Recent trends indicate that more and more families are choosing to escape their hectic city lifestyle and spend less on their vacations by driving to nearby outdoor recreational destinations for a “drive to vacation.” Rather than engage in long distance travel with the uncertainty of air travel, followed by the hassles of car rental agencies and hoping your destination is as wonderful as the pictures, more Californians are doing road trips to some of California’s iconic national or state parks.
VACATIONING WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILIES
Group vacationing is on the rise. More and more people are finding the luxury of sharing the responsibilities of vacationing with family members or close friends. It makes sense when you think of simple things like food prep (and clean-up), built in activities for the kids and shared supervision of children so parents get a break, too. It’s become popular to share the expense, the chores, and the responsibilities of keeping everyone entertained. Whether it be coming together for a wedding, an important birthday or life celebration, or a shared recreational interest, groups are finding the merits of renting a larger than usual vacation home and sharing it to be a major bonus to their vacationing habits.
AMENITIES TO CONSIDER WITH GROUP VACATIONS
Obviously, depending on the dynamics of your group, choosing the right drive to vacation is always time consuming. When considering your stay, there is both the macro and the micro in your decision making. On the macro, the major question is “What do we want to do?” If boating is an interest or hiking the wilderness areas or sight-seeing or having a variety of choices, it’s location, location, location. Zero in on areas that feature those recreational activities and begin your search. On the micro level, you need to understand the makeup of the bodies that will be attending and where they are going to sleep and hang during off time. Determine how many private rooms you need. Determine if the kids are going to be altogether in a separate part of the house or do you want the families to stick together. Or maybe you want to sleep under the stars? Will the family dog come along? Then a dog-friendly group campground is ideal. Food prep is extremely important. Small, cramped kitchens can be a nightmare. Look for large spacious kitchens with lots of storage for food. A chef’s kitchen or commercial kitchen is ideal. Common space large enough to house your group is critical. Board games, conversation, and hanging out is an important part of every vacation. If you have toys on trailers, make sure there is ample parking with easy access. Find large vacation homes that are centrally located to all the recreational elements you are looking for.
PLAN YOUR ACTIVITIES IN ADVANCE
Nothing can be more frustrating than to arrive at your destination and find all the attractions are booked, no availability. Making reservations in advance for one or more days during your stay can be critical. Schedule a whitewater rafting trip, reserve a pontoon boat at the nearby lake, let the kids pan for gold at the local state park, make a reservation at a local eatery famous for its food or line up a masseuse to come by and treat some of the adults to a magical massage. Planning in advance can make all the difference in creating memories that last a lifetime.
I hope this has been helpful. Much of it I have pulled from our experience running our retreat center in the Tahoe National Forest, featuring the famous Yuba River, known for its bustling white water, surging across the bedrock and cartwheeling into gorges. Our guests range from families to groups of friends, from 12 to 20, staying in our luxury lodge plus adjacent Annex. To learn more, visit www.WillowSpringsLodge.com
Best regards and happy vacationing,
Mark Hughes