When my boys were little, travel was all about finding the most “kid-friendly” spaces in destinations all over the world. We searched for playgrounds, kid’s clubs, and meals that would keep everyone happy.
But in the last year, everything has changed. While they still want me to take them to an all-inclusive with friends, the playgrounds we were chasing faded into the background of our travels.
I have always gone where I wanted to go and then incorporated kid-friendly into our trips. Because really, there are kids all over the world so there is always something to find that is going to appease a 5 year old (and it is often as easy as a stick!)
This year we have done more city breaks than ever before. My boys want walkable neighborhodos with great food, professional sports or entertainment and experiences that felt more grown up.
As I craft city breaks around a hockey game or soccer match, the things we find ourselves doing no longer lend themselves to the kid-friendly itineraries.
These are the destinations and experiences that genuinely worked for us as we are currently living the teen travel years. They vary from sports weekends in Tampa and Pittsburgh to cultural adventures in Jordan and surfing in El Salvador. Some surprised us. Some pushed our comfort zones. But all of them created the kind of memories my boys still talk about long after we came home. (And as usual, some of their favorite things were things that actually surprised me!)
Every day I am finding that my kids are looking to be engaged, challenged, and independent as we travel the world.
Oh and they would prefer if everything started after 10am!
For Sports-Loving Teens:
Tampa, Florida
Tampa was a stand-out city break for Mattias. We visited to see a hockey game, and timed it right to catch Blue Jays spring training against the Yankees. It was great to be watching baseball and hockey in shorts in March! Something we do not get here in Vancouver!
Tampa was a stand-out city break for my oldest son, Mattias. We originally visited to see a the Tampa Bay Lightning, but ended up timing the trip perfectly to catch Toronto Blue Jays spring training against the New York Yankees as well. Watching baseball and hockey in shorts in March felt pretty surreal coming from Vancouver!
What surprised me most about Tampa with teen boys was how easy the city felt. Between professional sports, walkable areas, good food and waterfront hangout spots, it felt much more engaging for older kids in an approachable and uncrowded way.
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For Adventurous Teen Boys:
Jordan
If you have puttered around on my site or followed me as my kids have grown up, Jordan remains one of my favorite countries in the world. It offers adventure, culture, great food, hospitality that is second to none, and an experience that no teen will soon forget. If you are a foodie family, I created Amman Food Tours, the only female-led food tour in the city. It offers a unique perspective on the city and a taste of so many different types of foods that you may not have tried on your own.
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For Active Teen Boys:
El Salvador
El Salvador offers surfing, hiking and unique food expereinces for families looking for an active holiday! Spend an afternoon on the famous rainbow slides or take a surf lesson or summit a volcano! Its a perfect active trip perfect for the teen age. I will say that tourism in El Salvador is definitely emerging after years of unrest in the country and a little Spanish was very helpful!
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Cities For Teen Boys Who Love Food
Tampa, Florida USA
Tampa is the perfect city for teens who are into food. You will not find chain restaurants in the downtown and the approachable dining scene is perfect for kids who want to try it all.
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What to do in Tampa with Teens – Our Three Day Itinerary
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Amman
You have seen Jordan on the list but Amman is specifically a foodie city. While Petra’s restaurant scene supports the tourists who are in town to see the world wonder, Amman’s food scene caters to the locals. Everywhere you go, you will find restaurants full of locals (unless of course you are eating in a hotel restaurant and I enourage you to get out and away from the hotel buffet as much as possible).
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What surprised me about traveling with teens
Before my kids became teenagers, I assumed travel would eventually become harder. I was never that mom who wanted to wait until they were teens to travel because I realized very quickly that once my kids were 7 or 8 they wanted to be home more and didn’t want to miss sports etc. I thought teen travel would be moody attitudes, complaints about walking too much, and teenagers who expected days to revolve around them (I remember very well being a teen who thought I was the center of the universe)
And while there are definitely moments where my boys would happily sleep until noon or spend time online, I’ve actually been surprised by how much more interesting travel has become in last couple of years!
What changed most was what they value.
When they were younger, travel was all about keeping them entertained. We searched for playgrounds, pools, kids’ clubs (to give this single mom a break) and while I always leaned into adventurous destinations, I would search out things that my kids would enjoy over what I wanted to do.
Now they want good food, freedom to explore, interesting neighborhoods, sports events, adventure activities, and are willing to ask me what I want to do (or I am not afriad to tell them when an activity is specifially for me!) Some of our best travel moments now happen while chatting over a meal, in quiet moments in transit, looking for a specific food experience, hiking a volcano, watching a local soccer match, or sitting around talking in the hotel after a long day.
I’ve also realized that teen boys are often aware of what is going on in the world due to their social media usage. Traveling has sparked conversations about culture, politics, religion, history, and privilege in ways that I may have hoped they would absorb indirectly with travel, but now we are actually talking openly about it.
The biggest surprise of all? With the right guide, history can be interesting. No longer do I need to bribe them to get through a tour, but they listen, absorb, and then unpack it later in the day. Long after a trip ends, my boys still bring up specific meals, funny travel mishaps, hikes, markets, and sports games.
Travel with teens looks very different than travel with little kids, but I am loving every minute of it!
Lindsay Nieminen hails from Vancouver, Canada and shares her love of travel on this website. She is passionate about showing others that they should not put off traveling the world just because they have children or are single parents. She aims to encourage them to seek out adventure, whether it is at home or abroad by providing information on how just about everywhere can be a destination to explore as a family.