When you plan Romance Travel, people assume you only deal with honeymooners or brides planning destination weddings. You do, of course, plan those trips. But what about the husband and wife who have a few kids? Don’t they deserve, and desire, romance? Of course! And contrary to what most people might assume, these two things are not mutually exclusive.
When my husband and I married, we had 3 children between us aging from 5 to 9 years old. We had an understanding that our kids were important, but so were we. We needed time together, but we also needed time with them as we blended the two families. What to do? Well, romance is first of all, a mindset. Stolen moments are just as precious when you’re married as they are when you’re first dating. We always arranged time to be with them, but also arranged alone time at the exact same time.
Let me explain:
At Christmas time we always went to NYC to Rockefeller Center where the three kids all wanted to go ice skating. Usually, my husband and I participated in all these activities. We went skiing as a family, we zip lined together, we did it all. But we learned to keep our eyes open to opportunities that presented themselves to us as well. At Rockefeller Center, the ice skating rink is directly connected to a restaurant and bar, which has glass windows looking out on the ice. So we signed them up, got them in their skates, and walked over to the bar, ordered a glass of wine, and sat cozy together while we watched them go round and round the rink. They were happy, and so were we.
When it comes to traveling on vacations, the same mindset should be in place. First and foremost, pay attention to the location. Pick an inherently romantic place like an island, or a beautiful mountain, depending on the desires of your family. Then choose an All-Inclusive resort, or a larger ski lodge (even in summer) because they will have lots of activities for children as well as teen programs. Then use that time for yourself. Even if your children are not old enough to completely leave alone in the program, just watching their progress together is time spent alone. This means you are free to tell her how blue her eyes are that day, or how handsome you thought he was when he came back with the pizza with the sun shining down on him. You can hold hands, or put your arms around each other without one of the kids yelling “no PDA’s”. This is romance. It doesn’t have to be much more than these stolen moments that keep this family vacation still centered on the two people who started it all: yourselves!
If you need ideas for adding romance to a family trip, and places to go that help generate that romance, contact me. I have 30 years’ experience and still counting.
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