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Advice: Family Vacations with Teens - Ready for Fun or Not? Thomson Family Adventures Panama with TeensAnyone living with a teen or teens already knows they are on another frequency most of the time. So, planning a successful family vacation is slightly more challenging but not impossible.

Teenagers have attitude – sometimes a good thing and sometimes not so much. For success it is essential to match travel choices to interests and parents need to begin moving in tandem reducing friction so the fun can be shared. We have many options for parents or grandparents facing the vacation challenge. One of my favorite options is Thomson Family Adventures - experts in the field of not just family travel but the trickier family travel with teens.

Here's the scoop. According to Thomson Family Adventures just because your child has become a teenager – or is acting like one – doesn’t mean you have to be intimidated by their demands or sacrifice your meaningful family vacation.  From their years of experience they have assembled a few simple rules for achieveing vacation success with teens.

Look for variety and action. When selecting a destination, tour or trip look for one that offers activities to challenge and excite – like a zipline, white-water rafting, or kayaking. It will keep your big kids active, engaged and satisfied. If they’ve done an activity before, try in a new environment for new excitement. Look for a variety of activities that give everyone a chance to try many things; don’t give them the chance to feel bored with the same old thing.Peru Thomson Family Adventures

Remember it’s your vacation too. Family vacations need to provide fun for all and during teen years in particular diversions are very useful to ensure fun. For example traveling in a small group of like minded and similar aged families gives everyone the chance to meet new people and make new friends. For many families, having company to share the fun with helps prevent the family bond from fraying under the stress of too much togetherness.

To be cool or not to be cool. Don’t forget many teens suffer under the pressure to be cool all the time in their peer group. For some kids, traveling as the oldest in a group will be the ticket to success. This gives them the opportunity to let down their guard, and remember how much fun it can be to just be a kid again.

Who is in charge? Taking an escorted family vacation trip means someone else is in control of the activities, schedule, events, and fun meaning the pressure is off! Your guide can call the shots, motivate the group, and definitely get your teen to respond in ways you never could. Plus other kids or teens in the group will inspire them to join in.  For parents it is time to settle back and relax, and enjoy your family adventure too.

Discover the world together. If you are already living the teen years then you you’re your kids are growing up, and rapidly forming their opinions and habits. What do you want to share with them? A family vacation can be a fun and easy way to show them important things about the world. It’s a chance to step off the beaten path and discover the qualities special and unique to the destination, culture, or local people. It makes everything more interesting – and more meaningful.Egypt Thomson Family Adventures Teens

Try something new.  If you create a safe environment where your teens can try new things – remember, these are the experimenting years – they will. But please, not at home in front of their friends! Things like Karaoke, Salsa dancing, Noodle making, weaving, photography, white-water rafting, even Trekking?  In the right context (an anonymous one), these unusual activities can be enthralling. And cool additions to any Facebook page. Who knows maybe your teen will discover a new talent!

Learn together as you go.  If you let your kids be the askers, their natural inquisitiveness and leadership will blossom as they discover new cultures and lifestyles. When you travel with a local, expert guide you don’t have to know the answers – indeed, you will be learning too.

Age has its benefits. Often it seems we work too hard to make everyone be the same – but we’re not, and that’s OK! Some are stronger, bigger, and wiser. When you plan for things the younger kids can’t do, like bigger water on the rafting trip, or climbing Kilimanjaro, it shows your kids that growing up has its privileges, and they have earned the right to try new things.
 
It’s always time to eat. Most teens seem to be hungry all the time. So any family adventure must include an ample for supply to ensure peace in the family. It’s also an opportunity to make new food discoveries and share local cuisine without appearing to manage meals. China Thomson Family Adventures with Teens

About Thomson Family Adventures. For almost three decades, Judi Wineland and Rick Thomson have been organizing and leading adventures around the globe. Family travel is their passion and so they are absolutely committed to understanding and fulfilling the needs of families on vacation – including teens. Judi and Rick travel with their own children and know that family travel can be a rewarding experience when all of the details are taken care of and the guesswork is eliminated.

Where on the planet? Thomson Family Adventures spans the globe offering unique field experiences for families. Their company website provides all of the choices for adventure the options for family vacation adventures span from Egypt, Morocco, and Tanzania in Africa to China’s Great Wall, Portugal, Thailand and Turkey. They organize and escort adventures to Belize, Costa Rica, and Panama plus Baja California and Alaska. Their adventure options in South America include Ecuador and Peru - Land of the Ancient Inca.
 
Make it happen. Thomson Family Adventures 14 Mount Auburn Street, Watertown, MA 02472. Toll-free 1-800-262-6255, (617)923-2004 or www.familyadventures.com

Advice and images provided by Thomson Family Adventures. Additional comments by Nancy Nelson-Duac, Editor FTF. Copyright 2011.

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