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Holidays for happy teens
Teenage years are hard on everyone, but especially parents. The thought of spending two solid weeks in close confinement with an emotional teen could send a shudder down the spines of even the toughest parents.
Leaving the teenager home alone might be tempting but could prove to be more worrisome than taking them along. The only sensible option is to create a holiday that has the potential to keep everybody happy.
The most important decision is choosing to travel to places that have activities for both you and your teenager(s), to avoid the incessant statements like, “I’m bored,” and, “There’s nothing to do.”
The best choice is an activity-based resort or destination. This doesn’t mean you have to don backpacks and head off into the wilds; just choose places where you can laze around on the beach all day, snorkel, take part in beach activities or head off on more exiting adventures together. Variety is the spice of life for fickle teenagers.
Options
Giving all the family the option of doing what they want is key. There are two ways to best achieve this.
Firstly, you could choose a well-equipped all-inclusive resort or you could opt for a self-catering villa or house. Both have good points. All-inclusive resorts are safe and secure for young teenagers, but there is the potential for boredom if they don’t have any siblings or friends to have fun with. If you choose an all-inclusive resort, it might start to feel like a five-star prison camp for teens after the first week.
A self-catering holiday, however, allows for a much greater sense of freedom for a teenager. They will have their own space and feel much closer to a country’s culture by exploring the real world instead of a holiday resort.
Depending on your choice of destination, supervision may be required, which means that parents will need to be more active instead of leaving the teen to it for the day. This could work to your favour though, if you do things that you will all enjoy.
Secondly, location is key. If you opt for a self-catering or all-inclusive resort, don’t choose one that is miles away from anywhere so that your teen is stuck there until you want to go out. Renting a cottage in rural France means that you will need to take the car everywhere you go, so you may burden yourself with playing chauffeur for the entire holiday and your teen will feel trapped.
If the brochure includes the words isolated, secluded or bustle-free, you could be in for a whole heap of trouble. Make sure that your teen can take a bus, the subway or can walk to somewhere of interest to them.
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