By the Backseat View
Every summer, I get asked, “How do I get my teenagers to travel ?”
The key to traveling with teenagers is to plan the trip well and make it fun. It’s challenging to transition vacation planning as they grow and alter traditions. My expectations had to change to decrease stress and disappointments. We left behind spending all our days together and added in more free time and individual hobbies. I prepared a lot more to create a vacation where everyone can have fun on their terms. Traveling with teens who pack and carry their luggage is refreshing. The trick is getting them to willingly participate in making family memories. The benefits of teenagers having a bucket list, learning geography, and knowing how to plan a vacation are worth the extra time spent planning.
Here are Tips for traveling with teens, along with our favorite vacation destinations.
Involve them in the planning process
My guys have always had a measure of control, like a voting process. I would spend weeks preparing two new adventure itineraries and allow them to choose. They have brought their own planned vacations to the table. This is hard because I hate being outvoted. I’m fishing again instead of checking off my 50th state. Being together over being in control is a mind shift that comes with teenage travel. The best trips balance activities with relaxing.
Plan something special for everyone
Once the destination is selected, everyone adds and subtracts from the itinerary. Allow them to choose the excursions. The oldest adds sporting events and aquariums, while the youngest adds three different zoos. They both scratch off my hiking adventures over three miles. They veto road trip days with more than four hours of driving, which necessitates replanning the entire trip. If the oldest selected a fishing trip during beach vacation, then the next day we drive an hour to an animal sanctuary. Giving them options means I’m on the beach by myself, or giving up beach time for family time.
Meet them where they are
All the planning in the world still falls short on some days.
I have one that hates to travel so I expect challenges. If they aren’t early risers, avoid planning early days. When the boys opt out of an activity, I let them. Even if I have already paid, when they are done, they are done. I go and enjoy myself, and let them chill in the room.
Adjust Your Expectations
Adjust your disappointment that everyone won’t rally for every activity; those days are gone. Enjoy the one-on-one time with the teenager who picked the activity and leave the other one in peace. They don’t get excited over all the things I hope they will but occasionally they do. Expect complaining and roll with it.
Don’t over schedule
The hard facts are teenagers don’t want to spend every second with you. Schedule “down” days. I have a detailed itinerary in my head but I roll with the day.
Plan Activities
They don’t care about history, sight seeing, looking at old junk. They need mini golf, go karts, animal encounters, fishing, hands-on activities. They love sporting events and theme parks.
Give them SPACE
Gone are the days of one hotel room. Everyone has a minimum of their bed, and their room is even better. Pull-out couches don’t count because they are never comfortable. Choose lodging wisely this will make or break your vacation. I spend more time planning lodging than anything else.
No CONNECTING Flights
Teenagers have ZERO patience so pack light with carry on suitcases. Lost luggage will end your next trip. Don’t even think about trying to save money catching a couple of flights. I’m flying out at a reasonable time, I don’t need angry travelers. You are never going to see me catching a 20 minute flight to another airport. When the first flight gets delayed, they might kill you dealing with missed flights. Our plane made an emergency landing last year causing confusion and they aren’t flying anywhere this year. I’m on the most reliable plane for departure and I’m not looking for flight deals.
Make Special Meals
Plan meals with reservations. Nobody likes waiting. Make their favorite meals and desserts. During the busy holiday season, such as the week of the 4th of July on the beach, we eat lunch out to avoid crowds. I will order takeout and eat on the beach so the oldest can fish at sunset. Before we leave for vacation, the meals are planned. They include a fine dining night for mom. The youngest gets crab legs. Fresh seafood is lined up for the oldest. Basically, FEED THEM!
Eat all the desserts
Teenagers love all the desserts, so plan to make dessert fun. Buy that extra pie, ice cream drumsticks, ice cream sandwiches, and hit the best ice cream and bakery shops. We had Key Lime Pie every night in the Florida Keys and rated the desserts. Who’s got the best dessert in town?
Relax the food rules
All standard healthy eating rules are off for vacation. They can pick out what they want on vacation. So, the grocery cart is full of plastic Gushers, Doritos full of Red 40 and Yellow 5, sodas, Debbie cakes, and MSG instant noodles. Y’all, it brings them so much happiness, they know it’s killing me. They are gleeful throwing this crap in the buggy.
Avoid the crowds
Evaluate the itinerary and plan to avoid crowds accordingly. We play mini-golf at 10 am instead of waiting hours at night. The beach crowd thins at 4 pm, so I love reversing our days for activities, a nice lunch, then the beach. We open theme parks, take a break, and then close them down.
Avoid the Traffic
Nothing gets next year’s vacation canceled like sitting on the interstate for hours. Don’t leave during “normal” travel time. For the week of July 4th, we arrive on a Monday and head out around 2 pm on Saturday. Do not attempt to drive out on Saturday morning or the Sunday after the 4th. It’s way better to head home late Saturday or Monday. It may sound crazy to “lose” two vacation days by not checking in on Saturday, but traffic and grocery store chaos lead to a stressful vacation beginning. If I need to check in on a Saturday during a holiday week or summer, I’ll be in town on Friday and will pay for early check-in. Spending quality time with teenagers takes planning, but it’s worth this extra hassle.
Bring Friends
Bring friends and plan a vacation with other families for even more fun. Ensure that you clearly outline who is paying for what and establish accurate expectations. Remember the goal: happy teenagers mean more vacations with you. Every family vacations differently, so approach this with caution.
Game Time
Bring all the games. We plan for rainy days with board games and cards. Vacation days are more fun with a couple of games. If you’re short on car space, consider buying games at Walmart, an investment in family fun.
Phones
While it’s frustrating to compete with screen time, eliminating it will eliminate your future vacations. It’s about compromise. Half the day with the family, half the day doing what you want. I draw the line at mealtime without phones, but this is a daily rule at our house. Make sure everyone has a car charger for the drive. I have extra chargers in my purse, like I used to carry snacks. A teenager with a dead battery isn’t going anywhere.
Develop a Hobby
Saltwater Fishing is my favorite life hack for getting more “TIME AT THE BEACH.” Most guys aren’t interested in sitting on the beach for two weeks. Learning to saltwater fish brings an entirely different energy of FUN to your vacations. It starts with booking a charter with their favorite local fishing guide on YouTube. Once they are interested, book hotels and condos that are equipped for fishing, which are also on less crowded beaches.
Book A Guide
I book a fishing guide for almost every beach vacation to learn new techniques and which bait is working. Bottom line, my guys are excited about the trip, so they are less likely to back out or complain. There’s a learning curve, but once he starts packing fishing poles, the vacation is going to last longer. For guys who get motion sick, I have a solution: flats fishing in South Florida. What’s a few extra hours of driving for a better vacation? Flats fishing is closer inshore, near docks, grass flats, and mangroves, without the constant rocking of a boat.
You get the picture, develop a hobby for him.
Golf is conveniently located near all the beaches, and magical St. Simons boasts some of the best courses and beaches.
Areas for the best fishing include :
- Alabama Beaches- Fort Morgan, Dauphin Island
- Grayton Beach State Park on 30A
- Jekyll Island, which offer numerous natural areas away from hotels that are ideal for fishing.
- South Florida- get off the beaten path in North Captiva and Manasota Key
- Unforgetable, perfection of Captiva & Sanibel
- The Florida Keys – Marathon Island
Top Teenage Vacations
Top vacations depend on your family’s experiences and preferences. I ranked these based on activities and nature balance where everyone had fun. Most of these trips were taken during the week of July the 4th or Fall Break.
- The Colorado Road Trip Survival Guide with so many options from National Parks to Zoos. Telluride is our favorite town, nothing like riding a gondola for groceries.
- The Michigan Road Trip was an unexpected delight from Henry Ford’s museums to Mackinaw’s horses, waterfall chasing, and kayaking sea caves.
- The Wonders of Yellowstone need no explanation with the animals and geysers.
- Florida Keys for quirky and cool mixed with fishing, dolphins, turtles, and Key Lime Pie.
- Alaska with the bears at Brooks Falls catching salmon, icebergs, whales and fishing. The flight time, expense, and Denali kept Alaska from ranking higher.
- The Washington State road trip with tide pools, rock formations, snow capped mountain national parks, and the rainforest.
- The Kentucky Road Trip for Keeneland horse racing, the Ark, the zoos, cave zip lining, and the baseball museum.
- It’s a yearly tradition to spend time in ICONIC Seaside, Florida, on 30A.
- California, traveling the coast from San Diego to the Sequoia and Redwood Trees. It’s taken a few trips, and one day, I’ll get the post up.
- We love Tennessee from Gatlinburg, to Nashville, to Chattanooga.
- Washington, D.C. is affordable, with everything being free, and the museums are world-class.
- Red rocks. Desert highways. Unreal views. This Ultimate Arizona Road Trip hits the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Sedona, and Phoenix and somehow gets better with every mile.
- If we listed our personal favorites, Dawson would say Pittsburgh. I would pick Michigan or Hawaii. Taylor would vote 25 Universal Orlando Insider Tips & Proven Itineraries for EPIC and the thrill rides. Jason would suggest Yellowstone without the teenagers.
I love Boston in the fall and New York City, but my guys aren’t fans of the big cities. If this were a post about kids under eight, the answer would always be Disney! It’s a quick jump from matching Disney outfits to Driving.
Childhood doesn’t wait, and neither should you.
Go, plan that trip and make those memories before your 18 Summers are up. If you plan well, you might get a few extra! I’ll always be over here, chasing what matters, time with my family! Thanks for reading my How to Travel with Teens.
From my suitcase to yours to make your trip less stressful- 35 Essential Planning Tips.
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