Out of control vacation expectations - (new to) Bethesda teens

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op a week in Seattle costs just as much as a week in France or the south of Spain. You're essentially spending just as much but the trips aren't as exciting to your kids. From high school onwards my family asked us where we wanted to go and we researched places as teens.

This. There are plenty of European vacations and Caribbean vacations for similar price points as west coast US vacations at 4 star hotels. So you can possibly involve your kids in this more an they'd look forward to their own plans more - and you can do it without having to double your vacation budget.

[Anonymous]

Yes. It is a Bethesda thing (and probably other similar towns too). I was surprised how young it started. Really by like 2nd grade, my DD was saying to us -- Suzie is going to Paris for spring break; Jenny is going to Mexico; Lauren to Hawaii, where are we going? And then if the answer was - oh we'll stay home and play and grandma is going to visit from Pa. and she'll take you to x local place, she already knew that was "settling."

[Anonymous]

A lot of them probably have airline miles. Dh travels a ton for work and we never pay for airline tickets. Thus we can afford international vacations very cheaply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of them probably have airline miles. Dh travels a ton for work and we never pay for airline tickets. Thus we can afford international vacations very cheaply.

Five times per year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you come across the families that charter private jets yet? Or fly first class five times per year? Try explaining that to a young teen. OP, many of these families live in the old houses, and bought for relatively nothing (compared to the last ten years or so), so their two paycheck household spends a great sum on travel. It is the same crowd that can or does afford private school, with more than a little help from the grandparents.

Why is this hard to explain to a young teen, and why do people need to come up with an explanation for how someone can do afford this like grandparents help a lot or old house. Some people, especially in this area, are really, really rich and have a lot of opportunities. Sounds really nice. You do you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you come across the families that charter private jets yet? Or fly first class five times per year? Try explaining that to a young teen. OP, many of these families live in the old houses, and bought for relatively nothing (compared to the last ten years or so), so their two paycheck household spends a great sum on travel. It is the same crowd that can or does afford private school, with more than a little help from the grandparents.

Why is this hard to explain to a young teen, and why do people need to come up with an explanation for how someone can do afford this like grandparents help a lot or old house. Some people, especially in this area, are really, really rich and have a lot of opportunities. Sounds really nice. You do you.

Teens ask, you don't have to be so defensive about it.

[Anonymous]

We live in Chevy Chase and our kids go to private. There are some kids/families that travel a lot but there are more families that are around for these short breaks and going away for a week in the summer. I think it is the group of friends your kids have

[Anonymous]

We live in Bethesda and our public school kids have never been anywhere skiing (except local, Liberty and White Tail), we've never taken the kids Internationally, or even to the Caribbean. Definitely many of their friends do that sort of thing, but we don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of them probably have airline miles. Dh travels a ton for work and we never pay for airline tickets. Thus we can afford international vacations very cheaply.

Sorry, you can't do that several times per year and not for a family of 4 - 5. We travel outside the country at least 3 times/year. We have been doing this since our kids were 5 and 7. We're Arlington. Our friends in McLean, their 10 year has been to 20 countries so far. This place is unique because most people around are from someplace else, add in the state department, world bank, IMF and the likes and as a result, you have a culture that is very outwardly looking

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in central Georgia now, but we still do this kind of thing, too.

First, our families don't live near us, so some of those trips include visiting grandparents, cousins, etc..

Second, a ski trip that's a day's drive away isn't a big deal. If you've decided against private school, a $500 weekend (hotel, lift tix) 3x a year isn't much. I assume by now they own their ski gear ...

Also, DC is on a coast, so ditto about a weekend/week at the beach, or a trip to NYC or Boston.

Things are close by, and really not that expensive. Now, there will be people who do Hawaii/Aspen/Paris/Bahamas, some of them with their own boats and vacation homes. But that is not the norm, even in Bethesda.

Also, take all of this with a grain of salt. Your kids know a lot of other kids. While it may seem like they are all doing this, some are doing it each time, not every time.

That’s because there’s nothing remotely interesting or beautiful within a five hour drive from where you live besides Savannah. Of course you travel.

So not true. But ok. We do day trips, too, but prefer to spend the night. What's the difference between that a couple of days at Snowshoe?
And we lived in Silver Spring for 12 years and did the same. We are not outliers. Nor are we super wealthy.

[Anonymous]

OP,

It's not merely a question of money. I DON'T WANT to deal with packing and unpacking and dealing with airport crowds just for a 3 day weekend. I will NEVER do this.

We have family in Europe and Asia, and try to go there as often as our pocketbook will let us. But those are trips planned way in advance, and generally in the summer, rarely over Christmas.

[Anonymous]

OK, so what is your question? Other people are making different choices than you are?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OK you think an week long vacation that is NOT international is a BIG deal? That's weird.

How much money do you think the average family makes? How much do you think a vacation costs? How do you breathe with your head so far up your own posterior?

[Anonymous]

Yep, it's the area. Wait till all their friends start getting brand new cars for their birthday.

[Anonymous]

We love to travel and our 5 year old has been on several international trips already. Now that he is in school, we plan our vacations around these school breaks as we'd need to take off for those days anyway so we may as well go somewhere. Also, in cold, dreary weather, it is nice to take a quick trip to Florida or the Caribbean even it is for only 3-4 nights. Over the summer, we take a 2 week trip at the end of August for the same reason - no camps so it is a good time to take off. We'll do a short trip in early June or over 4th of July too but are around the rest of the time.