Some of the best trips I know of started with one simple question: what if we didn’t do the same thing this year?
The holidays aren’t just for sitting around the fireplace anymore. These days, more and more families are skipping the traditional at-home celebrations and heading off on a festive adventure instead—and honestly, I get it. Whether it’s the chaos of prepping or just a craving for something new, holiday travel is having a moment.
No hosting. No overstuffed schedule. No debate over whose house, what time, and who’s bringing what dish. Just the family, somewhere new, with nothing to do but actually enjoy each other.
Holiday travel has quietly become one of the most meaningful ways families spend the season together. And once you’ve done it, it’s hard to go back.
The reason it works so well is simple. You are removed from the usual distractions. There’s no to-do list waiting at home, no neighbors to wave to, no laundry calling your name. It’s just your people, a new place, and time that actually feels like time.
Families are doing this in a lot of different ways. Some head somewhere warm and trade the usual winter chill for a beach, a pool, and a slower pace altogether. Others lean into the season and go somewhere that does the holidays beautifully — European Christmas markets are especially wonderful for this. Cities like Vienna, Strasbourg, and Prague transform completely in December, with lights strung across medieval squares, mulled wine warming your hands, and the kind of atmosphere that feels genuinely festive rather than manufactured. If that style of trip appeals to you, my guide to Europe’s top Christmas markets is a good place to start.
Others skip the winter theme entirely and go somewhere completely different — a ski resort, a national park, or a place the kids have been asking about for years.
What all of these trips have in common is that they create something lasting. Not just a good memory, but often a tradition. Families who travel together over the holidays tend to keep doing it because the experience of being somewhere new together is hard to replicate at home.
A few things that make holiday travel work well: booking early matters more than almost any other time of year since availability gets tight quickly, keeping the itinerary lighter than you think you need to gives everyone room to breathe, and letting each person in the family have some input goes a long way toward making the trip feel like everyone’s.
If you’ve been thinking about doing something different this year, this is usually the nudge people need. The planning is more straightforward than it seems, especially with the right support behind it.
I’d love to help you put it together.
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