Is long-range summer planning really that insane?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get it. I am generally pretty type B but have gotten anal about planning summers, since we love to take trips but have a lot of moving pieces between older girls who go to sleepaway camp, annual trips with extended family, and a younger boy with mild CP. My husband usually needs to request time off a year in advance at his job, and my time off is more limited, so we try to maximize every holiday for longer trips. My DH is taking DD for a 13th bday trip in August 2025. We are going to Oregon and northern CA in 2026. Lol.

Why is that funny?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep a list of camps and vacations for the future. For instance, two years ago I learned of a rocket camp that I think my daughter would love, but she has to be 11 yo. So I'll suggest it to her for next summer when she's old enough.

I plan vacations the same way--we won't book that far out but I have a list of ideas ready and sorted and penciled in.

Can you share the rocket camp?

We have a rough list of things we are interested in doing, generally prioritized. I know a lot of things may change with new sports/activities.

She might mean 12 - Space Camp turns into Space Academy at that age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two kids left at home, rising 6th and 10th graders. As long as I allow for flexibility when the time comes, how crazy is it to work out a general summer plan for the remaining summers with them? I'm not talking about buying plane tickets or anything, just something like, "So in 2026, DD will attend Camp Fun Times in June, DS will head to Camp STEM, and in July we'll fly to California to visit Death Valley" or whatever. I'm finding the years are getting limited, and there's so much they and we still want to do. DH thinks signing kids up for summer camps in April of the same year is "planning too far ahead," so my perspective is a little off and I could use unbiased comments.

If you are more flexible with what you want to do and less worried about specific programs you can wait. There are other choices that require you be proactive and book far in advance. No you are not crazy, unless you go to Death Valley in the summer. I have a rough plan in my head for the next bunch of summers. DS has some specific things he would like to do that require advance planning. He is in Scouts and is looking at high adventure camps (local and national) and several of those camps require registering a few years in advance, Philmont and Northern Tier. You have to put down a deposit, like $200, to hold the spot for a crew but you need to do it far in advanced to get the better programs.

We also travel to a good number of National Parks and many of those rquire booking rooms at the lodge the day that they open, which can be a year to 6 months in advance. We backpack and need to plan out what routes we want to take and back up routes because permits can book up the day they open. DH gets online the minute that the slots open, put in out request, checks out and when he goes to see what might still be open they are booked. There are limited space in the lodges at places like Glacier and Yosemite and Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, they fill up fast. Yellowstone is a bit better because they have a bunch of lodges in the park. Heck, Arches requires a permit that is setat a specific day and time to enter the park. Glacier requires a permit to enter specific sections of the park. Zion you cannot drive on the main drag during the busy season, you have to shuttle.

Death Valley is a fall or spring trip, don't go during the summer. There is a ton of great hiking and beauty in Death Valley and you will see little to none of it during the summer. Same for Joshua Tree. Sequoia is great in the summer, cooler and beautiful. Awe inspiring. Yosemite is a congested nightmare unless you get out of the valley.

If you want to visit a region in general and you are not worried about activities selling out then you probably don't need to plan as much. If you want to visit specific locations and have specific ideas about what you want to do then you need to plan further out.

[Anonymous]

We have done this for vacations since our oldest entered HS. We also book travel on points which often requires booking 11-13 months out for best availability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two kids left at home, rising 6th and 10th graders. As long as I allow for flexibility when the time comes, how crazy is it to work out a general summer plan for the remaining summers with them? I'm not talking about buying plane tickets or anything, just something like, "So in 2026, DD will attend Camp Fun Times in June, DS will head to Camp STEM, and in July we'll fly to California to visit Death Valley" or whatever. I'm finding the years are getting limited, and there's so much they and we still want to do. DH thinks signing kids up for summer camps in April of the same year is "planning too far ahead," so my perspective is a little off and I could use unbiased comments.

If you are more flexible with what you want to do and less worried about specific programs you can wait. There are other choices that require you be proactive and book far in advance. No you are not crazy, unless you go to Death Valley in the summer. I have a rough plan in my head for the next bunch of summers. DS has some specific things he would like to do that require advance planning. He is in Scouts and is looking at high adventure camps (local and national) and several of those camps require registering a few years in advance, Philmont and Northern Tier. You have to put down a deposit, like $200, to hold the spot for a crew but you need to do it far in advanced to get the better programs.

We also travel to a good number of National Parks and many of those rquire booking rooms at the lodge the day that they open, which can be a year to 6 months in advance. We backpack and need to plan out what routes we want to take and back up routes because permits can book up the day they open. DH gets online the minute that the slots open, put in out request, checks out and when he goes to see what might still be open they are booked. There are limited space in the lodges at places like Glacier and Yosemite and Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, they fill up fast. Yellowstone is a bit better because they have a bunch of lodges in the park. Heck, Arches requires a permit that is setat a specific day and time to enter the park. Glacier requires a permit to enter specific sections of the park. Zion you cannot drive on the main drag during the busy season, you have to shuttle.

Death Valley is a fall or spring trip, don't go during the summer. There is a ton of great hiking and beauty in Death Valley and you will see little to none of it during the summer. Same for Joshua Tree. Sequoia is great in the summer, cooler and beautiful. Awe inspiring. Yosemite is a congested nightmare unless you get out of the valley.

If you want to visit a region in general and you are not worried about activities selling out then you probably don't need to plan as much. If you want to visit specific locations and have specific ideas about what you want to do then you need to plan further out.

Word?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep a list of camps and vacations for the future. For instance, two years ago I learned of a rocket camp that I think my daughter would love, but she has to be 11 yo. So I'll suggest it to her for next summer when she's old enough.

I plan vacations the same way--we won't book that far out but I have a list of ideas ready and sorted and penciled in.

Can you share the rocket camp?

We have a rough list of things we are interested in doing, generally prioritized. I know a lot of things may change with new sports/activities.

She might mean 12 - Space Camp turns into Space Academy at that age.

No, I meant 11 yo.

Virginia Space Flight Academy
[phone]
https://g.co/kgs/7juqD6z

[Anonymous]

I do this too. I am a planner. Part of my job involves planning. My DH is not a planner. Like someone said above, I am the person who fits the puzzle pieces of schedules together.

Historically, we went on vacation at the end of summer, when daycare closed and it was hard to find camps. Now that kids are older, we can get away without camp the week before school starts. And I’m thinking ahead to high school when a kid might want to be here the last few weeks of summer.

[Anonymous]

My kids are way younger (4 and 6) and I still do this. I am already thinking about when each kid will start sleepaway camp, which is several years out. And assuming they like it, that limits our summers basically for the rest of their childhood. Summers are SO short and so precious, I want to make sure I am really thinking about how we want to spend them.

There are a few bucket list trips I want to take the kids on, but - for example - our 2025 trips are already all completely locked in, just due to family stuff and a specific trip a friend wanted us to take, so it feels like if I don't really think proactively about this, we'll run out of the time to do the trips we want to do. And some trips are better suited to spring, or winter, so I keep that in the back of my mind as well.

I am also very aware that life happens and plans change, but I just want to minimize regrets, I guess. I'm like this about a lot of things in life and tbh it's served me well. It's easy for me to think in terms of years and decades. My H is the opposite, it's hard for him to imagine anything more than 6 months out. Both approaches have their pros and cons.

[Anonymous]

No harm in planning this outing your head if you don’t tell them about it or put any money down. A year ago my kid was all about going to this specialty camp he found. It would be this summer. When the time came to apply, I was surprised to hear he had no interest anymore.

[Anonymous]

No. It is not insane. My kids did not go often to sleep-away camps when they were in ES and MS. Rather, they went to specialized day camps - academics, EC coaching, interest, volunteering opportunity, new skills, sports, competitive etc. Most of these were limited capacity but also quite affordable camps. I had two kids and I was only one who was doing dropping and pick ups. So, it meant planning, spreadsheets, keeping track of enrollment windows, and also overbooking. I also booked with their friends so that my kids had company and it was fun.

A lot of research went into finding out the opportunities as well as creating opportunities. I also wanted to make sure that I was being purposeful about the opportunities and that my kids also enjoyed it and could see its utility. It had to spark joy in my kids as well as be affordable and help in cultivating their interests and helping them in their college admission journey and beyond too. All of that meant doing my homework way in advance.

My kids are in college and they have been getting competitive internships since freshman year. Both in summer and during the academic year. What they have learned that they have to begin the search almost a year early and they have to apply to a couple hundred positions before they get one or two offers. So, I feel that the discipline and process that I followed gave them a blueprint to follow in their HS and college years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are way younger (4 and 6) and I still do this. I am already thinking about when each kid will start sleepaway camp, which is several years out. And assuming they like it, that limits our summers basically for the rest of their childhood. Summers are SO short and so precious, I want to make sure I am really thinking about how we want to spend them.

There are a few bucket list trips I want to take the kids on, but - for example - our 2025 trips are already all completely locked in, just due to family stuff and a specific trip a friend wanted us to take, so it feels like if I don't really think proactively about this, we'll run out of the time to do the trips we want to do. And some trips are better suited to spring, or winter, so I keep that in the back of my mind as well.

I am also very aware that life happens and plans change, but I just want to minimize regrets, I guess. I'm like this about a lot of things in life and tbh it's served me well. It's easy for me to think in terms of years and decades. My H is the opposite, it's hard for him to imagine anything more than 6 months out. Both approaches have their pros and cons.

You:

“Summers with my kids are short and precious!”

Also you:

“I can’t wait to send my 8 year old away for summer camp!”

[Anonymous]

It makes sense to me. I have a rising 10th grader and rising 5th grader. I don't go as far as planning camps, but have rough ideas of how we want to spend Christmas, summer and spring breaks. It's a juggling act at this point to get in the things we want to do - visit family, school trips and other commitments like sports, college visits, vacations at our usual spot(s) and vacations that the kids want to take (national parks) - and stay in budget given looming college costs.

[Anonymous]

Planning is how you make sure your actions line up with your values. That doesn't preclude your values evolving for all kinds of reasons....

Don't tell your DH that I've looked up all available future school calendars to see when winter and spring breaks fall and their lengths to get an idea of which bigger trips to take when. Or that I have a spreadsheet with all relevant (potential) future dates like college (kids are in elementary) and retirement sketched out and tried to figure out available money between now and then can be allocated to different goals.

I have all kinds of lists of of things I want to do (locally or travel or even fun activities at home that you never get around to unless you're intentional) and I've asked my kids where they want to travel. I couldn't keep it all in my head, though!

[Anonymous]

We typically plan 6-9 months in advance, but I also have a rough plan of the places I'd like to travel as a family.
For ex, I have a work conference in Seoul in 2026. So we're planning to do a 2-3 week trip to Korea and maybe Japan. My son has been wanting to go to Japan since forever and my older daughter has wanted to go to Korea for a while too.
This will impact summer 2025 since we don't have a ton of money. We wouldn't travel overseas and do something cheaper.

[Anonymous]

We plan our summers in November the year before because that is when camp re-registration begins for pur kids' traditional camp.
It is July and I am worried about Christmas plans and fall trips.
I will be planning spring break in October.
🤷🏻‍♀️
I love it and it takes time to put pieces together for a busy family.
You are not weird OP, but your husband is unaware of the emotional labor you contribute. That would bother me, too.