Once in a lifetime family trip?

[Anonymous]

Australia any age 6 and above

Peru- Macchu Picchu

Another option pick any Island in the world you and dh have always wanted to go to; and the kids will have fun making sand castles in any one them.

[Anonymous]

Man I can find ways to use up a zillion bucks going to a non exotic place. NO kid I repeat cares about going to an exotic place at age 6. The name of the game is fun. Not being in a plane for 15 hrs. Not traveling for 32 hrs. I guarantee you that they would be happy doing just about anything as long as their most basic needs are met. It's all about having treats at this age. If they got to pet the cutest cat ever for 4 hours they would be ecstatic! None of this wanting to see colonies of penguins stuff. Maybe if it was a 2 hr drive but not if it's around the world to see for an hour.

Now I think this is about the adults' trip of a lifetime! Now that is something else entirely.

PS as someone who went to India for a month it's like hell on earth. Life changing experience for me but I suggest it only to my sworn enemies. The pollution and poverty are unimaginable. Unless you have a spiritual and religious bent, there is never a need in your lifetime to ever see India for fun. Not a fun place. Beautiful, inspiring, meaningful, life altering, but not fun holiday place to go because it sounds neat. I could not wash the dirt out for months upon returning it was that gross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Man I can find ways to use up a zillion bucks going to a non exotic place. NO kid I repeat cares about going to an exotic place at age 6. The name of the game is fun. Not being in a plane for 15 hrs. Not traveling for 32 hrs. I guarantee you that they would be happy doing just about anything as long as their most basic needs are met. It's all about having treats at this age. If they got to pet the cutest cat ever for 4 hours they would be ecstatic! None of this wanting to see colonies of penguins stuff. Maybe if it was a 2 hr drive but not if it's around the world to see for an hour.

Now I think this is about the adults' trip of a lifetime! Now that is something else entirely.

PS as someone who went to India for a month it's like hell on earth. Life changing experience for me but I suggest it only to my sworn enemies. The pollution and poverty are unimaginable. Unless you have a spiritual and religious bent, there is never a need in your lifetime to ever see India for fun. Not a fun place. Beautiful, inspiring, meaningful, life altering, but not fun holiday place to go because it sounds neat. I could not wash the dirt out for months upon returning it was that gross.

True, I would not do India or its neighbors with little kids.

- from an Indian subcontinent person.

[Anonymous]

I hate to be on the party pooping train, but I’ve traveled extensively with my kids (now 14, 16, 20) and while the idea of a once in a lifetime trip is incredible, their ages are not ideal. It would suck to spend that money and feel like you blew it on the other side.

I would save the money and start planning for the amazing trip in a few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m gonna rain on your parade.

I wouldn’t plan my trip of a lifetime for kids that young. I’d wait until they’re older. They’re not going to appreciate it and it won’t be worth the money.

We’ve gone on several “trips of a lifetime“, including our entire family on a luxurious safari, but we waited until everyone was older.

+1000

Yellowstone would be the best trip for this age. Have traveled a lot with my kids, wait until they are older. Put some of the money in a high interest account for this purpose.

[Anonymous]

Ages 7 and 9 are still the ages where you can show up at a destination and everyone is sick with some crummy elementary school illness. It just happened to us - strep. I'd tone down the trip of a lifetime thing and just pick somewhere that everyone has an interest in.

I'd look at Australia, Asia (Korea, Japan, Thailand), or Europe (Scandinavia could be awesome with those ages). The Azores are fantastic and close. We had an amazing trip to British Columbia and Montana at those ages. Just depends on what your kids like to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Id do Antarctica or Galapagos. Safaris can be far cheaper than your budget.

Yea. Safaris that suck.

Maybe not. This is good advice

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/30/opinion/brooks-the-haimish-line.html

I like this piece!

Conclusion: "Buy experiences instead of things; buy many small pleasures instead of a few big ones; pay now for things you can look forward to and enjoy later."

I think your kids might enjoy a few less extravagant trips than a big expensive one.

And no to Antarctica, what are you thinking?! I'm soon to cross it off my bucket list and I can fairly confidentially say it is not great for kids those ages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm with the private catamaran in the Caribbean. 1000%. It's 100% about you and your family. You're not tied to one particular place. I the weather is bad you can easily move. You'll have a chef to do 100% of the cooking and you have access to amazing places/activities. If $30k gets you one week do 2! Or 10 days but spend some time doing activities/exploring some of the islands. That's absolutely what we would do.

Wouldn't the kids get bored on a boat on travel days with hours of sailing and scenery on a relatively small boat, and no other activities or friends to make.

Mine wouldn't. They'd love snorkeling, exploring beaches, finding shipwrecks, pretending to be pirates, visiting islands.

[Anonymous]

For me, what makes it a once-in-a-lifetime thing is having other people, like grandparents and cousins. I'd love to do a great trip so someplace family friendly, like Portugal, and invite my parents and siblings and nephews/nieces. Plus maybe a nanny so we can go out and have fun. Stay in a great resort with lots of kid-friendly amenities, and bring along our nanny so the adults can go out and explore. Now that is once-in-a-lifetime!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For me, what makes it a once-in-a-lifetime thing is having other people, like grandparents and cousins. I'd love to do a great trip so someplace family friendly, like Portugal, and invite my parents and siblings and nephews/nieces. Plus maybe a nanny so we can go out and have fun. Stay in a great resort with lots of kid-friendly amenities, and bring along our nanny so the adults can go out and explore. Now that is once-in-a-lifetime!

Agree with this. Surrounded by lots of family and/or good friends is what they’ll remember at this age. They are too young for some exoctic one in a lifetime trip like safari or Antarctica. They won’t really enjoy or appreciate it. Simple trips at their ages will be more fun. Go stay at an amazing resort somewhere. My kids loved Hualalai in Hawaii. Such a splurge but incredible for the entire family. Or if you want more unique do a Great Barrier Reef island or Seychelles.

[Anonymous]

Do people really take 7 year olds on "once in a lifetime" trips? I feel like I'd wait until at least teens for this sort of thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For me, what makes it a once-in-a-lifetime thing is having other people, like grandparents and cousins. I'd love to do a great trip so someplace family friendly, like Portugal, and invite my parents and siblings and nephews/nieces. Plus maybe a nanny so we can go out and have fun. Stay in a great resort with lots of kid-friendly amenities, and bring along our nanny so the adults can go out and explore. Now that is once-in-a-lifetime!

Agree with this. Surrounded by lots of family and/or good friends is what they’ll remember at this age. They are too young for some exoctic one in a lifetime trip like safari or Antarctica. They won’t really enjoy or appreciate it. Simple trips at their ages will be more fun. Go stay at an amazing resort somewhere. My kids loved Hualalai in Hawaii. Such a splurge but incredible for the entire family. Or if you want more unique do a Great Barrier Reef island or Seychelles.

I think you'd run through money pretty quickly there. I just checked prices for this summer, since we're going to Hawaii, and you can only get max 3 in a room, s you'd need at least 2 rooms. Base price for the cheapest two rooms (including taxes and breakfast) is over $3600 per night. Add in flights that are going to be at least $700/pp, a rental car, activities ilke snorkeling, sailboats, surf lessons, whatever, plus lunch and dinner and you'd burn through your budget PDQ, I think. While my kids love a beach resort, I find they really don't notice the difference between a nice Marriot and the 4 Seasons, but they do notice the particular things we do, like an awesome snorkeling trip, bike riding on the beach, parasailing, etc. And they certainly don't care about the Michelin star restauarants and spa treatments and golf courses that you're paying for at those fancy resorts -- they remember the little place we stopped for ice cream or donuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate to be on the party pooping train, but I’ve traveled extensively with my kids (now 14, 16, 20) and while the idea of a once in a lifetime trip is incredible, their ages are not ideal. It would suck to spend that money and feel like you blew it on the other side.

I would save the money and start planning for the amazing trip in a few years.

Totally this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm with the private catamaran in the Caribbean. 1000%. It's 100% about you and your family. You're not tied to one particular place. I the weather is bad you can easily move. You'll have a chef to do 100% of the cooking and you have access to amazing places/activities. If $30k gets you one week do 2! Or 10 days but spend some time doing activities/exploring some of the islands. That's absolutely what we would do.

Wouldn't the kids get bored on a boat on travel days with hours of sailing and scenery on a relatively small boat, and no other activities or friends to make.

Mine wouldn't. They'd love snorkeling, exploring beaches, finding shipwrecks, pretending to be pirates, visiting islands.

These are shallow water activities. What about the time going between islands?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please stop touring in Antarctica. Leave it be.

Agree.

Clearly neither of you have ever researched or taken an Antarctica cruise. They are INSANELY protective of the environment. One example, Your gear is put through bio hazard cleaning before you leave the ship when you land on the continent. The cruises going there are not your Carnival cruises with casinos and belly flop contests; they are expedition ships focused on education.

Additionally, there are no children allowed on these cruises, so it's out for OP until they hit 18.

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20240116-antarctic-tourism-should-we-just-say-no

Just say no.