School Year Calendar
To outsiders, many points and travel enthusiasts like to make things more complicated than they need to be. But points fans who look in the mirror every now and then can probably appreciate that, too. While the complications we bring on ourselves (and maybe others) may bring more rewards or status, such hijinks don’t apply to everyone all the time. Our Rube Goldberg tendencies don’t need to permeate everything. Simple works, too, and I remind myself of this often. One such area is how the school year calendar, and more specifically timely use of it, informs our family travel planning. Today, I describe why it’s our constant go-to. But first, allow me to set the scene.
Our Situation
My family of four includes my wife and our two little ones. When our kids were itty-bitty, we were okay pulling them out of school once annually for a longer vacation (about a week for us). But as we had intentionally planned, we nixed that routine a few years ago. Of course, all families are different. We found the costs outweigh the benefits in our situation but know others come to alternative, understandable conclusions for their families.
Consequently, our children’s school year calendar plays a primary role in how we form our family travel plans.
The School Year Calendar: Our Ongoing Guide
I anticipate the annual release of the next school year calendar probably more than any other school information. While the exact release date varies, we invariably receive the following year’s calendar around the middle of the current year. With it comes instant clarity for the next year. And, when possible, we make timely decisions on our longer-term family travel options. Let’s explore that a bit more.
Focusing on the Known
We simplify our lives by following these fixed schedules. I don’t put much time into family trip planning if I don’t know our school schedule for the year. Once in a good while and when demand warrants, I might make a speculative, cancellable hotel or flight booking in a matter of minutes. But generally, I don’t do anything beyond that. I know that I might miss out on certain “deals” by tapping out, but I’m just not a fan of putting hours into something that, more than likely, will become obsolete once that school year calendar comes out.
Living in the Moment
I’ve also found that consciously avoiding longer-term family travel planning removes unnecessary distractions. It’s easy for travel planning to become all-consuming for certain individuals, a group to which I belong. Others can handle the now and the future simultaneously, and bravo to them! But I know that doesn’t work as well for me, at least in terms of family travel planning. When I’m bonding with my kids, the last thing I want to think about is that possible trip 15 months from now.
A Quick Strike
More than any other time, my wife and I discuss our family travel plans ASAP after the release of the next school year calendar. That’s because we have the clarity to make more concrete plans. Among other items, we talk about calendar wrinkles where we can cleverly fit in shorter or longer trips while appropriately spacing them out.
I can then more confidently jump on specific hotel and flight bookings, maximizing my opportunity to find availability and deals for trips we’ll actually take. It’s not as likely my actions will be for naught. On the flip side, the new school year calendar release allows me to cancel any conflicting reservations I have, if any.
Conclusion
I know I’m not discussing anything groundbreaking here, but that’s the point. Consider all of the tools and resources you can access – some are very obvious – to bring simplicity and clarity to your life. And, yes, some of those same tools can help you pick up that award flight, hotel, or status you’re considering. Plus, in addition to school year calendars, consider the extracurricular activity schedules for everyone in the family. That’ll bring even more clarity to when and where you should focus and avoid spending your precious time.
What tools have you found most beneficial for family travel planning?
When my kids were growing up, we also used the school schedule to plan vacations. Unlike other area’s of the country, we live in a potato growing region, so the school opened in August with the trade off being they were released from school during potato picking season. Many of the school aged kids worked in the fields picking the potatoes to earn money for the family. They would be off after the 3rd week of September and come back after Columbus Day.
Because of this, I would usually plan a vacation during that time period. We had some great trips including some to almost empty theme parks (more rides, less congestion, cheap hotel point rates). This school schedule disappeared during the 2010’s due to the use of mechanical harvesters and kids being forbidden to work on these harvesters due to child safety laws. It was great while it lasted, though, for many families who needed that income and built strong work ethics from the back breaking work these kids did.
Now my kids are grown up and my wife and I are retired. My travel schedule these days isn’t restricted by a school or work schedule anymore, though getting older usually means medical appointments to take care of the things neglected during those working years. However, most of those things can be rescheduled. Last week, my wife and I cleared our schedule and we’re heading out this Thursday(after a doctor’s appointment of course) for a 10 day driving vacation. We have an idea of where we’re heading, but no clue where we’ll end up each night. With all the point’s I have with most hotel chains, I’ve never yet had a problem finding a hotel using points.
Good stuff, Bill!
I do the same. Once the school calendar is released I note the important dates on our family calendar then work from there. Same, when our first was young we pulled him out for one week while in Kindergarten then realized it was NOT WORTH it for us. Catching up on homework was daunting. Our kids like us like stability adding another layer of stress to catch up on homework for our family was just not worth it. We started to save more $ for travel because it really does cost more when you travel when most other families do too! But we enjoy the time more than before. We call it Hakuna Matata time. It is the cost of being a parent and we don’t complain about it. Sometimes it means cutting our vacation by a day or 2 due to flight prices/$ but for us it is worth it. We have a few friends that their kids do well with pulling them out and they can quickly catch up with homework – they take trips when it is low season.
Great perspectives, Nancy! Thanks for reading.