When do kids/teens not want to do summer travel with parents?

[Anonymous]

We have taken a long trip every summer of about 6-7 weeks, staying with family. Our DC is 10. We are noticing other relatives are not able to do this when kids are 12-13 because of summer camp, speciality camp/lessons for their kid's interest, etc.

Also, when I was 16 or 17, I could not take much time off because I had a summer job.

When do your kids as teens start to want (or need) to have their own summer plan, for example to be in the DMV for lessons, camps, sports practice or just to hang out with pals? To work a summer job?

How many of these family-focused summers (we love them) do we have left with a 10 year old?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

What do you want for them? - you are the parent. That puts you in charge. Until 18. Family travel a priority? Teens working. You decide.

[Anonymous]

My 16 year old still loves to travel with the family, but 6-7 weeks would be impossible. More like one 8-10 day trip and the rest of the summer is hers to do what she needs/wants to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you want for them? - you are the parent. That puts you in charge. Until 18. Family travel a priority? Teens working. You decide.

I am aware that I am the parent and can decide.

[Anonymous]

I'd say HS.

[Anonymous]

6-7 weeks is a long time. I think ours would have had an issue with that by middle school. They love to travel with us but we have never been gone for more than 2 weeks.

[Anonymous]

When they 5

[Anonymous]

Families do what makes sense for them. I don't want my teens to have such a heavy summer job schedule that they can't take vacations with us. Family time is more important than working at a job.

[Anonymous]

6-7 weeks a long time for kids over the summer. When my was younger, she wanted to do camps and now that she's older - she wants to visit with friends.

We typically to 2-3 weeks back to my home country, but even towards the end of that, she is ready to get back.

[Anonymous]

Maybe next year? By 12 my kid wanted to spend the majority of their time with their friends. It isn't that they didn't love it, but priorities shift. We did one 1 week vacation together until the kid turned 18. Summer before college they didn't want to go on vacation and focus on work/making money/spending time with friends.

[Anonymous]

Mine are 17 and 20 and still love family vacations. It's harder to plan them with the college student, though.

[Anonymous]

I would bet your kids start complaining about being away from their friends all summer in 7th and 8th grade. It is developmentally appropriate for them to start to focus more on friends than parents at that point. I would think it would be long summer with middle schoolers away from home for months.

[Anonymous]

We don't do this, but my DD is a junior and one of her close friends goes back to their home country every summer for basically the entire summer. Doing anything else isn't an option, so the friend doesn't even complain about it and likes seeing the family there.

FWIW, if your DC is going to play a fall sport, practices start at the beginning of August in high school.

[Anonymous]

My parents stopped all travel with me when I was 16, preferring to travel without me.

My kids are 16 & 17 and are quite happy to travel with us but also together, or in similar aged groups (organized with adult chaperones etc).

It entirely depends on the family.

[Anonymous]

High school. You start hitting summer jobs, fall sports practice, and being heavily invested in spending time with friends. I certainly could make my kids go with me but my 10th would be grumpy about it and/or missing out of experiences I think are good for him here. My newly minted 8th grader would still have been pretty content doing family stuff all summer but it gets harder and harder.