June 30, 2014
When your kids were little, you could score big with a trip to Disney or, let’s face it, to any hotel, anywhere, so long as there was a pool on the premises. But with teenagers, the family vacation gets a bit trickier. It’s impossible to please everyone all of the time. Still, you can have a great vacation with teenagers.
Planning A Memorable Family Vacation With Diana Rowe
We caught up with Diana Rowe of Why Go Travel Agency to hear her tips on how to pull off a successful—and maybe even relaxing—vacation with your teens.
Vacation planning Tips
- Solicit input for the vacation. Let your teens get involved in planning the family vacation. They will be more excited about the trip if they have had a say in choosing the destination or some of the activities. Whatever your limitations on the vacation, try to build in something that your teenagers can have participate in planning.
- Schedule down time. While you may want to jam pack the trip with fun activities, teens—and really everyone—need some time to chill. You may decide that late afternoon is everyone’s own time to do what they’d like. Or you can build in days off, where your teenagers can explore on their own.
- Relax some rules. Teenagers live in a world of other peoples’ rules: at home, at school … you get the idea. When planning the family vacation, think about loosening the reins on the rules. Consider eating dessert before dinner and overlooking a messier bedroom. Bend the rules in some way that will be a nice treat for your teens.
- Set aside time to unplug. You should definitely let your teens connect with friends during the trip, but set a block of time for phone-free family time. This plan will work best if your teens weigh in on this decision.
- Plan free time. “Remember, you are traveling with teens,” Rowe says. “It’s okay to let go—a little—and let them wander off (when safe) on their own. Maybe walks on the beach or a solo run down the slope.”
