Blended Family Travel Tips

Planning a stepfamily trip can be both exciting and challenging. With so much to consider, many stepmoms find the process a bit overwhelming. But, fear not: I've got you covered with 20 essential blended family travel tips that will help make your journey as smooth as possible and (hopefully!) an enjoyable experience for everyone.

Read on for my best blended family travel tips:

My top 20 tips for your first (or next) stepfamily trip

Whether you’re seasoned travelers or preparing for your very first trip, these are some principles to keep in mind as your departure date approaches. No matter where you’re headed, think of these simple guidelines as the common sense advice that most of us technically know already, but tend to leave behind when we leave home.

1) Plan together

Involve all members of your stepfamily in the planning process to ensure that everybody's wish list and needs are considered. Even very young kids can offer their input and help shape the itinerary.

2) Communicate openly

Encourage an open discussion within your family about people's expectations, fears, and hopes for the trip. The key here is listen to whatever they say without jumping in to correct, debate, or attempt to “fix” anything.

3) Discuss budgets

Now, this will depend on the age of your stepkids and how many people are involved. But, at a minimum, you and your partner should come up with a plan for spending in advance of the trip. And, as developmentally appropriate, involve your stepkids in a discussion of spending limits and how they want to manage their own finances on the trip.

4) Adopt a flexible mindset

I suggest making this mental shift before you even leave. Assume that not everything will go to plan and be open to shifting and changing as you need to once you're on your way.

5) Pack together

Collaborate on packing lists to ensure everyone takes responsibility for what they need to be comfortable and prepared while traveling.

6) Create a schedule

I recommend establishing a loose itinerary that balances between more structured activities and open spaces for whatever might come up once you're there.

7) Plan some bonding activities

While it's true you can't force family connections (and you shouldn't try to), you can do your part ahead of time to create conditions that will facilitate memory making and some togetherness time. In my experience, this often occurs during the less structured spaces in the schedule that are ripe for discovery and exploration.

8) Factor in plenty of downtime

This is just as important as the activities you’ll plan. Make sure that you're building in open periods just for rest and relaxation, when everyone can do their own thing off the clock. It's going to help you recharge and actually enjoy the trip.

9) Respect personal space

As best you can, try to allow everyone some individual physical space to just be on their own and do their own thing. For adolescents and teens, this can be especially crucial.

10) Pay attention to time zones

If you're going to be traveling across time zones on your trip, be mindful of what this might mean for your energy levels and your sleep needs. Depending on the ages of the kids you're traveling with, you might actually want to preemptively start easing onto whatever time schedule you're going to be on, the week before you leave on your trip. And if you’ll be communicating with the kids’ other household during the trip, it can be helpful to share time zone info in advance of your trip to prevent confusion.

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11) Consider individual interests

Both in the planning phases of your trip and then once you're there and figuring out what you want to do, try to take into account what each individual person is interested in and plan around that.

12) Set screen time limits

Agree as a family on some reasonable guidelines for using devices on your trip to encourage time for connection and engagement. If the kids are old enough, involve them in a discussion about this. Ask for (and listen to) their opinions. What do they think is reasonable? Once you have set your agreements as a family, do your best to stick to them. (P.S. This goes for the grownups as well as the kids.)

13) Address conflicts calmly and respectfully

When it comes to conflict on your stepfamily trip, it’s not a question of if but when. So, expect some type of disagreement to arise. Then, when it does, lead with calm and respect (and enlist your partner’s support with this), so you can get back on track and back to enjoying your trip.

14) Prioritize self-care

Self-care doesn’t stay behind when you're traveling. In fact, travel can introduce new stressors, so it's especially important to be adaptable with your self-care on the road. We don't always know what resources we'll have access to or even what will feel especially good and rejuvenating until we're in that new environment. So, model healthy habits for your family by taking a minute when you need it and enjoying.

15) Practice patience

…early and often, throughout your trip. Travel is stressful, stepfamily life is stressful, and so it only stands to reason that *stepfamily travel* could create some uniquely stressful experiences for you and your family. Pack an extra dose of patience with you (check out these affirmations if you need some help). And just remember: You will get through this.

16) Capture memories of your time together

Now, don't go overboard here. It's not about documenting the perfect trip or posting to social media in real time. Just snap some photos along the way, maybe bring along a journal where you can jot down a few key memories— whatever feels good to you! The point here is to create a mental snapshot so that, later, you can reflect back and savor the experiences from this trip.

17) Be mindful of triggers

…that could come up as you're traveling and use what you already know about your stepfamily. So, for instance, if you know that your partner tends to get stressed out in airport situations or one of your step kids is not about trying new foods, then you can reasonably expect these would be triggers once you're traveling. Adjust your expectations and plan accordingly.

18) Encourage collaboration

There’s a lot that goes into planning family travel. I recommend giving each person a developmentally appropriate task to be in charge of. So, maybe one person is the photographer, someone else figures out the public transportation system, maybe somebody else picks out what you're going to do for lunch, etc. It's going to get a bit more buy-in into the whole trip and help foster a sense of teamwork.

19) Celebrate your achievements along the way

Travel can be wonderful and stressful. So, every time you notice a member of your family acting respectfully or using ingenuity or creativity, praise it so you can keep that positive momentum going.

And when the trip is done…

20) Reflect and discuss

Take the opportunity to talk as a family about the highlights and the challenges you each experienced. You can use these insights to plan ahead for future travel that you'll hopefully take together and also just savor all those sweet moments you spent together as a family.

Happy travels!

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