Best Gang Holidays & Outings & Adventures

Coming from a family of 6 kids myself, I have wonderful memories of Christmases spent with all of the extended family, Grans, Grandpas, cousins, aunts and uncles. All in all we had 18 people sitting down for Christmas dinner. I don't know about the parents but we kids sure had fun. We also got to know and trust our Aunts and Uncles and got a bit closer to our Grandparents. Additional family members can provide safe outlets for both young kids and teen problems as well as adult problems. Sometimes teens will share a problem with an aunt or uncle that they feel they cannot share with their own mom and dad for what ever reason. My secrets were shared with a favourite cousin who always listened young though she was, with great empathy. With her wise head on a young body she also gave some good advice! Not all secrets need to be shared any further than with the aunt, uncle or extended family member of choice.

A lot of our Best Gang Holidays were spent together with all our extended family, which was quite a feat for our parents. Sometimes Christmas was spent together in Zambia and sometimes in Zimbabwe. This meant that some family members would be travelling large distances in order to get together. Both countries offered wide open spaces and plenty of places for us kids to hide whilst playing 'in the pan'. This is a great game when there are lots of kids. A bit like hide and seek, the chosen one, (picked by eeny meeny miny mo) would close eyes, and count to a hundred whilst the rest of the giggling mass would run and hide. The difference in this game was that anybody caught had to go in the pan, (a big circle drawn in the sand) and could be rescued by one of the others who would have to sneak up real close without being seen and wave crossed arms to free those in the pan. Of course after many hours of playing, the 'chosen one' would realise that he/she was never going to be able to be a 'hidee' and would start to complain bitterly. This heralded time for a change of 'seekee'! This game can be played in the house on a rainy day if parents don't mind a couple of hours of kids hiding in the linen closet, under beds and behind the sofa, or the squeals of fright when caught and lots of giggling in between. We played this game in the garden, in the bush that surrounded our house in Zambia and in the stairwells of holiday flats in Beira, Mozambique. We were in bed by 8pm though. Much to the relief I suspect, of other holiday makers!

The greatest fun we had was when the dads joined in with a game of rounders, a type of softball, played with a tennis ball. The dads always made sure that everyone got a turn to bat, so they were an essential ingredient in an otherwise egocentric group of kids.

Our Best Gang Holidays all had one thing in common, LOTS of open space for all the kids to run themselves into a coma! We really slept at night! This is not always an expensive way for kids and teens to have fun. Favourite Best Gang Holidays, long week-ends and outings for us included fishing and camping, girls and boys, teens and tots. Fishing meant picnics and barbeques. Our car was always packed to the hilt with fishing gear, blankets for the ground, umbrellas, and loads of food and cooldrinks all prepared at home before we left. If there are lots of kids in your gang, don't pick serious fisherman spots, they won't appreciate the noise. Look for dams that cater for all types of fishermen, the not so serious and the novices's. (My dad's idea of fishing was to find a nice tree to lie up against, close enough to the waters edge for his fishing rod that was always wedged between his toes! Radio tuned to the local sports station and a cooler bag loaded with beer! We always prayed for the big bite, but it never did come!) Take play dough, tin cups for mud pies, and balls etc for the tots and everything that makes mom comfortable! The same for camping, take everything that keeps mom and the little ones happy. Babies do fine on camping holidays but make sure that you have both, warm and cool clothing, hats and sunscreen. Take a good medical aid kit that has teething gel and baby panado syrup, for just in case. Teens of course have a great time as they can meet other teenagers and make new friends. It is a good idea to always take board games and books for rainy days and for when it is too hot, around mid-day. Leave the PSP at home!

All Best Gang Holidays and long week-ends were spent with my mom and dad and all of them included their interaction, whether it was badminton on the beach, touch rugby or a more leisurly games like dominos, chess and checkers to name but a few. And yes!! we pouted when the chips did not fall our way but that is all part of the growing up process, learning how to be a gracious loser! HAH!! The photos are of places we have visited and holidayed in more recently. The top photos are of Thailand in Phuket and the elephants were photographed in Zimbabwe where some of our gang still live. Obviously having family in places you may want to visit does make it cheaper but to be honest Zimbabwe is very cheap for tourists and very beautiful. Be nice to family you never know when you may need them!!!

Best Gang Holidays can include long week-ends spent with teens and getting some good bonding time in whilst having fun. Remember, 'families that play together stay together'. When teens are made to spend time with their parents (yes you have that right) and have fun with them, they are more likely to open up about some things that may surprise you! A firm favourite of my husbands' when he was a teen was white water rafting and still is today. Nothing quite like a white knuckle ride to get your teen bonding FAST! Choose a place that has a good reputation and provides all the necessary safety equipment. And if you have the money, nothing quite beats white water rafting down the Zambezi river from Victoria Falls. Definitely some Best Gang Holidays here.

There are many hiking trails that can be accomplished over a long week-end and if you want to introduce a young teen into this type of exercise, then find things for them to look at along the way, whether it is wild flowers for pressing, or unusual mosses, lichen, and wild animals. A hike can be very boring for some if the only object is to reach the top or end of a trail. It can be a good way to introduce photography even if it is with a throw away camera at first. Hiking and camping can provide an introduction into water colour painting and drawing if you can see your child has a leaning toward art, or even if you want to find out if they have that bent. I know for me, that I can walk for hours but there had better be something interesting to look at along the way. My long suffering and wonderfully strong, gorgeous husband has often staggered back to camp loaded with driftwood and lovely smooth stones for the garden, collected by both of us, but mostly me, on our long beach and forest walks.

If it is excitement that the gang love, then you can't go better than a paint-balling week-end! This could be for the male members or for the females in the gang as well. One thing is certain it will get the adrenalin going and may just spice up other things too if danger is a bit of a turn on for mom and dad! Get equipped and padded up!

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There are so many potentials for Best Gang Holidays I am sure you have a few of your own. I will certainly be adding more to this page in the future.

For more ideas on Adventures, Best Gang Holidays in the Outdoors I have added a link to Outdoor Adventure Life Guide a site dedicated to various Adventurous Activities.

Take note too if you're feeling extra adventurous the link provided for a peek into holidays in Morocco!

Everything Moroccan

Out Door Adventure Life Guide

For Your Story In Your Words

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