Family vacations have long been viewed as a luxury. A reward for a job well done, like a bonus or a raise, they represent a tangible benefit to people who work hard and are usually in need of rest and restoration. The idea is that an employee who is renewed will perform better on return to work. In addition to having a beneficial effect on the participants, from the point of view of the employees, vacation offers a competitive edge to any employer who makes vacations a part of the employee benefits. Employers encourage vacations because they are an investment in human resources, comparable to training. Productivity requirements are high and rising as the result of new technologies and changing organizational practices. Given these increases in human demands, the employee is constantly being asked to increase his or her performance in output or quality of work attained. The values achieved by an extended rest period allows the worker a needed break in the ever-increasing work clock without losing the worker’s long-term commitment to the job.
Definition and Purpose of Family Vacations
In this paper, vacations taken by family members together are defined as ‘family vacations.’ It is interesting that in layperson, popular media, literature, and even in scholarly research communities, the terms in use ‘vacation’ and ‘family vacation’ are mostly assumed to be self-evident. Also, there is an erroneous association of the term ‘family vacation’ primarily with the traditional (especially American) yearly summer vacation. There are a growing number of research studies that show the tradition of a yearly family vacation being less and less relevant in present-day society. It is noted that family vacations are not merely all about making purchases, packing, entry, or even touring of destinations, but are also the communications of meaning among family members as well. It is the reinforcement of the family ties that separate family vacations from other types of vacationing. In brief, a family vacation is about enhancing and solidifying the relationship of the family members.
A vacation is a leisure break, a period aside from routine activities, where the individual or group of travelers have left their permanent environment to seek the pleasure of varied social, cultural, and physical opportunities. In brief, vacation is related to recreation, entertainment, novelty, and relaxation, within the environment and company considered desirable to the individuals who are relaxing, regardless of their nationality or religion. The vacation continues to be a time out from the pressure of work and study. It continues to provide an interlude in the common pattern of life.
Benefits of Family Vacations
Moreover, the benefits of spending time together at family dinners have been well-documented, and the characteristics of family members’ positive communication at family dinners are associated with more positive individual and family outcomes. Vacations, however, offer hours of additional time for such positive communication. This additional time can allow for more in-depth and meaningful conversation than would typically occur at family dinners. It is possible that the nature of the relaxed, unhurried time on a vacation offers a context conducive to whole-family conversations, including developmentally-appropriate conversations with individual family members that can include a wider range of conversation topics and the expression of a wider range of emotions. This characteristic of family vacations – increased relaxed time together – is one that may be uniquely beneficial and less common in other family interaction settings. Overall, the results suggest that family vacations offer opportunities to influence numerous types of family communication that are associated with existing childhood and adolescent interventions, a focus not typically found on the family travel websites.
There is now a considerable amount of research on the benefits of vacations, and much of the existing research on vacations has suggested that there are indeed benefits of vacation. Vacations have been linked to subjective life satisfaction, well-being, and improved mental health as well as family connectedness, family unity, and integratedness, and an increase in positive communication among family members. There are also physical health benefits of taking vacations, including improved work performance post-vacation and the alleviation of job-related stress. Studies have shown that health can be improved with a higher number of family vacations; those who take more vacations experience fewer stress-related physical symptoms.
Strengthening Family Bonds
Initially, most fathers do not spend money to take their children to expensive tourist sites because they live together and spend more time with them, as some think. In society, patience, tolerance, and kindness are strengthened. Parents take time off for excursions when they have so much time available. Seasons change, unnecessary curves show the lives of family members, and this understanding continues to strengthen the need for compassion, usually seen nowadays, to spend time only with the family. Family relationships are strengthened by building a personal schedule, evoking similar energy levels in different categories, which leads to improved character. They reveal the powerful influence and benefit of reinforcing companionship and deepening roots. Daughters often feel misunderstood and try to attract their parents’ attention, and we live in the internet era so that they can be noticed. Family excursions provide better communication opportunities, and children can see how much family is interested in their lifestyle. They share happiness and are together. In other words, family vacations are like a relaxation program, and they truly say that existing family chores are the best.
To begin, family vacations are perfect sessions for enhancing family bonding. Parents who spend time with their children shape moments, build togetherness, and talk to them to make a good society. Family excursions allow children to live in peaceful and calm environments where they can swing their development in perfect equilibrium. We’ve been living in peace away from the institutions that characterize an urban background. Even adults keep personalities that can only be achieved by being together from time to time.
Creating Lasting Memories
The periods of close personal connection have many documented benefits. The majority of therapists who help individuals and families explore their relationships see parents who are more over-committed. Children’s lives are also often overscheduled. While this is not new news, it bears repeating, as the impact of over-commitment has profound implications for family emotional health. To maintain good emotional well-being in a very fast-paced environment, families need times and places to “Be happy together”. What better time and place than a family vacation? The awkward competition for children between families, careers, computers, sports, toys, and peers in cyberspace, to mention just a few of the more voracious offenders for attention, must answer the following questions. Are adults involved with their children? Is there grown-up time with no interruptions? Are families connecting with all members? For how much quality time is each child competing?
These days, it is easy to pick and choose vacation options; however, the money is certainly well-spent when the result is exciting and family fun. Such vacations are able to foster parent-child bonding largely due to the spontaneity of family recreation. Free play, adventures, and the memorable events associated with family vacations seem to increase a child’s self-concept and long-term positive outcomes in many areas. Children cherish the experiences of vacations – for many kids, these trips will be remembered as special highlights of their childhood. Furthermore, family vacations provide a unique opportunity for the family to share experiences that build lasting memories. The reality of vacations is that most of the trip is unstructured, away from our normal routine, when family members find themselves together finally relaxed and attuned to fun.
Improving Communication and Relationships
In addition to building a foundation to improve family communication, family vacations can also allow the family an opportunity to more directly work on resolving basic family issues. This greatly occurs as each family member becomes focused on reducing the stress and irritability that can build up due to their daily lives becoming so terrifying. Although the specific issue may still not be resolved, the family is at least making an effort to address certain issues across the dining room, on the nearby beach, or around the hotel pool. This family bonding experience will greatly help to establish a permanent solution for the issue and make the family an overall healthier and happier family to be a part of. At the same time, family relationships are also greatly solidified by what takes place after these personal issues are solved. These last reasons are why I believe family vacations are so beneficial for families around the globe.
Finally, family vacations are crucial for the reason that they greatly enhance communication and relationships within the family by allowing family members to spend quality time together. This all begins with the basic concept of traveling to new places and, in that way, creating new memories together. Unforgettable events have been shown to more readily make their mark on someone’s life if they are shared with friends and family. Mostly, this occurs because these shared memories give family members the necessary shared life experience to discuss those events and share opinions while reminiscing about that particular trip. This dialogue gives the entire family the foundation to grow closer and more understanding, while also learning more about those who belong to the family. Overall, this will also improve family communication whether on vacation or during everyday life.
Impact on Children’s Development
Both positive individual adjustment and life satisfaction are closely related to the relationship between parent and child. Children who are close to at least one parent are generally better at regulating their feelings, are able to solve social problems better, and report higher self-esteem at school than other peers do. The correlation between family interaction and children’s emotional and overall satisfaction is not an inherited characteristic, which means that positive family interaction healthily fosters the development of a child. Family interaction generally takes a hit during the school periods when teenagers become busier with their own lives. However, during holiday seasons, family interaction increases, thus contributing to their emotional development.
Family vacations have long been documented for their role in improving children’s development in a number of different ways. In fact, they are far more meaningful than the absorption of knowledge in formal surroundings. Family vacations provide the opportunity to create a strong bond between family members, which in turn can help a child grow into a secure and independent adult. It is well noted that strong family relationships act as a buffer to the various challenges that affect a young child, adolescent, or single. Evidence also shows that offspring feel more connected to family members during family vacations.
Educational Benefits
Anything new or different is educational to children and old hands – and family vacations not only specialize in the new, but deliver it in ways that individual initiative often has special difficulty finding. It may take a cruise or a guided expedition in an exotic locale to reveal the plasticity of personality, the effect of change on the senses of children. Some family vacations are structured just to be different, some to capitalize on the moment. Others actually teach purposefully and effectively – geology in national parks, art appreciation in fine European galleries, or basic human relations through adventure camps or elder hostels. Some only work when you least expect it on Sunday morning in a quiet town square of a deserted foreign island.
Family vacations can indeed be sources of powerful, sometimes transformational learning. There are few joys more powerful or sheer pleasures more potent than seeing your child engage in learning, but that is the best we can hope for – to be part of that magic, help nurture it and keep it glowing. And have a good time doing it. Happily, family vacations can create just such great and happy learning environments. Whether learning about cultural traditions, natural history, geography, ecology, human relations, diverse lifestyles, the very forces that created our planet, the lifestyles of the rich and famous, the technologies that feed our needs or the arts of civilization, family vacations, but carry the spark of excitement, plus bits of serendipity, great institutional educators, and knowledgeable, wise, or even clever parents, are highly educational.
Emotional and Social Growth
Moreover, during family vacations children can see their parents away from the daily emotional and work pressures from which they suffer for a large amount of time throughout the year. In a homogeneous society, children are exposed to the social values and taboos of their culture, such as the profession of their parents and the expectations about their future careers. During family vacations, children learn about different cultures and societies and values. The reasons that justify their set of beliefs and values and the validity of their moral expectations about different situations are questioned by the children. Differently from museum-vacations, beach- and mountain-vacations give children the opportunity to learn about the evolution of the physical environment of planet Earth and of living species, this being one of the most important aspects of scientific education, one that is much more important than memorizing the multiplication table.
One of the most important implications of family vacations for children and parents is the family cohesion that results amongst its members. Family vacations strengthen family cohesiveness by offering an ideal setting and ample time for family members (mothers, fathers, children, and extended family members) to share and experience both positive and negative emotions. During family vacations in which family members spend a prolonged period of time together, parents will have the opportunity to interact much more with their children than they normally can during the average working week in a contemporary society, notwithstanding the small period of time they share together during dinner, for example.
Health and Well-being Benefits
Vacationing with the family is also linked to several other positive health behaviors: getting more physical activity, living a longer life, experiencing fewer and less severe unintentional injuries, and having smaller increases in BMI and personal restraint, all of which contribute to overall physical and mental health outcomes. Furthermore, kids who participate in family vacations tend to enjoy a lower risk of excessive dieting and disordered eating, a lower risk of stress and acceleration of brain aging, and enhanced school learning, as well as improved attention, memory, and executive function.
In addition to strengthening family bonds and helping children develop life skills like empathy, self-confidence, and resilience, a growing body of research shows that travel is typically a good investment in your long-term physical and mental health. One study saw marked improvements in stress-related hormones and executive function in women who had not been out of the country in six years. Another concluded that being on vacation can lead to feeling more energetic, less anxious, fewer headaches and backaches, and sleeping better. Over the long term, men who don’t take vacations are 30% more likely to have a heart attack and/or heart disease than those who do – and women are 50% more likely.
Reducing Stress and Burnout
The reduction of stress and burnout continues to gain popularity as one of the most important aspects of enhancing organizational performance and job satisfaction and reducing costly outcomes. The topic of stress reduction will be analyzed using Volere, Maples, Melcher, and Wimberly’s model of stress and burnout in nonprofit organizations. Stress contributes to deteriorating feelings of self-worth and job satisfaction while putting pressure on the employees and their families. Better attention to stress and the resulting burnout directly relates to an employee’s well-being and organizational effectiveness and has an impact on the family of the nonprofit employee. The resulting burnout may create an enormous strain on the workers and their families by affecting their emotional state and personal and family life. It may result in hindered job performance, which can affect the organization’s bottom line and could have the nonprofit missing an opportunity to do great work if they exhaust their fiscal resources and are unable to raise new funds. The stress and burnout model is an important one to consider when addressing the need to consider employee well-being and the benefits that can accrue to the organization and the employees and their families.
Whether you choose to believe us on the importance of family vacations or not, please at least understand the significant influence that they have in our lives. As human beings, we should certainly emphasize family and understand the consequences of working too hard and forgetting to play. It’s difficult to argue with the belief that our attention to family is and will remain one of the most powerful forces on our planet.
Each of us has different expectations and hopes for a family vacation. What that simply identifies is that each of us has a different idea on the most important aspect of “importance”. For children, that is fun (duh!). For parents, it might be more about the education. Of course, the goal of our studies would be to not only provide the best information to our individual families, but also take in, and appreciate, the observations of others. We only get to do that big vacation a few times a year, through an entire lifetime with their kids. Each new family vacation should be a new adventure.