No bored seen-that done-that teens in this crowd. At breakfast, we’ve met the rest of our group from Thomson Family Adventures. We are four families with eight girls aged eight to 16. There are two other moms traveling solo with kids and a family with three girls from Los Altos, CA. The dad, Jeff Purnell jokes that he’s used to being outnumbered by women.
The steep climb up the slick rocks — 770 vertical feet — doesn’t phase them, nor scrambling without footholds or squeezing between two boulders. “Hard but fun,” a trio of 9-year-old boys declare, as they race ahead. “Definitely worth it,” their older sisters add, as they trail close behind them.
JFK was typically a crowded mess at Delta. No one was quite sure which line was which — baggage drop, check in, security? For some reason, the automated kiosk wouldn’t let us check in so we got on a long line only to discover that was the line for the folks who had already checked in but needed to drop their bags
Traveling with kids, especially young ones, we all know is never easy. They don’t want to let go of their “lovey” to put it on the security belt at an airport. They get impatient in long lines, hate to sit still on airplanes and may cry and spill their drinks. And the passengers, restaurant patrons or hotel guests in the vicinity may not be sympathetic to the beleaguered parent’s plight.
I hate being nickeled and dimed when I travel. That’s why I hate resort fees for services I probably don’t use, fees for accessing the internet at hotels and now, fees to check even one bag on an airplane.
Not only are destination weddings — from Orlando (Disney does 1,500 a year) to the Caribbean to Hawaii to cruise ships — more popular, they account for 16 percent of weddings every year, up 400 percent in the last decade — but kids increasingly are part of the equation says Milli Martini Bratten, longtime editor-in-chief of Brides Magazine.
It’s over 100 degrees but the kids playing in and around the pool at Barton Creek Resort don’t seem to care. Ten-year-old Ryan Libby is slurping a frozen drink and eating chicken fingers poolside.
DAY TWO — It’s barely 9 a.m. and kids are in full vacation mode, playing water basketball, floating in the lazy river, zipping down the…
DAY ONE — It’s a trip down memory lane — literally, for my husband at least. We’ve flown down to Austin, TX where he was…
We screeched to a halt along the side of the road in Grand Teton National Park. Reggie, 8, was equally mesmerized but 3-year-old Melanie couldn’t quite grasp that we were in the moose’s house — and it wasn’t a zoo. I still smile years later when I think about the kids’ excitement. Forget the Kodak moments. The chance to share something new together — something you’d never see or do at home — is what makes those indelible family vacation memories that last forever.
Free gas anyone? Not quite. But the higher gas prices go — and the more we rethink summer vacation plans as a result — the more hotels, resorts, cities and towns across the country are rolling out the welcome mat with rebates and credits all designed to help fill your gas tank and ease the sticker shock that comes with it, as the price of gas climbs to $4.07 a gallon on average. That is $1.09 a gallon more than a year ago, according to AAA.
There’s always something special about traveling with your kids one-on-one — whether they’re five, 15 or in my case, 22. I just returned from a trip to Italy with my daughter Reggie — her college graduation trip — before she headed off for adventures (and a new job) across the country.
Steep stone steps that never seem to end. We’re hiking above Positano in the Lattari Mountains — the trail is less than three miles but the elevation is steep and it’s the toughest hike we’ve attempted on the fifth day of this Backroads hiking trip along the Amalfi Coast
We’re hiking high above Positano along Italy’s famous Amalfi Coast in the Lattari Mountains. This trail is less than three miles, but the elevation is steep and it’s the toughest hike the Backroads hiking group, which includes by daughter Reggie and me, has attempted on this the fifth day of our trip. Reg is at the front of the pack; I’m in the back.
Brigid — always one of the fastest hikers in the group isn’t there. Her stepson Drew last saw her on the trail and her husband Jim is worried. Even worse, he’s got not only the directions and maps but her water bottle, money and the card with the guides’ phone numbers.
No one likes to talk about it but every year, nationwide, an estimated 8,000 children ages 14 and under are treated in emergency rooms for injuries involving thrill rides at amusement parks and traveling carnivals; in an average year, three or four die, reports Safe Kids USA
The views are spectacular, though — the sea, the boats, the pastel-colored houses looking like layers on a cake marching up the hills, the gardens with olives, lemons, vegetables and of course grapes, some vines growing in trellises above the vegetable to save space.
We’re eyeing anyone and everyone who looks American and is wearing hiking shoes. We’re at the Sorrento train station at the appointed 11:30 am time — actually a little earlier because I’m paranoid about missing the Backroads group we’re supposed to meet for our hiking trip along the Amalfi Coast.
For one thing, I didn’t think the 3-year-old and her 5-year-old brother were misbehaving. True, a glass of milk got spilled and they were (somewhat) noisy and jumped around a bit, picking up crayons that had dropped on the floor. But so were a lot of the other kids at The Flying Fish, the noisy, bustling Orlando restaurant.
Last summer, when I was sailing on a Disney Cruise through here with my 13-year-old niece, she was more concerned about how hot she was than the sites. I’m also convinced touring something like Pompeii with a large group tour as opposed to a private guide can make all the difference. Even if it costs more, it’s well worth it — and you can cut the tour short if the kids clearly have had enough.
The only bad part of our journey: an uncomfortable hour-long ride on a packed train from Naples to Sorrento — 34 stops, most of which we spent standing. I see why it’s important to pack light when traveling by train in Europe. The train to Sorrento is local and cheap — just a few Euros for the two of us — and reminded me of the NYC subway during rush hour, though it was early afternoon.
Another tip — if you can afford it (probably $100 an hour) — would be to have a car and driver, at least for part of a day touring. There’s nothing like getting out of the heat and into an air conditioned car and not be worried about finding your way in a strange city with a couple of tired kids in tow.
The alarm doesn’t go off. Despite the directions and our plan to walk through the Borghese Gardens to the Borghese Gallery, with its fabulous collections of paintings, sculptures, mosaics and bas-reliefs, mainly from 15th to 18th Centuries. We have a reservation — apparently reservations are needed at this small gem of a museum.
When we arrive in Rome at noon the next day, a driver arranged by Jill Kammer, who with her husband Leon runs www.italy-accom.com was waiting for us. I know we could have grabbed a taxi or much cheaper, the train into Rome, but after a long flight, a little luxury was in order, I figured, especially when arriving in a city I don’t know well.
There are 36 water slides, six rivers and lagoons, white sandy beaches and two terrific kids’ water play areas. Let’s not forget the animals — Commerson’s Dolphins (take the “Dolphin Plunge” down 250 feet of clear tubes, through their habitat), Macaws, and colorful African Cichlids, which, for the uninitiated, are colorful fish found in freshwater lakes and rivers in Africa, Central and South America, among other far-flung places.)
Starting June 15 – just when we’re taking off on long-planned vacations — American Airlines will charge us $15 each way for the first checked bag and $25 each way for the second checked bag on American Airlines, assuming you are flying domestically on a discounted ticket and are not a top-level frequent flier. (Southwest will still allow you to check two bags free.)
Just as we’re all planning summer getaways, gas prices go through the roof, the dollar is so weak against the British pound and the Euro that trips to Great Britain and Europe seem out of reach, and the pundits suggest the economy is going to get worse. And, as if to make us even more frustrated, this month airlines will begin charging you for checking a second bag.
I’m in Italy with my daughter Reggie who just graduated from college. The trip is her graduation present. I know we’re crazy to head to Europe when everything costs twice as much. But Reggie only graduates from college once and she’s never been to Italy.
Welcome to Krustyland! Where we join the Simpsons — yes those Springfield Simpsons of TV and movie fame — in Krusty the Clown’s crazy cartoon world, a theme park within a theme park. Talk about make-believe — and incredible technology – as we’re swept along, flying, bumping and crashing through the attractions, just opened at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando.
I admit it. I turn into a witch the night before a trip. I’m so worried about forgetting something that I make everyone in the family crazy. And I over pack like crazy. But not anymore. Not with airlines starting to charge for checking even one bag!