Grandparents can be a huge blessing when parents are overworked. They often dote on children more than anyone in the family, make for excellent babysitters, and can even take the children on holiday by themselves. There isn’t a parent in the world who would turn down a week or two of holidays from their children! These kinds of holidays can be great, and can create loving familial bonds across the three generations.

Of course, as with anything, there are some organizational issues that might not be obvious at first but they can complicate things quite a bit. The issue of arranging this is a bit more complex than it may seem at first but I’m going to break down the entire process into small segments and explain the issues you will be facing, so that you know how to handle them correctly.

Choosing the right destination

The right destination can make a holiday spectacular, whilst a bad decision can turn a week of leisure into a disaster. First of all, you need to make sure that the older part of this traveling party gets all the comfort an elderly person would need while their younger counterparts get all that they, as youngsters, find interesting. Bungee jumping and wine-tasting should be off the menu.

Of course, the whole thing needs to be adapted to meet the needs of the children’s age. A six year old child isn’t going to find the same things interesting as a twelve year old child. The key point is striking the balance between the two sides so as to avoid conflicts around how boring a three hour long museum trip can be to the kids or how exhausting a whole day at an amusement park can be for the grandparents. An all-inclusive arrangement is probably your best bet because you get prearranged activities adapted to all ages.

Taking care of the legal issues

When grandparents take children on a holiday or any other kind of trip, they need to have notarized Child Travel Consent. This is a legal document that confirms that you are authorized to take the child on a journey and you can do it online. It is also very important to have both yours and the child’s identifications in the form of a passport or some other personal document with a photograph.

It is also recommended that you take care of all the insurance issues before you go. You should cover medical insurance, insurance in case of baggage loss and theft of personal items. You should also register your travel plans so it is easier to find and contact you in case of an emergency or natural disaster. You can do it online and your information are strictly protected. There has also been minors traveling alone, but we’ll leave that for another story.

Preparing for the trip

Lack of preparation is the number one mistake people make when going on holiday, and you should be doubly safe when its grandparents and grandchildren going. Especially when traveling abroad. It’s a good idea to learn a bit about the culture and customs you’re going to beforehand, as it can save a lot of time, money, and in some cases, embarrassment.

If you are unsure that you can handle the cultural difference or the language, it is much smarter to get a travel guide. This is also a good idea if you wish to lighten the age gap between the kids and the elderly by adding somebody the kids will view as “cool” and the elderly as reliable.

The parents

It can sometimes be a bit difficult for parents to let go of their kids, even to their own grandparents. Worries that the grandparents will struggle to manage them, or that the kids will go wild or get upset without their parents around are often unfounded. Kids love new experiences, and grandparents are often only too willing to spoil them!

Simply making in sure that they can be contacted wherever they go, and that they have good insurance should anything go wrong, is often all you need to do to keep things safe.

If you pay attention to these things your journey should be a smooth sail.

Michelle Lee is an ex-journalist and a blogging beginner from Perth. Although she is a working mom, she finds time to research and study the topics that are important to her, which are mostly health related. Having dealt with autism in her family, she understands what is really important in life, but she still enjoys “girly” stuff like fashion and cooking. Follow her posts @ecellulitis