Family Trip Deals

Travel advice from southwestairlines.com

Taking the Kids™
Getting a Break on a Family Vacation

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The tropical weather is perfect, the sunset spectacular from the hotel balcony. You clink glasses and…

The baby starts wailing. Before you can quiet him, the 5-year-old is whining he’s hungry.

So much for romance on a family vacation. You put down the wine glasses and give each other that We-spent-all-of-that-money-for-this look of frustration.

With three kids, I know that look all too well. No one said managing romance on a vacation with the kids would be easy. It’s especially tough when they’re little. But the good news is it can be done.

Now you can slip that lingerie and special bottle of champagne in your suitcase along with the kids’ favorite videos. Here’s how you’re going to take the kids and put romance back in the vacation equation.

THE BUILT-IN BABYSITTER SOLUTION: Invite your favorite niece or nephew along on the trip so you can go off for carefree moonlight walks on the beach or candlelit dinners knowing the kids are having as much fun as you are. Opt for a condo rather than a hotel and you’ll not only have plenty of room for them, a washer and drier, and maybe a CD player, but you will spend less than at a hotel because you can cook some of your own meals. Save even more by driving instead of flying. (If you’re heading to Orlando, check out Dream Homes at www.aaadreamhomes.com where you can rent a house with a pool for less than $150 a night. Resort Quest [www.resortquest.com] has options in more than 50 vacation locales around the country.)

GO THE ALL-INCLUSIVE ROUTE. A small but growing number of resorts offer child care for babies and organized programming for toddlers – including Club Med (www.clubmed.com) and Disney Cruise Line (www.disneycruise.com), guaranteeing that you and your significant other can steal a little time for yourselves.

HEAD FOR THE HILLS. Drop the baby and the toddler at the mountain day care center for a romantic day hiking or mountain biking. Consider Jackson Hole, Wyoming (www.jacksonhole.com) where the Kid’s Ranch is also welcoming to special needs kids and Smuggler’s Notch Resort in Vermont (www.smuggs.com). Many ski resorts operate children’s programs and day care in the summer as well as winter. Now where did you put those wine glasses?