7 Top Must Haves for a Family Vacation ...

Nobody wants to spend time in the rain but if you have to, the right clothing can make the difference between cancelling the activity or the show going on. Rain doesn’t have to spoil a family vacation. Make sure you’ve got waterproof coats, rain hats and waterproof boots for everybody as well as some large bin bags to use as makeshift picnic blankets on wet grass.

A large part of every family vacation is the memories that are created. Make sure that you take a digital camera to document everywhere that you go and everything that you do. If your camera also has a video function, you will be able to experiment with it to create even more memories. Remember to take a charger with you as well; and an extra memory card is a good idea if you are going to be away for a while.

In today's electronic age, everybody who is travelling overseas must have their own biometric passport. Border controls and passport checks take up enough of your vacation time without any added delays. If you plan to take a family vacation overseas this summer, check everybody’s passport soon and order any new ones that you may need in plenty of time as the application process may be experiencing delays.

If you intend to travel by car, a cooler can be a useful item to take along to use in a hotel. Once it has been filled with ice, your drinks and other items will stay chilled for several hours. Don’t try to save money and buy a smaller cooler than you actually need, everybody will be far more comfortable if they have cool refreshments on tap. Whenever you make a comfort stop, you can replace the ice to make sure that the contents stay fresh.

Obviously you will need money for your holiday but if you intend to take your family vacation overseas, you will need different types of it. Chances are that your destination won’t accept dollar bills and although it is good to have the security of having your credit card with you, it can be expensive to use in a foreign country. Check out the different exchange rates offered for the currency you require at different banks before you leave and give some thought to traveller’s checks as well. If your credit card becomes compromised whilst you are overseas, it may take your provider days to resolve the issue and alternative access to cash will be invaluable.

Nobody wants to think of bad things happening at any time, and certainly not on a family vacation, however it would be naïve to travel without at least a basic first aid kit, just in case. Include items such as plasters, cold packs, gauze bandages, anti-septic wipes, micro-pore tape and vinyl gloves. Fingers crossed that you won’t need your first aid kit but it’s better to safe than sorry and knowing that you are be able to treat minor ailments will give you peace of mind throughout your vacation.

If your family vacation is going to be a fabulous road trip, having a GPS in the car will take all navigation niggles out of your journey and make map reading unnecessary, it should also lessen the arguments about which turning you should take. It’s very easy to become frustrated and for tempers to fray when you get lost, it’s also easy for upsets to sour the whole mood, so better to enter the location details into the GPS and simply follow the instructions.

So those are my ideas of Top Must Haves for a Family Vacation, do you agree with them? Or do you have other ideas? What do you always take with you to make sure your family vacation goes smoothly?

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