Let's Talk About Vacation Mental Load

We know who packs the bags.

On Monday, we’re leaving for a two-week family road trip. (I’m going to be taking a break from Substack then, too — but I’ll be back in September!) We’re driving to Washington, DC, where we’ll stay with an old friend of mine for five days. Then we’re off to Williamsburg, Virginia, to see Colonial Williamsburg and spend a day riding roller coasters at Busch Gardens (just kidding, I hate roller coasters so I will be sitting on a bench for six hours.) We’ll end the trip in a little beach cottage in Ocean City, Maryland for several days before arriving back home right before school starts.

I’m looking forward to the trip, but also, family vacations are never easy. Especially the planning and logistics. The other day, while attempting to wrap my head around the packing, I serendipitously received an email about a new parenting poll that had been conducted by the company Spruce.

The company surveyed 2,000 parents with kids — half of them mothers and half fathers — about who handles more more of the vacation logistics and mental load.

Here were their key findings.