Peru Macchu Picchu
Tokyo
Sydney
Singapore

Agree that my well-traveled kids most remember and talk about the rentals we’ve done with their cousins driving distance from here. Those are the trips they ask to repeat!

Anonymous wrote:DH’s company is having a very large exit and to celebrate with our kids we want to take a really special once in a lifetime type trip. Something we wouldn’t normally even consider. Kids are 7 and 9. Budget is up to $60k for the right trip. I was thinking Antarctica might be a great option, New Zealand/Australia or an African Safari, although it would have to be the right lodge for this age. Another idea is chartering a catamaran and island hopping in the Caribbean or Europe. Give ideas please!

At that, a dude ranch with swimming, ideally with a couple of friends:

https://www.duderanch.com/activities/swimming-lakes-holes/

Put the money left over from going on a cheaper trip in an investment account or whole life in the kids’ names.

I have some memories from age 10 when we went to Ireland to visit/meet extended family. I remember hanging out at a pub (!) with older cousins and learning to horse back ride. We learned and then rode in the countryside. That was my favorite part of the trip. I still remember how scared I was, but how peaceful I felt while riding. Having those memories with family members (we went with extended family) also made it memorable. Can you pay for family to join you?

That is to say, go where you want to go but maybe have one or two things geared toward the kids that they will remember. Don’t bombard them with experiences, then they will forget it and it won’t be as meaningful.

I also went to London a bunch as a child/teen and saw the Prince of Wales so that was very memorable. It wasn't a passing glance situation either.

Find a luxury travel agent, contact them for ideas. I would not do one trip, but a couple for that price. OR donate some to Make a wish or something so another kid can have “a trip of a lifetime.”

You could also send your kids to a fancy camp and go on the Four Season Private Jet trip (cost more than $60K).

National Geographic also has family trips that look nice and are a lot less than $60k! https://www.nationalgeographic.com/expeditions/trip-types/family/

People on this boat crap on disney but for a few thousand you can do the VIP tour and even invite some of their cousins (up to 10 included in the tour price) can then combine that with a disney cruise or a high end resort in the Keyes with snorkeling and such, or a flight out of Florida to South America or Central America.

I would not do Safari or Antarctica. We have a seven figure income and travel a lot. I have 3 kids ages 7-12. We spend 100-200k on travel per year.

If I were you, I would pick a once in a lifetime trip for you and your DH and do a separate great family vacation.

After Covid, we have done a big trip to Hawaii, Asia and Europe. We also did a Disney cruise that my 6yo LOVED last year. She also loved Legoland. So what I would want to do as a once in a lifetime is not what my child would love to do.

Our friends all travel a lot. They go to South America, Australia, Asia. We are Asian though so we love Asia.

Anonymous wrote:DH’s company is having a very large exit and to celebrate with our kids we want to take a really special once in a lifetime type trip. Something we wouldn’t normally even consider. Kids are 7 and 9. Budget is up to $60k for the right trip. I was thinking Antarctica might be a great option, New Zealand/Australia or an African Safari, although it would have to be the right lodge for this age. Another idea is chartering a catamaran and island hopping in the Caribbean or Europe. Give ideas please!

How about one of the high-end resorts in Cancun? Fun for the whole family!

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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!

Agreed. We’re fairly well traveled, and my DD’s favorite trip, one she still remembers and talks about constantly, is the one we took with her cousins to an AI in Cancun when she was 7. The kids loved the freedom of being out from under the parents’ eyes, drinking Shirley Temples at the swim up bar, and essentially making friends with other kids and doing their own thing. The parents loved being able to loosely keep an eye on the kids but not really, and not being concerned for their safety.

Any trip you can do with similarly aged kids where they can do their own thing would be one they remember the most.

Agree. My kids talk all the time about the 2 times in their lives we’ve managed to get a group of cousins together for a regular old beach house. They were ages 4 and 6, then 6 and 8 when we made the trips. They remember everything about these experiences. And we’ve been on other great trips—Disney, Caribbean, etc. that they loved but don’t talk about as much.

Do you have to do just one thing? Could you do a big beach house and invite family or friends for a week and then do an international adventure with just your family?

We’ve never gotten a nanny for a trip but friends who have rave about it. It’s a great way to make sure the trip is fun for everyone. I’ve always believed that the best way to ensure a good trip is to make sure that people can take breaks from each other.

I also agree with the pp who said safaris can be tedious for kids. I am planning to give my kids the gift of a safari when the oldest graduates college. I think that’s a better time for it.

We did adventures by Disney to Alaska with our two kids around that age and years later, they still talk about it. My best advice is to go a few days early, and let everyone adjust to the time changes. Also, do the helicopter glacier tour. It was the easiest trip of our life!

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Anonymous wrote:Omg - these trips all sound like nightmares for your kids. Can they stay home?

I agree. The trip of a lifetime with kids is going to be Disney, OP. That’s what they’d love, the trips you’ve suggested are adult trips.

Disagree. NZ/Australia would be amazing if they can have 3-4 weeks to do it and have it planned out really well

How can you say trip of a lifetime? The kids are young. They might marry an Australian or go there for work or like to vacation there regularly.

I'm from down under and my kids have been to NZ/Australia many many times because that's my home.

They've only been to South Dakota once though (so far).

And they could marry a penguin and go to Antarctica regularly. What’s your point?

You must be a lawyer, to make such an idiotic argument.

My point is that it's silly to say something is once in a lifetime for 7 and 9 year old, and to tell them this will be their best trip ever. Why bother traveling ever again if Mom and Dad took you on the best trip ever when you were 7.

Who knows where life will take these kids. Some of the bucket list things people write here are routine travel for other people.

Maybe a trip of a lifetime for them will be a journey to the moon by 2065 or even a trip with their grandchildren to Kansas.

Again, are you a lawyer? WTF is wrong with you that you need to litigate a simple phrase? OP clearly meant she wanted a big-budget bucket-list type of trip. This does not mean they are *never allowed* to visit that place again or to go on a bigger/better trip in the future.

Not a lawyer. Just someone who took their kids to a number of countries many of you have on your bucket lists and have suggested here. My kids don't remember many of these trips.

They do remember taking an ATV ride over some buttes in South Dakota, and the day they were let loose in Paris alone because their parents were stuck in the hotel room sick.

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Anonymous wrote:Omg - these trips all sound like nightmares for your kids. Can they stay home?

I agree. The trip of a lifetime with kids is going to be Disney, OP. That’s what they’d love, the trips you’ve suggested are adult trips.

Disagree. NZ/Australia would be amazing if they can have 3-4 weeks to do it and have it planned out really well

How can you say trip of a lifetime? The kids are young. They might marry an Australian or go there for work or like to vacation there regularly.

I'm from down under and my kids have been to NZ/Australia many many times because that's my home.

They've only been to South Dakota once though (so far).

And they could marry a penguin and go to Antarctica regularly. What’s your point?

You must be a lawyer, to make such an idiotic argument.

My point is that it's silly to say something is once in a lifetime for 7 and 9 year old, and to tell them this will be their best trip ever. Why bother traveling ever again if Mom and Dad took you on the best trip ever when you were 7.

Who knows where life will take these kids. Some of the bucket list things people write here are routine travel for other people.

Maybe a trip of a lifetime for them will be a journey to the moon by 2065 or even a trip with their grandchildren to Kansas.

Again, are you a lawyer? WTF is wrong with you that you need to litigate a simple phrase? OP clearly meant she wanted a big-budget bucket-list type of trip. This does not mean they are *never allowed* to visit that place again or to go on a bigger/better trip in the future.

Anonymous wrote:DH’s company is having a very large exit and to celebrate with our kids we want to take a really special once in a lifetime type trip. Something we wouldn’t normally even consider. Kids are 7 and 9. Budget is up to $60k for the right trip. I was thinking Antarctica might be a great option, New Zealand/Australia or an African Safari, although it would have to be the right lodge for this age. Another idea is chartering a catamaran and island hopping in the Caribbean or Europe. Give ideas please!

Any trip that is memorable and enjoyable for YOUR family, is once in a lifetime, OP. Could be Disney, for all we know.

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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?

You have to eat sometime? Plus we love playing board games, reading, and just taking in the view. Obviously everyone is different.

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!

Agreed. We’re fairly well traveled, and my DD’s favorite trip, one she still remembers and talks about constantly, is the one we took with her cousins to an AI in Cancun when she was 7. The kids loved the freedom of being out from under the parents’ eyes, drinking Shirley Temples at the swim up bar, and essentially making friends with other kids and doing their own thing. The parents loved being able to loosely keep an eye on the kids but not really, and not being concerned for their safety.

Any trip you can do with similarly aged kids where they can do their own thing would be one they remember the most.