Travel With Teens and Tweens

Around our house the push has been on to ramp up the school year — with both kids in high school this year — and #1 Son getting that all important Common Application for college whipped into shape.  Other than our almost endless college tours, we’ve been home the last few months.  As a result, more than ever we’ve been living vicariously through the many wonderful family travel blogs that write about their own family adventures with teens and tweens.   Here’s a round up of some of the articles we have enjoyed most recently – hope you stop by to check them out too!

North American Family Adventures

Nancy of Family on Bikes has seen a lot with her traveling family as they have biked the length of North and South America but her recent article, Chased by a Bear, describes an unexpected close encounter with a 400 pound black bear the family biked across northern British Columbia, proving that ”two adrenaline-fueled cyclists can pedal faster” than a black bear!  This is one adventure we don’t need to experience first hand but we are glad they escaped to tell the tale.

Julie Henning pointed us to a Guest Post: Traveling with Tweens and Barely Teens  on Road Trips For Families, about surviving vacation with tweens and barely teens. Two moms wrote about a 4500 mile, two week vacation with their son Dru.  One of the traveling moms said, “Planning ahead, keeping things flexible, making sure our son felt heard and important, and giving him as much decision-making power as possible were key in keeping the three of us sane for our epic journey across the Wild West!”

Anne Patrone told us about her family Zip-Lining over the Jungle: Tulum Xtreme Adventure wherein mom had a lot more worries and angst than the kids did when it came to zip-lining from 66 foot high “swaying towers seemingly built out of wimpy wood while whipped by a fierce wind”.  Posted on  500 Places With Kids, Anne described it as “A great adventure for bored tweens/teens along the Mexican Riviera.”   Anne’s tribe has a penchant for adventure, and always seems to be on the go.  Most recently, they visited a Missile Silo and hiked the Badlands in South Dakota too.

Family Travel with a Global Perspective

Kyle McCarthy from My Family Travels posted a delightful article about his family’s experiences traveling the backroads of Provence with a teen on their way to the Cannes Film Festival.  Read The Road to Cannes- Exploring Provence to get the perspective of a jet-lagged family of New Yorkers, enjoying the peace and tranquility of a traditional french country farm house and the surrounding countryside.

Also in Europe, Jennifer Miner of The Vacation Gals shared her experience of biking the walled city of Lucca in Tuscany, Italy with a teen and a tween in her article Bike Tour of Lucca, Italy.  She says Lucca is perfect for this age group: ”a living museum, what with the Medieval architecture all around, with gelaterias and pizzarias in most piazzas.”

We also enjoyed getting to know 10 year old Peter and his mom, dad, two sisters and baby brother who are traveling around Australia in a 22 foot caravan. Peter keeps us up to date on his blog Adventurous Childhood.  In one of their most recent adventures the family went Swimming with Sea Lions.  Peter’s 9 year old sister Susan has her own blog Life and Views about their travels.  Mom’s version of their escapades  can be found on the Livin on the Road blog.

And, A Bit of Halloween Cheer!

Finally, living in New England, with Halloween around the corner, we definitely enjoyed Sherri May’s Halloween in Salem with her eleven year old son and his friend, posted on Sherri May’s Traveling Classroom.  Home of the Salem witchcraft trials, this Massachusetts town goes all out with a month of Halloween Haunted Happenings that any teen or tween can enjoy.  Don’t forget to wear a costume!

Where have you been traveling with your teens and tweens?

We’ll be on the road again soon, but, always enjoy hearing what other families with teens and tweens are up to.  Our next blog carnival will be right after Christmas so send us your links using our  carnival submission form.   Or click here:

You can also email your link and a couple of sentences about it to – maryt <at> travel-with-teens <dot> com

Past posts can be found on our Blog Carnival Page.