Traveling as a single parent with kids in tow can be a daunting challenge; just keeping your children happy and amused is enough of a problem, and enjoying yourself at the same time might see downright impossible! If you've never considered hiring a family guide, you should know that they could make the difference between your holiday becoming a hectic, tiring ordeal and it being a splendid experience that you and your kids will treasure for years to come.
We've examined the best strategies for choosing and vetting a qualified family guide, based on your particular needs and vacation destination. Now that you've done that, let's take a look at the many ways that your family guide can assist you in pulling off this vacation with all the bells and whistles.
From the time you shake hands and sign a contract to the moment you say goodbye, your family guide will be an invaluable aid in planning and executing your vacation. Some of the tasks you can expect of your guide are:
1. Planning and Packing. Family guides are most useful when they have some firsthand knowledge of the area you're traveling to, so with any luck, your guide is chock-full of good ideas regarding your locale. Give them some leeway in choosing embarkation and arrival times, schedules, reservations, and picking from the many sights and activities that you'll have available to you when you get there. They'll also be able to help you pack up, and choose what to take that you might otherwise have overlooked, and what you thought you might need but should really just leave behind.
2. Just Enough Privacy. Of course, you want to spend lots of time with your family, but as a single parent on holiday, you should take the opportunity to get out and live a little just for yourself! A family guide can be your surrogate kid-sitter for an evening when you just want a little you-time, and don't want to worry about making sure everyone is well-fed, teeth-brushed, and tucked-in at the end of the night. You don't get too many of these chances as it is, so let your trusted family guide handle the routine while you dip out to a spa or a night on the town, secure in the knowledge that your children are in good, safe, experienced hands.
Though you'll want to be kept abreast of anything that happens while you're briefly away, it's a good idea to have your family guide sign a confidentiality clause that prevents them from discussing the behavior or activities of anyone in your family with anyone outside of it. That way, you can get the full report on your kids' behavior during the night you spend dancing or the day you spend at the spa, but feel assured that the information will never get beyond your own ears, which is just as it should be.
3. Personalize and Adjust. A good family guide will have their own style of leading, but should never be so rigid that they can't adjust themselves to suit the needs and desires of you and your kids. Whatever it is you want to do, whatever sights your kids want to see or fun activities they want to experience, the family guide should make it his or her priority to sculpt the itinerary, pace, and course of the vacation to meet your needs :not the other way around.
4. Plan Objectives. Maintaining your kids' enthusiasm can be a full-time job in itself, and aside from setting a proper pace to the trip, your family guide can help keep everyone's spirits running high by casting it as an exciting opportunity for your children to see, touch, taste, and experience all manner of amazing new things not available back where you come from. You'll be able to relax more fully knowing that your brood isn't being dragged from place to place, but is chomping at the bit to see new sights or try a dish they've never had, and remaining open to all the fabulous things you've worked so hard to provide for them.
A family guide can provide all these services and more :just think how much work you'd be in for with just your own set of hands to accomplish all these things, and still leave room for you to squeeze in some enjoyment on your own. Next time you're planning a vacation, be sure to consider hiring a family guide, for everyone's benefit.
We've examined the best strategies for choosing and vetting a qualified family guide, based on your particular needs and vacation destination. Now that you've done that, let's take a look at the many ways that your family guide can assist you in pulling off this vacation with all the bells and whistles.
From the time you shake hands and sign a contract to the moment you say goodbye, your family guide will be an invaluable aid in planning and executing your vacation. Some of the tasks you can expect of your guide are:
1. Planning and Packing. Family guides are most useful when they have some firsthand knowledge of the area you're traveling to, so with any luck, your guide is chock-full of good ideas regarding your locale. Give them some leeway in choosing embarkation and arrival times, schedules, reservations, and picking from the many sights and activities that you'll have available to you when you get there. They'll also be able to help you pack up, and choose what to take that you might otherwise have overlooked, and what you thought you might need but should really just leave behind.
2. Just Enough Privacy. Of course, you want to spend lots of time with your family, but as a single parent on holiday, you should take the opportunity to get out and live a little just for yourself! A family guide can be your surrogate kid-sitter for an evening when you just want a little you-time, and don't want to worry about making sure everyone is well-fed, teeth-brushed, and tucked-in at the end of the night. You don't get too many of these chances as it is, so let your trusted family guide handle the routine while you dip out to a spa or a night on the town, secure in the knowledge that your children are in good, safe, experienced hands.
Though you'll want to be kept abreast of anything that happens while you're briefly away, it's a good idea to have your family guide sign a confidentiality clause that prevents them from discussing the behavior or activities of anyone in your family with anyone outside of it. That way, you can get the full report on your kids' behavior during the night you spend dancing or the day you spend at the spa, but feel assured that the information will never get beyond your own ears, which is just as it should be.
3. Personalize and Adjust. A good family guide will have their own style of leading, but should never be so rigid that they can't adjust themselves to suit the needs and desires of you and your kids. Whatever it is you want to do, whatever sights your kids want to see or fun activities they want to experience, the family guide should make it his or her priority to sculpt the itinerary, pace, and course of the vacation to meet your needs :not the other way around.
4. Plan Objectives. Maintaining your kids' enthusiasm can be a full-time job in itself, and aside from setting a proper pace to the trip, your family guide can help keep everyone's spirits running high by casting it as an exciting opportunity for your children to see, touch, taste, and experience all manner of amazing new things not available back where you come from. You'll be able to relax more fully knowing that your brood isn't being dragged from place to place, but is chomping at the bit to see new sights or try a dish they've never had, and remaining open to all the fabulous things you've worked so hard to provide for them.
A family guide can provide all these services and more :just think how much work you'd be in for with just your own set of hands to accomplish all these things, and still leave room for you to squeeze in some enjoyment on your own. Next time you're planning a vacation, be sure to consider hiring a family guide, for everyone's benefit.
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The original article can be found here: Outdoor Adventure Tours in Guatemala. Read more on Guatemalan Adventures.
