Luxury family vacations with teenagers can be hard to plan. When they were younger, kids might have been happy to go anywhere with a beach and a fun kids program. Older, cooler teens tend to look down on organized activities at luxury resorts and just want to hang out with friends. So how does a family plan a vacation that gives enough family together time, but still keeps teenagers happy and entertained?
Do your research before booking any vacation. What activities does your teenager enjoy? Are they adventure sports fanatics or video game junkies? Research a few possible luxury vacations that take into account their passions as well as your preferences. Then let them have a say in the choice of destination.
Sometimes the intensity of family together time without having any friends around for that whole vacation period is enough to put a teenager into a foul mood that makes everyone miserable. Consider inviting a best friend along on the vacation, especially if you are going to be staying somewhere where there might not be other teenagers to hang out with. If you are staying in a luxury villa or beach house, one extra person makes very little difference to the overall cost and could make all the difference to the success of the vacation.
Here are a few options to consider when planning a luxury family vacation with teenagers:
Choose a luxury hotel in a beautiful location that offers a variety of adventure sports and activities. Forget about organized teen programs and the like. Just make sure that there are plenty of options that you can all enjoy, from ziplining through the canopy of a rainforest to windsurfing, ATVing to water-skiing. Unless you are determined to make this vacation a wilderness, away from it all experience, make sure that the hotel offers unlimited and fast internet access, so that your teens can stay in touch with their own social circle too.
Plan a road trip that takes in places you’ve always wanted to visit, but make sure that your itinerary covers your teen’s interests too. Balance out that gorgeous spa destination with some white water rafting, a city shopping day with a baseball game, visits to wine estates with kayaking, golf or fishing. Plan the trip together with your teenagers, so that they feel involved and not just reluctant passengers.
If what you want is a luxury beach vacation, then do look for a hotel or resort that has teen-focussed activities, but be aware of the dilemma. Either the activities will be seen as uncool and your teen will refuse to join in and end up just hanging around bored, or else they could be too compelling and you’ll end up not seeing your teenager from one day to the next, as he or she goes from video lounge to dance club, poker night to ‘mocktails’ round the bonfire.
Planning a luxury family vacation may not be easy but it can be done, so make the most of those last few years together as a family and find some trips to create memories you’ll treasure, before they grow up completely and start planning their own vacations.