communication

How do I know if my teenager is ready for Teen Travel?

13 to 17 and everything in-between!

L&E Teen Travel is for 13 to 17 year olds.  However, we all know that there are many different types of 13 to 17 year olds!  This is a trip that we think every teen should experience and we want to make sure they are equipped with all the skills they need to set off on their own (not completely on their own!).  If your child has previously attended camps then this is a good start.  They have spent time away from you being independent and making their own decisions.  As they get older, teenagers will naturally want more independence.  This is a great first step to travelling without their parents but in the care of experts.  Let’s be honest, no one knows your child better than you… but if you need advice or want to talk to one of our experts then you can schedule a call with one of our experts.

Speaking the language

The common language that will be spoken is English so will your teenager be able to communicate effectively in the group?  We try to limit each nationality to ensure we are all speaking English.  Therefore your child may not be with someone who speaks their mother tongue (if not English!).  If your teenager is looking to improve their spoken English then we can think of no better immersive experience!  

What type of skills will they need?

Teen Travel is about learning new things such as budget management and how to organise an itinerary.  Each member will bring their own individual skills that will help the group.  One of the most important things the teens will have to figure out early on in the trip is what they each bring to the table.  Is there an A+ maths student in the group – they can take the lead with the expenses, does someone enjoy writing – they can assist others in writing the daily blog.  No matter what skills each teenager has, they will all have to work together as a group.  Each person’s skillset to make sure they get the most out of the trip.  

What happens if my teen gets upset or homesick?

This trip could potentially be the most exciting and challenging thing your teen has ever done.  Our Travel Mentors are fully aware of this.  They will be monitoring each child throughout the trip to ensure they are happy and getting the most out of the trip.  If any teen is upset for whatever reason the Travel Mentors are there to listen and to help them.  We can safely say that 9 times out of 10 it is simply tiredness that makes someone upset.  This is easily fixed by a good nights sleep or an additional rest day.  The Travel Mentors will manage the itinerary.  If it looks like the teens are travelling too often (changing locations every day) then they will step in before anything is planned and offer some sound advice.  

Want to know more?

We can offer advice to you and your teen.  So please get in touch with us if you have any questions about Teen Travel.  You can schedule a call with one of our experts who can talk you through the trip or email teentravel@learnandexperience.com with any questions you may have.

Teen Travel really is an adventure of a lifetime – take the first step, get in touch!  

Why is travel good for teenagers?

Our teen travel expert, Julie explains 5 different factors why travel is so good for teens and how L&E Teen Travel trips give young people the life skills for future journeys…

Experiencing other cultures

In this day in age it is vastly important for young adults to be in touch with a global world and they can do this by discovering other cultures and customs.  Learning about other cultures helps foster understanding and helps us recognise and respect that there is more than one way of ‘being’.  Travel is the best way to experience a different perspective and to also recognise how much we all have in common.

Understanding how to budget money…

By giving teenagers financial responsibility they will learn the true cost of things and not be so frivolous with their spending.  They may make some mistakes, but it is better to learn the hard way when the amounts are small and the repercussions are light.  By creating things like spreadsheets the teens will be able to track incomings and outgoings which will help them manage their spending to make sure they have enough money for the whole trip!

The ability to communicate effectively in a group…

The art of verbal communication is such a vital skill, from asking for directions to job interviews. Teenagers will need to learn to speak for themselves and have the confidence to do so.  When thrust into a group of strangers it is sometimes difficult to get your point across, but when there is a common goal that is fun, teenagers are more inclined to try and exercise their creative muscles.

The importance of good time management…

Learning how to manage your time effectively whilst still being a teenager will set you up for adult life where being late or delaying deadlines are not acceptable. Whilst travelling, time management is key as turning up to a large train station with 5 minutes to spare will not give you enough time to find your platform, go to the toilet and get much needed snacks for the journey!  This skill is also a sure way to keep stress levels down.

Understand the process of building an itinerary…

This is one of the most difficult tasks as it will require all the other skills we have mentioned.  Not only will the teenager have to communicate effectively they will also have to have a good grasp of the financial aspects of the trip and most importantly how to best schedule everything.  This is no easy task!  Even in small groups there will be differences in opinion about where to go, how to get there and how much it should cost.  The teens who are able to learn how to compromise, problem solve and manage conflict will have more success in planning a trip.

Want to know more?

We can offer advice to you and your teen.  So please get in touch with us if you have any questions about Teen Travel.  You can schedule a call with one of our experts who can talk you through the trip or email teentravel@learnandexperience.com with any questions you may have.

Teen Travel really is an adventure of a lifetime – take the first step, get in touch!  

YGL Blog 2019

Monday 15th July

The L&E Young Global Leaders programme is a very unique opportunity for young people from around the world to come together to learn and understand what makes good young leaders.  In our small team we have participants from Hong Kong, Spain, Russia, Italy, Sweden, Germany, France and UK.  Now if that isn’t what Young Global Leaders should be all about then I don’t what is!!?

We started on Monday morning with a brief questionnaire about our expectations and what we felt our strengths and weaknesses were.  We then spent quite a bit of time introducing each other and getting to know one another.  My gosh…these young leaders are so incredibly interesting.  Their dreams and ambitions are astounding but with a firm belief and commitment to achieve them.

We then looked at some well known leaders and discussed their attributes…Trump, Merkel, Messi, Sir Alex Ferguson, Mandela and Greta Thunberg.

It was certainly an interesting discussion as you can imagine!

The afternoon session included some camp fire cooking skills that will hopefully come in useful for the Wilderness trip later on in the week…

Tuesday, 16th July

Tuesday brought some problem solving to the table.  It was a team effort but there were certainly some characters that came to the fore with some astute leadership skills…all with different styles mind you.

You may have heard of Edward de Bono!? A Maltese modern day psychologist who came up with an interesting theory about different ways of thinking within a team.

When making a collective decision it’s always good to have members of the team who behave and look at things differently.  It’s called The 6 Thinking Hats.

Six distinct directions are identified and assigned a color. The six directions are:

• Managing Blue – what is the subject? what are we thinking about? what is the goal? Can look at the big picture.
• Information White – considering purely what information is available, what are the facts?
• Emotions Red – intuitive or instinctive gut reactions or statements of emotional feeling (but not any justification).
• Discernment Black – logic applied to identifying reasons to be cautious and conservative. Practical, realistic.
• Optimistic response Yellow – logic applied to identifying benefits, seeking harmony. Sees the brighter, sunny side of situations.
• Creativity Green – statements of provocation and investigation, seeing where a thought goes. Thinks creatively, outside the box.

This was an incredibly rewarding session where the team were given the task of planning a birthday party and designing the Best Summer Camp (pretty tough competition out there I’ve heard!!??)

They were given different “hats” to see if they were able to think differently and also were able to choose the “hat” that they were most comfortable with.

We hope that the skills learnt will be beneficial to them for the rest of their lives.

Wednesday brings a very exciting proposition…The Wilderness Experience.  Plans have been made and now just the expedition itself is there to complete.  We look forward to telling you all about it tomorrow.  Till then….

Click for YGL Photos