I thought i would hate group tours. I've learned they make traveling with kids easier, less stressful, and more fun.

The author said she enjoyed planning solo travel, but adding kids to the equation made that more complicated.

Now, she uses group tours to help her plan amazing family trips.

Courtesy of Jamie Davis Smith.

I travel more than most and love planning trips.

Having kids changed that process for me.

Much to my surprise, group tours are now one of my favorite ways to travel with my children.

Tours offer stress-free itineraries and local insights that we would have likely missed otherwise.

I started traveling around the world on my own in my early 20s.

There was nothing I enjoyed more than hopping on a plane with nothing but my Lonely Planet guidebook and the vaguest outline of a plan.

Once I had kids , I realized I needed to plan much more.

I still took a DIY approach, because it didn't occur to me to travel any other way.

It was a lot of fun, but a lot of work.

And if something went wrong, I had to figure out a Plan B on my own.

As life got busier and I had less time, arranging travel started to seem like a chore.