5 Easy Ways to Love on Your Friends & Family from Out of Town Over the Holidays

Do you have out of town family and friends coming in town for the holidays??

We have always been the out of town family and friends.

Our entire adult life we have lived out of town from most family and friends.  About 95% of the time, we are the ones to travel to family on the holidays.  We are lucky that our extended families live in the same city since Kevin and I grew up together.  It makes it easy for us to travel to one city and see tons of family and friends in one spot.  We are well aware the most families have to split up and divide holidays.

I thought I'd share some simple tips with you today to help you make your out of town family and friends feel extra welcome and comfortable this holiday season.

1. Take into account their schedule
Are they on a different time zone and used to doing things at different times?  Are they trying to see a lot of people while they're in town?  What are the things that are on the top of their to do list when they visit?  Do their kids nap?

We usually travel from East Coast time zone to Central time zone.  It makes evenings a little trickier because we're used to eating and going to bed one hour earlier than the people around us.  This means that we love earlier dinners to make sure when have plenty of time to visit before the kids need to head to bed.  This also means the adults are extra tired because our kids are waking up early.


2. What are their favorite local spots?
Do they love a local donut shop?  Have a favorite pizza place?  Do they want to go to stores that they don't have in their city?

Ask them and make sure to try to hit up all their favorite spots.  Offer to go pick up donuts for breakfast or make plans to have dinner at their favorite spots.  We always have favorite foods and favorite stores we like to visit when we go out of town.


3. If your out of town guests are staying with you, ask them for a little grocery list.
What foods do they or do their kids love to have around?  What do they like to snack on?

It's so nice not to have to get in town and head straight to the grocery store.  My mom and Kevin's mom are both great about asking for some grocery list items from us so that when we arrive the kids the milk they like to drink, their favorite snacks and fresh fruits.  If you are needing a lot of groceries, you could also do a grocery pick up order and ask a family member or friend to pick up your groceries before you arrive.


4. Make sure your set up is comfortable and cozy and think through transportation

Ask your guests what they need to feel at home - blankets, towels, temperature, shampoo, extra toothbrush, kid beds, alarm clock, night light, sleeping bags, etc.  Offer up lots of options and just have them accessible to guests.

We fly with car seats and end up renting cars sometimes when we travel.  We've also borrowed cars and shared cars when we are in town.  Most of our family lives about 2 hours away so we have gotten into the routine of road trips where we have our own car.  But, there were MANY years where our visits required being picked up at the airport, sharing cars when we were in town and needing a ride back to the airport.  Air travel is so expensive and we really appreciated not having to have the added expense of transportation during those grad school years.  Plus, it's a fun holiday bonus to be greeted at the airport by family and friends.


5. Ask your friends and family when YOU can travel to see THEM.

We travel for most holidays and birthdays so it's a treat when family asks to come visit us.

We pick some holidays to stay home, but we love to celebrate with family and have made the choice to travel regularly to see them.  We have had lots of fun day trips over the years when people are passing through our city or are excited to come and see where we live.  We have been visited by former students, family, friends, church friends, etc.  Sometimes it's just a quick meal together and other times it's an overnight stay.  We love having guests come to us!  It's so fun to show the people we love our home, our city and visit with them in our space.


What other things would you add to my list??


We had an unexpected day off of school so my mom and sister offered to come up and spend the day with us yesterday!  It was wonderful

Cute cousins