When did browsing for your family become a stress rather than pleasure? When your little cherubs turned into turbulent teens, of course. Not as easily contented as when they were tots, and they have much more varied tastes. But family holidays can be as happy now as they ever were, or even better.
It goes without saying that including your teens in the planning is pretty much essential if you’re going to have great holidays. In fact, they might even have better ideas than you. Let’s face it, they’re probably more global in their outlook, than most adults reading this, as well as internet savvy – and they will likely have some set ideas about holidays, at least about what they don’t want to do!
Do your homework, mum and dad!
So how do you ensure your family escape this year won’t be worse than a wet weekend in Grimsby? You can begin by really doing your research regarding what’s out there.
“Depending on their experience and what they’ve had access to growing up, teenagers nowadays are normally much more sophisticated travellers than our parents were,” says Sarah Tucker, family travel expert who has been researching her next book, ‘Have Teenager Will Travel’ (following the success of ‘Have Baby Will Travel’ and ‘Have Toddler Will Travel’, published by White Ladder Press).
“They are very familiar with the internet and will know a lot about the world and what they’d like to do or see. In fact, they can even feel restricted by their parent’s narrowness when it comes down to holiday choices.”
Do I like what you like?
Of course, a 13 year old will have different likes and dislikes to a 15 year old, and that 15 year old might baulk at what a 17 year old enjoys, so consider what makes your child tick and ask them what they’re interested in doing. As well, remember that teens are very influenced by the stuff their peers are doing – if skiing is the ‘in-thing’ at school this season (darling) then chances are they’ll be gunning for a trip to the slopes next winter.
But overall, Sarah feels that there are a few broad types of holiday that will appeal to most young people of 13-18. “According to the thousands of teenagers I interviewed, I found that they usually need to be outdoors, so activity holidays or extreme sports are ideal.” This could be anything from adventure-type holidays, horse-riding, safaris, outdoor pursuits camps, or even ranching – which is becoming a very popular choice.
Not all parents will be thrilled with the idea of zooming down a glacier with what resembles a wheel-less skateboard strapped to one foot, so you might need to consider how happy you are to just accompany your kids on the trip (and be around to pay!), or whether there are other things you can be participating in while they get on with their stuff.
Teenagers often enjoy festivities or fiestas, so city breaks when big carnivals are being hosted (and where there is a host of other attractions when the party is over) could be options to explore. Check on sites such as www.whatsonwhen.com to see what’s happening around the world, and browse companies such as Explore, Exodus and The Adventure Company 9all operators that we work with).
Less hassle
There are plenty of holiday companies out there that can take all the hard work from your hands. They are experts in providing great holidays for teens and their families and have structured or flexible programmes that mean you don’t have to think too much about how your week away will be planned – you just need to enjoy your break.
One bonus of using adventure companies is that usually there will be other teens ‘on hand’ for yours to hang-out with, and some such as Adventure Company offer special teen departures for adolescents to get together. It goes without saying that another advantage of booking with a specialist holiday company is that the instructors and programmes used will need to adhere to strict safety standards and they will be used to working with unruly teens.
And you never know, you might have so much fun that you'll be glad those 'mini-clubs' are a thing of the past!
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