Holiday or Hell ?

[notonmybucketlist]

Warning , major first world problem !

DP and I have been saving up holiday days and money for a trip of a lifetime with DC 15. We have 4 weeks. I was envisioning warmth, sun , different culture, delicious foods, to expose our DC to something new.

We have both become increasingly aware that flying is terrible for the environment and it's hard to justify contributing to climate change just for amusement, so we want to choose something that is less heavy on carbon emissions. I was thinking overland to Morocco.

DP is now really set on going to and from Japan via the trans Siberian railway, bearing in mind this will be in winter. It sounds like an adventure but I fear in reality its 2 weeks on a train with a probably very bored teen and 4 ferry crossings on rough, winter, possibly frozen seas.

DP thinks I am negative and putting a downer on what could be an amazing adventure. He says I'm full of resistance and not open to how great it would be. AIBU in thinking days in a train travelling across frozen Russia in winter with a teenager will be an experience I could live without.

Chatting to locals?!
How good is your teen’s Russian? I go to a Moscow regularly - even the capital is not full of people speaking English, the way Paris and Berlin are.

I would love it.
My 15-year-old self would have loved it (but I was already fascinated by Russia back then).
My 12-year-old son would never forgive me.

DH speaks some Russian, I don't speak any and DC is in a monosyllabic phase !

formerbabe

OP I think a previous posters suggestion of fly one leg and train the other sounds like a good compromise.

If you do the book group, be sure to let them know a stranger on Mumsnet came up with the idea 😂

This sounds like torture!! I can understand why your OH might be interested but it's a very specific interest. It would probably be better for your son to have a range of experiences. Have you thought about getting a range of brochures together and sitting down as a 3 and discussing what you like/don't like about the different options. (I'm thinking brochures like 'Explore') - You could cruise to somewhere then explore and make your own way back, you could offset the carbon as someone else suggested, you could go at a different time of year.....

Sounds awful. Teenager will be bored!
Aus / NZ / Asia would be interesting and probably more enjoyable with a teen.
I'm slightly surprised a 15yo would even want to away just with parents for 4 weeks, so embrace that. The I see your point about the environment but this is a big trip that you would only be making the once (probably).

I'm all for doing your bit but don't ruin what could be the holiday of a life time by not just getting on a plane! Road trips sound great in theory but days stuck in a car with your parents is hardly attractive to a teenagers let alone a freezing cold train! DH's idea sounds like sheer hell! It's very clearly a focused on his specific interest rather than the family.
The plane will fly wether your on it or not, just make contributions to offset your emissions, that's more than most do.
Just get the travelling out of the way and go and explore an amazing country for as long as possible.
You won't get to see the world with your DC for much longer, make the most of it.

Ah so fh speaks the language and the rest of you can put up with it... Nah this is sounding like his dream trip. You need to do something you all want to do. Get more details such as some of the reviews sunset times etc and include your dc in the discussion too what do they want?

Just get on the plane

Oh I would love that! But not in Winter.

I love your husbands idea and that is my idea of a trip of a lifetime. Morocco, to me, is a bog standard holiday and not one I'd be happy about wasting 4 weeks leave on.

Watch race across the world. They make it to the furthest point by land which is Singapore. And they don't go anywhere near Russia.

My DS15 would be like a caged animal after two days on a train, looking only at snow.

I would fly to Japan. It's not just amusement. It would be a hugely educational with the culture, history, geography and tech. Make it a memorable four weeks for all the right reasons!

Both directions, Too far to do by train!

Both options would have equally hellish for me as a teen. But at 15 I would really have wanted to focus on exams and then go away with my mates. Happy with a caravan by the beach at that age and we went by bus.

Losing 4 weeks to be on a train or stuck in a car with my parents wouldn’t appeal even against revision.

For goodness sake, stick to original plan. Everyone flies, it's not as if you are flying all the time. Planes were invented for a reason.

When I was 18, 2 friends and I did it in January. We flew to st Petersburg, spent a few days there, got the overnight train to Moscow for a few days then did the trans Siberian across to Beijing. We stopped in irkutsk, spent a couple of days at lake baikal, then again in Ulaan bataar, from where we spent a few days staying in a ger camp with locals, then on to Beijing. Then spent 2 weeks travelling through China down to HK and flew home from there. It was hands down the most amazing trip I have ever done. So much to see and do, from skidooing over the frozen Gobi desert to ice fishing, to the night markets of Beijing etc etc. My sister did a similar journey with her then 12 and 14 year olds last summer and they rate it as their all time best trip (they travel a lot). It’s not for the feint hearted, it will be cold, very hard work at times, but also the most brilliant journey.

OK, so I have actually done the Russia leg of this as far as Vladivostok. Some (cough) years ago now but it won’t have changed that much. The highlights of this trip will be both the journey and the stops - you are not going to want to spend 7 night/days straight on the train, not least when you’re passing amazing places like Lake Baikal.

So as well as being on the train (which is a whole experience in itself), it would depend on what you want to do when you get off - and activities would be limited by winter weather. It can get cold round there as early as October - if timing was no consideration, I’d go between June and September. Not that it’s not worth going in winter, but anything outdoors is going to be limited by the weather.

But no way would I suggest doing the train both ways. Fly back, honestly.

Leave the poor teen at home if you go ahead with this. I couldn't think of a less enjoyable holiday tbh.

Train
Siberia
Winter

Is he mad?

Although, wait a couple of years and it will be perfectly doable.

More seriously, if he is really set on something like that, he should wait until your DS can stay at home (or independently decide to go too). Or, if he wants it this time, at least ensure your DS does have options.

He's still mad.

I did Moscow to Bejing on the Transmongolian but in the summer. I wanted to go to Japan but the logistics of the sea crossing were beyond me at the time. It was truly an adventure of my lifetime. I think in 4 weeks, you would be pushing it to get all the way to Japan and back, without seeing anything at all. Also, I have always hated an out and back route, you need a different return route.

But winter??? NO NO NO

A train across Siberia sounds like an adventure. A train across Siberia in winter sounds like hell. Especially with a bored teenager.

It will be dark.
It will be extremely cold (not UK winter cold, but serious frostbite cold.)
The other passengers almost certainly won't speak English.

Tell DH to sit in the lounge for 24 hours, he can get out for the loo, but nothing else.
You will bring him food, but he has to stay in the room.