Recently, my husband and I took our teenager on a road trip over Spring Break. We drove from Detroit to Niagara Falls then to Boston. Not only did we spend some quality time together, we made some interesting discoveries along the way. Here are three great reasons to take a road trip with a teenager.
Driving has its Privileges
Road trips are a great opportunity to get some driving hours if your teen is working on getting his driver’s license. If he already has it, a road trip provides an opportunity to drive in another city or even another country. On our trip, my son was able to drive through border patrol in Canada and experience watching the speedometer in kilometers instead of miles. Although he would not admit it, he enjoyed the responsibility of answering the questions at Border Patrol and keeping track of his speed. Before you head out, be sure to read 5 Things You Should Know Before Adding a Teen Driver to Your Car Insurance.
Sneak Peek at College Life
If your itinerary allows, schedule a college tour or drop in on a university along the way. We visited Boston College and Boston University and attended the information sessions as well as the student led tours. It provided a glimpse at college life for my son. But more importantly, he got to hear from the Admissions staff about the importance of pushing yourself to take the most challenging classes that you can and achieving the highest grades. They also talked about the SAT and ACT and what scores were needed to gain admission to their schools. I got to sit back, drink a free cup of coffee and enjoy the satisfaction of thinking: “I told you so.” Sometimes teens must hear the words from someone else to really get the message.
History for Real
Our travels took us to a city where history truly comes alive. In Boston, we walked the Freedom Trail and many of the museums along the way. My son was inspired and in awe of the monuments, historic sites and grave sites and kept saying that he read about them in history class. We had some great conversations about where our country has been and where it is going.
I feel like our Spring Break was a success. So many times, I have wondered how to get my son to unplug and really have a conversation. By taking a trip together in the car, we were able to talk, laugh and learn together.
Love it! Great report and insight! 🙂
Love that you stopped to visit colleges! This is something we do with our boys even though they’re young!
These are great ideas for stimulating real conversation in a casual setting almost like adult-to- adult camaraderie instead of parent to child. And it sounded like it was fun for both of you.