Summer is packed with happy experiences, from a stop at your favorite scoop shop to the simple joy of relaxing in a hammock. But the greatest pleasure may be gathering with your family for a vacation filled with laughter, love, good food, and adventure. Read on for the five easy tips that guarantee summer travel is a treat for your whole family.
Book Early
According to a AAA poll, nearly three out of four Americans are planning a summer getaway while the TSA is preparing for the busiest travel season ever. Planning is key to avoiding the sky-high costs of renting a car or booking flights at the last minute. To get the best deals, reserve your lodging as soon as you’ve settled on travel dates and destinations. And if your vacation includes a visit to a national park, concert, popular museum exhibit, or dinner at a trendy restaurant, book those activities, too, so you won’t miss out.
Pick a Destination Everyone Enjoys
The kids are sports nuts, your in-laws are foodies, and your dream vacation includes leisurely hours exploring local boutiques. With some Internet sleuthing, tips from friends, or guidance from a travel adviser, you can find a vacation spot that makes everyone happy. That might be a beach area with a short ferry ride to town or a mountain resort near fabulous farm-to-table restaurants and a weekend flea market.
Prioritize Active Outings
Enjoying nature and outdoor activities is good for mind and body, and strengthens family ties. Kayaking, a sunset hike, pickleball competition, or water polo match are perfect ways to unite generations. Just don’t take togetherness too far, which could lead to sulky teenagers, exhausted grandparents, and a cranky spouse. Some might love whitewater rafting, while others prefer gently floating on a river. Let family members choose suitable hiking trails – rock scrambling for some, a gentle ascent to a waterfall for others.
Pack Strategically
Fuss-free casual dressing makes packing a breeze. Choose two summer dresses, a couple of bathing suits, a coverup, lightweight shorts and pants, a jumpsuit or skirt, and a few breezy tops, including one with sparkle for an evening out. Don’t forget a couple of sweaters, wraps, or hoodies for cooler temps or cranked up AC. Toss in sandals, flip-flops, sneakers, or hiking shoes, along with swimming goggles, phone chargers, a small purse, tote or backpack, and poncho for rainy days. Bring extra goggles, ponchos, or chargers for family members who leave theirs behind.
Prepare for Healthy Travel
Put together a kit with essentials – sunblock, bug repellant, bandages, hand sanitizer, refillable water bottles, and healthy snacks. And make sure everyday aches and pains don’t wreck your plans. Send pain packing with Aspercreme® Pain Relief Cream with Lidocaine, the maximum-strength* lidocaine available without a prescription. A fragrance-free, non-greasy topical cream with moisturizing aloe that numbs pain away, this vacation must-have will win approval from everyone in your family.
Summer family vacations create memories that cross generations and last lifetimes. Keep the common aches and pains of an active life from hijacking your pleasure. Aspercreme Pain Relief Cream with Lidocaine provides fast, targeted pain relief – without that medicinal stink.
Kick pain to the curb so you can enjoy an active, adventure-filled family vacation this summer.
Click here to save on your next Aspercreme® purchase.
*Among OTC topical analgesics for the intended Use(s).
![Travel, summer and big family holding hands at beach and walking on vacation, wellness and support together. Smile, love and relax on sea side holiday with happy parents, children and grandparents](https://aarp-content.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/23cea63/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1279x704+0+0/resize/876x482!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Faarp-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fcontent%2F58%2Fba%2F33599f7844cf9aeeaf3c20d3ac02%2Faspercreme-girlfriend-july-article02-family-on-beach-1280x704.jpg)
PeopleImages/Getty Images