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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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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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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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
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There’s a lot do on Oahu but so too at the Aulani
There’s so much to keep kids busy right here at Aulani–the water slides and ides and lazy river, the Rainbow Reef snorkel lagoon, the chance to interact with the stingrays and play in the calmest lagoon I’ve ever seen.
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Hawaiian tradition and culture blend with Disney at the new Aulani
Ready to learn the Coconut Walk? “Aunty,” who actually is well known Hawaiian entertainer Sonya Mendez, leads the children as they clap Coconut shell instruments together around the outdoor restaurant. In between songs, Goofy, Minnie and other Disney Pals—all decked out in Hawaiian gear—stop by for photos and hugs
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A visit to Disney’s new Aulani resort and spa in Hawaii
What I like most is that this big resort—when it is fully open it will include 359 rooms and 481 two-bedroom condo units—is that it will up the ante for family resorts in Hawaii and elsewhere, improving the family experience in the process.
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Stunning new exhibit on child refugees at Nobel Peace Museum
Welcome to an excellent exhibit at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway, where an amazing interactive exhibit for children about refugees– Nansen and I– has recently opened. At the same time, the Center is showcasing Transit, a terrific photo exhibit about Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen and refugees of today…. (more)
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In Rome a perfect hotel for a birthday celebration
The hotel was first built in 1620 for the Fonseca family and it has been a hotel since the end of the 18th Century when many wealthy Americans embarking on the Grand Tour stayed here. In 1891, a winter garden was built in the hotel’s inner courtyard and today, it has a crystal ceiling reflecting sunlight along with a statue of Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom and war.
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When in Rome consider a private tour
We’ve opted to tour Ancient Rome –the center of the Empire for some 500 years–with a guide both to maximize our time and to avoid the lines where we’d have to wait at least 45 minutes to get in. We start at the Pantheon with its giant hole in the middle (and drains in the floor for rain)..
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Exploring Sicily with a private tour guide
Aldo Valerio greets us with kisses, like friends he hasn’t seen in a long while. In reality, we’ve never met except through email. Valerio runs a tour company called ww.secretitalia.com and also works with a Canadian based company ww.toursbylocals.com that puts together guides with travelers—especially those who are cruising and don’t want to be limited to ship excursions.
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Kids will love the sights and sounds and stories of Venice
Right up until the 1960s, wealthy families had their own gondolas. The flamboyant Peggy Guggenheim used to tool around town on hers. She, of course, is revered here for her spectacular art collection housed in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, where she lived overlooking the Grand Canal and which now houses one of Europe’s premier museums dedicated to modern art….
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Interacting with rescued marine mammals at Atlantis in the Bahamas
The facility serves as the best marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation center in the Bahamas—the sea lions here were also rescued. Corbett shows us the lab which she proudly says is one of the most medically advanced in the Bahamas — for creatures or people, she jokes — complete with ultra sounds equipment, digital x-rays, anesthesia machines and more. Experts here have the ability via the internet to consult with experts around the world.
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Exploring in and around the historic Adriatic city of Dubrovnik
Everyone says Dubrovnik is the “jewel of the Adriatic” and it’s easy to see why–it’s Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage site with its cathedral, monastery–including the oldest drug store in Europe, operating continuously since 1317 and the second oldest synagogue in Europe dating back to 1652. Today, there are few Jews left in the Old Town and no Rabbi, we learn.
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Unexpected sights and eats in Korcula Croatia
I thought a friend who is a local guide was going to meet us—miscommunication that often happens when you are traveling. Instead, we joined a local walking tour learning that this tiny town—just 3,500 people live here—“You can walk around naked and no one will even notice or see you because everyone is home,” promises our guide Katija Tedeschi.
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Where would you take the kids on vacation if money is no object
Travelocity and TakingtheKids collaborated on a new poll asking families just that — where they’d take their kids on their “dream trip,” if money was no object. According to the results from the 1,500 people polled, it’s clear that no matter how bad the economy, when it comes to our vacation wish list, we dream big.
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Scavenger hunt in the Doges Palace? Why not?
You wouldn’t think Venice’s Doge’s Palace—arguably the top site in this city along with the Basilica San Marco—filled with centuries-old art would be a good place for a scavenger hunt but it is. We’re joined by guide Luisella Romeo who says with kids, it is important to “pick and choose what you see. “You can tell them all the dates and the history,” she adds, “But they won’t remember any of it without the stories.”
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From Venice to Croatia, Sicily and Rome in 10 days
I’m still trying to wrap my head around the idea of city where there are no roads, where people keep their cars in large lots outside and get around either on foot or by public boats—kind of like subways on the water. “Everyone walks and you meet people you know everywhere you go,” Rodigheiro says. In the old days, wealthy families had their own gondolas.
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Memories of a kayaking adventure off the tip of Cabo
Welcome to Lover’s Beach. No it isn’t so named because of affectionate couples. Apparently Jacques Cousteau so named this spot in Cabo San Lucas after watching the Pacific swells pound the calmer Medano Bay on the other side. He said the Pacific was making love to the Sea of Cortez.
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Let the kids take the memorable photos on your next vacation
Just hand the kids a simple point-and-shoot camera and then look at the way your kids see, suggests Mike Nolan, a National Geographic photo instructor and well-known wildlife photographer aboard the Lindblad Expeditions National Geographic Explorer. “When you have kids along, everything is interesting to them,” he explains. “Their minds are so much more open. We could all use that child-like wonder.”…
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Fun and adventure atop the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Climbing to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge clearly isn’t just for the rich and famous. On the contrary, For Australian kids, I’m told, it’s become a kind of rite of passage. (You have to be at least 10 to climb.) Hundreds of couples have gotten engaged on the climb. A group of New York City firefighters and police officers climbed the bridge after 9/11, flying an American flag at the top….
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Dinosaur museums are great, but finding remnants in the wild is even better
Over the past 50 years, the Baisch family has found more than 1,000 dinosaur bones and fossils on their sprawling cattle ranch in the small town of Glendive. They’ve donated some to museums, sold others and welcome visitors like us to hunt for their own ($75 a half-day for an adult, free for kids under 12). While paleontologists might not approve, the Baisches allow visitors to keep most of what they find….
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Hot dogs and chicken fingers? Not at all restaurants thankfully
I’m so tired of hotels and resorts touting kids-eat-free programs limited to traditional kids menus. Do we want to encourage children to eat a steady diet of mac and cheese, chicken fingers, hot dogs and fries? Do kids, once they are in kindergarten, even want that? Not the kids I know who love sushi and steak. Not their parents either. …
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Hunting for dinosaur bones in Eastern Montana
In the 50-plus years since, Baisch and her family have found more than a thousand dinosaur bones and fossils on their sprawling Eastern Montana ranch near the small town of Glendive. More dinosaur bones are found in Eastern Montana than anywhere else because of the rock formation, we learn….
