Traveling with family/ tips on planning for groups. Me and my

>>1268808
yes, but too sick to write up. will be back tomorrow or day after.

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>>1268853
Thanks anon, get well

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1/2 before the trip

this last january i went to japan for 2 weeks with 7 family members (including me) ages 23 months to 67 years. i was the primary planner for most of the trip before and during.
>figure out who’s really going, and what everyone’s budget actually is
this can require some bluntness and questions that may be uncomfortable, but is critical. it affects where you stay and how long you stay. and until someone has a plane ticket, hope they’re going but assume they’re not really.
>keep everyone involved in planning
this is important both for what to plan, and to keep up enthusiasm for a distant trip. we’re fortunate that we live close to each other and have dinner together at least once a week allowing us to face to face, but with group texts and facebook and whatnot it’s easy to keep everyone in the loop. find out what activities are most important for people, and what they generally want to do. see if anyone wants to take over any specific aspect of the planning; for example a big part of my wife’s travel experience is good food, so I let her run with finding restaurants. and don’t be afraid to bug the shit out of people to find out what they really want. you know who in your family are people pleasers, keep beating them down until they admit that they really want to do something, or really don’t want to do something.

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2/2 during the trip

>maintain flexibility during the trip
other than the flights, Disney tickets, and hotels none of our itinerary was set in stone. you still want to keep track of what days places are open, and any specific dates that are important (concerts, or whatever), and we had a list of what we wanted to do and rough plan of when we wanted to do them, but not being rigid allowed us to adjust on the fly based on how people were feeling.
>not everything has to get done
i always like to have more options than I know I can accomplish, so if something falls through I have a secondary or tertiary option. but this requires not feeling compelled to tick everything just because it’s on the list. some people have a difficult time with that concept.
>not everyone has to do everything
this is important, but people seem to forget it. you’re all grown ups, if you don’t want to do something but someone else does, that’s okay. ideally, since it’s a family trip, most people will want to do most things most of the time, but be realistic about people’s participation in some activities, and help everyone else maintain perspective about it, too. but also don’t let people bitch out about every activity that doesn’t seem great because going with the attitude you’re there to do stuff with your family is key (it’s a tightrope). tying back to budget, people don’t even have to stay the whole trip. if 2 people can only afford to stay for 6 days, but the other 4 want to stay for 12 days, that’s fine, it’s still going to be an amazing trip, and it lifts the burden of $$.

i’ll be back if i think of anything else to add, or if you have any questions.

>>1268808
are you going with a sister or something? When abouts are you going?

i loove planning for my friends and myself.

i won't ever ever plan for me and my parents again. they are just a couple of kindergarteners with adhd and thus take too much effort to travel with. impossible. me and my siblings ended up leaving them alone with an itinerary that i myself would do in a month, they did it in 5 days. they're crazy.

if your family is normal, these all sound great basic tips.>>1269098
>>1269099
i wish my parents were somewhat normal, cause we all have time and money to travel together.

>>1268808
Arrange a limo from airport to hotel. This is where a large group has some expense, but with the bags and all, and the ripoff-scam taxis, Rome is tricky like that.
A private driver and tour will add up in that way too. Do it to see the sights an enjoy each other's company. Get a reservation for a evening or personal tour at Vatican, and if you're lucky a private audience might make your parents happy as well.

I don't have any clue what your energy level is all about, or whether your family is 4star accommodation or not, but realize that whatever you think the hotel is, will be 1star less by American standards and might include stairs if not. Also I recommend Boscolo chain if you really don't want to rough it. Every third day, take at least a half day off on the feet. You can enjoy a hotel pool, or a bus tour instead of just pounding the pavement.
Italy requires zipped bags/purses, and a jacket to cover it to be street safe. I also pack less overall, a medium sized wheeled bag if I'm going to be doing my own stairs with bags, or trains (bring a lock to put it on the rack locked too). I dress nicer overall more conservative for churches, kind of going out of dinner outfits even for day. Italians don't slum it as much as North Americans.

Rick Steves is the best guidebook for Italy...do you know if you'll do many regions?

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>>1269098
>>1269099
Fucking all great tips, thanks man. I opened a Google Doc so when things start to feel more solid I'll begin pestering them to throw in input. Was there any problems with the energy level difference between the young and the old? Did you guys ever split into groups to go see separate stuff?

>>1269110
Sister-in-law, maybe a step sister or two. We're thinking early summer since one of us is a teacher. Thankfully we're all used to hotter weather than Italy has to offer.

>>1269137
Great, specific tips thank you. Getting a driver sounds good for the trip from the airport but going between cities it would be cheap and easy to rent a car right? We're used to roughing it, we're not particularly luxurious. I'm kind of selling this trip as "under $2000 per person" so hopefully they don't expect much in the way of fancy comforts. I'll definitely get a Rick Steves book ( i already own all his DVDs and his carry-on bag) but I'm not sure on regions. My mom and aunt are wine fans so I'm sure we'll go to Naples or Milan at some point though.

Thanks for the advice and stories everyone. I'm considering also doing Airbnb apartments instead of hotels, thoughts?

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>>1269194
>Was there any problems with the energy level difference between the young and the old?
the adults, no. the not-quite-2-year-old, yes. he had to have a nap every day, and couldn't go much past 8 pm. but everybody went in understanding that limitation, so it worked out. usually 1 person (me or my wife) would stay with him while everyone else would go out.
>Did you guys ever split into groups to go see separate stuff?
yes. see nap time above, but also a couple other times. for example my dad and i went to a war museum that the rest weren't interested in. and my brother and sister-in-law arrived 2 days before us and left a week before we did (time off from work constraints).

and just so it's clear i didn't abandon thread, i'm also >>1268853

There's a 50% chance I'll miss my flight if my mom is involved, even if I lie and say my departure time is twenty minutes earlier than it is. If any of your family is habitually late you should probably lie aggressively about departure times.

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>>1269379
>20 minutes
lol. my wife's going on a trip with her sister and is telling her that their 11 pm flight leaves at 2 pm and they have to be at the airport 4 hours early.

>>1269382
Yeah you'd think I'd learn my lesson, but I don't.

On the other hand, you'd think adults who have been on at least one hundred flights would know how airports work.

>>1269382
ugh i have this with my parents actually. i have to tell them n-2 hrs at least, they literally only start to pack when they should have left for the airport... if it's a longer trip, more clothes, n-4.

i also refuse to tell them which flight i take whenever they want to pick me up from an aiport. i once waited 3 hrs for them, as they told me not to get a taxi for that 30min drive...and that they were on their way. i used to refuse them picking me up entirely, but they're into making me wait i guess.

/therapy session

>>1269194
>My mom and aunt are wine fans so I'm sure we'll go to Naples or Milan at some point though.
None of those two cities is famous for their wine, nor is any of the major cities (Rome, Venice, whatever). Not sure which Italian-American bootleg wine you've been drinking.
Actual cities famous for their wine: Alba, Asti, Barbaresco, Bardolino, Barolo, Greve in Chianti, Montalcino, Montepulciano, Scansano, Vadobbiadene.
That said, any wine you'll get anywhere in Italy is better than Burger wine, just like with food. No need to go out of your way to visit any city specifically.

>>1269707
Really? I don't drink wine but for some reason those cities reminded me of wine. Thanks for the heads up, I'm saving that list.

>>1269379
My family isn't like that but my usual traveling companion is. For every flight and bus and train I tell him it's a bit earlier but then he gets wise to it so he starts to become later so I've got to tell him even earlier. It's a slippery slope

>>1269461
Fuck my parents are the same. Just let me get a ride to/from the airport.

Also I don't understand how people take hours to pack for a one week trip. Just grab clothes, toiletries, and your electronics+chargers and put them in a bag. Maybe prescription meds if you need then. This should take twenty minutes max.