Give A Vacation For Christmas
Regardless of your stance on Black Friday, the Thanksgiving-to-Christmas holiday season is a great time to promote travel – and not just flying. With great discounts on accommodations and other travel options, it has become a popular tradition to use this as an opportunity to vacation closer to home. You know that feeling when your holiday is all planned out — the gifts you’ll buy, the parties you’re going to attend, and the presents you’ll be putting under the tree? You know how every time you sit down at Christmas dinner and think about how much preparation went into it?
The New York Times bestselling author, Gretchen Rubin, is back with her fourth book about happiness. From her blockbuster New York Times bestsellers The Happiness Project, Happier at Home and Better Than Before comes the book that will help you make this the best holiday season ever. In this inspiring new book, Gretchen shares ways to create a happier holiday season – through everyday joys, secret tips from experts and some of her very own traditions . . . Get ready to discover activities to do with friends and family that will give you a three-month happiness boost.
Give A Vacation For Christmas
Want to gift wrap a family vacation this year? More families are giving vacations and other experiences as gifts because it’s a gift that you can enjoy when you unwrap it, when you take the trip, and then for a lifetime through priceless family memories.
Whether you leave on Christmas Day or another time of year, it’s fun to make the vacation look and feel like a gift on Christmas morning. Here are some creative ways to gift wrap a family vacation.
MAKE OPENING THE GIFT AN EXPERIENCE OF ITS OWN
One of the challenges with giving a trip as a gift is making it fun to actually open. Especially on holiday with big expectations, like Christmas morning, you want your kids to be over the moon about their presents, not confused why they only got this piece of paper saying they’re headed out of town.
Here are some ideas:
LARGE BOX ANNOUNCEMENT
Go Big or Go Home! You may want to make an impression with a large gift under the tree, hide it in another room to open last or make it a fun game to go and find it. No matter what you want to make opening it fun. You can fill the box with helium balloons so they fly out when you open the box, or pack some luggage with vacation essentials.
PROGRESSIVE GIFT
If you want to extend the gifting experience you can keep to the theme and wrap all of the items individually. Make sure you mark the order in which you want the receiver to open them and end with a gift with a mock ticket or something that indicates why they got all of those things.
IF YOU ARE GOING TO WALT DISNEY WORLD:
Character Apparel or PJs
Costume
Plush
If you are going to the Beach:
Sand Toys
Swimsuits
IF YOU ARE GOING TO THE SNOW:
Winter Apparel (Hats, Gloves, Coat)
Snow Boots
Hot Chocolate Kit
Mug (If you are looking for a mug for your Disney Lover, check out Polka Dot Pixie Dust )
IF YOU ARE GOING TO A CITY:
Guide Book
Movies/Books set there
Fun Snacks or Candy
3D Puzzle of a landmark
Activities to Learn About the Destination
COUNTDOWN CALENDAR
A great item to include in the box, or end the progressive opening with is a countdown calendar. This can be a chalkboard, paper chain, my favorite wooden blocks or more with how many days you have left until your trip. For more fun ideas on how to countdown to your trip check out my 6 Ways to Countdown to your Family Vacation blog post!
One of my favorite ideas that I’ve seen was a paper chain with a different colored link on a certain day of the week indicating a family activity. That activity could be attending a local cultural festival, watching a movie set in the destination, visiting a local museum with art pieces by artists from the region or cooking a recipe from your destination. There are so many other ways to get your kids excited for a trip that I created a whole blog post on this that you can find here.
SCAVENGER HUNT
A very popular way to gift a trip is to add to the experience with a scavenger hunt. There are so many different ways to approach it. You could have clues leading to the large box announcement or countdown calendar. Each clue could lead to an item from the progressive gifting with the next clue. You could hide puzzle pieces around the house that when put together let them know that you are going to your destination. Get creative with it.
If creativity is not your thing and you need a little help this is something I love helping personalize for my travelers. Simply book your trip with me and I will take care of the gift planning for you, all you have to do is wrap!
NEED A VACATION BUT THE IDEA OF PLANNING-IT-ALL IS OVERWHELMING?
If you are ready to have the family vacation you’ve been dreaming of, without spending time researching, planning and making it happen, schedule a call today. I’m here to help busy working Moms plan, organize and book the perfect family vacation. With me, all you have to worry about is enjoying your well-earned time away with your family. If you are ready to stop trying to do everything on your own and see how I can help you schedule a complimentary trip planning session now.