I am trying to persuade my teenager to come on holiday. I don't know why. She'll only whinge and make me feel rotten in my swimsuit. "Do you have to wear that at your age," she'll groan, and insist on sitting on the other side of the pool so my thighs don't embarrass her.
So when a teenage reader of this column, Lavanya Malhotra, got in touch, I was thrilled. Sensing I was struggling with my 16-year-old, she had some advice on how to make a family holiday less hormonally challenging.
Firstly, Lavanya says, I'm wrong about being well prepared. I shouldn't bang on about looking at guidebooks before you leave. I just need to dig out a few "weird facts" from Google on where we're going, the weirder the better. That's what teenagers want.
So far, sound advice, but then Lavanya says, "a mobile phone with a camera would come in handy". Oh no it wouldn't. I've let my teenager take her mobile on holiday before. Never again. It's too much of a temptation not to make calls and take pictures. On one city break, I spent more on her roaming charges than our accommodation.
But one bit of kit Lavanya lists is a rather good idea: a personal pair of binoculars. I sniff the word "personal" is very important here, as teenagers like to think that they hold something in their sweaty palm belonging entirely to them, not just on loan from their despised parents. The binoculars, says Lavanya, will be extremely useful when "chasing gazelles in the desert, tracking elephant droppings in the savannah or bird watching in a tropical jungle".
I suggest they could be of equal benefit on a city break. When we stayed in our Paris apartment, the views across the city were spectacular. Binoculars would have made seeking out the Sacre Coeur more interesting to my teenager, who has an extraordinary capacity to just sit and stare for a very long time.
There are a few other people, apart from Lavanya, making suggestions for travelling with older children. Whatley Manor, an elegant manor house in the heart of the English Cotswolds, is running Teen Tuesday in their private cinema, starting in August with Confessions of a Shopaholic (www.whatleymanor.com). But I don't think Whatley has quite understood what attracts teenage guests. To attend a movie, "teenagers must be accompanied by an adult". I know mine would refuse to go.
Do you have family travel tips that you'd like to share? E-mail Dea at dbirkett@thenational.ae
RESULT
Aston Villa 1
Samatta (41')
Manchester City 2
Aguero (20')
Rodri (30')
Series info
Test series schedule 1st Test, Abu Dhabi: Sri Lanka won by 21 runs; 2nd Test, Dubai: Play starts at 2pm, Friday-Tuesday
ODI series schedule 1st ODI, Dubai: October 13; 2nd ODI, Abu Dhabi: October 16; 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi: October 18; 4th ODI, Sharjah: October 20; 5th ODI, Sharjah: October 23
T20 series schedule 1st T20, Abu Dhabi: October 26; 2nd T20, Abu Dhabi: October 27; 3rd T20, Lahore: October 29
Tickets Available at www.q-tickets.com
Stat Fourteen Fourteen of the past 15 Test matches in the UAE have been decided on the final day. Both of the previous two Tests at Dubai International Stadium have been settled in the last session. Pakistan won with less than an hour to go against West Indies last year. Against England in 2015, there were just three balls left.
Key battle - Azhar Ali v Rangana Herath Herath may not quite be as flash as Muttiah Muralitharan, his former spin-twin who ended his career by taking his 800th wicket with his final delivery in Tests. He still has a decent sense of an ending, though. He won the Abu Dhabi match for his side with 11 wickets, the last of which was his 400th in Tests. It was not the first time he has owned Pakistan, either. A quarter of all his Test victims have been Pakistani. If Pakistan are going to avoid a first ever series defeat in the UAE, Azhar, their senior batsman, needs to stand up and show the way to blunt Herath.
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlmouneer%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dr%20Noha%20Khater%20and%20Rania%20Kadry%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEgypt%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E120%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBootstrapped%2C%20with%20support%20from%20Insead%20and%20Egyptian%20government%2C%20seed%20round%20of%20%3Cbr%3E%243.6%20million%20led%20by%20Global%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Cargoz%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Premlal%20Pullisserry%20and%20Lijo%20Antony%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2030%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Seed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle%20front-axle%20electric%20motor%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E218hp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E330Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle-speed%20automatic%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EMax%20touring%20range%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E402km%20(claimed)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh215%2C000%20(estimate)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeptember%3C%2Fp%3E%0A