While planning our California family vacation from Australia, we asked our 18-year-old twins and their two friends one question: After visiting Los Angeles, should we go to Disneyland or Palm Springs?
30.01.2025 - 03:27 / insider.com
Planning an international trip for six people is challenging; doing it with four teenagers requires extra preparation. When my twin sons graduated from high school in Australia, we celebrated with a three-week adventure across the US and Mexico.
Each son could bring a companion to make the trip even more special. Charlie chose his girlfriend, Jessie, while Thomas brought his best friend, Brad. As someone who's explored 109 countries, I thought I had everything figured out — but traveling with teens quickly proved to be its own unique adventure.
I created a group chat for our six travelers eight months before departure. The chat served multiple purposes: It built excitement, answered questions, and helped my wife and me connect with our younger travel companions. This was especially valuable for Brad, who had never traveled internationally before.
While I informed parents about essential details, I intentionally let the teens handle most of the communication with their families. This approach gave them ownership of the adventure and built their confidence in traveling.
The challenge became finding the right balance. We quickly learned to save the group chat for crucial updates — too many messages from us "boomers" were ignored.
Rather than presenting a pre-planned itinerary, I created a PowerPoint showcasing different destination options. I admit this approach sounds incredibly dorky, but it increased their enthusiasm. Their choices surprised me — they chose to explore Joshua Tree National Park over visiting Disneyland and a week in wintery Chicago over warmer destinations.
This collaborative planning transformed what could have felt like a parent-imposed trip into a true group adventure. Everyone gave input, and then the group voted on where to go.
One of our biggest wins was how everyone embraced each other's interests. Brad and Thomas love basketball, so we all watched a Chicago Bulls game. Jessie wanted to go ice skating, so we made time for a special session at Chicago's Maggie Daley Park Ice Skating Ribbon. The whole group embraced my wife's love for architecture with tours in Palm Springs and Chicago. No one complained about these individual activities; the group enthusiastically supported each other's interests.
We expected frequent requests for "parent-free" time, but the teens joined almost every activity. They only slept in occasionally while my wife and I grabbed coffee or split up briefly, like when we explored Chicago's Art Institute while they used their City Passes at other attractions.
Our time in Mexico created some of our most memorable moments. Since the legal drinking age is 18, we could share new experiences. We took turns choosing cocktails by the pool, tried
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