My Teen Vacation Hits and Misses

[mmanetti]

[Post re-quoted from User terrier1]
While I don't have time to write a lengthy report, I thought I'd drop a quick line on our vacations hits and misses. My 13-year-old twins are very outgoing and have done best in a resort setting where there are lots of activities and other kids. Horseback riding and snorkeling have been favorite pasttimes, but the presence of peers is essential.

They loved Paradise Guest Ranch in Wyoming, renting a houseboat on Lake Powell with their parents and grandparents, Beaches in the Turks and Caicos, the Tyler Place in Vermont, the Westin on St. John, Disneyworld, and a trip to Belize that combined a stay at Francis Ford Coppola's mountain resort with a stay on Ambergris Caye.

Our one disaster was the trip to London and Greece last summer. They loved the sights of London, but the 10 days in Greece where they were deprived of English-speaking pals their age was more than my daughter could tolerate.

(In her view, gorgeous beaches and swimming pools didn't count, ancient ruins and spectacular scenery meant nothing and being stuck with two adults for 2 weeks was sheer torture.)

Maybe it was just adolescence, but I will be very reluctant to take them to a non-English speaking country again unless they specifically beg to go.

Hi,

Thanks very much for your thoughts on this. I have a 14-year-old and it has never gotten this bad, but I can relate to your circumstance. I wrote the "Frommer Guide to Greece" for 12 years so I know the country pretty well. Actually, most Greeks speak English and kids study it at school, so I am guessing that some other teen angst was troubling your twins (or one of them) during what should have been a great trip.

Our son is very well traveled and is somewhat of a foodie and a total shopper, so he seems to find things he can relate to anywhere. Having said that, we do give him leeway to dictate part of each day's activity, and try to get him to a cybercafe every few days so he can catch up with those critical friends back home. For example, in Kyoto we had to give up a day of Zen temples to visit the Samurai-era theme park outside of town, but that too had its own cultural rewards. (And he loved that no one spoke Japanese, because it put him on equal footing with his folks in terms of navigating trains, restaurants, etc.)

However, in Belize he loved our mountain retreat (Chan Chich) but hated Ambergris Caye because his grandparents rented a boat and he had to wear a life jacket aboard for 5 days in a row -- I thought he would go overboard and they swore they would never travel with him again. So, I guess confining kids is not the best thing...

Don't give up on places where they don't speak English -- instead take the twins to a country whose language they are studying so they can be in charge for awhile!

Perhaps this story written by a 17-year-old will help on your next trip. "Ten Tips for Travel With Teens" - http://www.familytravelforum.com/articles/article/11081

best,
Kyle McCarthy

[mmanetti]

[Post re-quoted from User terrier1]
Dear Kyle,

Thank you for your personal reply. In all fairness, my son wasn't as bad. My daughter decided she didn't want to get her hair wet and therefore our efforts to please the kids by visiting Naxos (with its beautiful beaches) and Santorini (where we stayed in a spectacular cliffside hotel with with swimming pools) got us nowhere with her.

My son was at least intrigued by the topless beaches and interested in cooling off in the hotel pools. He was also willing to study the architectural renderings of ancient temples and envision their scale. My daughter glanced at the scattered pedestals spared by the earthquakes and headed for the exit. (The theatre held more interest; stone seats built into the hillside survive earthquakes in a way that temple pillars can't.)

We tried to cut back on the museums, to make the trip more kid-friendly, but my daughter wanted friends her age and we couldn't find them. Most of the vacationing tourists were couples, not families, and the vacationing families we did see had younger children and were German. And we were touring, rather than simply staying in one place for a week. I guess an internet cafe would have helped. As it was, my daughter only wanted to watch music videos in the hotel room at night.

London was a different story. My daughter was intrigued by the lives of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I (16h century gossip) and plied me with questions. The kids loved The Tower of London, our "London Walks" tour of Hampton Court, the tube, the Indian and Italian restaurants, the "Jack the Ripper" walk, our night at the theatre, the War Rooms, Windsor Castle ... everything.

And it may seem like a small thing, but being able to ask a stranger directions in English, chat easily with young waiters or hear a tour guide rattle on in English prevented them from feeling lonely.

I'm sorry your son didn't enjoy Ambergris Caye or, at least, going there with his grandparents. We all loved snorkeling with nurse sharks, sea turtles and manta rays (which our boat operator hand-fed, turning the rays so they were perpendicular to the surface of the water and we could see their mouths) in the marine reserve and finding lobsters hidden in the rocks. (I was less happy to see the moray eel emerge from its home in the rocks, barring its teeth at me!) We also tried snorkeling at night, when the baracuda and squid came out to feed.

Our vacations with my parents have been terrific, because they're upbeat and fun. (Can't say the same about my husband's mother.)

They were great sports when the cooling on the houseboat (in Lake Powell) had to be turned off at night, due to the noise and proximity other boats, forcing us to drag our mattresses up on deck so we could sleep -- and the bats flew right past our faces on their way to their caves. (Nothing like experiencing the wonders of sonar firsthand!)

And they were the ones who discovered the junior rodeo in Utah where small children were placed on top of sheep and desperately tried to stay on top while the sheep ran toward the feeding pens and other sheep at the other end of the corral and where my daughter joined in the competition to grab a squealing piglet (she lost, thank goodness: the prize was to keep the piglet!).

Thanks for your story and its wonderful anecdotes, I certainly hope we can share them with our other FTF families. And it's funny, my 17-year-old naturally blond niece won't get her hair wet anywhere -- as she claims it will turn green!

In any case, you are probably lucky your daughter was not swept away by one of those sweet-babbling Greek cuties. The Greek men like to call it "Kamaki" (Greek word for the trident that Poseidon carried) when they pick up or "spear" foreign girls and "show them around" during their visit to the islands.

Anyway, you certainly picked beautiful places to take them.

Your kids might enjoy Berlin, Stockholm and Helsinki, which are much more hip in a multi-national way and perhaps easier to relate to for our kids who think MySpace, MTV and The OC define real life!

Our son wants to go to Amsterdam because that's what looked like fun in "Eurotrip." Go figure. This summer we're getting to Paris (Aquaboulevard and some museums), Istanbul (Bazar for shopping, night markets and mosques which will remind him of "24" so he'll think they are cool) and all over Spain (Barcelona and he's taking Spanish...) so I hope that's fun and not too debilitating.

[JillianRyan]

Oh, I know that rodeo and what the kids saw. It's called mutton-busting!
My kids loved it.

[mmanetti]

Thanks. Your summer vacation plans sound terrific. I've been dying to go to Istanbul since studying Hagia Sofia in art history.

I spent a month in Spain the summer after I graduated from college because it was both fascinating and cheap. (That was in 1973, when Franco still ruled Spain with an iron fist. In an effort to prevent Spain from being invaded, he had decreed that Spanish trains run on a narrower gauge than was used in the rest of Europe, which meant that if you were traveling from France you had to get off your train at the border, high in the Pyrenees, and board a Spanish train to continue. Young soldiers carrying submachine guns leaned against the train corridors reading American cowboy novels, while we squeezed into seats beside old ladies sweltering in black dresses. A clean bed could be had for $3 or $4 a night; a 3-course meal served on a linen tablecloth was about the same.)

My (much) younger sister has visited several times and had a blast dancing in the discos until 4 a.m. She also loved visiting Seville and the charming mountaintop town of Ronda. Barcelona is a lovely city, with its Gaudi buildings, medieval gothic quarter and main boulevard (Las Ramblas).

My kids are taking Spanish, too, but they've just started this year and need a couple more years before they'll approach a conversational level. Meanwhile, we'll add Scandinavia to our list of possibilities. (My daughter is still interested in Ireland and Scotland.)

[finchnyc]

You might enjoy East Tennessee. The Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg area are great for bikers. I'd say mostly Pigeon Forge because it is more wide open ans has large sidewalks.
And there is also a great deal of bike trails in the country if you wish.
Cades cove loop is a popular one. 11 miles long.
The Great Smoky Mountain National Park is open to bikers but I don't recommend it because of traffic.
<A HREF="http://www.pigeon-forge-gatlinburg-family-git2know.com/">Git2know.com</A>. Is a good place to check out if you are not familar with the area.

[Selina]

I also found out that teens don't appreciate gorgeous beaches and spectacular scenery. They pocuse on different things. They hate to part from their Xbox and wii. It is up to us to teach them different...

[JillianRyan]

Just be patient with teens. Take them on some nice, cool place with great beaches, lots of fun places to get out and of course interesting people. And yes, give them enough money

[mmanetti]

Thanks for the advice on the Great Smokies. We took the kids to a dude ranch (Cataloochee) in western N.C. where we passed wild turkeys and the leader had to shove cows out of the path, white water rafting in eastern Tennessee (great fun!) and to see the Biltmore estate. We were also excited to see bear cubs in the Park! And Gatlinburg is full of the tourist attractions teens love.

Costa Rica is a can't miss for families with active teens. Top two activities for teens are whitewater rafting (yes, it is safe, depending on river category and conditions) and Canopy Tours. Costa Rica has a wider array of activities than anywhere on earth. When you add in the diverse wildlife, there is more than enough to keep a teenager busy and out of trouble.

[CoolTraveler]

Eventually teens will learn the greatest of beaches. Maybe when they're old enough to hate work and appreciate relaxing without a television lol

[hontamhotel]

dont give them a lot of money. teach them how to save when travelling

[harrypaul]

Originally Posted by mmanetti

While I don't have time to write a lengthy report, I thought I'd drop a quick line on our vacations hits and misses. My 13-year-old twins are very outgoing and have done best in a resort setting where there are lots of activities and other kids. Horseback riding and snorkeling have been favorite pasttimes, but the presence of peers is essential.

They loved Paradise Guest Ranch in Wyoming, renting a houseboat on Lake Powell with their parents and grandparents, Beaches in the Turks and Caicos, the Tyler Place in Vermont, the Westin on St. John, Disneyworld, and a trip to Belize that combined a stay at Francis Ford Coppola's mountain resort with a stay on Ambergris Caye.

Our one disaster was the trip to London and Greece last summer. They loved the sights of London, but the 10 days in Greece where they were deprived of English-speaking pals their age was more than my daughter could tolerate.

(In her view, gorgeous beaches and swimming pools didn't count, ancient ruins and spectacular scenery meant nothing and being stuck with two adults for 2 weeks was sheer torture.)

Maybe it was just adolescence, but I will be very reluctant to take them to a non-English speaking country again unless they specifically beg to go.

Hey!
You need to visit the Puerto Vallarta that really very nice place for traveling you must enjoy.

[Sonia24]

Does anyone have advice for teens travelling to London. London Southbank is amazing for small kids with the London Aquarium and riding on the London Eye. However my nephew is now a typical teenager and coming to visit. Are there any other recommendations for central London.

Most of the famous London attrations are free, with loads of activities and amenities for little ones such as the Tate art galleries and Imperial War Museum. Would a teenage boy also enjoy this. I was also considering taking him to Shakespeare's Globe theatre which is like stepping back in time and generally has well known actors starring.

All thoughts and advice really welcome.

Sonia, Park Plaza Riverbank, http://www.parkplaza.com/hotels/gbriver