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“We’re ten hours from the fun park and you want to bail out. Well I’ll tell you something. This is no longer a vacation. It’s a quest. It’s a quest for fun. I’m gonna have fun and you’re gonna have fun. We’re all gonna have so much fun we’ll need plastic surgery to remove our smiles. You’ll be whistling ‘Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah’…” You probably know how the rest of this quote goes and recognize a few missing expletives from the above…

Sound familiar? Sound like a summer vacation in your family? I recently went on a vacation with not only my immediate family, but 15 other members of the clan as well. The stories from the trip are legendary, and the laughs endless. As much as would love to share the hysterics of the Knowles Family Reunion with you, I will keep it to myself to protect the privacy of my family, and ensure we get back the deposit from the rental house/car and are welcome back to Kiawah Island next year….:)

While every family might not be as amusing as the Griswolds (or mine), we all can appreciate the American pastime of the family summer vacation. With staycations and free entrance fees at National Parks (even President Obama is a fan) the new rage, family vacations are back in style. The “Today Show” did an entire series on “Hitting the Road” inspiring families across the country, while SmarterTravel.com recently cited family vacations, road trips and classic destinations among the top travel trends of the summer.

So what makes a family vacation fun, and what makes it horrible enough to make it the LAST? Is it the people? The wood-paneled station wagon, or a flight to an all-inclusive resort? Is it the alone time with that one relative that never stops talking, the car breaking down, or the tears in the waiting line? Who knows? Just as the late John Hughes showed us in his numerous movies documenting family dynamics on the road; it is a compilation of the good, the bad and the ugly; all three combining to make it truly unforgettable.

I hope you all have the chance to make that family summer vacation this year, whether its to the  local amusement park or Hawaii, make it happen. Make it a quest for fun, just like the Griswold family did…