As last year, a family with teenage/grown-up kids has one major challenge: getting the kids to want to go on vacation with their parents…as there are indeed other, potentially much more appealing options for young people out there.

Unlike last year, this year, after our successful trial of this new setup, our kids were all over the idea of driving to Italy with the same setup: We combine the need for our children to be on their own and have loud music in the car during a road trip and us parents wanting to enjoy the trip by driving from village to village along the sea and whilst meeting up every evening and enjoying some drive-free days whilst doing some family activities. The kids sleep a little longer than us – check out of the Hotel and drive to the next place in their own speed and then either explore the town or just veg out on the hotel’s WiFi.

I’ll be starting my trip to Italy on Friday afternoon, driving to visit friends of mine close to lake Garda, staying over night with them. Then, Saturday, my family will arrive in Brescia late evening where we will be staying at my friend’s parents’ place as it has enough space for us 5.

From there we will be traveling slowly towards the sea, where we will stay for a few days before heading onward to Terni, the city I lived in as a child. Staying there at least a week without any plans will allow us to relax thoroughly (whilst meeting loads of people and eating at least 5 times a day 🙂 )

Check the map below for my current plan. (you can move and zoom the map freely)

After two weeks, my youngest will have to fly back to Switzerland before the rest of us on our way back will visit Lucca and Pisa and stop somewhere along the coast for another day or two of beach holidays. After that, the rest of my family will head back home, whilst I enjoy another few days of solo-TWIKEing across Italy and Switzerland.

The usual GPS tracking will be active in order to be able to see where I am during the trip.