Seems like you see your job as Julie on Love Boat. You really are not responsible for them all having a good time. Don’t take that on. It is vacation, not a task order.

By now don’t you know if you prefer beaches or mountain? History or nature?

Have a family meeting. Everyone has to come with 1-2 appealing options . You all discuss and then people vote (or parents decide ). Stop acting like their travel agent.

(PS-this is good experience for your teens. They can search online or ask their peers.Your husband can also do 20 minutes of research if you are willing to spend days making reservations, choosing accommodations, etc).

Don’t accept the status quo.

I’ve been to 120 countries. What do you want to know?

Think about past trips and what made everyone happy? Was it a city? National Park? Are road trips fun or boring? My family liked outdoorsy places that we could stay near some good restaurants and easily find ice cream! They were used to long car trips as long as there were some fun stops.

If no one is weighing in heavily then I would just pick places that interest me.
That could be the food, the art, outdoor activities, the evening entertainment.

I've traveled enough that I'm less and less interested in sightseeing (do not need to see any more churches in Europe) and more interested in how the locals live. I do ballet and play jazz so if the dates line up, I like to see a ballet and visit a jazz club.
I hike so might choose a place to do a trek.

But I travel solo so I don't need to worry about whether others are satisfied or not -- it would be a pain to do all the planning because no one else will and then have them complain! I wonder if that is the issue for OP, and not that she needs a muse.

OP - I feel the same way. And we end up doing nothing or pretty lame trips because we don't make any decisions and then have no time to plan anything. We still don't know what we're doing in August. Last August we ended up going nowhere and just visiting family.

Anonymous wrote:OP, don't you have a muse? I think you need to get in (better) touch with yourself. Know yourself better. Strangers aren't going to be a replacement for that.

While I think the phrasing is off, I agree with this poster. I also got an AmEx plat b/c I like looking at nicer hotels at a "discount" and their "international travel partners" program is nice.

Flights to London and staying there through AmEx was so inexpensive. 1600 for 4 tickets. Nice hotel for 4 at a net of 300/nt (after deals factored in).

Kids want China, Japan, Korea and Australia so I"m saving points for lay flat seat upgrades to one of those places.

I also like a nice spa experience for me so when we get travel necessitated by family, I plan in a half-spa day. Nobody objects b/c I plan the entire trip. What you want may be different but I start with what I want. good luck. Looks like you can do almost anything.

OP, don't you have a muse? I think you need to get in (better) touch with yourself. Know yourself better. Strangers aren't going to be a replacement for that.

We made a list and put it on the fridge. Then, we look and see which one would be the easiest to do.