A popular worry in only-child families is what to do about vacations. I mean, will the kid be spreading news of the #worsttimeever without a similar-ager to share in the memory-making? Actually, no. Here are one dozen reasons to like traveling as a one-child family.

1. When you need to fly, or are booking lodging that charges per person, or getting those amusement park tickets or simply dining out, having three instead of four or more saves a lot of moolah (extra away day, anyone?).

2. When booking that Coastal Maine motel with the breathtaking ocean view a little late, you can just take one of those “full bed plus twin bed” rooms that don’t work for the majority of families due to size–snagging that stunning view, complete with relaxing Adirondack-chair-dotted lawn, in the process.

3. When road-tripping to your destination and Mom and Dad want Sirius tuned to “80s on 8” so they can belt out some Whitesnake or White Lion, the Katy Perry fan in the backseat is outnumbered and has to suck it up (and then he discovers the classics are actually pretty great and joins in next time).

4. When you misunderstand and think the cottage you’ve booked contains a queen bed plus a pullout couch and it only has a queen bed (whoops!), you can make do with the bed-for-three.

5. When the four-year-old kid sharing your queen-sized bed (because the cottage didn’t actually have a pull-out couch) over-imbibes on juice before bedtime and has a 5 a.m. potty accident–the first-ever accident since becoming trained a year earlier–the ruckus (“What do you MEAN housekeeping doesn’t come in until 8?!”) won’t wake up anyone but Mom and Dad.

6. When browsing the cramped gift shop, a member of your family is much less likely to knock over a display rack compared to a family with multiple kiddos all trying to crowd into the the toy section.

7. When at the amusement park, three is the max number of differing ideas about what to ride or see next, and with only one of those ideas coming from the pint-sized visitor, those disagreements are a tad easier to work out.

8. When other kids are around, your child is more likely (in my experience, at least) to be motivated to open up and make friendly small talk, compared to having a built-in sibling playmate to argue with.

9. When the vaca is combined with Mom’s work trip, Dad isn’t an outnumbered adult on touristy excursions during the conference day.

10. When the kid gets motion sickness and pukes for 3 of the 5-hour ride home from New Hampshire to Connecticut, there’s plenty of room in the backseat for Mom to be there proactively with fresh towels.

11. When on subsequent car trips you travel with a just-in-case bucket in the backseat, there’s room for that too.

12 When you DO vacation with another family sometime for a change of pace, the chaos of the day dissipates as the hotel room door closes behind your little family for the night. Ah, bliss.