Spending time with your family can be both fun and crazy, and if your family is anything like mine, vacation is great until you are sick of spending every waking moment together. Pretty soon, the headphones come out and everyone wants their own little space in the car. Families are great and we love them, but when you put the whole family in a car for a week, things can get pretty tense. Throw in an issue with the GPS and you may as well jump out the window! Instead of losing it, here are some tips for not only surviving the monster that is family vacation, but actually enjoy each other’s company. I will be trying these out myself when my family heads to Cape Cod in a few weeks.

1. Share Responsibilities

From finding a hotel or rental to booking flights and finding directions, trips can be stressful to plan out. Most of the time, when my family goes on vacation, the parents are left to do all the less glamorous things that ultimately make the fun parts of vacation possible. In order to cut down on the stress, have each member of the family take responsibility for one aspect of the trip. The vacation will go much smoother if people start out with less stress on their plates.

2. Find a Balance

One thing that I find makes a vacation less successful is when every little thing is planned out. Having a rigid schedule to make sure you see every single museum and landmark may not be the best way to do it. But, you also don’t want to be stuck somewhere without much to do. Plan one or two things at most for each day of the trip, or even leave a whole day unplanned to relax and enjoy wherever you are visiting. This will give everyone something to look forward to, but if you want to go explore that side trail or need a spur of the moment trip to the mall, you won’t feel rushed to do some fun things on the side. Leave room for spontaneity!

3. Personalize Your Fun

Everyone has their own thing that makes them happy. Maybe you need time for exercise or you need time to read. You might desperately want to get a tan while someone else really wants to see the new Jason Bourne movie. Make sure there is enough time to do something that will make each person happy. Then everyone will love at least one part of the vacation.

4. Splitting Up, Not Breaking Up

Do not be afraid to split up on family vacations. Let the kids go off on their own and do something they want to do, and give the parents a night off to spend together. Give people alone time when they need it and it will cut down on the arguments that are usually about absolutely nothing.

5. Take Photos

Photography is my favorite way to document memories (other than writing) because when you look back on the trip, you will remember the good times you had with your family. Just make sure you prioritize what should be photographed. Do you really need that photo of yet another wild flower? Probably not. But mom on a mechanical bull? That is a must.

Family vacations can be a blast if you take into consideration that not everything goes according to plan. So buckle up and get ready to have fun on your next family vacation. But pack your headphones, just in case.