One Thing We Did Differently on This Trip With Our 3 Kids

When you take three kids on a trip, you spend a lot of time managing logistics, headcount’s, and moods. But when you strip away the group dynamic even for just two hours you notice things.

If you’ve traveled with multiple kids for more than five minutes, you already know the universal truth of family vacations is compromise.

On a recent trip to Spain, we decided to try something different.

We ditched the full family itinerary for 1-on-1 dates: one parent, one child. No siblings, and no compromises. Just picking one thing catered 100% to what that specific kid loves.

Here is what that actually looked like in real life:

When you’re the youngest, you spend a lot of your life fitting into the older kids schedules and wants. So for our youngest, we went big on pure, unfiltered wonder: a actual submarine ride. I’ll admit we were both hesitant to go on this. But after a little research and reassurance we set off!

Seeing his eyes light up as we went almost 100ft below the surface was worth the price of admission alone. There was no pressure to rush, no older sibling butting in, and no distraction. Just full-on, uninterrupted focus on his excitement.

If you’re ever in the Canary Islands, Submarine Safaris lived up to the hype!

Our middle daughter has a love for dancing and music, so her date was all about that: a private Flamenco dancing class.

Watching her step into something brand new, laugh through learning the footwork, and completely own the moment was magic. Doing it 1-on-1 meant she could be fully present without worrying about anyone else watching or judging. It wasn’t just a fun activity, it helped build her confidence and inspired her interest in Flamenco for the rest of the trip! We spent the next week hunting for the perfect Flamenco costume to bring home and watching and actual Flamenco performance.

If you’re ever in Seville, we booked this Flamenco lesson experience though Airbnb Experiences with Romina and she was great! Here’s the link.

For our oldest, sports are everything. So his dream date was a tour of the massive local soccer stadium.

Walking down the tunnel, seeing the field from almost ground level, and talking strategy while walking through the stadium was a really cool moment of the trip. It wasn’t just about the stadium though, it gave us the time for uninterrupted real conversation about things he actually cares about and a break from his siblings.

• Zero Compromise: The kid got to take the lead. They didn’t have to yield to what a sibling wanted to do.

• Undivided Attention: In our family of 5, getting 100% of a parent’s focus without distraction is rare. It didn’t really matter what the adventure was, it was the solo time together that really made it special.

• Core Memories over Co-existence: We love to experience things together, but these personalized dates keep coming up when people ask what their favorite part of the trip was, reminding us the importance of a little 1-on-1 time!

  The Logistics of Making this Work":

  • We gave the kids a physical “ticket”: To reveal their 1-on-1 date, we made a physical ticket and handed it to them before we headed off (a freebie for paid subscribers below). It really built up the excitement before the trip and they were counting down the days until their adventure.

  • We tag teamed the activities based on our own interests: Dad did the submarine and the soccer stadium tour and mom did the Flamenco lesson.

  • We pre-booked and pre-scheduled these adventures: We wanted to commit to making them happen.

  • It doesn’t have to be fancy: To be honest, our kids would have been just as happy grabbing an ice cream solo with one of us. We never realized how special a little one-on-one time would make them feel.

    

Want the ticket template to print your own tickets for a 1-on-1 date with your kiddos? It’s a perk for paid subscribers below. Thank you for supporting our little channel!