Also in vacation planning mode.

[rere]

We have been debating about were to take our family vacation this year. We have done up and down the Florida panhandle/Alabama and Smokey Mountains , a lot. Also Hilton Head.

I want to try something new. We've talked Estes Park, CO, and New York. I'm a little nervous about with that the kids, specifically Ds, may not be ready to appreciate NY. More sightseeing than activities. My brother is in the DC/VA area. That has some great things to see, but I am afraid I would end up packing along his three kids while they are working on our outings. That does not sound like vacation.

Ds will be 15, and Dd 13. We'd like to stay around $2500. We thought about the Caribbean, but from what I have seen, 4-5 nights with flights for 4 would be a $1000 or more over budget.

And getting anyone to actually agree....

[erinshelley21]

When are you going?

[2chatter]

So I need in on your travel secrets - we pay close to that just for a vacation rental. Help me trim our vaca budget! We are planning San Diego for a Cali not Tx/Alabama/Florida beach experience. Plenty for the kids and we will have down time.

[rere]

Summer June or July.

2chatter In Panama, we can usually get a studio for around $1000 or split a condo with another family for that price. In Gatlinburg, we get a regular hotel room, which are pretty cheap, but will spend $100 a night on a meal. We usually pack lunch and breakfast in the park.

[waverly]

Jan 8, 2018 16:12:50 GMT -5 2chatter said:

So I need in on your travel secrets - we pay close to that just for a vacation rental. Help me trim our vaca budget! We are planning San Diego for a Cali not Tx/Alabama/Florida beach experience. Plenty for the kids and we will have down time.

We just got our rental in San Diego for 1800. It's a townhouse not a regular house with a communal pool rather than private pool. I'll let you know how we like it. 3 bedroom but all queens or kings so if my mom comes the kids will have to share s bed.

[waverly]

Denver and Estes park are beautiful. I recommend it but not sure what time of the year you are going.

I lived in NYC for 4 years. Definitely a 15 year old and 13 year old would be fine. Personality wise not sure. If you aren't used to the city coming out of the subway at Harold or Times square can be overwhelming. The city is on a grid but you need to be able to navigate the subway. Sometimes much easier than cabbing it.

There is so much to do you don't have to sightsee the whole time. You can do more activities for example: Bronx botanic gardens, Bronx Zoo, Brooklyn Bontanic Gardens, see a Broadway play. Go to a museum. Or just eat your way through the city.

Also more laid back: Battery Park, West Side Park (Highline), Central Park, Slope Park (Brooklyn).

As opposed to or in addition to the typical tourist sightseeing stuff- Ground Zero, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Empire State Building, Times Square.



Just prep them for the business. They need to read walk signs appropriately. Often times you see tourists follow each other into traffic like sheep. Just cause other tourists are walking doesn't mean the light didn't change. 😂

[erinshelley21]

For something new, Michigan is really nice. There are a few towns on the lakes that are cute. We went to South Haven. Saugatuck is another. I've heard good things about New Buffalo and Mackinac Island as well.

[2chatter]

waverly - I found one for a price like that in Pacific Beach - with that bed set up - will laugh if it’s the same.

rere - our kids would riot without their own space - we usually do a 3BR - I wish we could do a studio or hotel room! The age range kills us I think.

I do think NY could be super fun with kids that age!

[rere]

Jan 8, 2018 16:36:19 GMT -5 2chatter said:

waverly - I found one for a price like that in Pacific Beach - with that bed set up - will laugh if it’s the same.

rere - our kids would riot without their own space - we usually do a 3BR - I wish we could do a studio or hotel room! The age range kills us I think.

I do think NY could be super fun with kids that age!

My kids try to sleep in the same room as us now at home so no needs for extra rooms, we'd all end up in the same room anyway. No romance on vacation in the rere household, DS usually ends up with Dh and I get Dd.

[ilovelucyvv]

NYC that time of year is awesome. I went the week after the 4th last year and it wasn’t that crowded/expensive.

[waverly]

Jan 8, 2018 20:55:03 GMT -5 ilovelucyvv said:

NYC that time of year is awesome. I went the week after the 4th last year and it wasn’t that crowded/expensive.

July and August can get hot and humid, but there is also the advantage that at least on weekends a lot of the locals are on vacation to the Hamptons or Jersey or up north, so it is a bit quieter at least in the neighborhoods maybe not the tourist spots.

[divanerd]

I believe a teenager can handle NYC. I would hang out on Long Island and do a few days in NYC... 

[kimberlybb]

I was about the same age as your kids the first time I went to NYC and loved it. I really like the Estes Park area. There is a lot to do there the time of year you are thinking about going. I'm trying to get DH on board with a trip to Estes this summer so I may be a little bias but both would be fabulous trips!

[twinmomma]

NYC could be a ton of fun! I remember going there when I was around 15/16 and my siblings were 11/12. We had a lot of fun. Stayed in a cheap hotel in Jersey and just took the bus into the city each day instead of paying for a hotel in the actual city. We did Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Central Park, etc...

[rere]

Jan 9, 2018 8:50:02 GMT -5 twinmomma said:

NYC could be a ton of fun! I remember going there when I was around 15/16 and my siblings were 11/12. We had a lot of fun. Stayed in a cheap hotel in Jersey and just took the bus into the city each day instead of paying for a hotel in the actual city. We did Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Central Park, etc...

That's what we were thinking. Hotel in Jersey and go over each day. Some things would be no cost like museums, Central Park, Times Square, but we would need to pay for some like Top of the Rock, and 911 Museum. Dhs uncle lives in Hells Kitchen and could direct us to some restaurants and such.

[covergirl82]

I went to NYC at 9, so I would think it would be fine for teens. I bet you could easily find an Airbnb/VBRO for a good price.

I'll have to agree with erinshelley21 about MI (and I gotta rep my own state!). It's so beautiful in the summer. Stick to the west coast of MI, though. In addition to what erinshelley21 suggested: Ludington, Traverse City, Glen Arbor (you have to see Sleeping Bear dunes!), Petoskey, Charlevoix, Mackinaw City, Mackinaw Island. The Upper Peninsula (UP) also has amazing places to visit and things to see: waterfalls and Pictured Rocks near/in Munising, Tahquamenon Falls, Lake of the Clouds, Kitch-Iti-Kipi (clear lake - you can see to the bottom). Make sure you take enough cash with you if you go to the UP, it's definitely not up-to-date on everything.

[traveltheworld]

I think NYC would be awesome for teenagers! They'd love the museums (MOMA is great for even non-art enthusiasts), Times Square, just walking around Central Park, Soho and all the neat little neighbourhoods.

I actually think DC would be fun too, but I get your point of not wanting to babysit more kids.

2chatter, here are my top tips for traveling "cheaply":
1. Always rent a condo with a kitchen; I'm willing to live in a place that's not as nice since: (a) we have a very nice house so it's hard to beat that on vacation; and (b) don't want our kids to get too used to staying at posh places all the time.
2. Try to keep food costs down: we always eat a big breakfast at the condo - even if we are there for a few days, I go out and buy food to make breakfast. Just think: even if you spend $100 on breakfast food and end up not using half of it, that's still equivalent to about 1 or 2 breakfasts out. I try to make everyone eat a light lunch on the go and just supplement with lots of snacks. We usually spend half the dinners eating at an actual restaurant and the other half ordering take-out or pre-cooked stuff from Whole Foods or something. I refuse to cook dinner on vacation.
3. For San Diego - get the City Pass or use points to get tickets to all the various attractions; Pacific Beach is a decent area. I also absolutely loved Carlsbad. I found it way more relaxing than La Jolla.
4. I try to mix in some free activities so that we are not spending hundreds of dollars everyday entertaining ourselves. We go on hikes, hit the beach, and walk around neighbourhoods.

We've been to San Diego and San Fran areas half a dozen times and have generally been able to keep our vacation budget to around $2,500 - $3,000 for the week (excluding flights).

[waverly]

Everything that traveltheworld said except for we also do a lot of grilling on vacation. Yours are older and can do the entire day at the beach, but when mine were younger we got into the habit of doing the beach early due to parking issues in Sarasota, and San Diego is the same (from the time I was there before anyway), then coming home and grilling lunch and then getting in the pool and out or grilling for dinner. Something about vacation means grill to us, and its so easy. We eat breakfast at home too.

We also do a mix of free (beach and pool) and paid for which I know most of you all do too. 3 days of beach and pool and 3 days of activities, last year was Busch Gardens (pricey), Mote Aquarium (medium) and the state park boatride in an alligator swamp lol- but still fun.

San Diego has so much to do. I'm excited!

[waverly]

rere, if you are looking for a busy, super fun, high energy/ octane vacation I would go with NYC.

If you are looking for a bit more laid back, and natural beauty I would go with Denver, Estes Park. Throw in some Red Rocks, and Boulder is a super cute town and you have a nice itinerary.

[traveltheworld]

Jan 9, 2018 13:06:06 GMT -5 waverly said:

Everything that traveltheworld said except for we also do a lot of grilling on vacation. Yours are older and can do the entire day at the beach, but when mine were younger we got into the habit of doing the beach early due to parking issues in Sarasota, and San Diego is the same (from the time I was there before anyway), then coming home and grilling lunch and then getting in the pool and out or grilling for dinner. Something about vacation means grill to us, and its so easy. We eat breakfast at home too.

We also do a mix of free (beach and pool) and paid for which I know most of you all do too. 3 days of beach and pool and 3 days of activities, last year was Busch Gardens (pricey), Mote Aquarium (medium) and the state park boatride in an alligator swamp lol- but still fun.

San Diego has so much to do. I'm excited!

waverly, I'm excited for you!  San Diego is my absolute favourite place to go with kids.  We've tried LA, San Fran, Monterrey and Big Sur, but nothing beats San Diego.  I'd love to go back but DH is convinced that we take too many vacations already

[sdlaura]

Jan 9, 2018 8:42:05 GMT -5 kimberlybb said:

I was about the same age as your kids the first time I went to NYC and loved it. I really like the Estes Park area. There is a lot to do there the time of year you are thinking about going. I'm trying to get DH on board with a trip to Estes this summer so I may be a little bias but both would be fabulous trips!

Same for me - my first trip to NYC was around 13 and I thought it was amazing.

[sdlaura]

waverly and traveltheworld I have to agree with you on how great San Diego is with kids - one of the main reasons we live here!