Travel Suggestions for Fun Trip for Teenage Boy
Feb 26, 2015, 2:34 pm
#47
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My vote would go to Phuket. Rent the movie. From Phuket you can take a boat tour of James Bond Island.
I still choose vacation destinations based on where they film Bond movies. And this problem started in my teens. My problem with exotic cars started at that age also so I understand the Autobahn thing.
I still choose vacation destinations based on where they film Bond movies. And this problem started in my teens. My problem with exotic cars started at that age also so I understand the Autobahn thing.
Feb 26, 2015, 6:15 pm
#48
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I haven't been there, but I've been eyeing Nepal for a while. I'm not sure whether August is a good time to go or not. But there is trekking and white water kayaking. I googled (a while back) an outfit that has a white water kayaking school. Journeys International has a cultural trekking trip, too.
Feb 26, 2015, 8:40 pm
#49
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Feb 26, 2015, 10:46 pm
#50
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Apr 23, 2019, 9:53 pm
#52
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OP here, returning many years later. I've thought about this thread from time-to-time during the past four years and have always been meaning to come back and provide an update. My son (16 at the time) ended up selecting....Japan! We spent time in Tokyo and Kyoto and had an absolute blast.
Another one of my children turned 16 a couple years later. We gave this child the same opportunity as far as selecting the destination for the family summer vacation. They selected Singapore and Phuket Thailand.
As far as some discussion earlier in this thread regarding the German Autobahn, our family did end up going to Frankfurt Germany a couple years ago. We rented a sports car (can't recall the make/model now), and my husband had a very nerve-wracking, but successful drive at high speeds through the country side. It was an interesting experience but not one I want to repeat anytime soon.
Another one of my children turned 16 a couple years later. We gave this child the same opportunity as far as selecting the destination for the family summer vacation. They selected Singapore and Phuket Thailand.
As far as some discussion earlier in this thread regarding the German Autobahn, our family did end up going to Frankfurt Germany a couple years ago. We rented a sports car (can't recall the make/model now), and my husband had a very nerve-wracking, but successful drive at high speeds through the country side. It was an interesting experience but not one I want to repeat anytime soon.
Apr 23, 2019, 10:25 pm
#53
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As far as some discussion earlier in this thread regarding the German Autobahn, our family did end up going to Frankfurt Germany a couple years ago. We rented a sports car (can't recall the make/model now), and my husband had a very nerve-wracking, but successful drive at high speeds through the country side. It was an interesting experience but not one I want to repeat anytime soon.
I know of an American family whose kid had the same input and chose Alderney, Channel Islands. Since that was a questionable choice, it was tacked on to London. Turns out that Alderney was interesting for the family.
See, Flyertalk, this is an example where a zombie thread is interesting! Normally, it's forbidden.
Apr 25, 2019, 7:50 am
#54
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Actually, the Autobahn isn't a place for adults from the US, even if they've been driving for a long time. Driver training in the US is sorely lacking. When I was going through driver training, in the early/mid-90s, we were able to obtain permits at 15 yrs 8 mos. All we needed by our 16th birthdays was a behind-the-wheel course consisting of 7 hrs of driving, and 7hrs of observing. Most of the driving public probably doesn't go past the minimal training, and having driven for several years afterwards, doesn't make anyone any better.
Apr 25, 2019, 8:58 pm
#55
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Actually, the Autobahn isn't a place for adults from the US, even if they've been driving for a long time. Driver training in the US is sorely lacking. When I was going through driver training, in the early/mid-90s, we were able to obtain permits at 15 yrs 8 mos. All we needed by our 16th birthdays was a behind-the-wheel course consisting of 7 hrs of driving, and 7hrs of observing. Most of the driving public probably doesn't go past the minimal training, and having driven for several years afterwards, doesn't make anyone any better.
Apr 25, 2019, 9:09 pm
#56
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Actually, the Autobahn isn't a place for adults from the US, even if they've been driving for a long time. Driver training in the US is sorely lacking. When I was going through driver training, in the early/mid-90s, we were able to obtain permits at 15 yrs 8 mos. All we needed by our 16th birthdays was a behind-the-wheel course consisting of 7 hrs of driving, and 7hrs of observing. Most of the driving public probably doesn't go past the minimal training, and having driven for several years afterwards, doesn't make anyone any better.
My USA driver ed course consisted of 30 classroom hours with a bad teacher (the wrestling coach, which can lead to jokes about what teenage boys do in cars), plus 6 hours in the car with the teacher (after I had my license in my case, but I needed to finish driver ed officially for the lower insurance rates), of which only a quarter of that (1.5 hours) was spent actually driving. The reality was that my parents taught me to drive and made sure that I had lots and lots of increasingly difficult practice sessions, both before and after getting the license.
In many ways, I really learned to drive later as an adult when living in Europe and doing a lot of driving in France, Germany, etc. I was careful to jump in gradually. Now I'm happy to drive just about anywhere in Western Europe, although I would never take a small light underpowered rental vehicle on the autobahn/autoroute/etc.; I always reserve a more expensive car in order to feel safe.
In many ways, I really learned to drive later as an adult when living in Europe and doing a lot of driving in France, Germany, etc. I was careful to jump in gradually. Now I'm happy to drive just about anywhere in Western Europe, although I would never take a small light underpowered rental vehicle on the autobahn/autoroute/etc.; I always reserve a more expensive car in order to feel safe.
Apr 27, 2019, 1:13 am
#57
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Actually, the Autobahn isn't a place for adults from the US, even if they've been driving for a long time. Driver training in the US is sorely lacking. When I was going through driver training, in the early/mid-90s, we were able to obtain permits at 15 yrs 8 mos. All we needed by our 16th birthdays was a behind-the-wheel course consisting of 7 hrs of driving, and 7hrs of observing. Most of the driving public probably doesn't go past the minimal training, and having driven for several years afterwards, doesn't make anyone any better.
Apr 30, 2019, 1:26 pm
#58
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I was going to propose Barcelona for the 16-year-old boy. It has everything: sports, history, architecture, cuisine, culture, beaches, and the kind of natural beauty that I was looking for at a beach when I was 16 years old. Basically, Barcelona is one of the coolest cities in the world so it's hard to go wrong there no matter what you like to do.
But it's an old bumped thread, and Tokyo and Singapore are great cities too. Next year, we're taking our two teenagers on a bit of a prolonged Spring Break - Singapore and Thailand are stops #1 and #2 .
But it's an old bumped thread, and Tokyo and Singapore are great cities too. Next year, we're taking our two teenagers on a bit of a prolonged Spring Break - Singapore and Thailand are stops #1 and #2 .
May 2, 2019, 9:48 am
#59
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My USA driver ed course consisted of 30 classroom hours with a bad teacher (the wrestling coach, which can lead to jokes about what teenage boys do in cars), plus 6 hours in the car with the teacher (after I had my license in my case, but I needed to finish driver ed officially for the lower insurance rates), of which only a quarter of that (1.5 hours) was spent actually driving. The reality was that my parents taught me to drive and made sure that I had lots and lots of increasingly difficult practice sessions, both before and after getting the license.
In many ways, I really learned to drive later as an adult when living in Europe and doing a lot of driving in France, Germany, etc. I was careful to jump in gradually. Now I'm happy to drive just about anywhere in Western Europe, although I would never take a small light underpowered rental vehicle on the autobahn/autoroute/etc.; I always reserve a more expensive car in order to feel safe.
In many ways, I really learned to drive later as an adult when living in Europe and doing a lot of driving in France, Germany, etc. I was careful to jump in gradually. Now I'm happy to drive just about anywhere in Western Europe, although I would never take a small light underpowered rental vehicle on the autobahn/autoroute/etc.; I always reserve a more expensive car in order to feel safe.
May 2, 2019, 9:52 am
#60
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Judgment tends to improve further over and after several years. It’s why drivers’ insurance rates tend to drop the further a driver gets away from the teenage and early 20s years of age, despite people increasing their driving time and distances as they get into their late 20s and into their thirties. Well, there is the thing that the most accidents happen closer to home than further away from home, and I have to assume younger drivers are driving in and around their homes at a higher proportion of all their driving miles than drivers in say their 30s.