Jill Robbins
Writing is Jill’s “second act.” She spent 25 years in the United States Air Force and has lived in four countries outside the United States, which have fueled her love of travel and exploration of different cultures. She began writing news stories and personal essays for the Walt Disney Company’s former parenting website, Babble, after retiring from the military. She transitioned to travel writing after realizing how much joy she found in journaling about a weekend trip. Jill writes about all types of travel but loves covering stories that encourage families to experience and explore together. Her writing has appeared in the Saturday Evening Post, Southern Living, Fodor’s Travel, Business Insider, and many other publications.
Articles by Jill Robbins
For anyone planning travel with teenagers this year, before you brace yourself for the inevitable eye rolls or mutter phrases like “difficult stage” under your breath, here’s some good news. Traveling with teens can actually be great. It’s not without challenges. No matter how chill or laid-back your parenting (or grandparenting) style is, having carefully planned activities dismissed as “boring” or “mid” can sting. Still, when you treat teens like the almost-adults they are, they can be surprisingly good travel companions. They carry their own bags, keep track of their stuff (usually), help with grown-up logistics like navigation or public transit, and, on a good day, offer a fresh perspective that keeps us from getting too comfortable in our own way of seeing the world.
As a chaser of the “I’ve been to all 50 states” status, South Dakota has long been on my bucket list. When the chance to visit Rapid City popped up, I was thrilled to check off another state—number 43—and finally see Mount Rushmore, that classic slice of Americana. I typically road-trip with my teenagers during their summer break, so I dove into planning mode: spreadsheets, snacks, playlists. Then came the bombshell: one kid’s tennis camp overlapped, and the other declared my idea “lame.” (Teenagers, right?)
