Family vacations with teenagers can be a real fun adventure...and for once, I'm not being sarcastic. It doesn't have to be the deep sighing, eye rolling, back sassing nightmare. With a bit of cooperation and planning, everyone can have the time of their lives. Whether you're traveling with a new 13 year old or planning that last family vacation together before your child heads off to college, here are a few tips to keep in mind with traveling with teens...
Great family vacations don't just happen. For good family vacations to become great vacations, it take planning and extra insight. You need to look past the obvious.
Family Vacations can be exciting and stressful all at the same time. You've been studying all the glossy travel brochures. It's a wonderful escape just flipping the pages. You see photos of carefree families all together, with happy, smiling faces enjoying some tropical paradise. Then reality hits... Who are these people? The reality is, stress free family vacations don't just happen. It takes a good deal of planning and some work to take the stress out of vacation. Family vacation planning is more involved than packing a suitcase and watering the plants.
Here are 10 tips will help take the worry out of your next family vacation...
If you are flying with kids to your next vacation destination, please give serious thought to what you pack into your carry on bags. This is where you will pack the most important items that will never leave your side through out your time in the air.
The fall season for travel agents means the arrival of all the new glossy travel brochures. I had one of these new brochures sitting on my coffee table when a I saw a preview for the new season of my favorite TV show "Modern Family".
All inclusive family resorts are ideal vacations for busy families because really, they are a no-brainer. Generally, with a few exceptions, all inclusive resorts for families are found on the most beautiful tropical beaches of the Caribbean and Mexico. At an all inclusive resort, all of your meals, snacks, drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), activities, entertainment, tips and taxes are ALL INCLUDED in the price of your hotel room. As far as activities and entertainment, most family all inclusive resorts offer day long activities like sports, games, non-motorized water sports, specialized kid's clubs and nightly entertainment. Non-motorized water sports often confuses people. Non-motorized water sports includes activities like snorkeling, small sail boats, kayaks, boogie boards...water activities that do not have a motor. Some resorts do require a refundable deposit to insure that borrowed equipment is returned properly. All you have to do is walk up to the water sports center, ask for your equipment and off you go. There would be extra charges for activities like jet-skiing, water skiing, and diving because these activites include equipment or boats that have motors.
A vacation for kids and adults has to be a fun adventure for everybody. A vacation means you're taking a break from your every day activities like work, school and the obligations of every day life. That's what makes a vacation fun and something to look forward to. It's can be a real balancing act trying to keep everyone in the family happy but with some thought and planning, it can be done. Here are five steps to planning a perfect vacation for kids and adults.
Parents often request more than one hotel room from us when making their family hotel reservations. It may be that they have 3 or 4 children and need a family of five or six hotel room. It could be that they have young children with early bedtimes and they want a separate space so that the kids can sleep undisturbed. They may have teenager and need an extra bathroom for sanity sake. Mom and Dad may be looking for some "adult" time and "need to ensure extra privacy for themselves so that their family vacation can also become a romantic escape."
I used this gentle explanation once during a consultation with a hotelier. He wanted my opinions while desinging blue prints for construction of his family friendly resort. I could tell he just wasn't grasping what I was trying to say. Finally I was forced to spell it out for him and I said..."Listen, you need to build more connecting rooms because parents want to have sex while on vacation and do not want to worry about having their kids watch." Brutally honest and perhaps a bit too graphic, but at least my honesty got more family connecting rooms from that hotel chain that are now available to parents in need of a great vacation!
Family beach vacations are a right of passage for most families. Sun and surf offer kids hours of entertainment. While the kids are occupied, hopefully mom and dad get enjoy a few minutes of peace. Whether your family is trying to escape the cold of a northern winter or hitting the waves during summer vacation there is much to consider when planning when taking your kids to the beach.
