The most important thing to remember when making a suggestion for a fun family vacation is that your suggestion must make sense for everyone in your family.  No one will listen to you if your suggestions are ridiculous and only benefit you.  Try to include activities that will make everyone in your family happy, and you will be much more likely to get appositive response.  Also when thinking of new possibilities, take a good look at where your previous family vacations failed, why they were no fun for you or others and try not to make the same mistakes twice.  If you look at what caused you to dread those vacations, and examine the problem areas, then solving those problems in your new plans will be much easier.  Finally, keep in mind no one will take a whiner seriously.  If you whine to your parents, they will most likely brush you off without a second thought.  When you approach your parents with new vacation suggestions, try to be mature and rational, and you will find that your parents are more likely to listen to your ideas. 

Take a look at any possible problems with your current vacation plans, and try to find logical solutions to those specific problems.  In addition take a look at the “what you want and what they want” section below, and read about solutions that can make everyone happy. Spending 24-7 with your family may leave you bored and tired of being around them. However, being bored and getting sick of your family are common problems with easy solutions, just check out the examples below to see simple yet creative ways to combat these feelings.     

PROBLEM: You go to the beach, and your parents sit around and do nothing for hours, leaving you extremely bored.
SOLUTION: Plan ahead.  When you know you have to go to the beach, bring a boogie board and plenty of other beach toys to keep you busy all day. Meet other teens, and enjoy the surf and sun.  Don’t wait until you get to the beach to then whine to your parents about being bored. They’ll never listen.

PROBLEM: You find yourself generally bored throughout the entire vacation because no one wants to do the same things you want to.
SOLUTION: Ask your parents well in advance if you can bring a friend along.  While they won’t say yes every time, they will allow it sometime, usually on shorter, driving vacations.  For those other times, ask your parents if you can do something on your own away from your family.  If you are old enough and show that you can be responsible, they may give you some much-needed time away, which can make the time you do spend with your family more fun.

PROBLEM: You get very sick of your family after one or two intensive weeks together.
SOLUTION:Make the suggestion to your parents that it would be fun to take a trip with another family.  Maybe you could join your aunt, uncle and cousins, or have a friend’s family join in on your vacation plans.  Try to make sure the second family has roughly the same make-up as yours, such as one girl and one boy of roughly the same age.    

PROBLEM: You have fun with some activities, but you can’t understand why your parents spend a lot of time sitting around reading or talking to each other.  You find this ridiculous because, as you claim, “You can do that anywhere!”
SOLUTION: Encourage your family to mix it up, to keep every day interesting by doing something different.  If you go to the beach one day, go horseback riding the next.  Try an idea out that gives you and your siblings some say in the day-to-day planning.  Try suggesting that each family member gets to plan out one day.  It's always a good idea to make sure you're getting all that you can out of your vacation.   

What You Want                                         
To stay active with different cool activities.                                     
What They Want
To relax and enjoy the change of pace.
 
How To Get Both
Let your parents enjoy their relaxing time; realize they may need it every day.  Ask them ahead of time if you can go out with a friend, or do some other activity while they relax.  Never wait until they are relaxed, and then whine and complain to them.

What You Want         
A resort vacation with a theme park, a water park and an Arcade.                     
What They Want
A secluded vacation with peaceful, relaxing surroundings.

How To Get Both
Suggest going to a neutral place, where there are possibilities for both.  Realize that sometimes your parents want to save money.  Maybe ask to spend a day at a park with your siblings (as long as one of you is old enough).  When you aren’t near a park, try suggesting that your parents set you up with a day of fishing, water-skiing or something like that.

What You Want             
Less time with only your small family and no one else.     
What They Want
Relaxing or active time together as a tight, loving family.

How To Get Both
Appreciate how nice it is to spend some time with just your small family, and don't give your parents a hard time during those times, but mention politely to them that you could use some alone time to do some things you want to do.  When you treat them right and give them what they want, they will do the same in return.

$ = Cheap   $$ = Moderate   $$$ = Expensive

5 fun and simple family vacation ideas!

Always keep in mind your parents may be very concerned with price, so if you do lots of research, look at package options as they probably are the least expensive.  USE THE INTERNET! Help your parents with the planning, but remember that it’s their choice in the end. 

If you have no problems with your family vacations, but feel that you would like to spend some time away from the fam, look into the possibility of a guided teen tour somewhere in the US.  There are plenty of possibilities here, and these tours can give you a chance to grow and meet new people and go to interesting parts of the country or even the world, without your parents.

If your family doesn’t fit into one of the vacation type categories, one of the problem categories, or any of the other categories, make a judgment call.  Try to figure out the nature of the problem or why your vacations aren’t going the way you would like, and use the tools you have learned to make a compromise with your parents.  If you are responsible, respectful, and grateful to your parents, you will find them very generous in giving you what you want when you ask the right way.  After all, vacations are supposed to be fun, so make sure yours is!