When finding out you’re going on a family vacation, the initial reaction is something along the lines of “Wow! That sounds like so much fun!” However, as the trip begins, you start to realize that the trip isn’t exactly going the way you thought would in your head. The worst part is that this happens with almost everyfamily trip you go on.

Long Car Rides

Expectation: If your family vacation requires a long car ride, whether it’s 3 hours from Ft. Lauderdale to Disney World or 12 hours from Miami to North Carolina, you expect it to go a little something like this: music playing loud, everyone singing and dancing along, having a good time, eating some snacks, and everyone enjoying each others’ company.

Reality: What really happens during these long car rides is this: you’re either sleeping or eating, your parent drives the car and plays old people music, you and your sibling are fighting over food, and there is someone in the car asking, “Are we there yet?” every 5 minutes.

Meals

Expectation: Breakfast, lunch, dinner. All are great times to gather together, talk to each other, catch up on life, and talk about your days, right?

Reality: Wrong. Meals are actually great times for every person in the family to sit on their phones and text their friends, catch up on social media or emails, and not pay attention to anyone sitting at the table with them.

Taking Pictures

Expectation: Everyone is very posed, smiling big, probably with a scenic background.

Reality: Nobody really wants to take a picture; they just want to have fun! The smiles are only half smiles and everyone’s thoughts are, “Fine, let’s get this over with.” And of course, there’s always that one person that just doesn’t want to cooperate, making everyone else annoyed.

Family Activities

Expectation: When you hear the words “family activities,” that clearly means that everyone will be taking part in said activities and enjoying them all together.

Reality: While the expectations might be true for some family activities, other family activities are not necessarily the same situation. Some members of the family might want to do one thing and the others might want to do something else, splitting up the family and making these activities more like “half-of-the-family activities.”

Nights at the Hotel

Expectation: A night in means quality family time together. Everyone will probably watch a classic movie that we’ve all seen a billion times but never gets old or play a game of some sort.

Reality: After a long day full of activities and food, everyone passes out in their beds. No conversations, no movies, no games, just sleep. But it’s okay because everyone is perfectly content with sleeping.

The End of the Vacation

Expectation: As the vacation comes to a close, you would expect to be hearing and/or saying some of these phrases: “I never want to leave,” “We HAVE to come back soon,” and of course, “Can we please, please, please stay a little longer?” I mean, who wouldn’t want to leave a vacation?

Reality: Let’s be real, though. While family time is great time, after a long period of time constantly being surrounded by them, it’s nice to finally be getting home and spending some time alone (or with friends).