June 6, 2025 • 6 mins
"Is it really worth spending thousands on a tropical vacation if your kids would rather be home playing video games and ordering DoorDash?"In this brutally honest and hilariously relatable episode of The Ben and Skin Show, hosts Ben Rogers, Jeff “Skin” Wade, Kevin “KT” Turner, and Krystina Ray dive into the emotional and financial rollercoaster of planning summer vacations—especially when your kids might not even care.Ben opens up about his evolving philosophy on family trips, reflecting on everything from negative ATM balances to $900 dinners in Turks and Caicos that left his kids unimpressed and his wallet gasping for air. With Ben chiming in about his own parenting journey and the wisdom of Skin’s dad, Jerry Wade—“You can’t save money on vacation”—the crew explores the tension between creating lasting memories and questioning whether it’s all just a very expensive exercise in futility.Key Themes & Moments:
- 💸 “I’m buying memories here at the end of the game.” – Ben gets real about parenting, aging, and the value of time.
- 🏖️ From Port Aransas’ “parking lot beaches” to celebrity-studded Turks and Caicos, the guys compare vacation highs and lows.
- 🍽️ The infamous $600 and $900 dinners that no one enjoyed—and why Ben’s kids might prefer Garland over the Caribbean.
- 🎮 The generational divide: “My 17-year-old would rather be at home, unbothered, ordering DoorDash.”
- 😂 Funniest Verdict: “Leave your kids at home.” – The crew’s final, laugh-out-loud takeaway.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
She's interrational, quick triggered nuclear overreactor. He's a masterful storyteller
who consistently finds himself drouting in a sea of awkward.
It's time for no trund ain't bad.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
So I want to talk summer vacations. I know a
lot of our listeners are planning vacations. We'll go on
vacation at some point. Or maybe you're lamenting it, maybe
you're worried about it, maybe you're worried about the budget
of it all. I get that I'm old, so my
kids are nineteen, seventeen and fourteen, and I look at
vacations differently now than I used to. I look at
(00:36):
vacations as I'm kind of buying memories here at the
end of the game, not really looking at it like
I'm about to die tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
I could.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
My dad died at sixty three, and I'll be fifty
five in November, so.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
I'm older than that.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
So, you know, I don't know. But the point is,
my son is nineteen. You know, he's going into sophomore
year at college, and he'll pretty soon just have his
own house and get married and have his own kids,
and so here at the end of the parenting game.
I'm trying to create some magic and enjoy some moments
with my kids. And We've worked really hard over the
(01:10):
course of our career, and there's been times where I
couldn't afford to take my family on vacation, made a
lot of bad career decisions with you Skin yep, and
had a ton of kids.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Wanted God, how many plane tickets is that?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Definitely too many kids. But I've had some bad jobs.
I've been totally broke. I've gone to the ATM before
where the balance was negative. Like you know, there's the
Jerry Jones moments. Yeah, just not the other opposite end
of the Jerry Jones moment.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
I've made a lot of bad financial decisions too. But
I say that to say I'm now at a point where,
all right, I'm going to invest in this vacation.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Now.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
I subscribe to the Jerry Wade Skin's dad of philosophy
on vacations and that you can't save money on vacation.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
You just can't. It's not a smart investment. You just
have to.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
It's like when I go to a casino, I love
to win. Like last time we all went, I won
big and.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
That was great.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
But the money I take to that casino, I'm prepared
to lose. I'm not counting on it to make rent.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Right, You're counting on it to have a good time
that night, and don't exceed that amount.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, I feel that way about vacations, and so I'm
investing in a good time.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
I'm creating memories with my kids. And for many years
we couldn't afford to go on vacation.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
And my older brother's crazy high roller and super rich,
so he would just take us on vacation and we'd
go with him.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
You know, it's beautiful.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
I got a rich sister that has a house out
in Newport, and so we can go stay at that
house for free. And basically we're on a beach in
California with a free nice house.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
We've got to pay for the way to get out there. Yeah,
it's crazy like it. It's a great thing to have
a rich sibling. And so, you know, then there was
vacations where we would go to the Texas coast. We'd
go to Port Ransas because our buddy Braun owns a
beach cart company there and it's an inexpensive way. It's
a nine hour drive go to the beach. There beach
(03:00):
is a brown covered in seaweed. People can drive their
trucks on the beach at Gordon. Not great, not great,
shark infested, you know, brown water. It's the parking lot
of beaches. Flesh eating bacteria. Yeah, it's great. So I'd
always heard skin talk about Turks and Cacos being a
great place. And I know a lot of celebrities go there.
So once you hear like Oprah or Drake or somebody's
(03:21):
going there, You're like, oh, that sounds pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
That's in my price range. Not in my price range.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
But I did get a at a charity function. I
was able to buy an auction for an airbnb to go,
and so we were kind of pot committed at that point.
And so we went, you know, to Turks and Caicos.
But the whole time I was questioning whether I should
take my younger two on vacation.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
I love them, but I don't know that they can
really evaluate the difference between crystal clear blue.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Wattle water and brown water.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Right, I don't know if they care about that while
they're fighting with each other, right, you know, and on
their phones.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Well, and it's also I mean this is a long
time ago, but at that age I didn't want to
be with my parents anyway.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
That's exactly right. They want no part of being around us.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Do you want to pay thousands of dollars to have
them in the next room full of spite?
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
So we there was one night where okay, so you
know this from going to Turks and Kko Skin, there's
some places that are very expensive to go eat and
they're just kind of average.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
But it's hard to get supplies to the islands, so
it's understandable. And we had struck out a couple places
we went that this looks bad, this is not going
to be good, and so somebody said this restaurant is good,
so we'd go. And we walked into this one restaurant
and I could tell it was fine dining. No like
fine dining. Yeah, like there we had like six waiters
(04:37):
and I was like, oh, no, this is gonna be bad.
And it ended up being a crazy expensive dinner for
five of us. It was six hundred dollars. I don't
think my kids, my younger two, really enjoyed what they ate.
They didn't really eat very much, right, And so the
next night we were like, uh, My oldest son was like, Dad,
(04:58):
you know I sat there. I only want to go
to a nice restaurant if there's a great view, because
you're paying for the view, right. Otherwise, just go eat
a meal in Garland. Yeah you know there's no beach
there either, right, and so yeah, you want to go
to Garland and go to Garland and so so anyways,
I was like, we Max really wanted to go to
(05:19):
this meal, and he set it up and I'm like, dude,
this is going to be another high end.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
It was nine hundred dollars.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
I don't think anyone enjoyed it, and nobody, you know,
it was like I couldn't even understand what was on
the menu. And I'm looking at that going this is
testing my theory on everything, right, that you can't save
money on vacation.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
But it just felt like a waste to take those
younger two. I'm not a waste because it's a way
I enjoyed spending.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Time with you.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
It's only that's why I usually my kids are different.
Now they're on a different curve than yours, because my
daughter's about to be twenty, my son's about to be eighteen,
and actually, like each other now so we can vacation
with him. But most of the time, dude, I was
just vacationing with my wife, and my kids are like,
hell yeah, our parents aren't here.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
And my kids would rather just be at home. My
seventeen year old just.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Rather be at home, unbothered, ordering door dash and playing
video games without a job.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
And I like the way this is going been all right.
I think the final verdict is leave your kids at home. Yep,
come on, man, all right. Coming up next and the
weekly weekday update. Some of you are not going to
be able to flush or shower this weekend. We'll tell
you who
She's interrational, quick triggered nuclear overreactor. He's a masterful storyteller
who consistently finds himself drouting in a sea of awkward.
It's time for no trund ain't bad.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
So I want to talk summer vacations. I know a
lot of our listeners are planning vacations. We'll go on
vacation at some point. Or maybe you're lamenting it, maybe
you're worried about it, maybe you're worried about the budget
of it all. I get that I'm old, so my
kids are nineteen, seventeen and fourteen, and I look at
vacations differently now than I used to. I look at
(00:36):
vacations as I'm kind of buying memories here at the
end of the game, not really looking at it like
I'm about to die tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
I could.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
My dad died at sixty three, and I'll be fifty
five in November, so.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
I'm older than that.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
So, you know, I don't know. But the point is,
my son is nineteen. You know, he's going into sophomore
year at college, and he'll pretty soon just have his
own house and get married and have his own kids,
and so here at the end of the parenting game.
I'm trying to create some magic and enjoy some moments
with my kids. And We've worked really hard over the
(01:10):
course of our career, and there's been times where I
couldn't afford to take my family on vacation, made a
lot of bad career decisions with you Skin yep, and
had a ton of kids.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Wanted God, how many plane tickets is that?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Definitely too many kids. But I've had some bad jobs.
I've been totally broke. I've gone to the ATM before
where the balance was negative. Like you know, there's the
Jerry Jones moments. Yeah, just not the other opposite end
of the Jerry Jones moment.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
I've made a lot of bad financial decisions too. But
I say that to say I'm now at a point where,
all right, I'm going to invest in this vacation.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Now.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
I subscribe to the Jerry Wade Skin's dad of philosophy
on vacations and that you can't save money on vacation.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
You just can't. It's not a smart investment. You just
have to.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
It's like when I go to a casino, I love
to win. Like last time we all went, I won
big and.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
That was great.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
But the money I take to that casino, I'm prepared
to lose. I'm not counting on it to make rent.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Right, You're counting on it to have a good time
that night, and don't exceed that amount.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, I feel that way about vacations, and so I'm
investing in a good time.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
I'm creating memories with my kids. And for many years
we couldn't afford to go on vacation.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
And my older brother's crazy high roller and super rich,
so he would just take us on vacation and we'd
go with him.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
You know, it's beautiful.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
I got a rich sister that has a house out
in Newport, and so we can go stay at that
house for free. And basically we're on a beach in
California with a free nice house.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
We've got to pay for the way to get out there. Yeah,
it's crazy like it. It's a great thing to have
a rich sibling. And so, you know, then there was
vacations where we would go to the Texas coast. We'd
go to Port Ransas because our buddy Braun owns a
beach cart company there and it's an inexpensive way. It's
a nine hour drive go to the beach. There beach
(03:00):
is a brown covered in seaweed. People can drive their
trucks on the beach at Gordon. Not great, not great,
shark infested, you know, brown water. It's the parking lot
of beaches. Flesh eating bacteria. Yeah, it's great. So I'd
always heard skin talk about Turks and Cacos being a
great place. And I know a lot of celebrities go there.
So once you hear like Oprah or Drake or somebody's
(03:21):
going there, You're like, oh, that sounds pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
That's in my price range. Not in my price range.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
But I did get a at a charity function. I
was able to buy an auction for an airbnb to go,
and so we were kind of pot committed at that point.
And so we went, you know, to Turks and Caicos.
But the whole time I was questioning whether I should
take my younger two on vacation.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
I love them, but I don't know that they can
really evaluate the difference between crystal clear blue.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Wattle water and brown water.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Right, I don't know if they care about that while
they're fighting with each other, right, you know, and on
their phones.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Well, and it's also I mean this is a long
time ago, but at that age I didn't want to
be with my parents anyway.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
That's exactly right. They want no part of being around us.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Do you want to pay thousands of dollars to have
them in the next room full of spite?
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
So we there was one night where okay, so you
know this from going to Turks and Kko Skin, there's
some places that are very expensive to go eat and
they're just kind of average.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
But it's hard to get supplies to the islands, so
it's understandable. And we had struck out a couple places
we went that this looks bad, this is not going
to be good, and so somebody said this restaurant is good,
so we'd go. And we walked into this one restaurant
and I could tell it was fine dining. No like
fine dining. Yeah, like there we had like six waiters
(04:37):
and I was like, oh, no, this is gonna be bad.
And it ended up being a crazy expensive dinner for
five of us. It was six hundred dollars. I don't
think my kids, my younger two, really enjoyed what they ate.
They didn't really eat very much, right, And so the
next night we were like, uh, My oldest son was like, Dad,
(04:58):
you know I sat there. I only want to go
to a nice restaurant if there's a great view, because
you're paying for the view, right. Otherwise, just go eat
a meal in Garland. Yeah you know there's no beach
there either, right, and so yeah, you want to go
to Garland and go to Garland and so so anyways,
I was like, we Max really wanted to go to
(05:19):
this meal, and he set it up and I'm like, dude,
this is going to be another high end.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
It was nine hundred dollars.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
I don't think anyone enjoyed it, and nobody, you know,
it was like I couldn't even understand what was on
the menu. And I'm looking at that going this is
testing my theory on everything, right, that you can't save
money on vacation.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
But it just felt like a waste to take those
younger two. I'm not a waste because it's a way
I enjoyed spending.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Time with you.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
It's only that's why I usually my kids are different.
Now they're on a different curve than yours, because my
daughter's about to be twenty, my son's about to be eighteen,
and actually, like each other now so we can vacation
with him. But most of the time, dude, I was
just vacationing with my wife, and my kids are like,
hell yeah, our parents aren't here.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
And my kids would rather just be at home. My
seventeen year old just.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Rather be at home, unbothered, ordering door dash and playing
video games without a job.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
And I like the way this is going been all right.
I think the final verdict is leave your kids at home. Yep,
come on, man, all right. Coming up next and the
weekly weekday update. Some of you are not going to
be able to flush or shower this weekend. We'll tell
you who
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