Vacations with Teenagers

Firstly when planning a vacation with teenagers you need to think of the additional costs involved, a teenager will no longer fall under ‘kids prices’ so you’ll essentially be paying for an additional adult.



Plus you’ll need to consider the dynamics of your family, the ages of all your kids and how you’ll ensure you meet all of their desires and expectations.

Below are some things you, as a parent will need to consider:It’s important when traveling with a teenager that you ensure you give them some space, this means when you book your accommodation, ensure you pay that little extra to allow your teenager some privacy.

Whether that means you book a family suite with the extra room, or a B&B, it’s up to you, but you’ll enjoy each other’s company a lot more if you can also get some time out.

Same goes for traveling to your destination. Ok so if you’re driving you probably can’t do all that much about it, the family car is what it is.

But if you’re flying, don’t sit the teenager right next to a younger sibling they are likely to get frustrated by being pigeon holed as ‘one of the kids’. Depending on the personality of the teenager, ask them where they want to sit, do they want to sit next to mum or dad or would they prefer to sit in the row in front or maybe just across the aisle.

If you are buying bits and pieces for younger children and feel you’d like to give something to the teenager too, try a new game for the Nintendo DS, or a $20 I Tunes gift card allowing them to add something new to their equipment.

If your teenager likes to spend, or more to the point nag you to spend, perhaps you can give them their own cash and provide them with a budget.

Whether you give them a big budget and make them pay for everything themselves, or you agree to pay for them, but give them their own spending allowance, is up to you. But it will get them thinking “how much can I spend each day, do I want to spend more today knowing I won’t have as much to spend tomorrow”.

They will soon have an understanding and appreciation for the planning and preparation that goes into a good vacation, as well as teaching them so great life skills.

And finally an all important factor is allowing them to maintain some contact with their friends back home. The main reason you’ll be likely to find some resistance is if the teenager feels they are going to miss out on something happening at home.

There are so many mediums these days to maintaining contact, whether you allow them to check into public internet cafés and use applications such as Facebook to keep in contact with friends, or perhaps they have a mobile phone and you can give them a little more credit.

Vacations with teenagers,it's all about compromise. Take into consideration their thought and feelings, remember a family vacation is about everyone in the family not just mum and dad.

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