GenXer figuring out easy way for minor Electronics for GenZ kids in Italy...help

Here is Boomer advice for going low tech. Books. Load up ebooks on phone or iPad. You can often check these out for free from the library. You can carry multiple books without the weight of books.

Many streamin services allows you to save movies locally to watch when you are offline.

Airplanes have selections of kids' movies. SNCF Connect wifi has activities for children, too. Find old telephones the children can use for wifi.

I download Netflix films for travel, put the iPad on airplane mode, and watch. However, once I turn off airplane mode and the iPad localizes itself outside the US, not everything I have downloaded is licensed to be watched outside the US.

What in the heck is a gen x and z? Can't keep up with this stuff.
Signed, an old boomer

Bets, gen x are the generation one younger than boomers. They were born in the 70s, give or take a few years on either end. It gets fuzzy but most are 40s-50s. Gen Z are kids now. Like under 20/25 or something, not sure about the exact age. Kids and teens and very young adults. Millennials are in between, in their 20s-30s, again fuzzy at the edges. I study this stuff for work, need to know your markets!

You can download movies to an iPad or similar tablet. Or to a smartphone, if there’s enough memory and the viewer doesn’t mind watching on a small screen.
If you have one of the streaming services like Netflix or Disney, they let you download most of their movies/shows to watch offline. Just download a selection at home. You could purchase digital copies of a favorite movie but that would get expensive to do for a large selection.

If your kids like to read, a kindle can hold thousands of books which really reduces weight in your luggage!

If your 16 year old is like most, I bet they can help figure this out. Teens are amazing at this stuff. I’m also a gen xer and my oldest is 14 so in a similar boat.

Shouldn't they solve their problems by themselves at this age? Remember them there is this situation, that there is free wifi only on high speed trains... and see what happens.

I doubt any boomer/Generation X here knows how to manage electronic entertainment better than a 16 years old who's been warned about hours of possible boredom.

A few things that may help, but also add to the variables:

-Some of the trains have Wifi, so streaming could be an option. But does yours?
-You'd need an adapter, but most of the trains have plugs at the seats. But does yours?
-Streaming services have some of their content available for download. But then you get to another country and the service has different download rights in different countries, so half of what you saved is locked out. But which half?

Hope that helps. But sorry for all the conditiionals.

I think a cheap Amazon Fire tablet could take the extra storage to save enough movies/shows.

There are plenty of inexpensive tablets out there.....you don't need a high end ipad. Wal Mart has a bunch. Just make sure they can take an SD card. Then load movies, tv shows, whatever to the SD card.

Many of these cheaper tablets can also take downloaded game apps.

I'm also guessing the 16 year old has a phone. It can also be used as an entertainment device.

But I agree, consult your 16 year old. Heck, the 10 year old probably knows more than you think.

I have full confidence that your kids are old enough to figure out what sort of electronic entertainment they want and how to obtain it. What I'm really hearing here is an undertone of guilt that they will "resort" to screens instead of experiencing the world around them or whatever. I'm here to tell you to let that go. Who cares if they use an ipad while on a 9 hour overseas flight? As you mentioned, it will save all of your sanities, and that's most important!

We've done 3 trips to Europe with our son, who just turned 5. He can't read by himself, but he theoretically COULD occupy himself for several hours by looking at books, playing, coloring, staring out the window, etc. But really....that's not going to happen. And honestly, enforcing that it way too much work for me, on a travel day when I tend to already be tired and somewhat cranky myself. So why force it? Figure out what are your non-negotiables for screen time (our rule is: no screens during meals or while we're out walking through a city, and on non-travel days, it's limited to 30 minutes) so everyone's on the same page in advance, but otherwise don't stress it.

Both Netflix and Disney Plus have a download feature. I'm not sure why you'd want to lug a DVD player to Europe - if you don't want to spend the cash on an ipad, there are cheaper tablets that do basically the same thing. Also you could download games, books, even magazines. I'd focus on your rules and then let your kids determine the specifics.

If either of these is a girl, she might like one of those coloring books that's geared to adults-I've seen some with cats or dogs. My teenaged daughter also still loved those magic scratch off pictures that Crayola has in packages-I think they were called Color Magic.

Chances are they will do what kids normally do and fiddle around on their phones. Make sure you have a good international phone plan with a lot of data. I'd also give them some tasks that involve searching and finding things. Maybe they are the organizers of the electronic tickets or watchers of the train schedule and connections. Kids are usually brilliant at that!

May be time to learn some card games or pack pocket Scrabble or backgammon. Options! Especially on the train where you’ll have more elbow room. My family played a golf-themed card game called “Play Nine” at Christmas. Good for a variety of ages.

I’m a barely squeaked in GenXer with tween boys, so I feel your pain. :) We brought a Roku fire stick to Italy 3 years ago, only to discover Hulu refused us access to any content due to country code issues. So—be aware that streaming services probably won’t work abroad (with the exception of YouTube.) You do not want to lug around dvds and a portable DVD player or laptop—(pack light!!!!); but if you have an old phone or tablet with a few non-wifi dependent silly games and a decent camera feature, they will have something to take pictures with and kill a little time. (Bonus—it’s not the end of the world if it gets lost or stolen.)

On a more parent-to-parent note of encouragement, just remember that ultimately, you can warn your kids that some parts of the trip might be boring; but that boredom is a feeling that is their responsibility to manage (in non-teasing/whining/picking on your sibling ways!) Sometimes it helps to just have that conversation up front—and let them figure things out from there. Best wishes :)

On our trip last summer we brought a Kindle Fire, which worked well. You can buy an extra storage card and download content from platforms like Netflix and Disney+. They could also use it to read books and magazines. I definitely would not want to lug around any sort of DVD device.

We also brought a small journal for my 6 year old and a few art supplies (glue stick, scissors, and colored pencils) which he enjoyed.