Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing to keep in mind OP is that teens will a usually have ECs and school load that don’t lend themselves to taking every break to go travel.

This. If I had been more aware of this, I would have front-loaded travel in middle school and set low expectations for high school.

Good point.

Anonymous wrote:I am a fan of Europe. Easy and safe.

Switzerland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway.

We also enjoyed Hawaii and Australia (the latter was a high school graduation gift).

Places I have not been but might be fun: Scotland, Japan.

(Mind you, I have enjoyed trips to Nepal, India, Mexico, South Africa and Thailand, but not with my child.) .

You are smart. You will instill a love of travel in your kids, and teach them to be open to other ways of doing things. Plus, once they get older they may not want to travel with you (vs girlfriends/boyfriends, etc).

Enjoy!

Adding to my own list: Croatia and Slovenia.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Japan
China
Iceland
N Italy/germany/N France
Vancouver/not sure if you've been yet but the OR coast
Mexico City
Pantagonia/Chile
Columbia
I think it's a stretch but if you dare, Melbourne

Where do you recommend in northern Italy and France over Thanksgiving, winter break or spring break?

NP here. I liked Tuscany, Venice and the Lakes. In France, it is pretty magical to spend the night on Mt St Michel . Annecy and Colmar (+nearby stork reserve) are also nice. The Loire Valley if they like castles. Sarlat in Dordogne. So much to see!

I am a fan of Europe. Easy and safe.

Switzerland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway.

We also enjoyed Hawaii and Australia (the latter was a high school graduation gift).

Places I have not been but might be fun: Scotland, Japan.

(Mind you, I have enjoyed trips to Nepal, India, Mexico, South Africa and Thailand, but not with my child.) .

You are smart. You will instill a love of travel in your kids, and teach them to be open to other ways of doing things. Plus, once they get older they may not want to travel with you (vs girlfriends/boyfriends, etc).

Enjoy!

South Africa or somewhere in East Africa should be one for sure.

Keep in mind that if your kids aren’t used to walking a lot it might make city-based trips harder.

We had amazing time visiting Jordan.

On a different trip had great time in Austria, visiting Vienna, Salzburg, alps, and the lakes areas. Spent about a month there over the summer.

Spain was great at well.

Anonymous wrote:How do you do 11 days over Thanksgiving without missing school?

Obviously they miss school and bridge 2 weekends.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing to keep in mind OP is that teens will a usually have ECs and school load that don’t lend themselves to taking every break to go travel.

Also factor in college apps and essays and SATs.

OP, you may be OK about missing extra days with ten year olds. You (and the school) will probably have a different view about 16 and 17 year olds who are doing IB or AP courses missing days. These are recorded as unexcused absences on the kids' school records.

Why are you writing off using the summer holidays for travel? Will your kids really want to spend the whole summer with relatives as they get older?

Remember, your kids have the rest of their lives to travel. My best trips were once I could travel without my parents

Sports and visiting family makes it really hard to travel in summer even at this age. It’s not out of the questions but it’s not ideal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I forgot to mention we have actually been to Alaska before too as well. We have really traveled a lot in the US. We prioritized it over intl

New Orleans?

Yes! Have been to Nola too. We have traveled a lot domestically. We also prioritized family visits over bigger international trips because that’s what the kids were into.

Anonymous wrote:Japan
China
Iceland
N Italy/germany/N France
Vancouver/not sure if you've been yet but the OR coast
Mexico City
Pantagonia/Chile
Columbia
I think it's a stretch but if you dare, Melbourne

Where do you recommend in northern Italy and France over Thanksgiving, winter break or spring break?

One note from a mom with teens - once the hit sophomore HS yr travel is more about exploring where college will be and getting ready for tests in terms of prep time. We travelled a lot too until soph yr.

And I think what you're doing is great. You aren't gonna make it to the entire list but I get it. Life is going to happen and honestly it's ambitious at 10 to know how the years will track but I get you. there were years we returned to a destination when we never ever do simply because it was so relaxing and we loved so much. That's important too - relaxing v exploring.

For all the naysayers - it's not a terrible thing to gift your kids the experience of travel. Everything will be more $$ and memories are all we have for anyone.

Japan
China
Iceland
N Italy/germany/N France
Vancouver/not sure if you've been yet but the OR coast
Mexico City
Pantagonia/Chile
Columbia
I think it's a stretch but if you dare, Melbourne

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Galapagos
Oman
New Zealand (esp Queenstown area)
Australia
Antarctica and/or Patagonia
Iceland
Peru/Bolivia (MP/Lake Titicaca/Rurrenabaque)
Japan with skiing in Hokkaido
Safari in Africa
Angkor Wat and then either Thailand or Vietnam
Northern Norway or Sweden like Tromso in winter

Seriously? If everyone did this much travel in their lifetime, emissions from jets would choke our planet. I'm not some beatnik environmentalist, but this seems like a little much, especially for kids.

The kids are already ten and they are planning for their teenage years. They’re looking at winter travel so the distances are going to be greater.

Anonymous wrote:Galapagos
Oman
New Zealand (esp Queenstown area)
Australia
Antarctica and/or Patagonia
Iceland
Peru/Bolivia (MP/Lake Titicaca/Rurrenabaque)
Japan with skiing in Hokkaido
Safari in Africa
Angkor Wat and then either Thailand or Vietnam
Northern Norway or Sweden like Tromso in winter

Seriously? If everyone did this much travel in their lifetime, emissions from jets would choke our planet. I'm not some beatnik environmentalist, but this seems like a little much, especially for kids.