When you think of spring break trips, Mexico surely makes the list, right? And yet, perhaps you haven’t considered the Los Cabos.

This beautiful destination is located at the sunny tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, and so it enjoys island-like isolation from the US and mainland Mexico. Los Cabos is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, desert regions and the pristine Sea of Cortez. Bustling Cabo San Lucas is the area’s largest city, which also boasts gorgeous beaches, exciting nightlife and many favorite activities. Cabo has earned its reputation as a 24-hour town, as its clubs, restaurants and nightclubs always keep things happening for the party-goer.

Dustin Alcaraz, dubbed the Spring Break King of CaboVillas.com stopped by our site recently to give you a heads up on some of the best accommodations for spring breakers in the Los Cabos area. This should help you and your friends decide where to book reservations based on your spring break goals and your college budget.

First up is the Hotel Santa Fe, which you’ll find right in the middle of downtown Cabo, just a short jaunt to the boutiques of the Puerto Paraiso Mall, restaurants, nightlife and the many activities of Cabo’s world-class marina. Based on maximum occupancy, room rates start at $26 per night/per person and include a mini-kitchen, which – if you gathered at least a few cooking skills from home, can save you a boatload on dining out.

If Cabo’s waterfront activities are the biggest draw for you, consider the all-inclusive Riu Santa Fe resort, located on the end of famous Médano Beach. Besides its prime beach location, this hotel is only a short taxi ride from all the best Cabo nightclubs. All-inclusive rates start at $124 per person/per night and they include a variety of meal and drink options.

Serious party-goers, take note. Me by Melia Cabo is for you. Home to Nikki Beach Cabo and Passions Nightclub, this resort is located on the most popular part of Médano Beach directly adjacent to all the daytime fun. Me is a celebrity favorite as well and a short walk to the exciting nightlife Cabo offers. Rates start at $120 per person/per night.

If near Medano Beach is the location for you, Villa de Mario, with rooms starting at $32.50 per person/per night, might be even more your style. It’s located only a block from ME by Melia Cabo. Perfect for group travel tours, these 3,200-square-foot villas can sleep up to ten comfortably, and each offers a private pool. This villa offers the best of both worlds. It has privacy but at just a short walk to Cabo’s nightlife you’ll also have accessibility to all the action! Take heed though. With so much going for it, advance booking is a must for Villa de Mario!

With prices somewhere between the last two offerings, Dustin’s next pick is The Giggling Marlin Penthouse, a privately owned condo located above the famous Giggling Marlin Nightclub. At 3,600 square feet, this cono can comfortably sleep you and seven of your friends. It is located just steps from Cabo nightlife and a short walk to the beach as well. Rates for The Giggling Martin start at $75 per person/per night. And adding to the convenience, they include a full kitchen and a balcony.

This is just the beginning, of course. Los Cabos offers many accommodations perfect for your stay in this spring break destination. And there’s so much more to learn about the activities this beautiful place has to offer. Next time you and your friends are discussing the spring break trip of a lifetime, consider the Baja Peninsula and Los Cabos.

Senior class trips are a great way to celebrate the end of your long career as a student – you know, before you begin a shorter career as one. High school is a wonderful accomplishment, and you should celebrate how far we’ve come, how hard you worked, and how well you and your friends have stuck together. It’s the beginning of great things as well – endless possibilities and exciting goals. It’s good to get away together to be thankful, to celebrate and relax, and also to look forward.

Hopefully you’re familiar with educational travel through your school. Field trips add such a great dimension to learning, and there are tons of great places out there for this theme. But senior class trips tend to be more celebratory in nature. You know – more Splash Mountain, less Epcot. Here are five great destinations for that kind of trip . They’re fun and exciting, and they’re proven as a great choice for students.

1. L.A. is always a thrilling idea for students. Hollywood has made Los Angeles an exciting place for the film industry. Students love the idea of touring the Hollywood Walk of Fame, standing on the grand staircase at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, and maybe even glimpsing some real live celebrities.

The Kodak Theatre is a new classic in Hollywood. It’s the permanent home for the Annual Academy Awards. But perhaps even more relevant to this age group – the American Idol finale also films there. There are museums with Hollywood memorabilia and, of course, the Hollywood sign itself for great photo opportunity.

You can’t beat L.A. for its weather. It’s gorgeous almost year-round and very near the beach. There are also a lot of great amusement parks in the area, including Knott’s Berry Farm, Six Flags Magic Mountain, and Disneyland. Los Angeles would be a fun choice for any senior class.

And speaking of Beaches . . .

2. Virginia Beach is one of the best beaches in the country with its three mile boardwalk offering public access to the sand and surf and places to rinse off afterward. The beach is perfect for everyone’s favorite water sports and seaside activities. There is also an amusement park with a few thrill rides, including a sky-high fling-and-spin sensation called Skyscraper.

Virginia Beach also has a great park called Motor World devoted to auto racing that includes miniature golf and paintball courses. Busch Gardens is one of the best amusement park franchises in the U.S., and you’ll find its Europe-themed park nearby. And there’s a great shopping center as well as a mystery dinner playhouse. There are all kinds of wildlife facilities and nautical/maritime museums too. But who wants to go to a museum on their senior class trip? There’s no roller coaster there!

3. What about a cruise? A cruise offers many destinations, but you only have to unpack once. Plus, the mode of transportation is an entire vacation in and of itself. Swimming, surfing, rock climbing. Entertainment and dance clubs – sometimes even specific to youth. A cruise would be highly motivating for the fundraisers too. Think Royal Caribbean theme nights with talent shows made to imitate cruise-line entertainment.

4. Can you say aloha? Of course, a trip to Hawaii is for the seniors who had the foresight to be saving for a few years. But the thrill of this trip will be worth it. The Hawaiian islands have vibrant colors, landscapes that will take your breath away, and waterfalls to discover. There are so many beaches there, students could spend their time just exploring those. Still, Hawaii is packed full of activities as well.

Hawaii is perfect for groups that want a little adventure with their fun. It offers snorkeling and scuba diving opportunities, helicopter rides and mountain hiking. You can even swim with dolphins or explore Diamond Head. Pearl Harbor Memorial is a must for Hawaii student tours where they can see The USS Missouri docked toward the place where the USS Arizona rests underwater.

Hawaii as a graduation trip – can you think of anywhere more amazing?

5. And we can’t forget Orlando. The Disney theme parks were designed for the kid in all of us, and they have an entire night just for graduates. Disney Grad Nite provides the perfect party with rides open late, entertainment, music and dancing. The Disney parks have so many attractions, a group could never see them all on one trip. But Orlando isn’t only Disney, also showcasing the Universal Studios parks, Sea World, and – of course – beaches.

If you’re looking for exciting and popular, one of these five destinations might be just the ticket. Maybe in another post we’ll stretch our imagination and help you discover the most unique choices for graduation trips. Just remember, the ultimate goal is to celebrate with your friends – and you can do that anywhere.

At one of our favorite restaurant experiences in New York City this spring, I overheard this from one of our team members who helps arrange New York student tours for all ages:

It’s so disappointing when every restaurant on a group’s itinerary is one of the fast food or family-style chains they could eat at where they’re from. You’ve got to eat local when you travel if you want to get the most out of your experience.

Not even having as much as experience as that team member, I have to heartily agree. None of my restaurant experiences were poor on our trip – what can I say, I really like to eat. However, my favorite experiences, HANDS-DOWN, were those with a little local culture. We were lucky enough to meet owners and managers throughout our trip, and this added to the experience as well – giving any restaurant a more personal touch. This was sometimes made possible for us because we send so many groups around the country, including to various restaurants that want more group travel business. But if you eat local, meeting the owner or manager is much more likely no matter who you are.

I found this blog post today about food in other cultures and the powerful impact food has on defining any given culture. This is another strong argument for eating local. Why do we travel except to discover new things and to gain unique perspective? How we eat is a huge part of that.

I remember traveling to Colombia, South America, in my college years. I was ridiculously nervous about the venture – not yet desperate to see any more of the world than my own small corner of it. And maybe, if I’d had the sense to, I would have dreaded the unfamiliar menu. I didn’t quite have the sense though. Our host families did have that kind of sense though, and an amazing thoughtfulness. Instead of learning about their culture through classic Colombian dishes, we were often fed hot dogs and “Coke” to make us feel at home. Of course, as you can imagine, even the hot dogs and Coke are different in another culture. I also remember a unique bean dish or two, the difference in their ice-cream (so smooth and soft – like whipped cream!), and an unfortunate eight-day repetition of scrambled eggs with cut-up pork inside. (On the eighth day, I was tired of the eggs and my roommate was tired of the pork, so we attempted a transfer. It didn’t go so well.)

Back then, I felt so grateful for a group of people who wanted us to feel at home. But now I’m far more interested in exploring what makes a culture unique. And I know you’ll agree – food is just the way to begin.

I’m fascinated right now with the power of the internet to connect us.

I recently traveled to New York City, a place I’d dreamed of visiting for several years. But even as I dreamed of traveling there, I wanted it to be more than just a tourist stop. I wanted to belong in some way. Fortunately for me, that happened, and I have the internet to thank for it.

My trip to New York City included two first-time, face-to-face meetings with colleagues – and friends – I met over the internet. Both meetings were highlights to my trip. And just as I’d hoped, I now felt I owned a little piece of ground in New York City. It will always be a part of me now.

I’ve recently found a ton of new travel friends through twitter, and I can’t wait to learn about places all over the world through their eyes. And for the next trip I plan, I’m convinced I can find real people who’ve been there or who live there and know a hundred things about it that I need to know. Here’s what I mean:

There’s an entire travel community on Twitter. If you’re an adventurer, if you want to go more places than you’ve been, twitter’s a great place to start. You’ll find all kinds of people who’ve been to those places you want to see. You’ll find people who have twitter feeds devoted to those destinations. And you’ll find people who, like you, simply want to go. Twitter’s a great place to stop feeling alone.

Second, if you have a question, someone out there has the answer. Twitter is the new water cooler. Once you’ve established a place there, you’re known and you’ve found people you trust, this is the place to ask your questions. “Hey friends, where’s the best place to eat in San Francisco?” “Know of any cheap hostels in or around London*?” If you follow enough travel types, you’re bound to get several answers to questions like these. You can even wait for a twitter chat about travel so you know several travel tweeps are listening.

Finally, choose a few great connections and really invest. Ever notice how difficult it is to build strong friendships with several people at once? I.e., you’re not going to be best friends with every person in your dorm, every member of your major, or every person at the party. And if you don’t discover which people you really connect with and then actually build those relationships, you won’t really be friends with anyone. Similarly, with the social marketing boom of the last few years, many of us have managed to have hundreds or thousands more friends than before but far fewer meaningful relationships. More simply doesn’t mean better.

So pick an interest for starters. Focus your twitter feed and your blog on a niche. Comment on blogs that fit the niche. Follow people on twitter within that niche. Etcetera. Next, discover those within the niche who have even more things in common with you – the person who writes and lives in a small town like you do or who lives in the same city or goes to the same school. Find the person who shares your faith, your penchant for drama, your obsession with movies or literature. Then build those relationships. There are lots of ways to do it, private message them, visit their blog frequently and comment often, retweet their interesting thoughts. Cultivate real relationships – as real as possible with two computers and a cyber-universe between you – and then when the time comes that you need a friend in a real life, or a person to meet in an unfamiliar city, you’ll have it.

Travel doesn’t have to be a lonely pursuit. Make friends, then make the most of the friendship. Isn’t connection one of the reasons we travel in the first place?

*Hostels are a great choice for European student travel tours, but we all know most are great and some are awful. Definitely utilize experienced travelers for advice on them.

Do you ever feel alone? If you haven’t, I’m not sure you’re a part of the human race. We’re excellent at feeling alone. We can feel alone when we grow up with too many siblings, alone on an airplane, alone in a crowd. And definitely, definitely, we can feel alone in our passions.

Writers, for instance, are known for this. Writing is a lonely job, we often say. Just me, my computer, and the movie soundtracks on Pandora. Then, inevitably, we find a critique group or an agent or – every writer’s dream-come-true – an editor. And suddenly we’re not alone anymore. By the time a book gets its cover art, we realize we’re just one part of a massive team.

Similarly, adventurers feel alone. Some of them sort of like it that way I think. We want to explore the world in order to observe it, not so much to have it sharing hotel rooms with us and choosing where we’ll eat. But how much more amazing could your lonely trip to Somewhere be if you first connected online with people who are there, or if you connected during the trip with people who wish they were. And for goodness sake don’t try to plan group travel tours without a little help from someone who’s navigated the chaos and decision-making of that organizational nightmare. Find people who can help. Twitter is an excellent resource for that.

Because the thing is, while we’re feeling alone, so is everyone else. Not one of us is truly alone. Someone out there has a job like ours, a passion like ours, a family like ours. Someone has been there. Someone can relate. If we feel truly, terribly alone then either we have too high an opinion of ourselves, or we just haven’t reached out.

Enter Twitter. I’m a travel writer who doesn’t get to travel very much (husband, kids, budget, not-in-the-job-description – you get the idea). And I felt really alone in that. Until Twitter. I’ve found a wealth of other travel writers there, a plethora of adventurers who are taking the journeys I haven’t taken but that I want to learn about, plus a ton of people who love to travel more than they actually do.

Twitter is about to launch a redesign that is supposed to be more user-friendly, making it easier to find new and valuable information without ever leaving the website. Until that day, or in preparation for it, try these Twitter tips for getting connected:

1. Be who you are.

I have two twitter accounts, the one for personal use with lots of followers I know in real life. This one points to my personal blog and is vaguely focused on the writing community and book publication but really just focused on me in all my roles – wife, mom, writer, blogger, cancer survivor, observer of life, etc. Because I had this account I really struggled with building the account for my day job as a travel writer. I felt like focusing on that one part of my life was like withholding part of the truth. Not so.

Many people have various twitter accounts for their unique interests. And I’ve now realized that isn’t just possible, it’s preferable. People want to know what it is they’re following. Your bio should tell them. If it’s largely an account for your business, say so. If you want to give advice about the travel industry, let people know that’s the plan. If you’re looking for advice from others, open up about that too. Now I have a twitter account for my writer persona and one for my travel one. I feel fully a part of both communities. Every now and then I follow a person with both accounts, but usually the two worlds never meet. According to recent statistics, Twitter signs up 370,000 new users every day. That’s a large community, and you should be reaching out to your part of it.

2. Be valuable.

I used to think Twitter was largely created for a night on the town. I took the “what are you doing?” question literally and understood that individuals often used it to let their peers know where they’d be at a certain time for drinks, etc. Now Twitter has become the New Media. It’s a place to find out what articles, photos, and blogs are truly of interest, especially in a given field. If someone you’ve been following for a while tells you there’s an interesting article on Paris excursions, you’re likely to believe them.

Therefore, do your best to fight – tooth and nail – the urge to describe your morning bagel. There’s certainly an audience for this. We all do it sometimes. But mostly, people what to learn, to grow, and to weed out all the noise on the internet in order to find the treasure. Help ‘em out. Use your feed sparingly throughout the day so you don’t fill too much of a person’s homepage, and use it to point to things that matter.

3. Search, search, search

I’ve been so thrilled with the travel resources I’ve found through Twitter. You can learn so much about any given subject just by finding the people tweeting about it. How do you do it? Search. Choose terms specific to your interests and see if you can find people tweeting about it in real time. You can also use the Find People feature to look for feeds specific to travel, writers, business, social media, etc. Also, when you find a website you love or a blog, they probably have a twitter feed. Look for the little blue bird or other Twitter icon, and add them immediately. It can be invaluable to you to learn on Twitter every time the blogger updates their page.

4. Lists

Once you find someone well-established in a specific field, see if they’ve built lists with fellow members of the group. Lists can help you find hundreds of tweeters answering the questions you want to ask.

Bottom Line

Don’t go it alone. There’s an entire community out there that wants to hear what you have to say and that wants to talk about the things you love. Find them, connect, tweet. It’s as simple as that.

**If travel’s one of your passions, follow me @shesgoingplaces and discover all kinds of fellow adventurers on the web.

It’s not often I get to give travel advice about a topic with which I’m so unfamiliar. But yesterday Twitter had a great travel chat about cruises, and I’m bringing you some of the exciting details.

We specialize in student travel around here, especially spring break trips, and cruises are actually a great choice for students, and other group travel tours too! They have a lot to offer – tons to do on board, many ports, one-time unpacking – to name a few. They can be very cost-effective considering all that you’ll see (although you’ll see from what I learned that the money really isn’t spent for this vacation until it’s over). And they’re unique. They give your group a creative way to stay together most of the time but spread out when necessary. They’re something most people want to try at least once. And they increase your places-I’ve-been list by several destinations in one fell swoop. Without further ado, here are the tips I saw pop up more than once from people who’ve already been aboard.

Thoughts on Room and Board

When asked for advice, right away the chat members had thoughts on where to stay on your cruise. Apparently, the outside rooms – those with windows and/or a balcony – cost more. This is no surprise really. But most advice-givers highly recommend the upgrade. No one gave specific reasons for this; it seemed to be a given. I do imagine it preferable for most people to have a view. And if you suffer from claustrophobia at all, an interior room probably wouldn’t help.

There were two notable exceptions to the advice that an outside room is worth the upgrade. The first is if you suffer easily from motion sickness. Some people feel an interior room on a lower to midway level could help this. Another person, anxious to save you bucks where necessary, suggested that if the cruise is worth its salt, you won’t be spending much time in your room anyway. If you’re busy at the buffet and with the activities and the exciting ports, who needs a view?

Bring the Money

Theoretically the charm of a cruise is the all-inclusive aspect. Many places, many days, many activities – one price. But one of the most common pieces of advice I saw, once touted as true for travel of any kind, was this: Take half the clothes and twice the money.

Most alcohol is not included in the price of a cruise, so there’s that to consider. Many cruises offer gambling too, and it’s not like a roll of 20-spots will be placed on your pillow at night. Plus, for many people shopping is a favorite part of the ports you’ll visit. I guess we each know our own limits and our travel style. And a person can probably get by without spending a lot on a cruise. But, from food and drink to gifts and expensive souvenirs, there will be ample opportunity to open your wallet in case you want to keep that in mind when you’re filling it.

It’s All About the Cruise You Choose

I think the best advice I heard had to do with the size of the ship you choose. Many people probably think, the larger the ship – and the more expensive – the better. But that’s not necessarily true. It all depends on your travel goals. The advice given was this: Bigger ships have more to do on board while small ships will visit more ports, and more interesting ones. So if the water slides and midnight buffets are your greater interest, the many things to do on the ship itself, then go big. If, however, you’re looking forward to the shore excursions and you’re hoping to find them as crowd-free and unique as possible, a smaller ship is your bet.

Along these lines, do your research. There are online websites and forums (like twitter chats, for instance) that can help you choose the right cruise company for you. Travel professionals could also be invaluable for this purpose.

Finally, one more tidbit about cruises that I found to be probably very, very true: Pack some Dramamine. You really don’t know if you’re the seasick type until you actually get on the sea.

Photo by blmiers2 on Flickr.

I know. The title to this post is just really bad. But it does make the point.

I’m fresh off a spring-time visit to Washington D.C. for a look at some of the attractions we often include in itineraries for educational student tours. And this – the topic of this post – is one of the things I noticed on my visit. Throughout Washington D.C. there are famous grave sites, sometimes expected – like those at Arlington – and sometimes completely unexpected, like that of Helen Keller, which I’ll get to later. Some are famous because they are empty, and the ongoing discussion about whether or not they will remain so, is completely inspiring.

Washington D.C. is known for its many places of reflection, namely its beautiful monuments and memorials. And the reason, I guess, for a memorial is to keep the person alive and a part of the world in some way. Similarly, the famous grave sites in Washington D.C. draw our attention to people who’ve gone before. And they often make us desperate to learn more about the person’s life and all they left us. Suddenly, students are driven to their history books and to research. They want to know about the person they’ve seen memorialized and the events that made them famous.

Here are some Washington D.C. grave sites – empty and not – that inspired me to greater understanding about the lives they memorialized.

George Washington

This guy’s burial history is a fascinating story. At Mt. Vernon, the home he owned and loved, you’ll hear all about it. You’ll see his original tomb and his newer one that’s a beautiful memorial holding both his and his wife’s caskets.  A ceremony occurs there daily. The other fascinating thing you’ll be told there is that a catacomb was also built in the United States Capitol meant to hold George Washington’s body. Martha Washington at one time agreed with this plan. But as it stands now, the discussion is still (technically) open, and the family maintains Washington’s body should remain at Mt. Vernon.

The Kennedys

John F. Kennedy’s grave site in Arlington is a popular memorial in this city filled with them. It is marked by an eternal flame, around which surrounds the interesting trivia that we’re not exactly sure where the idea of the flame came from. Gettysburg says it was them, Jackie Kennedy maintained it was inspired by a similar flame to unknown soldiers in Paris. Robert and Ted Kennedy are buried nearby, providing more interesting dialogue about what it takes to be buried in this prestigious cemetery.

The Unknowns

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is probably the most famous grave site in Washington D.C. (Technically, Arlington, of course). And students love its basic history – that it contains the remains of soldiers from several wars, remains that could not be identified, and that it therefore symbolizes all the men and women who die in battle but cannot be identified. Yet, still more interesting facts must follow. For instance, there is no soldier’s remains to represent the Vietnam War, because those that were there at one time have since been identified. This is a great chance to connect one educational attraction to another when students can see this soldier’s name on the Vietnam wall, once marked as missing, now found. Our guide went so far as to suggest we should never have an unidentified fallen soldier again, thanks to the marvelous strides in DNA testing.

Helen Keller

I was pleasantly surprised to see a statue of Helen Keller in the United States Capitol. Her life and accomplishments fascinate me and the idea that her hard work and embrace of life even as a child made her such a memorable figure that there is a statue of her – as a child – in our most revered public building. In the same way, I was moved and amazed that her final resting place is in the breathtaking National Cathedral. If students haven’t learned much about this woman before their visit to these two places, they’ll certainly want to know of her now.

It’s an amazing thing to imagine giving something to the world so great that it remembers you after you are gone. These places of reflection and inspiration make a wonderful addition to any educational tour.

It’s after 3 p.m. on the Friday of Labor Day weekend and I’ve got that wonderful holiday on the brain. But where do people travel for Labor Day? They go home. Most people want to spend this aptly-named holiday doing the opposite of labor. On it, we want to relax. We want to spend time actually enjoying the people we’re with rather than just bumping into each other to accomplish the things we want to do. We want to eat, lounge, and nap. We want to take advantage of what might be one of the last weekends hot enough for the pool. That’s Labor Day. So what does a travel writer have to say about it?

Well, here’s my idea. There’s an art to successful group travel, and let’s face it: You’ll probably spend a bit of this weekend in a group. Here are some tips I’ve learned from group travel tours that might be just the ticket to make your Labor Day smooth, meaningful, and totally hassle-free.

Pick a leader

This may seem obvious in a family, but listen. If Mom or Grandma doesn’t or can’t take charge for the family gathering, somebody’s gotta. Hopefully there won’t be as many decisions to make at the family barbecue as there would be on a tour of New York City, for instance, but there’s still a huge benefit to having that one person everyone looks to when the decisions are a draw. When should we eat? Hire a babysitter and go to the movies or watch the marathon on t.v.? Kids upstairs or down? Where do they fill the water balloons?

I’m just saying. Questions will arise. Somebody has to take responsibility for the answers.

Be Flexible

Like rubber band-flexible only more so. This is the ultimate key to hanging out in a group, especially if you want to get anything done. Things go wrong. Inevitably one person is going to have a stronger opinion than you. And there’s just so much to consider. Take it upon yourself to not care. Find your inner comic relief – that person in a movie or television show who doesn’t take anything seriously, can break the tension in any given room, and lets anything and everything roll right off their back. You’ll have a more peaceful experience if you do, and everyone around you will too.

Common denominators are your friend

For group travel, I like to recommend a theme – something the group can agree on as a basic focus for their trip. This makes it easier to choose which attractions to include. And when you’re in a family gathering, though everyone will hopefully follow the classic conversational rule of avoiding difficult topics, it’s important to find common denominators. Think of things you can all not necessarily agree on but at least that you can all converse about and feel a part. Keep things positive. Keep them light, if necessary. And learn to steer a conversation toward those common themes when things get too one-sided or tense.

Spend at least part of the day together

For group travel, you’re bound to hear these words at least once, “Let’s all meet back here at….” And yet, when we get together as a family we might spend the entire weekend separated by gender or age or other group dividers. I come from a lot of faith on all sides of my family, so we usually accomplish the togetherness thing at the very least before meals when we gather to pray. If that’s not a part of your family tradition, there are many other ways to bring everyone together. How about cards? A Pitch tournament or Nertz (have you heard of Nertz? SO FUN) are both perfect for family gatherings. Maybe your family members all love movies; gathering around a big screen tv totally counts for togetherness. And since it’s Labor Day – the ultimate outdoor holiday – there are tons of  other options. How about kite-flying or a family softball game? Volleyball is always a favorite for large groups too.

No one wants their entire weekend scheduled – that’s why we have Labor Day, after all. But don’t be afraid to organize at least one big moment that gathers the whole clan for a similar activity. They might grumble and complain at first, but they’ll thank you in the end. (At least, they’ll want to.)