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I am currently planning a trip to Vietnam with my husband for his birthday which I previously made a post about. We are taking our whole family (along with my sister, husband and her kids) on a short cruise to Mexico at thanksgiving.
We want to start traveling domestically and internationally with our children. We have a 15 year old and 5 year old that live with us, both boys. I mentioned to the 15 year old that we were considering Ireland and he seemed uninterested in that and said there is nothing to do there and everyone wears kilts ("those little skirt thingies"). I told him he doesn't know anything about Ireland. He seemed interested in Germany because they have interactive cross walks.
So, my question is, given their ages and vastly different interests where would be a good place to introduce them to international travel? The older boy is a bit fearful yet so he wouldn't enjoy a trip that was in a place without a lot of English speakers. I know the general European countries but more specifically cities within those countries that would appeal to a broad age group and be a good way to dip their toes into international travel.
We live in NYC
My stepson is also 15 and the same as yours. Wants to go to Japan just for the anime, lol.
What's more, gardyloo's trip goes through places ive read so many books about. Outlander, saxon series, cousins war, etc.. which would be amazing to see in real life
First trip should probably be someplace like Britain or Ireland to minimize language difficulties on a maiden excursion. I don't know any more about Britain than you probably do so I'll restrict to Ireland.
You haven't told us about the 15yo's interests... music, sports, hiking, history? Try to line up some activities along his interests there. I think spending a couple of days in a BnB on the Aran Islands & bicycling around could be fun; N. Ireland has many locations from Game of Thrones; Skellig Michael is the location for the last scene of Star Wars; there are lots of ruins in Kerry & Glendalough in Wicklow. Some BnBs are on farms & that can be interesting, there are sports native to Ireland not found elsewhere really.
Hard to say, you know his likes tho. Check out travelers' vids on Youtube for youth-oriented activities in any country of choice.
He likes fast cars and sports. American football, basketball and baseball. But we've never taken him anywhere he didnt enjoy (except exceptionally long days walking in nyc).
We want to start traveling domestically and internationally with our children. We have a 15 year old and 5 year old that live with us, both boys. I mentioned to the 15 year old that we were considering Ireland and he seemed uninterested in that and said there is nothing to do there and everyone wears kilts ("those little skirt thingies"). I told him he doesn't know anything about Ireland. He seemed interested in Germany because they have interactive cross walks.
So, my question is, given their ages and vastly different interests where would be a good place to introduce them to international travel? The older boy is a bit fearful yet so he wouldn't enjoy a trip that was in a place without a lot of English speakers. I know the general European countries but more specifically cities within those countries that would appeal to a broad age group and be a good way to dip their toes into international travel.
We live in NYC
This is typical 15 year old BS. Ignore those kinds of statements. Last year I did a road trip with my then 14 year old and almost 9 year old. We were stopping at Niagara Falls. Both of them made comments like "I don't know why we have to go see some waterfall." But, both of them ended up liking it, despite the numerous complaints about going. They are now glad they went. So go where you think will be fun for your family.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gardyloo
I'd probably stay away from the very big cities like London or Paris until the kids can handle the chaos a bit better. For cities that are kid friendly, I'd look at Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Edinburgh.
I would say the exact opposite. I would look to the big cities, because they are going to offer the most diversity of experiences and have things that will interest the kids.
The easiest is probably London. Lots to do. Obviously very European, but no so dissimilar from NYC in many ways. You can do road trips to further flung destinations. But lots of touristy things to see, at least some of which should interest the kids.
If your son is interested in Germany, then why not? I might try to do a few cities -- maybe Berlin and Munich or something like that.
Quebec city and Montreal would be an easy starter trip with a good change of pace. They would learn that not all places are the same.
If you search "caravan" there are places in Ireland where you can rent a horse drawn Gypsy wagon style vehicle and go camping. That is a real change of pace.
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