Getting the Most from your Family Vacation

[CanadianTwosome]

A lot's been said here lately about the benefits of cruising, or travelling in general, for your children. I thought I'd start a non-controversial thread to give people a chance to share their ideas on how to really get the most rewarding and enjoyable experience we can with our kids.

 

For us, we like to take opportunities wherever possible to point out things to our daughter that we think are good for her to see and understand. This might mean showing her the type of housing other people live in, how other children (or adults) are behaving, or thinigs of historical significance. There are learning opportunities all around us! I credit my mother with teaching me a lot about life and the world through our travels.

 

We choose excursions that we think will provide opportunities to experience things we can't at home. I can't recommend the dolphin encounters highly enough. Learning about the animals from the trainers and then having the chance to interact with them is amazing, and as an adult, I learned a lot myself on our last one... we're booked for another in January, as well as one with sea lions. We're also going to go whale watching, which I expect to be spectacular. Not only am I expecting it to be a phenomenal experience; I'll bet it will give us a little perspective about how small we are in the big world. A little humility never hurt anyone!

 

We've given our daughter the assignment of researching all of the ports we'll be visiting. She's only nine, so I'm not expecting a 10 page essay, but I want her to know where she's going and what kind of culture we're visiting.

 

We'll also be having a lot of fun! I think it's important for parents to remember that when you take a family vacation, you're giving yourself an opportunity that will never come again - to spend time with your children right now, right here. They'll never be 'this age' again, and as they change, your opportunities to enjoy them and enjoy life with them will change. When our daughter looks at the dailies and says 'I want to do that!' we try do it, even if it's the least appealing thing on the activity list. No matter how low it is on my list of interests, she's always on the top, and every other day of the year I have responsibilities that can interfere with our ability to spend time together. I'm hoping the upcoming 'family olympics' on our next cruise will be within my fitness abilities!! ha ha ha

 

So... please, post your ideas! How do you make the best of your family vacation? Are there excursions that you recommend? Is there anything in particular that you always take along with you?

 

Cheers! :)

[Onessa]

We do try to plan our iternaries (or vacations) based upon what she is working on in school. In her school the second graders always follow the Iditerod (sp) -- so when we were considering vacations for the summer between 1st and 2nd grade, the AK cruise was a natural. Fourth grade was volcanos in science (HI in November) and government in the spring (so our summer trip was Washington DC). Sixth grade is "ancient civilizations" -- so we considered Mexico, South America and several Mediterranean trips (settled on Italy and Greece).

 

Before and after a trip we try to tie it into what she is studying or reading. We generally plan a few excursions that will help her tie into local kids -- kids museums, a few hours at a playground, etc. We connect with other parents, she with other kids.

 

Since she was only about three, we've always had daily "scavenger hunts" -- I research where we are going to be and come up with some things I expect we will see (Venice = Statue of a Winged lion for one) and then throw in some generic things (woman with a orange purse) -- it keeps her looking. When she was young, I used pictures (I'm not a great artist but passable) along with the words. I try to stretch a few things so she'll learn new things (a game of boche ball; so she'd ask "what's boche?)

 

We try new things - the climbing wall, snorkeling, etc. They are new for ALL of us (and mom is the ultimate klutz!) so there's no fear of failure on anyone's part (ok so DH, WAS afraid to try to snorkel, but he did go out on the boat with us. For a man who grew up on the shores of the world's largest fresh water lake, he sure doesn't like to swim in deep water!)

 

Most of all we spend time together.

[Kerry's Girls]

We bring little new toys to share with local children (blow up balls and I buy a bunch at the Disney store after xmas - little cell phones, etc., for a couple dollars) so they can all play together. On our next cruise, I've found the office of a girls orphanage that's near one of our shore excursions, so we're bringing a bag of the twins' clothes along to drop there (more room in the suitcase coming back!).

 

I encourage the twins to learn to say hello and goodbye in the language of each of the ship's crew who take the time to talk to us, and to learn about what their life is like at home.

 

The girls and I just returned from a trip to London, and even though it was fun and historical, it seemed like a waste to go somewhere where everyone looked and spoke the same as we do!

 

Selfishly, my favorite time is dinner time, when we dress up and enjoy a meal together. That's what I remember most about cruises when I was growing up - that special grown-up meal time with my family.

 

Great thread - I look forward to stealing everyone's ideas!

 

Best,

Mia

[VikkiGarcia]

I love to take time out to see how the "locals" live. I want my kids to see how difficult other kids have it. We try to spend a bit of extra money to people selling handicrafts we don't particularly need or like, but want to help those trying to better themselves.

[nybumpkin]

When it comes to shore excursions, we try to balance the "educational" with the "just plain fun" excursions. An "educational" excursion would be the Chacchoben ruins tour we took in February with David and Ivan in Costa Maya. A "just plain fun" excursion is what we're planning in Cozumel in February - mini golf and beach time at Paradise Beach. The kids enjoy both, but I wouldn't want to go exclusively with one or the other.

[SweetAngel]

Nice idea for a thread, Canadian Twosome. :)

 

Last year, my kids missed a week of school to take a cruise to Mexico. My son's teacher, however, was very excited that we were visiting the Mayan ruins in Mexico, as his class was studying the ancient cultures of Mexico that same week. She asked him to pay attention so that he could share what he learned with the class.

 

Pre-trip planning: To help generate excitement and understanding, I took my son to the public library to pick out some books on Mexico and the Mayan people. Via the internet, I collected some wonderful pictures and facts about each of the major structures at Chichen Itza. I put all the facts and pictures onto one page and laminated it so my son could carry it with him. Because of my son's young age (8), I wrote only 1 or 2 sentences about each structure. Then on the long car ride to the cruise port, I had each of my children read about the structures to me, and we discussed them together.

 

The actual excursion to Chichen Itza was all day (8 hours), but my kids never got tired or bored. They were so excited to see the pictures come to life. Everything ... the pyramid, the ball court, the sacrificial well ... had meaning to them. Had we not pre-planned, I'm sure it would have been a long, meaningless tour ... just a bunch of strange old buildings.

 

Back at school for Geography week, I got to come to my son's class and give a presentation on the Maya. My son stood up with me and helped explain some of the Mayan artifacts we brought back with us. Because we knew so much and were so excited about it, the teacher asked the principal to come in and watch and then invited me to come back after gym class and tell more.

[CanadianTwosome]

Wow, what a lot of fantastic ideas!!

 

I think a balance between educational and 'fun' excursions is definitely the way to go; it IS a vacation, after all! ha ha ha Even on the fun excursions I like to find things to learn from, though. I'm sure some of my daughter's best behaviour is a direct result of me pointing out 'bad' behaviour in other children and adults!! :p

 

I would love to find an orphanage or some other charitable organization to visit at one of our ports, but I don't know where to look... I tried, but there were so many links, and so many of them were more for making donations from home than visiting places... we regularly give clothes and toys to one of the local women's shelters here at home, but I don't think it's really 'real' to her... she knows that the people at the shelters have had some very bad experiences and don't have many of the things she takes for granted, but hearing about hardship and seeing it are entirely different things.

 

I hope she'll be able to do some sort of presentation after this trip. On our last cruise, she kept a journal and we put pictures in it (some photos, some hand drawn), but because of some classroom issues she wasn't able to present it. Hopefully things will be different this year now that the issues have been resolved.

 

I can't wait to incorporate some of these ideas into our trip!! Thanks everyone, and keep 'em coming!

[Dengail]

We just got out the atlas and mapped the ships route, and talked about the islands, looked at pics online. We also keep a small travel journal on the cruise that we take turns writing in. I write every day, but also the kids can write their thoughts in it too. We journal at home too, so I ask them specific topics to write about the trip when we get home, then when I scrapbook our vacations I quote their writings in the scrapbooks and have their names on it- this has made some of the best picture memories- in their words!

Our favorite times are dinners on the cruise too- my 12dd can't stop talking about all the things she's going to try, clothes she'll wear, etc.

[SleepingUgly]

When traveling with kids, regardless of whether it's a cruise or not, the best thing to do is go with the flow. It's nice to have a schedule, yes, but if the kids are cranky and not in the mood for another bus tour, do you really want to go?

 

I am not one for spontaneity in my everyday life, and I plan my vacations like you would not believe (Type A personality; what can I say), but in the end, everything depends on our mood. Vacations tend to be so much more enjoyable - and memorable - when you just go with the flow.

 

This strategy has worked well for us on cruises, trips to WDW and numerous trips to Europe since our oldest daughter was 8 months old. We've never had a frustrating or nerve-wracking vacation because even though I do plan each day of our trip, not everything is set in stone. It pays to be flexible.

 

Linda

[Debbers]

Look for books about your destinations. Depending on your children's ages and interests, you can surely find books about nature (beach, forest, wildlife) and culture near the ports. You probably can find storybooks, too. All can help a child open his/her eyes to the new surroundings.

 

Before we moved (briefly) to Italy, we borrowed loads of books about Rome and Italy. When we finally got to walk the streets of Pompeii, it was very exciting to talk about what we had read and how it compared to what we could see.

[Cruise Arizona]

I love to hear what others have done to make the trips more meaningful to their children.

 

For our Hawaii Cruise my son did a research project and paper on Captain Cook and his voyages around the world. It was so interesting to see all the different things he encountered. Through this project my son also learned a lot a bout Polynesian Culture. We also watched History Channel type programs on Pear Harbor. When we saw Cook's statue on Kauai and the Monument where he was killed near Kona, it had a deep meaning to him.. he felt a special kinship with this captain that had lived hundreds of years ago.

 

My daughter took Polynesian dance lessons and watched Travel Channel type shows with me about Hawaii. She did a little report, but her big project was geography and map reading skills . We had printed maps of each Island and together we marked where we were planning on going and then took pictures to include in the report.

 

For Mexico, we had been studying Mexican Folk dancing for a while anyway, but my daughter wanted to find out more about each regional costume and the meaning behind it. We found pictures on the internet of dolls in each state costume and then she interviewed her dance teacher, an expert on Mexican culture about the costumes. She also had to learn about each state and city we were visting and write a little report about each state.

 

My son is facinated by ancient cultures... We atched an Engineering and Empire show about the Aztecs and their ancient city. My son also did both library and online research about their culture. Though we didn't got to Mexico City, we did go to a few areas either influenced or conquered by the Aztecs. Then he also worked on a report about each city ...it ancient history, modern history, and current industries and highlights. We did this before we left for the trip.

 

What I have to say is doing the homework before you go or even watching an educational program on TV about the place you'll be visiting make it so much more meaninful to the children. It truely is magical to watch them see the worlds that they have only seen in pictures come to life.

 

My kids also have a big atlas that they bring on the ship and have all the waiters and bartenders and youth staff autograph. We have them circle their home town and then tell the kids something interesting about their country. We hope to have it filled some day. I doubt we'll ever take another trip with out it.

[Ula]

This is not cruised related because well not a lot of people cruised in my generation as kids. We did that family summer vacation. My mother, we vacation with to this day, plotted the route and found every historical place/marker on the route and its history. We always stopped to learn. She would show us before we left.

As a kid it was a tad "boring", as an adult and even my husband agrees we do the same thing. We look for the historical stuff before we leave. We also watch the History Channel a lot.

My husbands mom did the same. So even though your child might act bored, they will learn a lot about history and culture on a vacation. They just do not know it at the time.

An amusing side story was in Arizona. Mom at the hotel was looking for Native American stuff. The clerk said lady, they do not live in Tee-Pees anymore.

We always had fun, also learned a lot on vacation. But I think our moms did a lot of research before we left.

[Kerry's Girls]

This is not cruised related because well not a lot of people cruised in my generation as kids. We did that family summer vacation. My mother, we vacation with to this day, plotted the route and found every historical place/marker on the route and its history. We always stopped to learn. She would show us before we left.

As a kid it was a tad "boring", as an adult and even my husband agrees we do the same thing. We look for the historical stuff before we leave. We also watch the History Channel a lot.

My husbands mom did the same. So even though your child might act bored, they will learn a lot about history and culture on a vacation. They just do not know it at the time.

We always had fun, also learned a lot on vacation. But I think our moms did a lot of research before we left.

 

That's funny. My husband always talked about how his dad would race the station wagon from point A to point B without even allowing rest room breaks (they had a jar!). I always imagined Ker with his nose pressed up against the window, longing to know what was beyond the highway. As an adult, he would NEVER pass a historical marker without stopping. Drove me crazy to start with, but I learned to love our road trips.

[kaseykahnefan]

Hey yall. Any good ideas on traveling with teenagers?

[Onessa]

Hey yall. Any good ideas on traveling with teenagers?

 

I've always assumed that's why everyone kept recommending bringing duct tape :D :D

 

But having a 12YO, I too am interested in how to update some of my techniques!

[CanadianTwosome]

Duct tape... funny!! :p

 

I LOVE the atlas idea!! I'm going to make a special trip with my daughter to pick one out especially for the purpose of talking to the crew and getting their stories and signatures!!

 

Teens... Well, I don't have one of my own yet, but I WAS one once... yes, it was a looooooong time ago. ha ha ha My sister and I are two years apart, so she was a teen on more trips than I was... but we started doing 'big' trips when I was six and took the last really big one to Spain when I was 13. After that, my Granny wasn't able to do as much and we planned our holidays around what she could handle.

 

So... what did we do? I think having started travelling early on, by the time we were out of the 'kid' stage, we were already accustomed to finding out what there was to do and enjoying whatever we could find to the fullest. There were no kid's clubs or teen clubs on the ships as there are today, but we always found something to do. Don't underestimate the simple things like sunshine and a pool! I don't know what anyone else's kids are like, so I don't know how independent they are or how much they might think someone else should be entertaining them, if you know what I mean. On all of the holidays I ever took as a child/tween/teen, I do not recall ever uttering the phrase, 'I'm bored'. We live in Saskatchewan, where we're landlocked and have flat prairie and big sky to look at. Just being in a different geographical area - or even better near or on an ocean - always gave us something to do just admiring the scenery.

 

Something we always did, also, was find the other kids. In our day, that wasn't as easy as it is now, because not only were there not the kid's organized activities and designated areas there are now, but there were not very many kids!! We travelled a lot at Christmas, and even then, there were usually under 20 kids on any given vacation - usually much less. All you need is one to have some fun though. I always found it really neat to meet people from other places and find out about their homes - still do!

 

I'm not sure if any of that helps or not, but for the learning experiences, they never stop, and doing pre-cruise research is always a good idea at any age. I do it as much for myself as for my daughter. I'm really looking forward to having a well equipped kid's zone for her to enjoy as well. As we've been discussing, getting as much learning out of our holiday is great, but it's still a holiday, so I want her to enjoy it as much as possible. If she's enjoying herself, she'll be much more interested in the learning parts!!

 

The other thing I suggest is to go over your ship's plans and do a search for some dailies, so that you and your child/teen will have an idea ahead of time what they'll have to choose from and what kind of time they'll have to fill on their own. My daughter and I are both practicing for the passenger talent shows. I loved participating in the one on our last cruise but she was really disappointed that she was too young, so we're very excited that the Star has a kid's version.

 

I'm so glad I started this thread. I hope people are getting as much from my posts as I am from theirs!!! :)

[Ula]

As teen, and this was before video games on long car rides I read books.

Do have a true story on Family Vacations. Our last family vacation for many years since I was in college, I rented a condo for the family at a ski resort. My folks, my sister and my cousin Michael. Way before cell phones, in fact the condo had no phone. Kind of like a cruise today.

I had been dating my husband, and we decided to get married just before. Had the engagement ring and everything. I decided to wait till half way on the road to the condo to announce and show my ring. My mom could not get to a pay phone fast enough when we arrived.

Vacations make such wonderful family memories.

[Onessa]

Slightly off topic, but just returned from a weekend trip -- with extended family for a weekend. Anywhere from 5 to 7 girls all weekend (ranging in age from 12mo to 12yrs) + a 15YO boy (and a healthy assortment of adults, but who cares about us!). We had a great family friendly and child friendly weekend.

 

Came home to wade through my email. Another cousin had sent me this story and it made me smile and to think of all of the threads many of us who have posted here have needed to endure:

Last week, I took my children to a restaurant.

 

My six-year-old son asked if he could say grace.

As we bowed our heads he said, 'God is good, God is great. Thank you for the food, and I would even thank you more if Mom gets us ice cream for dessert. And Liberty and justice for all! Amen!'

Along with the laughter from the other customers nearby, I heard a woman remark, 'That's what's wrong with this country. Kids today don't even know how to pray. Asking God for ice cream! Why, I never!'

Hearing this, my son burst into tears and asked me, 'Did I do it wrong? Is God mad at me?'

 

As I held him and assured him that he had done a terrific job, and God was certainly not mad at him, an elderly gentleman approached the table.

 

He winked at my son and said, 'I happen to know that God thought that was a great prayer.'

 

'Really?' my son asked.

 

'Cross my heart,' the man replied.

 

Then, in a theatrical whisper, he added (indicating the woman whose remark had started this whole thing), 'Too bad she never asks God for ice cream. A little ice cream is good for the soul!sometimes.'

Naturally, I bought my kids ice cream at the end of the meal. My son stared at his for a moment, and then did something I will remember the rest of my life.

He picked up his sundae and, without a word, walked over and placed it in front of the woman. With a big smile he told her, 'Here, this is for you. Ice cream is good for the soul sometimes; and my soul is good already.'

[whimseysgirl]

I love all the ideas here! Since we homeschool, we can play with the curriculum a bit. We often end up tying our trips into the schoolwork - DS (age 8) is far more engaged if he's interested in what he's learning (aren't we all!), and thus far he's really enjoyed knowing some of the history, culture and language of the places we're visiting.

 

We also make much, much use of books on tape. We have some small speakers so we can all listen together, or else DS pops headphones on. They make long flights and drives go by much quicker, and there are so many books we all enjoy.

 

When we travel, we make miniature scrapbooks as we go. I pack a ziplock with small scissors, tape, a gluestick, holepunch, mini gel pens and a bunch of stickers. As we travel, we pick out postcards each day that reflect what we're doing - a new city, if we're on the go, or specific attractions if we're staying in one place for a while. We write notes about what we did each day, draw pictures, etc., and layer on ticket stubs, receipts, business cards - you name it. We make flaps by taping larger items along one side, so they fold out, and pick up flyers for attractions and cut out the names and pictures of places, get local freebie maps and draw our route for the day, whatever tickles out fancy. Then we punch a hole in one corner and thread them onto a keyring bought at one of the places we've been that trip - often something really loud and gaudy (and occasionally not just limited to one key chain...). As well, we'll each write on a separate postcard and mail it home to ourselves using the local postal system, and when we get home, we add those, stamped and dated, to the key rings. As we're doing them daily while traveling, (about 15 -20 minutes of crafting before bed, or the next morning if its a late night), we are more likely to remember the finer details and include them. I keep mine in a photo box and DS hangs his on hook on his wall, and its great fun to take them down and reminisce about our travels.

 

Keep the fabulous ideas coming! I'm off to search for a nice, but portable atlas for our next trip!:D

[Dengail]

Not really Cruise related but...when we fly, I always have my 12-18yr olds lead the way, so to speak. We have them find all the gates, ck monitors, departure times etc. My older kids say it was priceless to them to get this experience, because they all have traveled on their own a lot and just having 'done it' helps them be much more confident.

We spend a good deal of time with maps of the cities we'll be in and letting them plan walking site-seeing routes.

Youtube has some great videos/slide shows that show different ports. Just do search for the name in youtube. For example we are going to San Jaun old town and we watched a beautiful slide show someone had made.

[rebeccalouise]

I just completed a 25 day vacation with my seven year old. My parents were with us for the first 15 days.

 

In Madrid we went to the Parks and the Palace- where he kicked off his shoes and swam in the shallow fountain with European kids and layed in the sun until his clothes dried. Then we got 20 Euro back and foot massages in a nearby park from Chinese immigrants. We ate at the Cafe and Te (a chain) that serves burgers and pizza. I left him with a sitter one night and had a grown up meal at a nice Spainish restaurant.

We took that double decker bus tour of the City. It was great. He actually loved the Prado Museum- go figure!

 

In Barcelona we also did the double decker bus tour and then we walked everywhere. It was good exercise and I rewarded him with $ 1 for every mile he walked. He earned about $20 over the course of the trip.

 

On the cruise he went to Pompeii, Dubrovnik and Venice. He stayed on the ship for the other stops and I took long excursions that would have been of little interest to him. In fact, I met two miserable kids whose parents forced them to tour Santorini. They weren't allowed to join the kids program because the parents wanted it to be a learning experience. I shrugged my shoulders. I had the best day in Santorini eating in a fantastic restaurant over looking the Ocean and shopping- with my son having a ball back on the ship. It was a win- win.

 

We spent two days in Venice, just walking, shopping and playing. No museums, no boring tours. He loved it. He loved sitting at the back (outside) on the vaporetto and playing in the park by the Arsenal with a little girl from HongKong that he met on the cruise.

 

We spent two days in London, taking the subway to the "Eye" and the "Imax" and eating cheese and onion crisps and Mint Aero Bars. He loved the train to Southampton.

 

We then boarded the Queen Mary 2 where we went to the Planterium, swam in the freshwater heated pools and played scrabble for six lazy days. He loved the kids program and I loved playing trivia in the Pub.

 

It was a fantastic vacation because we had our own space and played with friends our own age.

 

I think the key is to not micromanage a vacation. I read to my son about the places we are going to on the plane and on the train. Then I see which things peak his interest. Since most things are new to me- its a win win situation- regardless of what he picks to do.

[CanadianTwosome]

Not really Cruise related but...when we fly, I always have my 12-18yr olds lead the way, so to speak. We have them find all the gates, ck monitors, departure times etc. My older kids say it was priceless to them to get this experience, because they all have traveled on their own a lot and just having 'done it' helps them be much more confident.

We spend a good deal of time with maps of the cities we'll be in and letting them plan walking site-seeing routes.

Youtube has some great videos/slide shows that show different ports. Just do search for the name in youtube. For example we are going to San Jaun old town and we watched a beautiful slide show someone had made.

 

I agree! I'm the best navigator I know, and I have no doubt whatsoever that my childhood travelling contributed to my skills. I've got a fairly good natural sense of direction anyway, but there is nothing like experience for that kind of thing. I have never gotten lost in an airport and I've navigated (sometimes while driving) through places like Orlando and Los Angeles - which may not sound like much to some, but I come from a city with a population of around 300,000 when it's booming! ha ha ha We also have our daughter do as much of the navigating as possible. She is always tasked with finding gates for us, as well as looking up our flights on the departure monitors, then when we've got a map to read, we do it together. I'm looking forward to the day when I can just pass her the map... I'm starting to need reading glasses!! ha ha ha

[CanadianTwosome]

I just completed a 25 day vacation with my seven year old. My parents were with us for the first 15 days.

 

In Madrid we went to the Parks and the Palace- where he kicked off his shoes and swam in the shallow fountain with European kids and layed in the sun until his clothes dried. Then we got 20 Euro back and foot massages in a nearby park from Chinese immigrants. We ate at the Cafe and Te (a chain) that serves burgers and pizza. I left him with a sitter one night and had a grown up meal at a nice Spainish restaurant.

We took that double decker bus tour of the City. It was great. He actually loved the Prado Museum- go figure!

 

In Barcelona we also did the double decker bus tour and then we walked everywhere. It was good exercise and I rewarded him with $ 1 for every mile he walked. He earned about $20 over the course of the trip.

 

On the cruise he went to Pompeii, Dubrovnik and Venice. He stayed on the ship for the other stops and I took long excursions that would have been of little interest to him. In fact, I met two miserable kids whose parents forced them to tour Santorini. They weren't allowed to join the kids program because the parents wanted it to be a learning experience. I shrugged my shoulders. I had the best day in Santorini eating in a fantastic restaurant over looking the Ocean and shopping- with my son having a ball back on the ship. It was a win- win.

 

We spent two days in Venice, just walking, shopping and playing. No museums, no boring tours. He loved it. He loved sitting at the back (outside) on the vaporetto and playing in the park by the Arsenal with a little girl from HongKong that he met on the cruise.

 

We spent two days in London, taking the subway to the "Eye" and the "Imax" and eating cheese and onion crisps and Mint Aero Bars. He loved the train to Southampton.

 

We then boarded the Queen Mary 2 where we went to the Planterium, swam in the freshwater heated pools and played scrabble for six lazy days. He loved the kids program and I loved playing trivia in the Pub.

 

It was a fantastic vacation because we had our own space and played with friends our own age.

 

I think the key is to not micromanage a vacation. I read to my son about the places we are going to on the plane and on the train. Then I see which things peak his interest. Since most things are new to me- its a win win situation- regardless of what he picks to do.

 

Sounds like you had a great trip!! I'll bet your son learned a TON!! You make a very good point about the parents who wouldn't let their children go to the kid's club. A big part of my intentions in this thread is to gather ideas about how to help kids get lots out of travelling while still keeping them happy. I'm sure your son learned more talking to his new friend from Hong Kong than the two kids learned when they were someplace they didn't want to be. Nobody can learn when they're spending the whole time thinking about how miserable they are and what they *could* have been doing!

[rebeccalouise]

Thanks for your nice response. My son is a good little traveler. We have a great time together. I can't wait until next summer. We are doing the US- New England and a cruise on the QM2 again. Can't wait.

I work but am able to take a month off in the summer to spend with him and it is really such a nice experience to have this time together. I am sure in a couple years he will be more into his friends than traveling with his Mom but I am making hay while the sun shines.

 

I also have a 19 year old who has no interest in traveling with "Mom" any more!

[CanadianTwosome]

Wow, I can't imagine that!! I still love travelling with my mom. I've been trying to convince her to come along on our upcoming cruise (she was along on the last one) but she's already done it, so she doesn't want to do it again *pout*!