Have Kids, Still Travel

No Strollers Required: Navigating Travel with Teens, Tweens, and Their Jam-Packed ScheduleS

Our Family’s Travel Dynamic

Picture this: Two adventure-seeking parents (give us mountain trails and kayaks any day) trying to plan trips around a teenager who considers “outdoors” a four-letter word and a ten-year-old whose travel bucket list consists entirely of ice cream shops and playgrounds.

So, naturally, when one of us asks: “What should we do today?,” it is never a simple question.

Add an international destination into the mix, and suddenly those daily negotiations become even more interesting. Chemistry homework requires ingredients not easily obtainable in a beach town in Ecuador. Virtual debate team meetings have to be scheduled at odd hours because the team members span five time zones. And, of course, there’s always that one research paper that’s somehow always due right after break.

But here’s what we’ve discovered: these contrasting travel styles aren’t obstacles – they’re opportunities. Our family adventures have evolved into exercises in creative problem-solving, where everyone gets a voice in the planning. We hold family summits where each person presents their non-negotiables (whether that’s visiting a famous art museum or finding the best gelato in town), then work together to create an itinerary that keeps everyone engaged — like the day we combined a Buenos Aires street art tour with a “scientific sampling” of every ice cream shop we passed along the way.

And we’re getting better at this whole juggling act: finding ways to balance calculus homework with fourth-grade book reports, discovering those precious cafes where WiFi can handle both virtual study groups and online math games. We’re even learning to weave educational moments into cathedral visits – though we still hear our share of groans. We don’t always get it right, but we’re learning – and sometimes our best travel stories come from the days when our plans completely unraveled.