One-on-one adventures: Why we bring each of our teens away for a week on their own

From Mongolian yurts to US ranches, Arlene Harris meets the parents who took their teens on special adventures

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Life is busy — and for most people with children, it can be a merry-go-round of ferrying them to activities and appointments, while also trying to fit in family time and their own work and household demands.

So, while the annual summer holiday is a great opportunity for everyone to spend time together away from the busyness of the daily routine, when the whole family is present, there may not be many opportunities for one-on-one quality time with individual children or teenagers.

But Angela Moroney has made sure that she gets to ‘do something special’ with each of her teenagers by taking them away for a week on their own.

“We are constantly busy in our household and I’m aware of the fact that none of us really get to grips with what is going on in everyone’s lives, so I decided last year that I would try to get time away with each of my kids on their own,” she says. “I took my daughter, Ailbhe, 15, on a trip to Portugal last year where we spent time just relaxing on the beach — and doing a bit of sightseeing and chatting. Then earlier this year, I took my son, Conor, 13, on a more adventurous holiday as he wouldn’t be interested in sunbathing.

“We decided to go camping in northern Spain and had an action-packed week. We hired some surf boards and I did a few beginner lessons — which I was terrible at. But we had great fun. We also did some kayaking and because we were in Asturias, where the scenery is incredible, we did some hiking as well.

“Both trips were great and I felt that my kids got to open up to me about aspects of their lives they wouldn’t normally discuss — so along with having a great holiday, we also got to know each other a lot better.”

The Dublin woman, who also has a younger child, says these ‘having one-on-one adventures’ were such a success that she and her husband ‘are already bickering over who is going to do the next one’, saying they ‘might have to take it in turns’.

Zara Stassin is also a fan of parent/child adventure holidays and, earlier this year, she and her 16-year-old daughter Sunnibhe enjoyed a ranching holiday in Arizona.

Zara Stassin and daughter Sunnibhe on their horse riding adventure in America

Both a fan of horses, she told her daughter that she could choose a horse riding adventure in any country and she “chose ranching, as ever since watching Heartland as a kid, she is obsessed with cowboy culture”.

“We only take holidays during the Irish winter and we picked Arizona for the weather as some of the more typical Yellowstone destinations like Wyoming would be three feet under snow at that time of the year, so they were out of the question,” says the mother of two who lives in the Dublin Mountains. “We went for a week and did so much during that time — and went first to Tombstone Monument, which is set up like a Wild West Village, where we rounded up some cattle, went for a breakfast cookout ride, shot lots of guns, shopped in local cowboy stores and watched a real live riding rodeo, which was so much fun.

“We then moved closer to Tuscon and stayed in the luxury White Stallion ranch, which had a pool, hot tub, and small spa. The food was fantastic and the rooms were sumptuous with marble bathrooms, each with their own veranda and fire pit. There, we rode through the Cactus Mountains, tried some roping and cowboy games, learned loads about Western riding, shot more guns, went e-biking and line danced — it was a blast from start to finish.”

The travel specialist, who runs zarasplanet.com says that the adventure was so much fun that they are already thinking about doing something similar next year.

“We had the best time together and just laughed our way through the whole week,” she says. “We even discovered our competitive edge and I felt very smug being way ahead of Sunnibhe on the e-bikes, but then when it came to rounding cattle up into a pen, she was a proper slick cowgirl, while I was hopeless. We are already thinking of going on safari next year.”

Fellow horse lover, Rebecca Kenny has recently returned from a trip to Mongolia where she and her daughter Layla experienced ‘an incredible adventure’ to add to the list of trips they have already enjoyed together, including Egypt, Spain, Croatia, Italy, and Zambia, all of which were ‘once in a lifetime experiences’.

Rebecca Kenny with her daughter Layla in Mongolia

“We flew into the capital city, Ulaanbaatar, and went from there by a very cool vintage van to a private yurt camp in the beautiful Orkhon valley,” she says. “Layla and I shared a yurt with traditional furniture and cashmere blankets to keep us cosy — and each day we mounted our feisty ponies, which were good natured and full of character, and headed out into the wide open spaces and through valleys of wild flowers, pristine rivers, small lakes, nomadic communities, and herds of big hairy yaks.

“We visited Buddhist monasteries, followed ancient pilgrim trails across the steppes, and camped out under the Milky Way for two nights, where we sat around a camp fire serenaded by our Mongolian team who put us to shame with their traditional songs and wonderful voices. When we weren’t riding we went hiking in the nearby hills, or kayaking, which was a great experience as it was fantastic to watch the unusual bird life and catch glimpses of wild herds of horses cooling down by the water.”

The PR consultant, who lives in Dublin with her husband Peter, says that they also enjoyed ‘an incredible moment’ watching Mongolian wrestling, which is known as Bokh and is an ‘important part of the culture’.

“Genghis Khan considered wrestling to be vital in keeping his army in good physical shape,” she says. “We also took part in a Mongolian goat feast which included the meat being stone-cooked in front of us over an open fire and was accompanied by Airag, fermented mares’ milk, definitely an acquired taste.

“The trip was so different to anything we had experienced before, as it is such a vast and remote country with a culture and history which is so rich and interesting.

“Layla and I enjoy the same things and have the same sense of humour so we always love our time together — and we met new friends who we had lots of laughs with and are still in touch with them.

“For me, the best bit was when we were galloping fast through the valleys and ‘whooping’ with the joy of it. But we did have one mishap, when we were wild camping — I woke up to find that my bottom lip was three times the usual size and was still swelling. So we had to go off over the mountains to a hospital to get some anti-venom treatment, in case it was a dangerous insect bite.

“Thankfully after getting two drips, all was fine again. We had an amazing time and I can’t wait to organise the next mother and daughter adventure.”

Suzanne Campbell agrees and last year, took both of her daughters — Anna, 17, and Robin, 15 — to South Africa to spend a week on Ants Nest Game reserve in Limpopo, close to the border with Botswana.

Suzanne Campbell with her daughters in South Africa

“We flew to Cape Town first where we stayed for three days and had a brilliant time exploring the city and the Cape peninsula,” she says. “We did a one day tour with a local guide and it was amazing hearing the history of the region from a black South African point of view. We had such fun with her and it was one of the best guided days I’ve ever experienced.

“Then we did the stunning Chapmans Peak Drive before flying to Johannesburg where we had a three hour drive to Ants Nest.

“The reserve is famous for rhino so we were lucky to see them a few times, including a newly born calf. The local guides were also fantastic here, with advanced qualifications in wildlife, including identifying the sounds of individual frogs, bats and knowing the flora and fauna of that region inside out.

“The food was also incredible and every detail was taken care of; down to your specific coffee order, brought to outside your room on wake up with a gentle knock on the door.”

Mornings for the trio on the reserve were spent spotting wildlife on horseback, returning afterwards to their accommodation to relax by the pool and have afternoon tea, before heading out into the reserve again and then afterwards, getting together to watch the sun go down.

The Wicklow woman says ‘they were funny and happy times’ and she really enjoys seeing the world with her children, something, she believes, is also very beneficial for them.

“I love travelling with my daughters, they are great company — and are both very funny and sarcastic,” she says.

“I travelled all over the world in my 20s and I think it’s important that young people see real parts of the world, rather than just resorts, and also interact with local people. It sets them up to travel by themselves and my eldest is already planning an inter railing trip — it’s such an important education and makes you more capable and resilient later on.”