Last summer, my niece and a friend of hers came to Italy to tour around with me for a week. I was wildly underprepared for this trip as I didn't really know what kind of things they would want to see and do. I knew they wanted to shop, so we made plenty of time for that.
Their visit got me thinking about the experience of the traveling teenager, and the experience of their parents too. I realized how excited I used to get to get a travel guide (book) for my travels. This was when I was in my 20s and I loved leafing through the pages, reading the history of a place, and getting a sense for the restaurants, hotels, and sights.
Now, for these guides, I decided to omit hotels completely and, for the most part, restaurants. But in their place, I've added book, movie, and music lists, and a scavenger hunt. My hope is that my travel guides will get kids/teens excited to travel, and get them invested in the specifics of the trip. I hope young travelers will use these guides to have agency in their travel.