"We manage our relationships depending on how busy we are and then suddenly we assume that seeing lots of the people we love will be better, but we actually find that we discover their more annoying traits."
So how can we avoid holiday fights? Judi explains here:
Plan for peace
Judi said: You need to actually strategically plan for peace.
Identify the fact that there will be these huge flashpoints and find ways to avoid them because what usually happens is that people secretly plan for the war. They plan for what they'll do if little Jimmy dares to do so and so, which is just harvesting irritation.
We even set traps. You can see people at the airport waiting for the first whinge, waiting for auntie to say what she usually says. Instead, you should identify when it happens and then try avoidance techniques.
Act like you would do with work colleagues
Use the skills you'd use at work, things like team-building and negotiation.
People go on holiday to get away from things like that but it is often when you need it the most.
Think about who will create good teams and start negotiations before you go away, for example, give people notebooks and get them to say what they want to do the most on holiday.
People forget that teens go on holidays to pull partners and older people might not want to go on the beach, so they end up dragging young people around doing awful things that your parents used to do to you as a kid.
Build up anticipation
It is important to build anticipation. We enjoy holidays the most when there is a sense of anticipation about going back to a favourite restaurant or visiting a place you have been reading about.
Kids love anticipation, they'll go in the middle of a field with three goats and enjoy it if you have built it up.
Try not to let one person dominate
There will always be some alpha character in a family group who is adamant that everybody has to be in a good mood and nothing puts people in a bad mood more quickly than that.
Don't say "you look miserable" because parents have a knack of doing that to their kids, which makes being cheerful impossible.
Kids will cheer up but not if you identify it - you lose face if you cheer up when someone tells you to.
Everyone who goes on holiday has probably spent a lot of time being dominant in their own world, at work, at school or wherever. Then suddenly you all get together and have a different pecking order.
So it's important to give everyone that bit of respect that they get in their own lives.
Be flexible with timings
Often someone gets in a bad mood because timing goes wrong.
Timings are always the first problem, so always make yourself very time easy by over allotting timings with people.
Plan games to keep it fun
You know people will get bored travelling, so be some sort of games organiser but also get the kids organising games before leaving.
Put the kids in charge of games as they love to be in charge of things.
Negotiate iPhone usage before the trip
A big irritation is that kids become welded to iPhones and don't want to communicate.
There needs to be a very heavy negotiation way before you go on this - often people don't say anything until they get there and then they have a go.
A couple of weeks before you go, everyone needs to sit down and have a negotiation discussion.
Instead of telling someone off about how much they are on their phones, say "we love your company and want to make the most of that". There's a way of saying it in a flattering loving way.
- Daily Mail
