Summer is fast approaching and that means lazy days by the water, cookouts and lightning bug chases at night, and if you’re lucky, maybe a vacation that includes drinking fun drinks out of a coconut. If you have kids, you know they are counting down the days until school work is put away and alarm clocks are shut off. There is a good chance your family is also asking when you’re going to come visit again. Let’s face it, even if you did get to travel home for the holidays it’s likely your parents are doing the whole, “But it’s been so long since we’ve seen you!” thing already.
So what do you say when a trip home just isn’t in the cards this summer?
1. I Can’t Afford It
If the reason you aren’t planning another cross country trip is because the wallet just won’t allow for it, be honest! Don’t go into debt just to go home. My husband and I don’t have children and still spent a pretty penny flying from the east coast to the west coast to visit his family last summer. I can only imagine how hard it can be for families with multiple kids to make that trip.
Explain to your family as tactfully as possible what kind of schedule you all have set for traveling. My husband and I live on the east coast. His family is all west coast. My family stretches from Virginia to Florida to Louisiana. It is not possible for us to visit everyone that doesn’t live right around the corner from us each year. So we made an agreement that once a year we visit family that requires plane tickets and we alternate which family that is from year to year. That means last year we went to Idaho and this year we’re planning for Louisiana.
And maybe the financial reason has to do with a bigger vacation in the works. Are you and your hubby trying to save up for the honeymoon you never had? Is there a big family reunion in the works for the fall? Are you trying to surprise the kids with their first trip to Disney? If these things are already being budgeted for then that’s wonderful! Don’t feel bad because you are trying to make the most of your vacation money. But do be honest about it because when you start posting pictures of the trips you take, your family will see it and ask how you could make it to Jamaica but not come home.
