Travelling With Teenagers – A Guest Post by Gretta Schifano of Mums Do Travel

Editor’s Note: Finding travel with a small child difficult? There is hope! One day they’ll be pleasant and easy travelling companions. Gretta Schifano of Mums do travel is here to tell us more about travelling with teenagers…

It’s great travelling with my fifteen-year old daughter. I enjoy her company and appreciate how precious this time of our lives is. I know she’ll be old enough to go off on holiday with her friends in no time and I’ll miss travelling with her. I also remember what travelling was like when the kids were very young and I love the fact that she now packs and carries her own luggage, bursting as it is with toiletries and makeup. She’s also a good map reader and is the same clothes size as me, which can be quite useful when travelling.

My kids are both experienced travellers. Sometimes we go somewhere as a family and other times I go with just one child. When we book a family holiday my husband and I involve our teenager and her ten year-old brother in planning the trip as we want there to be something for everyone. My daughter’s main holiday requirements are sunbathing and shopping opportunities as well as WiFi on tap, which I guess is typical of teenage girls. She’s happy sightseeing and enjoys trying new things, unlike her younger sibling. She’s not so keen on football, which is her brother’s passion, but she’s old enough to be left on her own if she doesn’t want to do something.

Her favourite trip this year was to Spain’s Costa Brava, a beautiful area on the Mediterranean coast between Barcelona and the French border. The two of us went there with a group of BritMums bloggers as guests of the Costa Brava tourist board and had a fantastic time doing lots of different things. We were both nervous about indoor skydiving but it was thrilling and I’d definitely recommend it for all ages. Salvador Dalí was from the area and we visited his fascinating house and museum. The catamaran cruise we went on was very relaxing, especially when the crew dropped anchor and cooked up paella for everyone. We also went to a vineyard and learnt how to make tortilla with a local chef, which I really enjoyed.

My daughter loved everything but her favourite part of the Costa Brava trip was an Instagram tour. (In case you don’t know, Instagram is a social media photo-sharing channel.) The Costa Brava tourist board arranges free Instagram tours around the region and they are popular social events. I’d never used Instagram before but was interested to learn about it. Like most teenagers, my daughter lives and breathes social media and her mobile phone is never far from her side. She loved spending the morning with hundreds of tech-savvy locals posting photos of the gorgeous coastal town of Cadaques, and it was great having her beside me teaching me how to do it.

If you enjoyed this, why not join Gretta’s #FamilyDays linky?