The difference between having a holiday and making memories
Is anyone else dragging themselves to the finish line that is the end of 2024? I don’t know why I am so tired. Is there a moon cycle that I need to be made aware of? Are we in retrograde? (I think I am...)
As we head into the end the school year, I am reflecting on how to make the most of these school holidays, especially as my kids are getting older and my years of school holiday trips with them are starting to dwindle!
And so as I ponder what makes a good holiday great, and the difference between having a holiday and making memories, I thought it might be worth sharing and also getting your ideas!
Here's my list. What do you think? Do you have anything to add?
Between rest breaks you need to add experiences – As much as I love to hang out on the beach and by the pool, we always make time to do something every day that is really special with the kids, something that will make the memories. Something super fun and exciting.
Tap into the things that bring your kids the most joy For our kids it's normally animal related, although as they get older they are starting to love adrenaline based activities (which make me vomit). Let's stick to animals for now - any place where they can interact with animals is normally a winner and has been since they were really small. And they learn something from it too.
Laughter really is the best medicine – Some of our favourite memoires are the ones where we were falling over laughing. Crazy moments that came from nowhere, silly and totally unexpected - normally at my expense. And that’s ok…
Food is the way to my kids heart – We love food and normally try to find some great food places where ever we go. We always remember those magical nights and meals.
Get out of everyone's comfort zones. I will never forget our first trip to Movie World - my eldest crying because she didn’t want to go on the scary roller-coaster and my youngest crying because she wanted to go on the scary roller-coaster but was too short. Those were the days. Now they are both brave enough and tall enough and I get sick enough to make just enough great memories! Everyone's a winner, I think…?
That's my list of how we make great memories on our trips. What about you add?