<p>We’d like to go on a long weekend family vacation with our rising college sophomore son this summer - he’s got a great internship and doesn’t want to take much time off so time is limited. We’re already in the Chicago area - is there somewhere else preferably nearby that I’m not thinking of? His favorite leisure activity usually involves a monitor (computer, video game, etc.). He wouldn’t mind a nice beach - we’ve been to Michigan a lot but I can’t remember any areas that might be lively enough to appeal to a 19 year old. He’s an indoor guy but wouldn’t object to a little outdoor activity as long as he can get back into air conditioning (definitely my genes there). </p>
<p>I just feel bad that he really hasn’t had a vacation in the last year (not a spring breaker for sure), and most every trip for the two years before involved college search or family visits. He doesn’t have a passport so we have to stay in the country. So far I’ve come up with New York, Las Vegas, California, or a cruise but they involve big $$ and we still have to pay for three more year of college!</p>
<p>Any suggestions would be much appreciated! :D</p>
<p>As an incoming freshman, I’d love to have a vacation with my family when time permits. I’m also a lot like your son here, being an indoor person and having the same leisure activity. If you don’t mind having one or two of his friends along, then ask him to take some along, unless of course, it is strictly family. Oh and, make the friend(s) pay, they’ll understand.</p>
<p>EDIT: Oh and, you really should not feel bad for him, I’m sure he’s having a blast at college. What about a camping trip? That doesn’t cost too much and it would be pretty fun as well.</p>
<p>Fly into Vegas, rent a car and take the 3-canyon tour: Bryce, Zion and Northern Grand Canyon. If possible, reserve rooms in the National Park lodges. Take a horseback ride into the canyons. Don’t forget to take plenty of water!</p>
<p>^ Don’t go to the grand canyon skyline thing though, it’s a rip off, the advertised costs are not what they seem, when you get there, they demand a “tribal lands” fee and they DO NOT allow you to take cameras and such to take pictures over the skyline.</p>
<p>Washington DC is always a great cheap vacation. Get a room near a subway stop and take the subway into the city. The Smithsonian museums and many of the other attractions are all free. Just check ahead of time if you need to make reservations for some of the more popular attractions.</p>
<p>My kids also had a blast going to Mammoth Caves in Kentucky. They have a variety of tours for all abilities. I would recommend most of the National Parks as vacation destinations that are reasonable and a great alternative to “fun in a can”. <a href=“http://www.nps.gov/[/url]”>http://www.nps.gov/</a></p>
<p>we can’t do a family vacation either this year, so we are doing City stuff- sailing inthe bay, a trip out to the faralan islands, seeeing a show and staying downtown, getting food in the mission district, doing all the touristy stuff in our own city we can think of that we haven’t done or havent done in a while, like Beach Blanket Babalon, row boating in Golden Gate Park, sports events, silly stuff like Ripleys, or museums</p>
<p>my D is 18 and is looking forward to doing stuff in our area, she did a city double decker bus tour with her sister and it included Alcatraz…she couldn’t leave SF for college and say, no gee, never went out there</p>
<p>we are planning on doing a ghost tour, Santa Cruz, and to some events, if the girls want, they will be able to bring friends…we will visit the tech museums, tour the Opera House, etc…not the perfect family vacation, but hey we ilive in one amazing place</p>
<p>think about doing all that corny stuff again or that you missed</p>
<p>I can bet you if you look at your area, Chicago for heavens sake, you can find some fun interesting things to visit again, or for the first time</p>
<p>How about St. Louis? We live 6 hours from Chicago and 3 hours from St. Louis, so I’m assuming that’s a manageable car trip for you. Lots of good restaurants & shopping (we like the Galleria & Plaza Frontnac for shopping); the science center is fun for all ages with an IMAX, etc.; the Cardinals if they are in town; the Arch and other downtown stuff. Also, you can see what is playing in the outdoor theater, the MUNY, or downtown at the Fox, which is a beautiful theater. While it’s not my favorite all time destination, we always have a good time when we go there.</p>
<p>This is the first summer we did not do anything vacation-wise with our kids. Our oldest came home for a week in between school sessions, and I thought he’d be bored (I was feeling kind of bad we didn’t plan anything).</p>
<p>He has had a blast. Everyday up at 9 or 10, goes straight to the beach and surfs, skims, v-balls all day; back home for dinner; then goes to movies, a baseball game, party, whatever. He’s so much happier. And I hardly recognize him, he’s so dark.</p>
<p>hahaha, We do live near the beach. Up until his hs graduation, my oldest was always playing baseball, working out for football, and working in the summer.<br>
We used to go beaching all the time when the kids were young, and they had boards and surfed up until they were in about 8th grade, then sort of lost interest. Outgrew their boards, sold them, did other stuff in high school. Now the surfing bug has struck again!! I’m very happy about it. I used to think, what a waste that we live so close to the beach and they hardly ever go there.<br>
That’s the good news. The bad news- son wants a board now and he’s not working (going to school). He’s always borrowing a spare board from friends. Christmas is soooo far away!</p>
<p>Thanks for all the ideas! Camping has been out since he was 10 and “dropped out” of boy scout camp - that’s when he switched to computer camps on college campuses. I did ask him for ideas last night and he didn’t really have any, which is why I came to the experts at CC. </p>
<p>We’ve been to St. Louis twice when he visited WUSTL (including an overnight campus visit). Stopped at Mammoth Cave on the way back from Florida a few years ago. </p>
<p>Been to DC in the last few years and seen all the sights. When he was about 11, we did a White House tour - when we entered the Blue Room, S noted that blue was his favorite color - the guide took him under the ropes and seated him on one of the couches then continued describing the room - “the picture above my young friend’s head…across from my young friend…” etc.</p>
<p>He hasn’t been to NY in years so that’s still an option - I’ll have to check the other threads for affordable hotels!</p>
<p>We’d love to get back to San Francisco or San Diego! He was at the Young Leader’s Tech Conference in San Jose two summers ago and had a blast, including trips to both SF and SC. But there we’re talking both time and money constraints. I have wanted to get back to Las Vegas for years (haven’t been in 18 years) but first none of us are gamblers and there again it’s time and money. But it’s still on the list and combining it with a trip to one of the parks is a thought. We’ve been to them all but he hasn’t. I don’t think we could get him on horseback (tried that when he was little) - a bike, yes!</p>
<p>Wow, maybe we’ve already done enough in his life and should just let him veg! (His freshman year was pretty bumpy.) I like the idea of going back to corny kid’s stuff though - maybe back to House on the Rock (he was there but too young to remember it) or the Dells (that he does remember).</p>
<p>He has gone into Chicago with friends on occasion and we do an annual family overnight in the winter. He does have a few friends but isn’t doing much with them - his former platonic girlfriend (whom I called the social director) is out of the country for the summer so a lot less is happening this year than last. Right now he’s mainly playing with his Mii’s on his Wii !</p>
<p>My 18 yo’s idea of a vacation is 24/7 on the computer, however he does enjoy playing games at the Boardwalk when we go to the beach and is usually up for mini golf. He also likes roller coasters.</p>
<p>You don’t have to gamble to enjoy Vegas. There’s all sorts of ‘family’ activities. But I’m surprised nobody has mentioned Cedar Point – maybe you’ve been there too many times or aren’t into roller coasters? And not far north is the province of Ontario, Canada…which is so magnificient in so many ways. <a href=“http://www.ontariotravel.net%5B/url%5D”>www.ontariotravel.net</a> will give you ideas and (thanks to the craziness at the passport offices) you don’t need a passport if you are driving over the border.</p>
<p>If I didn’t live here, I’d probably want to go to San Diego on vacation - beaches, boogie boarding, surfing, sailing, nice weather, not far from Disneyland, etc. </p>
<p>I’d think twice about Las Vegas. It’s hot and less exciting for non-gamblers although there are things to do for non-gamblers such as shows and seeing the various casino hotel attractions and proximity to some of the national parks in southern Utah and Arizona. </p>
<p>Zion, Bryce, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Sequoia, Arches, Canyonlands, Capital Reef, etc. are all nice assuming he’s interested in them. Some 19 year-olds aren’t as interested in touring national parks as their parents are though. It really depends on the person.</p>
<p>The key will be to ask him his opinion on whether he’d like to go on a vacation and what type of vacation he’d like - city, touring national parks, beaches, lots of driving versus staying at a single place, etc. Give him some options to think about. I’d recommend going on a vacation if at all possible - you never know how many more opportunities you’ll have due to internships, job, friends, etc.</p>
<p>One way we manage affordable vacations is to swap houses, using Craigslist and plenty, plenty of reference checks. For example, look up Craigslist.com for New York City, click on housing/ houseswap and see if someone wants to trade with you to see Chicago.</p>
<p>I would be too embarrassed to let someone stay in our raggedy house! Everyone on Craigslist seems to want to be in the city anyway.</p>
<p>I definitely want to do at least a short vacation before he goes back to college. Since he had no clear idea I researched some places we’ve been before. At the moment we seem to be planning to go up to Madison WI for a day then on to the Dells for a couple more days - minigolf, pools, magic show, etc. Plus there’s something called Wizard Quest which some adults seem to enjoy - does anyone have experience? He can also visit the arcades and tell us how lame they are.</p>
<p>If we went to national parks he would look up from his Gameboy, say “Wow - nice” then return to the game. He did put it down long enough to watch the fireworks in Chicago tonight.</p>
<p>We would all love to go to San Diego. I have a life plan to end up living in California - current area of interest is Irvine but it may take a couple more years to get there. Then every weekend could be a vacation.</p>
<p>I would put anything in a 3 hour direct flight distance on the list.</p>
<p>New Orleans is a hit with 19 year olds. New York City is a hit or miss. The Mayan ruins outside of Cancun and the beaches south of Cancun are a hit with 19 year olds (can’t go to Cancun with the rents though. Too embarassing). Biking and climbing the red rocks of Moab Utah is a hit with 19 year olds. Montreal is a hit with 19 year olds. Miami beach is a BIG hit with 19 year old boys. Might be embarassing to have mum along though. Ditto Vegas. </p>
<p>Dublin is only 5 hours away…Dublin is a major hit with 19 year olds.</p>
<p>Cheers suggestion of Moab is a good one. Aside from mountain biking and climbing you can also get river rafting in. Moab is in Utah but it is not like any other city in Utah. Lots of young people.</p>
His favorite leisure activity usually involves a monitor (computer, video game, etc.). He wouldn’t mind a nice beach - we’ve been to Michigan a lot but I can’t remember any areas that might be lively enough to appeal to a 19 year old. 
He’s an indoor guy but wouldn’t object to a little outdoor activity as long as he can get back into air conditioning (definitely my genes there). </p>