It can seem like a great idea to gather a group of friends and family members for a mass migration during the holidays, but unforeseen complications tend to crop up when you bunch together various groups of people with different routines, financial resources and quirks.

Posting at Always the Planner, Lindsey offers several tips on how to avoid letting your vacation becoming a hellish reality show.

A sampling:

*Put someone in charge. Things will work better if a point person can make some trivial decisions, set agendas and mediate disputes that emerge.

*Meet beforehand. A pre-trip summit can let people air out pre-conceived worries, such as sleeping arrangements, morning routines and plans for meals, activities and sight-seeing.

*Keep it short. It seems logical to get the most out of your time off from work by staying at your destination as long as possible. But after a few days, the law of diminishing returns sets in and you’ll start to get sick of whoever you’re stuck with. Keep the trip to less than half a week and the vacation will seem like more of an adventure than a slog.

If you have a group travel horror story, share it in the comments.

10 tips for group travel planning [Always the Planner]

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