Family vacations are about more than the destination they are also about the memories that you can make together and part of that comes from staying in vacation rentals that encourage family bonding.

Do you remember the excitement around family vacations when you were young and your parent's woke you up before dawn to hustle you in your blankets still half asleep into the back of the car? Or the subsequent long drive to the mysterious destination that was just long enough to annoy your sibling that sat next to you in the back seat by 'not touching" them? You may not even remember where you ended up but you probably remember the time with your family fondly even now.

If you're like most American families you work hard and play hard and now that you're the adult in your family you probably try to emulate those same family vacation memories for your kids. By keeping the family tradition alive and well, you show your kids how important it is to play together as a family.

Planning your time together should be fun and relaxing and that is a combination that is easy to find if you look at vacation rentals on the beach. Instead of envisioning your family time as staying in a cold, sterile motel that may or may not be particularly clean and eating fast food or feasting on the motel's fine vending machine selection - wouldn't you rather your children's memories of the stay be at a vacation rental that is more of a home away from home? Your vacation rentals usually come with easy access to the beach to explore at dawn while everything is still fresh and new under the soft light of an early dawn morning.

And just think how nice it would be to feast on a tuna steak prepared in the kitchen of your vacation rental- instead of fast food on your motel bed, while you sit on our patio with your kids playing on the beach playground- the one that doesn't get old, the one that no one ever outgrows finding awe inspiring to walk, instead of watching TV in your motel room.

Vacation rentals are about more than a place to stay - they are about a place to make family memories and that becomes obvious when you realize that your kids will remember more about your family vacations than just the drive there. They will remember playing on the beach, going to bed late because they sat up around the beach bone fire roasting marsh mellows and listening to their parents sing badly and off key to songs from the eighties that they never heard before.

And long after your vacation ends and your back to car pools and work, you and your kids will still smile when your reminisce about your family time and the vacation rentals you stayed in that are the anchor for those fond life long memories as much as anything else is.