At work with a Tai Chi Master
“It is good exercise for all ages,” he says. “When I was child, my parents told me I was so small I needed more exercise so I practiced kung fu and Tai Chi- Kung Fu is fast and Tai Chi s slow and smooth.”
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January is the month to learn a snow sport
January is National Learn a Snow Sport Month and more than 200 resorts are pulling out all the stops for families and offering free or discounted ski, snowboard, and cross-country ski and snowshoe lessons for beginners.
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Day 3 in Hong Kong – moving into the Mira in the central city
People are choosing the newly renovated Mira for its hip design. The 492-room hotel has been open just a year across the street from Kowloon Park. You walk out the door onto Nathan Road, one of Hong Kong’s busiest thoroughfares
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Eating my way, and cheaply, through the Pearl of the Orient
Today, I’m the only Caucasian face in the jam-packed Tim Ho Wan that has the reputation for being the cheapest Michelin star restaurant in the world. People come here for Dim Sum and are lined up waiting outside.
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Nine days in Hong Kong over the holidays
DAY ONE — I’ve got my eye mask, three different noise cancelling head phones to try, the iPad loaded with my favorite TV shows, my Kindle loaded with new mysteries, healthy snacks, special socks from SmartWool, neck pillow…have I forgotten anything?
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Over the holidays, take your kids to a museum
Leave the crackers and chips at home; ditto for the carbonated drinks and smelly cheese. No, we’re not talking about what grub not to pack for your next road trip or flight. We’re talking about foods that are banned in outer space.
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This year do you want new-style holiday gifts, or a family trip?
I’m not filling any stockings this year or piling presents under the tree. No presents for Hanukah either. (We celebrate both holidays in our house.) And my gang couldn’t be happier.
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Ornaments on our tree: family travel memories
Our tree is loaded down with skiers from Colorado, shells from Florida, sailboats from Maine, ferries from Washington state, flip flops from Hawaii, monkeys from Costa Rica, Victorian queens from England, fish from Caribbean islands, Disney characters from Orlando…you get the idea.
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Last day in Park City – time to “surrender” to the Montage Spa
I’m at the year-old Montage Deer Valley spa—35,000 square feet indoor lap pool, separate mens and women’s facilities with steam room, sauna, whirlpools and more, a private sundeck with radiant heated floors and spectacular mountain views and a big fitness center.
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SnowMamas — changing the face of the ski industry
Meet Park City Mountain Resort’s new crop of Snowmamas, chosen from applicants by Park City Mountain resort officials from around the country. The website has become the go-to place in the industry to help moms make trips to the snow easier and more fun.
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To Pearl Harbor – a national historical treasure
As we commemorate the 70th anniversary of the attack, the question is one of many in the updated and first-rate Junior Ranger Program for the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument that helps children make meaningful connections during a visit here.
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Park City Day 2 – meeting up with the Ladies Club
Now the resort wants to make sure all moms—all women—make the most of their time here. To that end, they’re establishing Ladies Club—a two-hour session that starts at 10 a.m.—to give moms enough time to get their kids to ski school or older kids out the door.
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Four days with the SnowMamas in Park City, Utah
Maybe buying ski boots isn’t that big a deal. But it says something about my desire to invest in myself instead of everyone else in the family for a change. And every season, I say I’m going to hang up my skis because I’m not having fun out there—certainly not when I try to keep up with my family, experts all.
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C is for Cookie, and candy and Christmas in New Hampshire
When it comes to cookies, it’s not just Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster who’s singing the praises. C is for cookies, candy and Christmas as twelve inns in New Hampshire’s Mt Washington Valley open the doors to hundreds of holiday revelers.
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On a unique mom’s getaway in Jamaica
No I’m not dreaming of an effortless holiday gathering that could never be real — at least in my world. I’m actually wide awake in Jamaica, enjoying a pre-holiday moms’ getaway with my three oldest friends from grade school at the most unusual all-inclusive resort I’ve ever visited.
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Beach Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries
Meeting the locals around Bluefields Bay in Jamaica
I can’ t stop thinking about Delta when we return to our Bluefields Bay villa overlooking the sea served breakfast—a traditional Jamaican concoction of saltfish with vegetables cooked in coconut milk called Rundown.
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In Jamaica, a man on a mission to promote tourism
Wolde Kristos is a man with a mission—and a vision. He hopes to bring the sleepy Jamaican town of Bluefields Bay into the 21st century—tourist wise.
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Exploring the area around Bluefields Bay in Jamaica
Our driver Percy Baldwin first takes us to the Black River—at 44 miles the longest navigable river in Jamaica. We’re only going to cruise for about an hour down the pristine river where Crocodiles and birds live and mangroves grow.
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A holiday tale: grandma’s house and travel insurance
See how many travel preparation errors you can spot in this holiday tale, then check your answers and find out how things might have gone more smoothly at InsureMyTrip.com.
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Bluefields Bay Jamaica — an unresort-like resort
Welcome to Bluefields Bay Villas—the most unresort-like resort I’ve ever visited — in Jamaica, about an hour and 15 minut4es drive from Montego Bay in the small community of Bluefields Bay.
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When a hotel is more than just a place to sleep
Where you sleep, eat breakfast and meet other travelers, after all, can be just as memorable as what you’ve seen that day and that doesn’t necessarily mean the hotel has to be the most expensive one in town either. It could be a hostel, or even a tent…
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Beach Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Parks & Outdoors | Taking the Kids Blogs | Volunteer & Service
There’s more to Puerto Rico than the beaches
It is pitch black and we are kayaking through red mangroves, trying to dodge the roots, on our way to the Bioluminescent Bay Laguana Grande at Las Croabas, Fajardo in Puerto Rico—one of three on the island, I learn from our guide Joel from GSI Adventures.
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Tired of cooking turkey? Try a Thanksgiving destination
Whatever the reason, it’s not too late to turn Thanksgiving into a mini vacation with the kids. You’ve already got half the week off from work and school anyway. Tell the relatives you’ll see them at Christmas or, if you like them enough, invite them along.
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To Aulani, Disney’s First Hawaii Resort
Disney employed more than 100 local consultants to advise them on everything from storytelling to music to architecture. Local fish and produce are served at the resort restaurants and children can learn to snorkel with Hawaiian fish in the artificial Rainbow Reef.
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Dreaming BIG when you take the kids
Even in the same family, travel styles—and travel dreams—differ widely. One person’s dream is another’s nightmare. You know what I’m talking about if you’ve ever been backpacking with someone whose idea of roughing it is a hotel without a blow drier or room service.
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Disney sees Aulani as the place for destination weddings
There are already 1,000 weddings a year at Walt Disney World in Orlando–upwards of 20 per cent among blended families, says Korrie McFann, who oversees Disney’s e wedding and honeymoon business around the world. The company anticipates Aulani to rival Orlando for the wedding business.
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Plenty to do with little ones in the Orlando area
So go ahead. Bring the little ones. You don’t have to stay a week. And you don’t have to see everything. You can’t even if you try.
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Disney | Families & Groups | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries
Sitting under the star listening to ukulele music – it’s Disney
We’re sitting on woven mats under the stars listening to the best Ukulele playing I’ve ever heard. Rather than a huge luau with terrible food and hackneyed performances, Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa on Oahu has opted to celebrate Hawaiian culture with the Aulani Starlit Hui
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Touring the Largest and Newest Legoland in the World
“This isn’t passive entertainment,” promises Bill Vollbrecht, the LEGOLAND Parks designer who walked me through just before opening. “Kids aren’t just being entertained here. They are part of the process.”
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Spas treatments for all ages at Disney’s Aulani
Laniwai (the name means freshwater heaven in Hawaiian) is supposed to embrace the Hawaiian connection to nature. I think it can enhance family connections too both by encouraging families to enjoy the facilities together and on their own
