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Larry Snider booked a hotel room in Boulder, Colorado, for his June 2019 family reunion and looked forward to seeing relatives who would be traveling from across the United States to attend.
It wasn’t until after he made the nonrefundable booking that Snider, 52, learned a cousin had booked a block of rooms at a discounted rate that would have saved him $250 on accommodations. The miscommunication affected other family members too.
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“[The] misunderstanding … resulted in about half of the couples booking their own individual rooms,” Snider recalls. “This mishap caused the reunion to not get off on the best start. Relatives were a bit annoyed with the whole situation and there was a bit of tension.”
New data from Motel 6 finds that 57 percent of adults plan to attend a family reunion this year, traveling an estimated 80 miles to reunite with loved ones. With that many gatherings planned, it’s safe to assume that not everything will go according to plan.
From flight cancelations and lost reservations to bad weather, food poisoning and family disagreements, here are tips for keeping six potential disasters from ruining your reunion.
1. Food poisoning
Nobody wants a bad potato salad to be the one thing they remember from their reunion weekend. Every year, 1 in 6 Americans get hit with food poisoning, suffering symptoms like nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Most incidents of food poisoning occur when food isn’t maintained at the proper temperature, according to Darin Detwiler, a food safety expert and professor at Northeastern University.
“A potato salad could be in the car for two hours before it’s served,” he says. “No one uses a food thermometer at a family reunion.”
Detwiler suggests prepping food at home and cooking it on-site, making sure to serve hot foods immediately and to keep cold foods on ice. Better yet, call in the pros.
“A professional catering company will deliver food when you need it, keep it heated or cooled to eliminate those risk factors,” Detwiler says.
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