Husband has to cancel 14 day trip. Mom and 15yr son might go it w/out him

Go!
I have traveled with both my daughter and my son separately, and it was a wonderful experience both times. My daughter was a teenager at the time of our trip to Ireland. My son was a young adult on our trip, but had never traveled outside the country before. In both cases, it gave us uninterrupted time to actually TALK, as well as have experiences and memories that the other sibling didn't have -- something that was just "ours".

Go for it! What a nice experience to have with your child. Have the child help plan the trip and find places that they would like to go. I would think it would be very beneficial for both of you.
Go and have a wonderful time exploring new areas together.

Well, there is a huge model railroad in Berlin that is pretty much a replica of Berlin's public transport that should be of interest to the two of you. You can do the boat rides thru Spreewald, which is also great fun for a teenager and his mom. Then there is a tropical beach rebuilt in the world's single largest covered space (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_Islands, just look at the pictures). Berlin is such a young, dynamic place, there are so many sidewalk cafes etc. that should be of interest to your son, too, as he can sit and watch other people (girls). How would you be getting from Berlin to Vienna? You could pass Nuremberg with Playmobilland, Augsburg with Legoland Germany, Füssen with Neuschwanstein castle and the luge ride...

Why would you "NOT" want to spend time with your child?

I agree with the others.. GO FOR IT! Its unfortunate hubby cannot go, but why sacrafice the trip? It will be most rewarding to time with your son and mom.

Allow your son to help plan out the details. That way he'll feel part of the trip, not just a by stander.

Thank you to all who responded. I have decided to go for it and look forward to spending time with my son. We have tickets on Air Berlin from Berlin to Vienna so I guess we won't be making any side trips to Fussen. Playmbile and Lego would not interest him. Cafe watching, Tropical beach, and Spree River boat ride sound great. I know he is also very interested in the Pergamon Museum.

I saw the Pergamon museum years ago -- I loved it then, and would love to go back someday.

Janet-you should definitely go for it! Whenever "catastrophes" like this happen, I usually see it as a blessing in disguise...because many beautiful things actually end up coming into your life. Here are my personal tips: 1)post a separate message seeking other families who'd like to meet up for dinner or a day at the museum with you and your son. This will break up the monotony of "being stuck with your son." 2)Treat your son as a young adult instead of a teenager. 3)Treat him also as a friend/travel companion instead of your teenage son who might drive you crazy! Keep a positive attitude and you will have a memorable time with your son. Who knows? This European trip could be the beginning of something beautiful between you and your son.

Yes Good advice. I do like traveling with my son. What I meant was that when traveling with anyone whether spouse, friends or family, it is good to get a little break from each other at some point. This is no matter how well you get along. I don't think I want him wandering around by himself in a foreign city. I think maybe we'll just work some downtime into our schedule for reading books.

There's also a very cool hands-on type of museum called the Story of Berlin. It's on Kudamm near Gedächtniskirche. You walk thru the entire history of Berlin from a pre-historic settlement via its years as capital of the Prussian kingdom, the capital of the German empire, the Nazi era and of course the cold war and the separation of the city into two. The tour ends with a visit to a real cold war nuclear bunker. You can see, feel, images how life would have been in such a bunker...

You should go without the husband. Make the trip just mom and son time. He will really appreciate your time together especially when he is older. I took my son to Europe when he was 12, at the time he enjoyed the trip or at least most of it. He is now 16 and still talks about the trip we took together and how he would like to take another and include his siblings and grandparents in the next one.

Janet,
We traveled as a family in 2004 on a European vacation for 23 days. Our son was 16 and our daughter was 18. They loved it and so did we. We did have both kids to keep each other company. They would hang out together and did some shopping and sight seeing on their own. They both love history, so seeing Europe was a great experience for them. We did do a lot of World War II tours. Have a wonderful time. I would love to do a one on one trip with each of my kids.

I went to London and Paris with my mom a few years ago. I wasn't a teenager then, but I did get annoyed being with just her for 10 days. We would often set times to meet back with each other when we would go to museums. Then we could go off and see the things we wanted to see and get a little break from each other.

Janet, I'm glad you decided to go for it. I just returned from an 8 day Italy trip with my 20 yr old daughter. She had spent 2 weeks traveling in England and France--I was afraid she would be feeling too independent to enjoy time with me when we met up in Florence. Turns out she was glad to let someone else make plans for a change. We knew in advance that some things would appeal more to me and some more to her. We talked about that in advance and agreed that we would both accept the give and take involved and not rush each other through the things we weren't as interested in. You might run through that scenario with your son also. Have a great trip!