When it comes to choosing a vacation you need to make sure you going are going after something that is right for everyone in the family. The following are steps to take to make sure everyone in the family can enjoy it.

Get Together

One of the key things that you are going to want to do by going on vacation is making everyone happy and this is very key indeed. Although you cannot really fail with a choice like Disneyworld Florida it is safe to say that financially this is often not possible to do every year so the first thing you need to be able to do is put forward a clear budget.

Once a budgets has been sorted, sort the ones the kids want to do from the ones you want to do and find common ground. It is unlikely children will want to go to spa hotels on a India Spa trip so why bother even raising it, you could do this separately later in the year with your partner. Once you have thrown in loads of ideas you can then find the common ground when it comes to the vacation. As soon as this has been done you can move on to the decision making process. Sorry that means no Thailand spa this year.

Once this stage has bee done it is then the final stage and you need to pick something now. The best way we do this is to chuck them into a hat and just choose like this. Nine times out of ten we don’t like the option we pull out first so we do it until we all agree. It is not how this method is supposed to work but it does not matter!

one of the things to remember is having a good time!

UNDISPUTED FACT 1: It only takes two words to make a backpacker’s eyes sparkle: “free laundry.”

UNDISPUTED FACT: : It only takes five more words to make that backpacker your friend for life:”do you want some dinner?”

Becoming a backpacker really does make one think how little you really need. Apart from my cd, I haven’t missed much since I’ve been travelling. It’s a bit of a worry to think that all I need to survive can be carried on my back. I was especially amazed to discover that I hadn’t had Wendy’s for over a month and was OK. And with only two pairs of shorts  and limited clothing options, it’s liberating to not have to deliberate over what to wear each day.

The backpacker’s eternal struggle is this: You have to carry your life. Too many bags, and you won’t get anywhere. Too heavy a bag, and you’ll drop from exhaustion. Therefore, you give yourself a set amount of space and weight, and you adhere to it. It’s like physics – if you buy something, something else of equal or greater size and weight must be farewelled. It certainly makes you think twice about impulse purchases. Personally, I wish most things in life worked like this – I think I’ll make an experiment of it next time I make a purchase at home. One thing bought, one thing tossed. It would definately remove the clutter, don’t you think?

Some hazards of the travellers life:

My new trainers now look like I’ve worn them continuously for ten years. Australia’s red center with all the clingy red dust is mainly to blame.

I got myself so sunburnt scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef , that I had to cancel my Daintree Rainforest tour.

I’ve lost either my shampoo or my conditioner I think a total of nine hundred times by leaving it in the shower long enough for someone else to claim it. Doh. I’ve yet to experience bed bugs, thank christ, but just barely. My best friend was not so fortunate. I felt itchy the entire day just looking at her.

Constant company is good but can be dreary at times. I imagine long term travellers must daydream about just one night in a empty dorm.Towels never dry fully. Damp towels = mouldy. Smelly towels + dirty trainers = musty smelling backpack. I have learned quickly that backpacking is not a way to impress people with your high sense of fashion. The true (female) backpacker wears zero makeup, hair tied haphazardly into a ponytail-ish bun, wrinkled clothes…and a big grin on her face because she’s more thrilled about the cheap food at her hostel than the shopping center accross the road. And on to the primary joys of the backpacker life:

Flexibility! Halfway through my travels from Adelaide to Cairns, I decided I wanted to stay a week in Melbourne with a guy I met. So I did. Simple as that. I love it!

I’ve met people from everywhere! I’ve had meaningful conversations with people from Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Scotland, Wales, Japan, Canada, and the USA. (And those are just the ones I can recall in this drunken mess.)

While in Cairns, I made a new friend every night, even convincing a few of them to join me white water rafting.

While scuba diving in Cairns, I made friends with a Frenchman who invited me to visit him in Paris. I think I’ll give it a miss, but it was fun to be asked , all the same. I’ll always be able to brag about that now.

I’ve met friends in one part of the country, only to meet them again a few weeks later! Case in point, I met Kylie first in my Farmhand class in Tamworth, again two months later in Darwin, and again several weeks later in Sydne.Pretty much, I’d say that I rather enjoyed my try at backpacking Australia!