greg - I sense that your experience was similar to my recent one of taking my mum to Holland. it was not an unalloyed joy, at least for me. Though my mum has ever since been telling people what a wonderful time she had, it didn't feel like it at the time.

I have loads of respect for someone who like willit can make a trip like this work for all the participants. I feel that I need to try harder next time [if there is one!]

What I noticed about willit's experience was the (rare?) combination of the willingness to organize the trip as well as parents who could still appreciate what were offered uniquely at destinations. I remember my grandmother bragged about flying to some faraway places but could not remember a thing about what was special about the destination. She only remembered having fun time talking to friends. What I thought she liked was the context to get together with friends, and the destination could just as well been somewhere much closer. In case of parents, did they smell the roses? "Am I supposed to be looking at the mountains? Oh, were there pretty flowers on the path from our hotel? What is special about this building?" Since then, I only took them to the same familiar nearby places. They were happier spending time with family in a familiar environment where they could eat familiar food and where they knew where to find familiar roses and where to look for familiar mountains.