– they are especially good for hiking but also work in cities. Carry a bottle of, perfect for killing time pretty much anywhere. Dobble is brilliant and can be played across language barriers with new friends, as can Uno. I’m obsessed withIt’s the best way to store the places you want to visit and restaurant recommendations, and you can instantly see what’s nearby as you move around. Finally:, which can double up as a hot water bottle when camping .
One key learning from holidaying with teenagers is that the middle-of-nowhere isolation that feels blissful to middle-aged parents is essentially torture to teenagers. Teenagers are addicted to other teenagers. This doesn’t mean you have to take your family hols in Faliraki, but it does mean it’s worth thinking aboutby themselves when they fancy a break from the olds. A little bit of freedom goes a long way to keeping teenage spirits up.
It is an immutable law of adventurous travel that all bags will be filled to bursting and your shoes will fall apart. That’s certainly true for my kind of far-flung trips, but even on a weekend away in Barcelona a wheel can detach from the wheelie bag at the worst possible moment. So now I take one. It might raise eyebrows when you check in at a chateau or country house hotel, but you will swan past the baggage carousel and still be able to yomp into town during the taxi strike.