Family travel is no longer limited to summer and school holiday time, it seems. According to the YPB&R 2006 National Leisure Travel Monitor, 60 percent of parents now say they would be willing to take their children out of school for a vacation, up from 57 percent in 2003.
Parents say they want time for family bonding and for exposing their children to history and culture outside the classroom. And, they’re choosing to travel during the off-season, when prices are lower and crowds are smaller. Traveling in the fall has become very popular with families, accounting for 24 percent of all family travel in the United States, says the Travel Industry Association.
According to a survey conducted among AAA travel counselors across the country, the most popular destinations this fall for families seeking a cultural experience are New York City, San Francisco and Chicago. For those more into history, Washington, D.C., Boston and Williamsburg, Va. get a lot of attention. The top cruise destinations are the Caribbean, Hawaii and Alaska.
If you plan to travel this fall with school-age children, consider these suggestions from Chuck Mal, managing director of public and government relations for AAA Oklahoma:
- Schedule your trip so your child misses as few school days as possible.
- Give your child’s teacher at least two weeks’ notice to allow time to prepare homework for your child to do while traveling.
- Have your child keep a journal with pictures, clippings from local newspapers, menus from restaurants, brochures from places visited, and then take them to school for show and tell.
- Include educational visits to museums, cultural and historic sites.
- Take your child’s teacher a present from your trip.