 4 days or less, I’d keep it within the country. Since there are two school breaks that are more than 2 weeks, we usually take 2 big trips (3-4 weeks log), and 2-3 shorter trips (week long school breaks in March, April, and October). Once we know the duration, I think about the destination. This year’s plan: March (Shanghai), April (Paris), July (Si Chuan and Shanghai, China), October (TBD, either Japan or some new destination in Indonesia), December/Jan: New Zealand. I try to balance new places and visiting family, places that we all find something we enjoy.
- Booking things: (1) flight first, usually 2 months out of the travel date. I set an alert in Kayak to see trends of the prices and buy when I think it’s about right. (2) hotel/airbnb. I prefer Airbnb but only if it’s in a big city with many options. (3) Activities only if we absolutely will do, like Eiffel Tower. The rest I keep it open as I won’t be upset if we don’t get in.
- Planning days/activities. I don’t plan day by day, more like a menu of options that I know we may be interested. Have a rough sketch of how we may combine things but it’s quite loose. I try to aim for two activities per day with a break and rest in between. We all prefer to be doing things outdoors, so I prioritize those. For this trip, we plan to split up in some days as daddy wants to check museums for chinese antiques, which none of us are interested to join.
- Meals. We are not the type of family that put trying Michelin restaurants as priority. We wouldn’t wait in line for anything. So I don’t make restaurants reservations. We will just go with the flow and eat wherever we find interesting.
- Transportation. I like taking public transportation, especially buses, when available. So that’s what we plan to do in Paris. When traveling in the Philippines, Indonesia, we usually either hire cars or take taxis, as public transportation is not reliable nor safe.
- Souvenirs. We are not big in souvenirs. If we find something special, representing local culture, we get it. Otherwise, the memory is our best souvenir. This time to Paris, I am sure girls will want to get things in Disneyland, which is reasonable.
- Packing. I have a running packing list and update after each trip if we forgot or wish we brought something. It makes packing so much easier. I have a list per person and for the family. Girls pack their own things, I pack for me and family items (meds, devises, documents. Etc.), daddy packs his own. We usually pack number of outfits to be used twice if we have access to laundry. For entertainment, we pack kindles.
- Budget. I don’t usually have a set budget for trips. But we don’t splurge either. I prefer shorter flights and comfortable lodging over meals and shopping. Travel is where I feel very happy spending, probably the most we spend overall.
- Preparation upon return. I usually order groceries on our way back so we have the basics when we get home. I’ll also ask our helper to prepare a home meal for our first meal at home. I also write myself an email on work to-do list so I don’t forget nor feel overwhelmed when getting back to work.
Overall, my approach to traveling as family is to go with the flow, enjoy the moment, the unexpected things, not aiming to do all touristic things, prioritize what we like, immerse in the culture. Since I don’t have a to-visit/do list, I wouldn’t feel we miss anything regardless of what we do. 🙂
Our New Journey 
I am always AMAZED with how much you travel. I have lots of overlap with the things you mention above. In terms of souvenirs we try to bring back a small piece of local art, and we tend to opt for consumables – a special food, chocolate from that region etc. That way we get to enjoy something from the area when we’re home but it isn’t going to contribute to long-term clutter!
All the best in Paris with the race, the sightseeing and just enjoying such a wonderful city!!
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I hope you are having a blast in Paris!
I do things similar to you in a way. I have a list of places I would like to go (by country) and then things I would like to do in each place and then I will consult it when I am ready to start booking. Like you, it depends on time available, time of year etc. For booking lodging, it depends on what I am doing. Often I will plan a backpacking trip, where I only would book the first night I arrive and the rest would either be camping or booking as I go. If it is not a backpacking trip, I still sometimes only book the first few nights, then I book as I go. I guess this kind of leads to the fact that just like you, I have a list of things I would like to do, but usually I am okay with either not getting to some of them or adding new ones in country as I learn from others or find out new things.
For me, it is a mix of planned vs unplanned. If I definitely want to see something, I may book in advance, but I also usually am okay with things if I don’t get in. For example, I went to Milan and thought it would be fun to go to an opera, but they were booked way in advance and I could not get a seat. Knowing this, when I went to Vienna, I specifically got a ticket before leaving so that I could know that I would be able to do it, and then I worked the rest of the trip around that date. However, I still did not book all lodging, as I wanted the freedom to change my mind or my route depending on how things went.
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what she said ☝️I pretty much do the same. With some places, if they are non negotiables, then it makes sense to book in advance, but not every single activity. Paris has taught me to enjoy quality food- but only between 12-2:30 and 7-12am lol
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I’m in such a different stage of life when it comes to family travel since our kids are so young. I look forward to a time when we can do more interesting trips but that is quite a ways off. We are limited to taking about a week off at most though because of the nature of my and my husband’s jobs. But he’s not a huge fan of LONG trips in general. When I am retired, I’d love to spend 6 weeks in New Zealand and Paris but that won’t be able to happen until the kids are out of school (I wouldn’t take them with us most likely for a trip like that!).
You will find the metro system in Paris extremely easy to use!!!
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We are similar to you. I figure out some destination ideas and then sort out which make most sense seasonally to go where, and also based on how much time off. (e.g. for Hawaii I knew I wanted 2 full weeks, so that wasn’t a good plan for school spring break which is shorter). For activities etc I do like you do and have general ideas/options for each place. I avoid booking things in advance unless absolutely necessary or seems highly recommended. I usually look to do a couple things per day, but that doesn’t always mean they are big “events” or “activities”. Could just be a certain area of the city or national park that I want to cover in the morning, and something for the afternoon. Or whatever. We are not ones to need a lot of downtime like back at our resort on a sightseeing trip, so I don’t worry about leaving big open holes. But I do take into account the rhythm of the days and try to avoid multiple longer or busier days in a row. Like on recent trip we did that full day theme park one day, so the next day after was a slower morning and I planned to drive to Asheville which was leisurely with slow, relaxed stops, no rushing, etc.
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I think generally it’s a good plan to “go with the flow” when you travel… so much can go wrong and it’s better to not have a set plan but be able to pivot if necessary. I also think it teaches your kids to be much more laid back travelers.
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