What Kind Of Vacationer Are You?

July 3, 2012 By 2 Comments

What kind of vacationer are you? Are you the type to take several short trips or one long trip? Do you try and squeeze in as much as possible or just relax and enjoy the lack of responsibilities? How do you get MORE out of your vacation?

My husband works full time while I stay home with our 3 children ages 4, 2 and 10 months. He has a whopping (note the sarcasm in my voice here) 2 weeks off per year. We really have to maximize those two weeks so that he feels like he gets a vacation and feels like he didn’t burn it all at once. We tend to tack on a day or two here or there to a weekend to create a 3 or 4 day weekend rather than burn a whole week at once. We try to really make good use of his vacation days and plan fun family centered trips around them as well as the occasional date getaway. This makes us a “vacation extender”. I am in a category with about a quarter of families.

To really maximize the short one or two night stays that we plan we make sure to savor every moment and not waste the day away! We anticipate the trip and the kids get excited and pumped up for whatever we have planned. Once we are there we really try to keep everyone in a great mood and not get too worked up about anything. It’s about having fun and if we fight the whole time over silly little things then all you have to look back on is the fighting. I’ve really found that focusing on getting along and not sweating the small stuff while traveling with small children is a must. It’s easy to let the little stuff get to me and by focusing on NOT letting it get to me I have a much more enjoyable time.

For our next getaway I really want to have a fun trip for the whole family. Something the kids will enjoy and talk about for weeks after our return. I see family bonding time in our future :) With three kids 4 and under you really have to get creative with your vacation time to make sure it is something everyone will enjoy and that is age appropriate for all.

When looking for an ideal place to stay during our vacation I found Parents Magazine’s 10 Best Hotel

Chains for Families of 2012. Embassy Suites hotels was on their list of family friendly places so I decided to give them a peak. I haven’t ever stayed at an Embassy Suites Hotel before and to be honest “family friendly” wasn’t what popped into my head when I thought of this Hilton hotel chain.
One thing that caught my eye about them was that they offer MORE during your stay! That means FREE cooked to order breakfast, 2 room suites, and a nightly manager’s reception with free beverages and appetizers. What more could I ask for? 2 rooms is ideal for us so we can close the door and the kids can sleep. Free cooked to order breakfast means we don’t have to travel to a restaurant and feed our kids there. We can walk to the atrium and eat breakfast there. Sounds amazing!
So what type of vacationer are you? A “Vacation Extender” like me tacking on vacation days to holidays or weekends? Or do you identify more with the “Vacation Dabblers” who take vacation days here and there throughout the year? Maybe you are one of the just 13% of “vacation maximizers” taking big extended trips and banking your vacation days for it. Or perhaps you are more like some of my in-laws and you would say you are a “vacation accumulator” banking your days until the end of the year when you have to use ‘em or lose ‘em. Where do you fall?
Want to get more out of your next family vacation? Follow Embassy Suites on Facebook and Twitter for all the deals and news! PLUS enter their Get More Vacation Contest!! Five lucky families will each win a week long vacation including 7 nights at any Embassy Suites Hotels AND $10,000 spending cash for round trip airfares! All you have to do is show them your vacation face! Head over and enter to win big!

Sarah

*I wrote this review while participating in an Ambassador Program by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Embassy Suites Hotels and received a one-night complimentary stay at an Embassy Suites Hotel to facilitate my reviews and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Filed Under: Minnesota & Travel, reviewsandgiveaways, Things to do in MN, travel Tagged With: , ,

Comments

  1. anonymous says:
    July 4, 2012 at 5:21 pm

    I used to be a vacation accumulator, but now I'm definitely more of a vacation extender.

    Reply
  2. B. Wilson says:
    July 5, 2012 at 8:50 am

    We're definitely road trippers, but we've also traveled Europe. So, I'd say we're just all around travel lovers!

    Reply

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