{"id":103668,"date":"2025-12-23T08:29:57","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T08:29:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/23\/the-1-trick-to-enjoying-family-travel\/"},"modified":"2025-12-23T08:29:57","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T08:29:57","slug":"the-1-trick-to-enjoying-family-travel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/23\/the-1-trick-to-enjoying-family-travel\/","title":{"rendered":"The #1 Trick to Enjoying Family Travel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"hero-image hero-image-main hero-image-main3 \">\n<div class=\"one-one-ratio\">\n<div class=\"hero-retio\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/portland-oregon-waterfall.jpg\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-image-hide=\"1\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/portland-oregon-waterfall.jpg\" alt=\"toby anton Portland waterfall\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1500\" class=\"alignnone size-fullwidth wp-image-304079\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/portland-oregon-waterfall.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/portland-oregon-waterfall-386x483.jpg 386w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/portland-oregon-waterfall-680x850.jpg 680w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/portland-oregon-waterfall-768x960.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"\/><\/p>\n<p><em>As we head into the holidays, I wanted to reshare this 2023 post about family travel; and if you\u2019d like more, Toby also shared <a href=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/2017\/12\/11\/flying-with-kids-advice-planes\/\" target=\"_blank\">his own tips for surviving family trips<\/a> and here\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/2024\/12\/09\/the-1-trick-to-surviving-big-family-gatherings\/\" target=\"_blank\">my personal trick for enjoying big family gatherings<\/a>. Good luck out there! Xoxo <\/em><\/p>\n<p>After 13 years of family travel, I finally figured out the key to having fun (or at least how to put it into words): <em>Expect some rough times.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The point of travel is that the highs can be high. But, especially with family travel, the lows can also be hilariously low, right? A few things will always go wrong: your flight will be delayed. Or you\u2019ll get a bad headache. Or the weather will be rainy. Or your kids will wake up at 2 a.m. Or you\u2019ll find a hair in your salad. And, honestly, that\u2019s to be expected, right? Travel is still regular life, and tricky stuff isn\u2019t a disaster, it\u2019s just normal.<\/p>\n<p data-article-image=\"1\" data-article-image-position=\"1\" data-article-image-position2=\"1\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/connecticut-pool.jpeg\" alt=\"The #1 Trick to Enjoying Family Travel\" width=\"1192\" height=\"1190\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-304089\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/connecticut-pool.jpeg 1192w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/connecticut-pool-484x483.jpeg 484w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/connecticut-pool-680x679.jpeg 680w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/connecticut-pool-768x767.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/connecticut-pool-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/connecticut-pool-120x120.jpeg 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1192px) 100vw, 1192px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Case in point: This past weekend, the boys and I drove up to Connecticut to visit old friends. We ate chicken sandwiches and played ping pong. We floated on our backs in the pool. We watched <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/44aOqX8\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day<\/a>. We drank cold white wine from those <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3NoNd8e\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">small Italian glasses<\/a>. A dozen different times, I thought to myself, \u201cThis is what life is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But, at the same time, not everything was idyllic: the boys argued during the three-hour drive. I got <a href=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/2017\/06\/01\/misophonia\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">misophonic<\/a> and told them to be quiet or I would turn-this-car-around-so-help-me-god. Our Airbnb had big spiders in the bathroom. We lost our basketball in some thorny bushes. The route home had lots of traffic.<\/p>\n<p>Bottom line: Parts of the trip were annoying, parts were epic. <a href=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/2023\/01\/05\/best-therapist-advice\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Both things can be true<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few travel snapshots through the years\u2026<\/p>\n<p data-offset=\"1\" data-article-image=\"1\" data-article-image-position=\"2\" data-article-image-position2=\"2\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/laguna-gloria-kids.jpeg\" alt=\"The #1 Trick to Enjoying Family Travel\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-304074\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/laguna-gloria-kids.jpeg 1000w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/laguna-gloria-kids-362x483.jpeg 362w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/laguna-gloria-kids-680x906.jpeg 680w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/laguna-gloria-kids-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/laguna-gloria-kids-600x800.jpeg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-offset=\"1\" data-article-image=\"1\" data-article-image-position=\"3\" data-article-image-position2=\"3\" data-article-image-continuo=\"1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/lagunagloria-kids.jpeg\" alt=\"The #1 Trick to Enjoying Family Travel\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-304073\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/lagunagloria-kids.jpeg 1000w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/lagunagloria-kids-362x483.jpeg 362w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/lagunagloria-kids-680x906.jpeg 680w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/lagunagloria-kids-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/lagunagloria-kids-600x800.jpeg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Yawning through the glorious Laguna Gloria in <a href=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/2019\/05\/01\/austin-with-kids\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Austin<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-article-image=\"1\" data-article-image-position=\"4\" data-article-image-position2=\"4\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/playing-uno.jpeg\" alt=\"The #1 Trick to Enjoying Family Travel\" width=\"1170\" height=\"952\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-304083\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/playing-uno.jpeg 1170w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/playing-uno-594x483.jpeg 594w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/playing-uno-680x553.jpeg 680w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/playing-uno-768x625.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1170px) 100vw, 1170px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Getting a \u201cPlus Four\u201d card during an Uno game in San Diego.<\/p>\n<p data-bleed=\"1\" data-article-image=\"1\" data-article-image-position=\"5\" data-article-image-position1=\"5\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/toby-muir-beach.webp\" alt=\"The #1 Trick to Enjoying Family Travel\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-304085\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/toby-muir-beach.webp 800w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/toby-muir-beach-725x483.webp 725w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/toby-muir-beach-680x453.webp 680w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/toby-muir-beach-768x512.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Not feeling the beach in <a href=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/2018\/01\/03\/christmas-palm-springs-san-francisco\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">San Francisco<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-offset=\"1\" data-article-image=\"1\" data-article-image-position=\"6\" data-article-image-position2=\"6\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/italy-kids.jpeg\" alt=\"The #1 Trick to Enjoying Family Travel\" width=\"946\" height=\"1154\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-304087\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/italy-kids.jpeg 946w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/italy-kids-396x483.jpeg 396w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/italy-kids-680x830.jpeg 680w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/italy-kids-768x937.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 946px) 100vw, 946px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Tired of walking in <a href=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/2017\/07\/20\/our-italy-vacation\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Italy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-offset=\"1\" data-article-image=\"1\" data-article-image-position=\"7\" data-article-image-position2=\"7\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/fowey-ferry-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"The #1 Trick to Enjoying Family Travel\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-304145\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/fowey-ferry-scaled.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/fowey-ferry-362x483.jpeg 362w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/fowey-ferry-680x907.jpeg 680w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/fowey-ferry-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/fowey-ferry-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/fowey-ferry-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Hangry in <a href=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/tag\/england-vacation\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">England<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-offset=\"1\" data-article-image=\"1\" data-article-image-position=\"8\" data-article-image-position2=\"8\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/florida-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"The #1 Trick to Enjoying Family Travel\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-304146\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/florida-scaled.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/florida-362x483.jpeg 362w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/florida-680x907.jpeg 680w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/florida-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/florida-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/florida-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Too hot in Florida.<\/p>\n<p data-bleed=\"1\" data-article-image=\"1\" data-article-image-position=\"9\" data-article-image-position1=\"9\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/flight-with-kids.jpg\" alt=\"The #1 Trick to Enjoying Family Travel\" width=\"1186\" height=\"888\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-304086\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/flight-with-kids.jpg 1186w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/flight-with-kids-645x483.jpg 645w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/flight-with-kids-680x509.jpg 680w, https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/flight-with-kids-768x575.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1186px) 100vw, 1186px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Heading onto a 10-hour flight.<\/p>\n<p>The other day, my friend Andy recapped a family trip with a sentence that could describe all family travel: \u201cIt was bad and then it was great.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Plus, two legendary posts that always make me laugh:<br \/>* <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mblazoned.com\/vacation-or-trip-a-helpful-guide-for-parents\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Vacation or Trip? A Helpful Guide for Parents<\/a><br \/>* <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theonion.com\/mom-spends-beach-vacation-assuming-all-household-duties-1819575406\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mom Spends Beach Vacation Assuming All Household Duties In Closer Proximity To Ocean<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>What about you? What hilariously bummery things have happened on trips? Have you ever had a trip that just all-out sucked? That can happen, too! We\u2019re aiming for <a href=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/2014\/06\/04\/on-happiness\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">wholeness<\/a>, after all.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>P.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/2017\/08\/07\/an-ode-to-bad-family-vacations\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">An ode to bad family vacations<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/2018\/05\/03\/do-nothing-on-vacation\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the weirdest best part of trips<\/a>.<\/p>\n<section class=\"article-meta aside-meta\">\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/2025\/12\/22\/the-1-trick-to-enjoying-family-travel\/#comments\"><\/p>\n<p><span>344<\/span> COMMENTS<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/2025\/12\/22\/the-1-trick-to-enjoying-family-travel\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As we head into the holidays, I wanted to reshare this 2023 post about family travel; and if you\u2019d like more, Toby also shared his<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":103669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[162],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}