10 Tips For Having a Great Family Vacation With Teens

10 Tips For Having a Great Family Vacation With Teens

Here's what we learned about traveling successfully with tweens or teens.

1. Get input from your teens about your plans - Obviously if you're expected at a family reunion, then that's where you're going.

2. Be realistic about how long you'll be gone - If your son or daughter is really social, two weeks away from peer group may be torturous.

3. Give each family member an opportunity to decide a group activity for part of each day - This practice works great as long as you've got one ground rule: If anyone mopes or complains during someone else's chosen activity, then the party pooper loses his/her right to choose an activity that day.

4. Maintain schedules - Schedules create a rhythm for the day. That reduces some of the inevitable stress of being away from home.

5. Bring audiobooks for road trips - If the books are well chosen (mysteries are great) then getting back in the car for 8 more hours of driving can actually be something everyone looks forward to.

6. Factor in jet lag - Jet lag can knock you off balance for a day or more. At its worst, it can leave you feeling flattened you like a steamroller victim with the flu.

7. Explore your new environment as a family, but pace yourself - Feel compelled to see every single thing listed in the guidebook? If it feels like you're rushing around then you probably are.

8. Give yourself permission to abandon some of your attitudes - Vacations take you out of the norm so they're great times for self-exploration. If you (and your teens) choose not to limit yourselves with your usual strong opinions ("I don't like boats." "I never eat anything with coconut in it."), you can become a freer you.

 9. Keep a family travel journal - Words capture a completely different kind of memory than photos. Interactions between people you passed on the street, a conversation with a shopkeeper, your feelings during a wild-life encounter, etc.

10. Relax - You're on vacation. Consciously choose to leave stress-related worries at home. They'll be fine without you. Give your mind as well as your body a chance to re-center and regain equilibrium. When you're not stressing you show your best side to your family. And that's the best part of any family vacation.