If you feel like life’s gotten a bit monotonous lately, there can be nothing quite as effective as a family trip to refresh your body and mind. It doesn’t have to be someplace far away. You could travel near home to Tennessee, which has everything from fun activities in Pigeon Forge to camping in the Great Smoky Mountains. There can be nothing like exploring a fun location, living together, and making new memories to help you bond better. However, family vacations can easily become a nightmare, especially if you don’t know how to plan with teenagers.
Teenagers can be a notoriously difficult bunch to appease. Planning a trip with teenagers in tow can seem like an impossible task. However, we’ve got some helpful tips to ensure you can give your teens a family vacation they’ll always look back fondly upon. If you’re interested in learning more, keep reading below.
Focus on the itinerary
When traveling with teenagers, focusing on the itinerary is the most important part. Teenagers can have a short attention span, and if you don’t take their needs into account, you can easily lose their attention during the trip. Fortunately, there’s a lot to do in Pigeon Forge if you’ve ticked your destination box. Still, when planning an itinerary, you want to focus on things your teens haven’t tried before to give them a truly unique experience.
If you’re traveling to the Smoky Mountains, you’ll have many fun things to add to your itinerary. Apart from having the most stunning mountain views anywhere in the country, this mountain region is also home to some of the most spectacular theme parks and amusements. If you’re heading to Pigeon Forge, one attraction you can’t miss is the SkyFly. The SkyFly in Pigeon Forge is a simulated flight unlike any other – taking you across the United States in just 6 minutes. The experience is super realistic, with wind, scents, and mists. The SkyFly is an attraction that’ll make a mountain trip all the most exciting for your teens and you!
Keep them involved
One of the biggest issues teens can have when it comes to family trips is that they just don’t feel heard. You might feel like you know better when it comes to arranging accommodations, making plans, and more, but taking the reins yourself can make your teens feel like you don’t value their opinions. Thus, making travel plans a collaborative process is important, where you actively take their opinions and ask them to give insight.
Doing so can help you make the trip enjoyable for everyone. Moreover, your teen will actively recognize that you’re considering their opinions and will learn to do the same for you. This can also be a lesson in collaboration and can teach both parties to work together actively and make plans where everyone feels heard. Alongside asking for their opinion, you can also delegate tasks to them. Ask them to call around asking for accommodation and do research.
Book accommodation carefully
When you’re traveling with teens, every little detail needs to be perfectly worked out if you want to minimize the risk of any tantrums. Accommodation is often an aspect that goes overlooked simply because we feel we’ll only head to the hotel to sleep. However, booking the right place to stay can make your trip all the more relaxing and luxurious.
If you book a dingy, stuffy room, you and your teens can start feeling suffocated quickly. You want to ensure you book a place where you and your teens have enough space to relax easily. Moreover, booking a place with extra amenities never hurts. Indoor gyms, pools, spas, and restaurants are excellent ways to take your family vacation up a notch and give yourself and the kids the best experience. Also, consider the destination you’re traveling to. Cabins are the best choice for a mountain vacation, where you and your teens can rest in separate rooms but enjoy cooking and sightseeing together!
Let them do their thing
Traveling can be stressful for parents because as much as you want to enjoy yourself and let loose, you also want to ensure your kids are safe. It’s natural to feel on edge, but it is also important to recognize that you must let your teens have some independence too. If you’re constantly keeping them in close quarters, they will probably start feeling suffocated pretty soon and might not feel like they had much fun on the trip.
Letting them have fun splashing in pools or taking a walk outside can give them a sense of independence. When you’re in a city like Pigeon Forge, you can give them the liberty to shop or have lunch, given they make sure to stay in touch with you and be back by a certain time.
Get out of your comfort zone
A lot of parents might assume that traveling with teenagers means having them adjust to your rules. While this can be the case in many situations, it’s also about getting yourself out of your comfort zone and seeing things from your children’s perspective. It can be easy to settle into a routine when you get older, and luckily, your teens can shake things up and get you to experience things you’ve fallen out of touch with.
It might feel uncomfortable heading to a rollercoaster, jet ski, or dance club, but doing so can help make your vacation all the more memorable. Moreover, it can also help show your teens that you’re willing to try new things and put yourself out of your comfort zone for them. Getting out of your comfort zone is something you can incorporate in everyday life too, and not just during a vacation.
Conclusion
Planning a trip with your teenagers can seem hard, but it doesn’t have to be when you keep these tips in mind. Incorporating these tips can help you make your trip much more fun, not just for your teens but for yourself too. By giving your teens greater independence and involvement, you can have a much better chance of strengthening your bonds as a family.
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