Summer vacation. How to Return Home With Your Sanity



Posted: Wednesday, September 29, 2010

by Joe Mac Millan

Summer vacation time are creeping up fast. What do we do? Where do we go?

If you are an average family with children, coming up with vacation ideas can be quite a dilemma. Most children will want to go for a vacation in Disneyland or to a beach. Since you as parents are the financiers who foot the bills, you have the last say. But perhaps you might benefit from our families experience.

We had four daughters aged from five to fifteen. We lived on the east coast of Canada. For years we had taken the family camping along with the dog. We were fortunate in that we lived a couple of hours from The Cape Breton Highland National Park, arguably one of the most beautiful parks in Canada. We had purchased the largest tent we could find. Plenty of room for everyone. It had a front screen room where we could place a picnic table when we wanted to be out of the rain.

To keep things organized, each girl was given a tote bag in which to keep her clothes and other items. They were responsible for their own stuff and that system really worked out well. We spent a great many weekends and our two weeks vacation somewhere in one of the many beautiful campgrounds in the park every year. We all loved the water and beaches, finding rocks and shells. We took them on long walks on the wonderful trails to see deer, rabbits, squirrels and the mysterious Canadian lynx.

One year we decided to take the family on a long trip because it would be the last trip we would have as a complete family since the eldest would be finishing high school and moving off to college by the next year.

We choose Niagara Falls. One of natures wonders and beauty spots. One of the best ideas we ever had was to obtain a campground guide for Canada. That guide had everything we needed. Exact locations, maps, distances, rates, all of the information on every campground in Canada.

Here is how we managed to keep our sanity. We gave the book to the girls and told them they were to pick the campground and what attraction they wanted to see or do.

Each day my wife and I would tell them approximately where we expected to be by days end. The girls would then get busy searching for things to do and campgrounds with pools or beaches. That book would keep them busy sometimes for hours. When we arrived they already knew where the facilities were and as soon as the tent was up and their beds ready, it was off to have fun.

If you have a family we would strongly suggest you give this method a try at least once. The best thing about our last big trip together, the kids loved it and still love camping with their families today so many years later.
Joe and Irma MacMillan have spent many years backpacking, skiing, and simply enjoying life in the mountains of British Columbia. Their website Whistler Outdoors is full of tips on snowboarding, camping, kayaking, rafting, camp cooking and fishing. They met on a blind date in 1957 and are still married. Take a look at their story here About us

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