How many countries have your teen dc visited?

[madderthanahatter]

I just posted on another thread saying we've travelled a fair bit and my dc19 said she's very grateful for this. I've just counted though and they've been to 8 non UK countries over 3 continents, which doesn't sound a lot. We've been to some countries twice, but different areas. I didn't include transit countries.
This is not a stealth boast BTW as we've always done it on the cheap, they've been taken out of school and our accommodation would leave most of MN pearl clutching!

France
Spain
Ireland
Italy
Belgium
Germany
The Netherlands
Switzerland
Portugal

They've never been outside of Europe. Neither have I.

@HighQueenOfTheFarRealm@HighQueenOfTheFarRealm sorry didn't mean to tag you.

@FartingAgainstThunder out of interest what did you do in mallorca as a teen

Germany
Norway
France
Greece
Spain
We couldn't afford to go abroad much when they were little. I think 8 is quite a lot.

Many of our European trips have been by road, some where we’ve visited several countries in one trip. Six countries fall into that list and that leaves 6 places we’ve flown to over a period of 15 years. I don’t think that’s horrendous but perhaps others do. 😕 I try hard in lots of other ways. Electric car, solar panels, walk a lot, minimal use of tumble drier and oven etc

Mine are 16 and 13 and have been to:

Spain
France
Italy
Hong Kong
Australia
New Zealand
Cambodia
Thailand
Malaysia
Vietnam
America
Canada
Switzerland
Austria
Japan
Portugal

So 16 I think. Many of those in the list have had multiple visits. We lived overseas for 10 years though so that made a huge difference.

Poland
Germany
France
Italy
England
Norway
Sweden
Australia
New Zealand
Thailand
Egypt
Malaysia
Japan
Denmark
Qatar
Portugal
Dominican Republic
Jamaica
Belgium
Canada
Oman
Luxembourg
Kenya
Croatia
USA
China
Singapore
Vietnam
Pakistan

DH worked away and we used to go to visit him. We also lived abroad for 15 years in various countries.

Let me make it clear ..my comment was nothing to do with the environment or anyone's carbon footprint...I don't give a shit about that sort of stuff. I'm just amazed at how spoilt some of these kids must be to have visited so many places at such a young age...

Eldest is 17. She's been to France, Spain and Thailand. France 3 times and Spain twice, Thailand once.

By 17 I had been to France twice and Belgium once. All school trips.

Mine have been to:
Greece
Italy
Spain
Netherlands
Mexico
Singapore
Vietnam
New York
Texas
France
Germany

By 19 I had been to:
Hong Kong
Greece
Singapore
Australia
Thailand
Egypt
Spain
USA
Austria

Mine have been to

Spain
Latvia
Denmark
Sweden

I thought that was pretty good going til I've been through this thread! Some well-travelled teens around. I didn't get on a plane til I was 26. But I did go to France with school when I was 14. That felt like an impossible journey to another universe for me as we never left our home town when I was a kid. Holidays were never a thing in my family, and I still feel a sense of surprise when people go on holiday and actually come back again, as if they've been to the moon 😅

DS (19) has been to 19 countries.

He'd been to 18 by the age of 14.

DD (17) has been to 18, 17 by the age of 12.

Living in the south means Belgium, Holland and France were easy day trips.

I'm a teacher, so I took the children on lots of long holidays backpacking Asia when they were little. School holidays were cheaper to do out there.

And Tesco Clubcard was my friend. Couldn't have paid real money for all those holidays and flights.

Yes, my children are privileged. They do know it though, if that helps at all. I don’t know whether I should deprive them of enriching experiences just to avoid annoying other people. Our European trips were on the low budget end of holidays (camping), some of the other trips were funded by an inheritance I was lucky to get when my parents unluckily died. And some of the holidays were put on a credit card and paid off over the following year.

My DS is early 20s. As a teen he had visited Italy (5 times), Spain (several times), France, Portugal, Germany, Croatia and Montenegro. Also a small part of Slovenia we drove through between Italy and Croatia!

We have never been out of Europe .

I first went abroad when I was 16. DS was 2.

None. They have seen a hell of a lot of the UK though.

Mine have been to 7 countries.

By 18, I'd been to France and Switzerland, so they're better travelled.

My 3 are 13-17

Together they’ve been to 14 countries in 3 continents (excluding the UK nations and Ireland - have also travelled to 3 out of 4 we don’t live in!)

Our eldest has been to 3 other countries on 2 continents, but 2 were when he was under 18 months so he doesn’t remember them!

As a child we never went on ‘foreign’ holidays and I’d only been outside the UK/Ireland a couple of times by 17 - to the same country and connected to language learning.

We love travelling and really prioritise it as a family - we live well within our means and travel a lot, but fairly economically.

None. I wouldn’t fly recreationally because of the carbon. We spend a lot of money on extra curricular stuff but can’t afford holidays on top
of that. I sometimes feel guilty that we don’t have enough fun/ relaxation/ seeing the world from different viewpoints

Mine are 12&15. We would have travelled more but spent 10 years living in the states so a LOT of holiday time and money has been spent visiting the U.K. which is mildly annoying. Because we lived there they’ve been to a lot of the US (including Hawaii which is a trek even when you live in California!) but have also visited
france
italy
japan
mexico
canada

Gibraltar isn’t a country. It is a British Overseas Territory.

My 9 year old has been to 21:

US
Mexico
Barbados
Argentina
Chile
Uruguay
Paraguay
Germany
France
Portugal
India
Myanmar
Finland
Spain
Austria
Switzerland
Italy
Thailand
Maldives
Brazil
UAE

I hadn’t been on a plane by her age but travel is a massive priority for us - she had been to 6 countries before she was 6 months old.

All of our 3 kids (early 20s) have been to France, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Croatia, Gibraltar, Montenegro, Canada, Guatemala and Honduras and the Dominican Republic and Morocco. (Did all those as a family so dh and I have also been there).

Dd1 has also been to Belgium and Portugal.

Ds has also been to Belgium, Switzerland, Romania and Australia!

Dd2 has also been to Poland.

They're fairly well travelled we think

Dh has also been to India, Nepal, Zimbabwe, Denmark, Norway, Germany (including going to East Germany as a teenager), Austria, Bolivia, USA and Venezuela.

I've also been to Iceland, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Andorra, Sweden, Norway, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Mr daughter has been very lucky and appreciated travelling with us. By the time she was 18 she’d been to:

France twice
Australia
Gran Canaria
ibiza
Almeria twice
Egypt 5 times (diving holidays)
Kenya
USA twice (Florida/Las Vegas, our wedding)
Mexico
Dominican Republic
Portugal
Gambia
Turkey
Cyprus three times
Belgium
Germany
Holland
Malta

WOW, I’ve never totted up where we’ve taken her before now. I was never taken abroad as a child, I absolutely adore travelling. Can’t stand hotels anymore, tend to book an Airbnb, flights and car hire, so much more freedom.

We’ve also had some fabulous holidays on the Isle of Arran, have been there 5 times, during the summer holidays, it’s fantastic.

By the time I was 18 I'd been...
To France.
Once.

We always just did UK holidays.

My DC have been to
Menorca
Paris
Spain
Malta
Majorca
Athens
Lanzarote

DD 15 and 12 have been to:

Spain
Turkey
Cyprus

We've been to many places in Spain including the canaries and Balearics, visited two resorts in Turkey (soon to be 3) and we spent a month touring Cyprus.