Yes! That would be a fabulous experience for your kids.

Just lost a long reply?
I keep going back and forth b/w Europe and Asia, now we are all back to Asia. Our needs are:
1. Keep costs down (we should not even be doing this trip, but we should have miles for 5) and I honestly can't see spending hard earned money in Europe with 3 teens who eat constantly.
2. Cultural mind opening educational experience 3. Bonding family experience with kids who are going off to College.. Thanks for comments. I think that we could take 2.5 weeks and we live in LA. If anyone has more ideas as far as actual cost please let me know.

If you want to keep costs down, you'll want to avoid Europe!

SE Asia is one of the few travel bargains left. Lodging and food are inexpensive. Many of the activities you and your kids will be interested in will be inexpensive. Lodging will be perhaps a fifth of the price it is in Europe for much nicer rooms/suites. I often tell people you can live in the lap of luxury in Thailand for the price of a Holiday Inn in the US.

You'll have to do the research on costs. If you are interested in Thailand, take a look at www.sawasdee.com for hotel prices. This is a Thai booking site that many of us use. The prices typically include tax and service (which total 17.7%) and often include breakfasts which otherwise would be $16-20 pp. Hotel breakfasts are notoriously expensive, but the spread is unbelievable. Great for feeding adolescents. If you are looking at other locations, agoda.com is another good booking site.

Take a look at some guidebooks and see what interests you.

We've managed to keep costs down on our summer trips with teens. The key is investigating air costs first...We loved our Thailand/Cambodia trip, but as others have said, those places are a much better idea in the winter because of weather. Some of our relatively inexpensive 2-week summer trips w/teens:

- Cook Islands - cheap, unspoiled, much closer than Bali, not as culturally significant, but a stand-out beach vacation
- Australia, with a stop in Fiji (great deals for multiple stops on Qantas - outback was awesome for teens)
- Galapagos - this was our pre-college trip last summer, waited until the last minute to book, got a good price because of the economy.
- Catalonia (north of Barcelona) - rented villa, excellent day trips in "Dali triangle", also Toulouse area in France. If you're looking for interesting meals, this fits the bill...the others on our list are not not in a culinary category w/ Thailand.

I have also been to Bali, but not with my kids...that would be wonderful as well.

Indonesia -- Bali and Java -- is a good value. You get culture, nature, fun and self indulgence all at very reasonable prices. You can find nice (meaning simple but clean, well run and well designed) accommodations for $80-100 double room, including breakfast. A villa in the range of $250-300 all in. Food is quite cheap. People are extraordinarily hospitable.

I know what you mean about teens eating several times a day. The first time my husband and I traveled after our son went off to college we felt oddly liberated from having to find a restaurant every 2-3 hours!

Hi, I know that I better get moving with this. I am most attracted to Thailand. If we go mid June will we be ok with the heat? We were all in Italy several years ago (late june / early July)
and I found that we did less because of the heat.

Last night our kids really jumped in and set me moving I need to see if we can plan a summer vacation with teens who are off to college. Still torn between wanting:
Educational / Adventure
Rest and time to be together
Not getting to tired with heat
Keeping our spending down.
Our budget is less than I thought. Is Thailand mid - late June so hot that we will be too tired to enjoy? I think that we would stay in two different places in Thailand, we usually rent a three bedroom Apartment. Any thoughts??

HI,
I am still trying to jump into this. It looks like we have to travek the first two weeks of August.
Cambodia and doing a work week with the kids sound amazing. Does anyone know first hand of places that offer this opportunity?

Hi Goodness - What did you end up deciding on?

Well, I have been going crazy! As I have spent too many ours reading I find that I have become more interested in Vietnam and less interested in Thailand My problem is that We have to travel late July early August. My husband feels that we would be nuts to drag three kids through Vietnam, he would be willing to go with just me this April. I think that I have been in this empty nest around the corner dilemma and feel that this could be "the trip of a life time." Everyday I change my mind, most often I feel that Vnm would be too hard and too hot for us Any thoughts??

My first choice would be Bali, perhaps with a side trip to Borobudur in Central Java. I love Angkor, everyone loves Thailand, Vietnam maybe less so, but Bali has the advantage of being a good value plus offering a wide range of experiences all in one place. If you add Java you will get the Islamic element which is important for college students to understand. Bali is fascinating, beautiful and a lot of fun, notably for teenagers.

The weather in Bali will be perfect the first two weeks of August. Getting around Bali is easy. All is drivable. It is cheap as well.

As far as going crazy is cncerned, just pick a place and focus in. All of the suggestions in this thread would be wonderful vacation spots. You can't do them all and seeking perfection will send you over the edge.

can someone tell me why no to Vietnam?

Vietnam would be my first choice as it offers a tremendous diversity of sights and activities couple with arguably even better food than Thailand. The tourist infrastucture, although improving all the time, is nowhere near as developed as Thailand's but this has the advantage that it s not as over-run with other tourists. There is more than enough to see in two weeks including lots of adventure based activities for the kids. For added interest you could make a side trip to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat (much quieter at that time of year. The downside of Vietnam is, as with most parts of SE Asia at that time of year, the weather but, being a long thin country means that you should get good weather for some of your trip. Plus, even in the rainy season it is unusual for it to rain all day every day and your should see some blue skies along the way.

For ideas on itineraries use the trip search facility on the following site as a starting point:

http://www.intrepidtravel.com/

Someone who I can only guess is a spammer brought up an old thread. I expect goodness has already decided where to go for summer 2010.

oops- let me clarify, I'm not calling crellston a spammer, but the poster before him.

We just returned from a trip with our teens (16 yo boy & 18 yo girl) visiting Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. It was nothing short of fantastic. In choosing a location we considered:

* Both kids would likely get bored on a paradise island after 3 days
* One would enjoy visiting museums, churches, etc.. The other definitely not.
* We wanted a trip that would cause them to think about our relationship (we're east coast Americans) to the world and just how diverse it is.

Expensive to get to Ho Chi Minh from NYC but once you're there it's very inexpensive.