At our house, family travel togetherness might be going the way of the nightly family dinner - you take what you can get. You plan for it as much as possible but allow wiggle room for everyone's schedules.
I can't say I wasn't warned. TravelingMom.com (www.travelingmom.com) and WOTW blogger, Cindy Richards, http://www.womenontheirway.com/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=4&id=236 has teens and has left one at home with relatives more than once to accommodate schedules. My time has come and I am diligently working our summer travel plans around my kids' schedules.
I'm ticked off because what it boils down to is that it is going to cost me money. I am confined to two weeks of availability at the end of July when I am used to having the whole summer spread out before me like a country picnic.
That's because my teen son is an avid golfer who competes in tournaments during the summer. I asked him to schedule them in August, which he did, but I meant mid-August, not the first day of the month. Note to self and all moms of teens: be specific. My son's first tournament, the one he HAS to be at, is August 1.
Summers have always included a visit to see my family in Kentucky (which we now do as an annual road trip) and a home exchange in California. The key to a successful house swap (http://travelingmom.com/travel-stories/104-stories/140-house-swap-magnifique.html) is flexibility. But this year, and likely years hereafter, there is no flexibility. For us that will mean adding a hotel stay, which is not in our summer travel budget, especially now that airfare has skyrocketed.
The good news is that I am resourceful. I will cash in miles and credit card points and make it all happen somehow. In fact, the age of 14 is the magic number for most airlines to allow kids to fly alone. We might have to divide to conquer.
Seems like a lot of work just to relax.
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