travel with teens

Posts Tagged ‘travel with teens’

New Zealand in the Footsteps of the Lord of the Rings

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

“Welcome to Middle Earth!” A huge sign at the Auckland airport greeted us with these words the minute we stepped off the plane. It was a fitting start to our Lord of the Rings adventure through New Zealand.

Hobbiton in New Zealand

Maria’s three teens in front of the Lord of the Rings Hobbiton in Matamata, New Zealand

It was entirely the kids’ idea to go to faraway New Zealand from our home in Sweden. Diehard J.R.R. Tolkein fans, all three of our teenagers knew the three-hour long dialogue from the first Lord of the Rings film by heart. They had read the books, both in English and in Swedish, as well as a couple of autobiographies by the actors. They had made their own cloaks (which they wore wherever we went), studied Elfish and did lots of role playing with their friends. Now they wanted to visit “the real place.” Since my husband and I are firm believers that kids learn loads when they can immerse themselves with their interests, we took up the idea immediately.

Motorhome in New Zealand

The family’s rented campervan in front of a typical gorgeous New Zealand view

Hobbiton
With our Lord of the Rings Location Guidebook in hand, we started out in our rented campervan on the North Island at Matamata. This is the place where Hobbiton is situated in the Tolkein stories. We took the informative guided tour of the movie set village. We were able to see the hobbit houses (what’s left of them), Sam’s beautiful garden, the huge party tree as well as the green hills of “The Shire.”

Mordor
Our next stop was a bit darker, Mordor. The scenes for this horrific place were actually shot at a ski resort on Mount Ruapehu! If you look away from the ski lifts and forget the parking lot (where they shot the battle scenes in the beginning of the first movie) you can imagine this place as the home of darkness and evil. The mountain was made of hardened black lava, as it’s a volcano, and it was surrounded in eerie mist.

Mordor at Mount Ruapehu

Mordor looks just like you would imagine (if you turn away from the ski lifts)

Gollum’s River
We set forth on a quest to find the river where, in the movie Gollum caught a fish and ate it raw. Since we had our terrific guide book, containing both maps as well as pictures from the movie, we found the exact place outside the village of Ohakune – we even recognized the rocks! So, we now have our own filmed version of the scene, with our youngest crawling in the ice cold water as Gollum, while the other teens stood on guard as Sam and Frodo. It was hilarious to make and still every time we watch it we roar with laughter.

Hiding from the Nazguls
Our expedition took us to the capital, Wellington, a pleasant town at the southern part of the North Island. Smack in the middle of the city at lovely Mt. Victoria Park was where they shot the famous scary scene where the hobbits are hiding under a tree root while the Nazguls rode just beside them. It was interesting to see how the camera can twist reality!

Ferry Ride Between South Island and North Island in New Zealand

The ferry ride between New Zealand’s North and South Islands is amazingly beautiful!

The Film Premiere
In Wellington, you also find The Embassy Theatre where they had the world premiere for the third film in the trilogy. Of course, we had to visit this movie theatre before we took off for South Island.

South Island
The ferry ride between the two islands was absolutely breathtaking; this alone could be worth a trip to New Zealand! There are many places on the South Island to visit if you want to follow in the footsteps of Frodo, Sam, and the others but we decided to save that for another trip. Instead we spent our time here watching whales, swimming with dolphins, and visiting friends.

View from Bilbo Baggins' Home, Bag Ends

The whole family outside Bilbo Baggins’ home, Bag End

Family-Friendly New Zealand
From awe-inspiring scenery, the friendly and laidback locals (affectionately called kiwis), and Lord of the Rings lore…New Zealand is a fantastic spot for a family vacation. We often talk about going back, so it’s probably just a matter of time!

Maria Berkestam is a world traveler and homeschooling mom.Together with her husband and three (almost grown-up) children, she runs the Extended World Travel blog, for families considering traveling together for six months or longer. She and her husband, Magnus Drysen, also wrote the e-book Extended World Travel – How to take a break from the rat race and travel the world with your family for 6 months – or more!

Have you embarked on a themed trip like Maria and her family? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Road Trip with Teens – Are You Crazy?

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

Usually my Disney-loving family flies to sunny Florida every other year to visit Mickey Mouse. This summer, however, I will be driving with my wife and two teenagers from central New Jersey to Orlando. My 17-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter merely tolerate each other’s company, at best. Right about now I can hear some of you saying, “Are you crazy?”

Well, maybe I am crazy…but we have people and places to see this year during our journey south. We will be traveling to Charlotte, North Carolina to visit close friends and attend their son’s Bar Mitzvah. Rather than make this just a very expensive weekend we decided to turn it into a family vacation. Here’s how we plan to stay sane along the way.

road trip with teens

Research Travel Options
I spent considerable time researching all of our travel options. What made the most economic sense was to rent a car for the drive down so that we can then fly home after our adventures. We determined a minivan would be the most desirable vehicle, not only because it provides ample room to separate the kids but also because a van allows us to bring along a lot more STUFF! I scoured the internet for online coupon codes and car rental deals but I was surprised by the lack of available minivans.

I began having nightmares about our journey: I pull out of the driveway and my daughter screams at the top of her lungs that her brother is staring at her. Then my son starts with, “Her foot is on MY SIDE!” It ends with my wife yelling so loud that I can see the veins popping out of her neck as I pull on to the shoulder of the freeway and slam on the brakes.

As the nightmares continued, so did my search for a minivan rental. Persistence pays off! I finally found a minivan through another car rental agency. An added bonus was the price, which was approximately $100 less than the last-resort SUV I had reserved, just in case.

Preparation is Key
It will take us approximately 12 hours to travel to Charlotte for our two-night stay. Then it should take us roughly 10 hours to reach Walt Disney World. How can we possibly enjoy such a long drive in a confined space without our children killing, or at least, maiming one another?

Even with the kids sufficiently spaced apart in our newly booked minivan, on such a long trip there are bound to be some edgy nerves and arguments. Young or old, kids are still kids. The success of this trip will depend upon how my wife and I manage our expectations (perfect behavior isn’t possible) and our children’s boredom (by providing a multitude of entertainment options).

Over the last couple of weeks I have asked friends, relatives, and co-workers if they have ever driven double digit hours to reach their family vacation destination. I asked in-depth questions of those who had embarked on such a journey to get some tips for success. I got very similar advice from all, regardless of the children’s ages.

Keep Kids Busy
Of course, the most important factor of any long car drive is keeping your children occupied. So, what will we do? We’re going to try family favorites like 20 questions and iSpy. Plus we’ll ply the kids with their favorite snacks and drinks (being careful to limit the amount of liquids so we don’t spend the whole trip seeking out rest stops for bathroom breaks!).

Then there are the toys and electronic gadgets. Suggested items to bring along for teens include: travel versions of board games, a DVD player and plenty of movies, hand held video game players, and iPods.

All of the parents I interviewed said their kids handled the long drive better than they expected with just a few, but very controllable, episodes of impatience. Surprisingly, many parents said traveling with younger children was easier than travel with tweens and teens because the little ones were easier to keep occupied with simple toys or diversions and because they napped longer than big kids might!

Although my wife and I aren’t exactly looking forward to the long drive, we plan on making it a safe and fun-filled family experience. I’m bringing some earplugs along though…just in case!

disney geek dad and family

Travel Daddy Stuart Sternberg and his wife, Michele, live in New Jersey with their two children, Bret and Haley. Their favorite vacation spot is Walt Disney World. Outside of work the only things that distract Stuart from thinking about Disney (besides his family) are Yankee baseball and seeing Bruce Springsteen live in concert. He writes a blog on all things Disney called Disney Geek Dad and he contributes a weekly blog post to the Disney Driven Life, home of the Neurotic Disney People.

What do you think – is a road trip with teens a crazy idea or a fun way to spend time together? Share your thoughts with other Travel Mamas and Travel Daddies below!

20 Things Your Traveling Teen or Tween Wishes You Knew

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

We’ve traveled to Italy, England, France, the West Indies and much of the Western USA with our teen and tween (and their little brother) and we’ve gathered some useful info along the way that made it much more enjoyable for all.

Guest Blogger Lisa T. Bergren’s teen and tween daughters,
Olivia (13) and Emma (10) traveling in London in 2009

If your teen or tween wasn’t strung out on hormones and freaked about leaving their friends for a getaway with the family, they might tell you this:

1) Let me have input! I want to look at the guidebook and the web and tell you at least one or two places I want to go.

2) Don’t plan a sightseeing visit the day of arrival or days we’re in transition from one location to another. I just want to get settled in to the place we’re staying, eat something, walk around a bit and get to bed on the new schedule.

3) Jet lag is the worst! Give me a few days to adjust. Don’t schedule a tour at 8:00 am on our first morning. I like sleeping in, so a 10:00 am start time is best for most days.

4) Give me a camera or video camera to document the trip. The new iPod Nanos have a built-in video camera that is awesome—and it lets me listen to tunes, play games and make voice notes of stuff I want to remember.

5) Let me have 15 minutes to text or email three friends every day about our day’s adventure. It will help me remember everything and make me feel less homesick.

6) I like moving around. Walking around a city to the next museum or church doesn’t count. Let’s go hiking, Ziplining, or do a bike or Segway tour!

7) I’m not a little kid anymore. I want to explore some things on my own. Although I may complain about it, I kind of dig it when you give me a list of stuff to find at a church or museum. It makes it like a game. Rewards of ice cream or gelato are welcome!

8) Listening to guides in a big group is b-o-r-i-n-g (unless they’re funny & ask a lot of questions and stuff). But, I like listening to those guides-on-tape things. It helps me learn cool new stuff about the places we’re going.

9) Mix things up. I won’t mind doing some sight-seeing and cultural stuff so much if I know the next day I get to take surf lessons.

10) Help me find something besides cheesy souvenirs to bring home. It’d be great to build a travel collection I’ll want to keep, even when I’m an adult.

11) Give me five to ten bucks in each big city (or I suppose I could save my own) to spend on anything I want, cheesy or not.

12) Let me wander into the goofy stores or museums that you’d rather not enter. You can sit outside and chill.

13) Say yes once at least once a day when I ask if we might explore a unique-looking street, park, or whatever.

14) Let me lead the way. I could navigate with a map and a compass. Even if we’re six blocks off, we’ll see things you might not have ever seen otherwise.

15) Encourage me to try the local cuisine, but don’t get on my case if I want to eat the same, safe dish I’ve discovered, three days in a row. It’s really not worth the argument. I’m eating, right? If I continue to eat, I won’t be so grumpy.

16) Help me get enough sleep. If we all are well rested, we’ll get along better.

17) It’d be fun to send myself a postcard from everywhere we go. Or you could buy me a journal or sketch pad to record my thoughts and sketches in.

18) Let me have an hour with my iPod or Nintendo or other techno gadget every evening.

19) Check out this Travel Journal feature from BudgetTravel.com (under myBUDGET TRAVEL). I’d like to show off an online scrapbook that WE made together!

20) Even though I may say I’m not into it, after we get home help me construct a photo memory book. I’ll take it out once in a while and smile over the good times I had with the family.

Lisa T. Bergren is the co-creator and editor of theworldiscalling.com, as well as an author of over thirty books (LisaTawnBergren.com). She lives with her husband Tim, and their three kids, Olivia (14), Emma (11) and Jack (6) in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This year, the Bergrens hope to travel to Mexico, California, Washington and Montana, and are working toward a family sabbatical year in Europe. You can follow her on Twitter at @TheWorldCalls.

What are your tips or questions on traveling with teens and tweens? Please add your comment below!