We do all the time—many long weekends a year and a few weeks. We have a lot of close friends

Never. And I would never even entertain the idea of doing this, to me it seems like sheer madness. But maybe I'm just a Grinch.

I love vacationing with other families! It’s more fun for my kids and for us. The key is to find the right people and be really transparent with expectations.

Anonymous wrote:We have each kid bring a friend (started when they were 11 and 13) rather than invite an entire family with us. Just to the beach, camping, Williamsburg, etc. When we went to Europe and Alaska, that was just family.

We do this. We invite the child only

We have each kid bring a friend (started when they were 11 and 13) rather than invite an entire family with us. Just to the beach, camping, Williamsburg, etc. When we went to Europe and Alaska, that was just family.

We vacation a lot with close friends. The key is to vacation with people with similar vacation styles. Once did it with a very sedentary family and never again. They slept the morningd away and were such a drag. The family we primarily go with likes to run, ride bikes, swim in the ocean, eat healthy and is very active and likes to explore. Our kids are the exact same age too and same gender. It works out great

There are very few families we would do this with though.

We do vacation with close family and close friends. However, we keep these vacations to short breaks. Never more than 3 - 4 days. (the exception is my sister who i am very close to). The reasons the vacations work are because DH and I are very relaxed, we dont regulate kids fights when they fall out among themselves and are generous (split bills, pay more than our fair share). We also make sure we get a large enough house with lots of space for everyone. So far it has worked.

We dont vacation with friends who are lovely but we dont think we can spend more than an evening with at a stretch.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never
Vacation is family time.

Agree. Love my friends, but not for vacations.

THIS.

We have an only child and vacation with very close friends with a child of similar age. We enjoy it.

Camping with friends is good.

If the vacation is with kids then we always try to go with friends. It doesn't always happen but we always try.

Anonymous wrote:Never
Vacation is family time.

Agree. Love my friends, but not for vacations.

We sometimes do. Each family gets their own suite at a resort and the kids go back and forth. We switch off dinner responsibilities and babysit all the kids once each. It’s not hectic but we have calm kids.

Never
Vacation is family time.

How often do you go on vacations with other families (close friends) who also have kids around this age? We used to vacation as just a family but I think my kids might like to go with some of our family friends. They often ski together, go to the beach together, etc. Do many people do this? We are in a position where we might be able to finally afford it, but don't know if that ship has sailed since our friends kind of have a routine by now. But, before re-opening the subject with them I just wanted opinions from those of you who have experience on (1) how common it is and (2) how well it goes, how hectic it is. Or do most people vacation just as a family?