Holidays with teenagers can be a serious challenge making you long for the day when they say ‘Mum, dad I’m too old to go on holiday with you.’ Eventually they will be old enough to go away with friends and holidays will then be a heck of a lot cheaper and you can go anywhere you like!
But for now you’ve got three teenagers; a big age gap and mixed sexes. It’s tough. And of course a limited budget. I tend to prefer taking my teens (I have three) away every other year, because it is expensive and at least then we can do something a bit exciting.
My latest book “Holiday” (Here’s the link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/HOLIDAY-Laugh-out-loud-romantic-Joanna-Warrington-ebook/dp/B01MXYJJ3V/ is based on my family’s trip to the American Southwest. I love America and it’s so easy to drive over there. Traveling the states involves many hours in the car and my teenagers did get bored but the landscape is stunning (We covered Wyoming, Utah and Montana) and you can take regular stops for photos and drinks. Teenagers love to take selfies. They’re vain creatures and they also love any food stop. As long as their bellies are continually filled they’re happy. Mine kept moaning for a Taco Bell or a Wendy’s. Hardly glamorous food but cheap and there’s always free wi-fi in these places. I craved small, individual restaurants and cafes with charm and character but I was outvoted most of the time.
British teenagers are easily persuaded when it comes to travel across the States. They’d be happy going to the industrial north, to Pennsylvania, they’d be chuffed to go to sizzling Texas or Virginia even if it looks like England. It’s America! Any place in America is wow for a British teenager!
I booked part of the trip with Thomas Cooke and then I booked motels and day trips on the internet and planned a route from Salt Lake City up to Yellowstone and back. I also wanted the kids to see Las Vegas. They loved it, of course. All that glitz and glamor cannot fail to impress. In “Holiday” you will read about everything we learned on bus tours around the city because I took so many notes. And when I got back I thought this really needs to be written up as a scintillating novel with the background of a romantic story (made up!).