Your suitcase is half-packed, and instead of excitement, you feel a knot in your stomach. Because you know what's coming: a different bed, different food, disrupted schedules, people you haven't seen in ages, and a child who struggles with change.
And then the age-old question arises: "Is the trip worth it if you're going to have a bad time?"
Yes, it's worth it. But not blindly. The difference between a summer you enjoy and one you suffer through is almost never the destination: it's how much you planned ahead.
Why do summer changes weigh so heavily?
For many children, especially those with autism, predictability isn't just a quirk: it's what gives them security. Knowing what's coming next is what allows them to feel at ease. Summer, however, changes several things at once—space, routine, people, stimuli—and it does so abruptly.
When a child doesn't know what's going to happen, their body goes on alert. And a body on alert doesn't learn, doesn't enjoy itself, and often "explodes." What from the outside seems like a tantrum on the beach is usually, in reality, an overwhelmed body crying out for help. Behavior is a message, even on vacation.
The tool that changes almost everything: anticipation
Anticipating isn't about telling them about the trip once. It's about making it visible and predictable before it happens.
- Tell them about the trip with pictures. Photos of the apartment, the car, the beach, the grandparents. A little "story" of the trip—first the car, then the new house, then the sea—gives them a mental map of what's to come. What's anticipated is less frightening.
- Bring the familiar to the new place. Your pillow, your stuffed animal, your cup, your lullaby. A couple of familiar anchors make an unfamiliar place feel less unfamiliar.
- Stick to two or three fixed points. You don't need to replicate the entire routine. By maintaining bedtime, mealtimes, and a few small daily rituals, your body finds the reference point it needs to relax in everything else.
Even so, it overflows
It will pass. And it doesn't mean you did anything wrong. It means that at that moment there was too much: too much sun, too much noise, too many people, too much of everything.
Have an exit plan in place : a quiet corner, the car, some shade, going back to the apartment for a while. This isn't about giving up or "rewarding the tantrum." It's about lowering the sensory overload so the child can recover. A well-regulated child can enjoy themselves again; an overwhelmed one cannot.
And lower your expectations too. The goal of summer isn't for them to endure a full day of sightseeing. It's for them to go home with the feeling that going out with their family is a good thing.
Summer also teaches
Every change, when handled well, is also a tremendous learning experience: your child discovers that new things can be tolerated, that the familiar returns after the unknown, and that you are there to support them. That is the foundation of flexibility, and it is cultivated precisely in this way, in small steps and with support.
Anticipating, carrying the familiar, and maintaining a few anchors: that's precisely what the VICON Method trains every day, with its visual routines, songs, and predictable structure. Taking it with you on trips gives your child that familiar thread that holds them together even when everything else changes: the same song, the same little bit of time each day, wherever they are.
👉 Give your child an anchor to travel with them: start free with the VICON Method for one week → https://www.metodovicon.com/login#registro
With that, the trip ceases to be a minefield and becomes what it was meant to be: your vacation.
