How do you cap off four years of high school? Grad Party? Backdrop for some pics? Cake?
How about an epic trip to not only celebrate the grad, but also pack some crazy valuable family time in while you're at it.
Ask any parent coming up on their child's high school graduation and the first thing you're likely to hear is "it went by so fast"
Yeah. It really does.
Whether you think the Senior Trip is a rite of passage or an invention of TikTok, it's out there. And if you want to embrace it, there is no better way to get a family vacation on the books.
As a travel agent, there is a certain amount of pressure to procure perfection in our own vacations. Did you get your perfect Instagram pic? Did you pick the right hotel? Half the time, I feel like I'm winging it, but in this case, I threw myself into the process - I wanted to plan something that not only Mad would remember, but also bring some great memories for others in our circle.
So here was the Game Plan:
Who: Find yourself a group of no-drama llamas.
First and foremost, you really need to make sure your guest list, if beyond your own family, is going to work together. We started with a guestlist of our family of four and ended up on a trip with 46 total participants. Not. One. Issue. Who goes truly makes the trip.
Where: I had countless options. I've been to a lot of hotels, resorts, locations across the Caribbean. I picked what I felt was the perfect spot for the group I was working with. We are pool people. I went with Cabo, knowing that the ocean was not swimmable, but that the pools were heated and that was where we would spend our time. I doubled down on the pools by pre-booking all the Super Cabanas months in advance. This gave our group front row to the DJ, foam parties, and dedicated service and private bathrooms! Bathrooms alone was worth the cost of admission. In addition to great days around the pool, the hotel offered nightlife for all of the older "kids" while offering plenty of activities throughout the day for younger siblings and plenty of places for the adults to chill out by the pool or at the spa.
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When: We picked off-days to travel to and from Cabo. We flew out on a Sunday and home on a Saturday. We also flew out of a major hub. It was way more economical to fly from Minneapolis rather than Fargo. It was a savings of hundreds of dollars per ticket, so well worth the hotel night and the drive. Spring Break is a peak travel time, so the sooner you book, the better your options for hotels and pricing.
What: While it's amazing to hang at the pool all day, sometimes you have to setup a few other activities just to keep things interesting.
Here are some fun things we added in to make things a little XTRA.
Pickleball Tourney: We had some avid parent players, they organized a bracket and played out a full tourney, complete with medals for the winners
Fishing Charters: Boys went out and caught all the fishies!
Yacht Day: Probably the best day! Chartered a yacht to haul our entire group out to the Arch, to check out whales and do some pretty incredible dives off the top deck.
Karaoke Night! Who knew not only could our kids sing, but so could the parents! These are the things you find out in the lobby at 9 PM on a Thursday :)
Why: Seems pretty self-explanatory, but if you have the opportunity to spend even one extra hour with your Senior before they head out to the big world - DO IT.
Even if it's not on a trip, spend those minutes talking to your seniors, find out what their passions are, and what they are excited for, scared about....
You won't regret a moment you ever spent with your senior. Promise.
Muah
,
Alicia
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