RVing vs camping? Why not both?
Many suggest that despite gas prices RVing is cheaper than other vacations but the Muellers aren’t so sure. That wasn’t why they did it anyway—it was a lifestyle thing, to get outdoors with the kids.
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Prepare for Take Off in a Stress Free Way
Yes, we get reserved parking at the airport. No, we’re not VIPs or parkers with special needs.
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An unscheduled stop on American Airlines raises big questions
When our non-stop flight on American Airlines made an unscheduled stop because the pilot found out he was not qualified to land at our destination, it raised all sorts of questions.
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How to travel with a teenager – carefully
At the inaugural FamilyTravelConference held recently at the Omni Berkshire Place in NYC, attendees said they wished hotels and resorts would take a page from cruise lines and offer more activities for tweens and teens.
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Beach Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Getting There | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries
To Anegada: spectacular sailing and a famous spot for lobsters
This island—just 3 miles wide at its widest point—is famous for its lobsters that many fisherman here catch by free diving as deep as 60 feet. Sailors like us (we’ve been sailing around the BVI on a Moorings charter Catamaran) make the trip here for the lobsters as well as the spectacular wind-swept beaches.
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How far has ship safety come since the Titantic?
In the coming months, we’ll be commemorating the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Pundits and experts will be talking about how far we’ve come in cruise safety since then. Clearly the Concordia shows we still have a long way to go.
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What to do when you can’t sit together on a plane
Parents increasingly complain they can’t get seats next to their children — even 3 year olds — on packed flights. Those booking through online travel sites may not realize the seats are unassigned. (It is always wise to call an airline directly or check the airline’s site.)
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Don’t freak out like I do before your next family trip!
No matter how organized I think I am, no matter where we’re going, a few days before, I’m in pre-trip freak out mode when no one else in the family is the least bit worried that snow might derail flights (that’s happened) or we’ll have enough food for an upcoming sailing trip. (We’ve never gone hungry, my husband reminds us.)
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Driving Smart with Kids in the Car This Holiday Season
The best thing we can do when taking to the road this winter, especially with kids in the back, is be prepared. Make sure your cellphone is charged and the relatives know what time to expect you.
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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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Safety first everywhere – except for babies on airplanes!
Everything on a plane — including coffee pots — has to be restrained during takeoff and landing and in times of turbulence–everything, that is, except young children sitting on a parent’s laps.
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Despite high gas prices, families will hit the road this summer
This summer, with every electronic accoutrement and despite high gas prices — the current national average price for a gallon of regular, unleaded gasoline is $3.95, $1.04 more than last year — most of us will still hit the road, according to AAA, though nearly four in 10 of us will adjust our travel plans as a result, suggests a new survey from TripAdvisor
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Staycation again? Families say ‘not so much’ in 2011
Let’s hear it for the good old American vacation. We deserve it. We need it. And we’re not going to let gas prices keep us home. AAA says nearly 35 million of us will be traveling this Memorial Day holiday weekend, most by car and despite gas prices that are more than $1 higher than last year. The national average price for regular gasoline is $3.91, compared to $2.85 this time last year.
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Know your passenger rights
You and your kids should no longer be stuck on a tarmac for hours on end — thanks to brand new government regulations. The new Department of Transportation rules that have just gone into effect mandate that passengers on domestic flights be allowed to get off a plane after three hours on the tarmac
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Travel insurance can save your vacation when trouble strikes
/uploadedImages/images_upload/2011_Q1_Uploaded_Images/Travel insurance can save your trip.jpgI hate to tell you this wasn’t the first time I found myself in the ER on a vacation where travel insurance more than paid for itself in out-of-pocket expenses. You might think travel insurance is for those taking a cruise or an exotic vacation, but according to the U.S. Travel Insurance Association, a growing number of families agree with me
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When the best-laid travel plans go awry
For us, that meant enjoying a quiet “staycation” after Christmas instead of taking a much-anticipated diving trip to Grand Turk Island. Though our flight was scheduled two days after the Christmas blizzard that crippled the East Coast, we thought we were good to go and left our house that morning boarding passes in hand. But in the hour it took us to get to JFK our flight was canceled and we couldn’t get another for several days. Work schedules dictated we cancel the trip.
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Holidays for thousands derailed by the blizzard and the airlines
We were headed to the tiny island of Grand Turk and Bohio Resort www.bohioresort.com for some scuba diving. Turks and Caicos is known for their spectacular reefs and my daughter Mel had been diligently completing the required online course and hoped to join us as certified divers this trip. But I was celebrating too soon. Just before we arrived at JFK, I got a message from American Airlines that our flight had been cancelled. (Why we didn’t get the message four hours ahead, as we’d requested, I don’t know)
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What to do when you lose your passport while traveling abroad
I’m still not sure where or how it happened that day in Florence. Our passports were securely in my purse but that evening, the leather envelope I carried them in was gon
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Flying Safely with Young Children
Parents wouldn’t think of driving anywhere without securely strapping their baby in an appropriate safety seat and spend countless hours considering which safety seat to buy. But on airplanes, it’s a different story. I just don’t get it.
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RVing in Colorado
Finally, we’re off! The 32-foot Winnebago RV is stocked with every variety of food from Costco as well as toys, games, movies, pillows, sheets, towels, special “blankies,” and stuffed animals, along with two kids, 5 and 7, two parents and me.
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RVING with KIDS
Camping purists—like my wilderness-loving daughters—would turn up their noses at this, but with two young kids, we’re glad for the space, the AC, the beds, the fridge, running water and shower, and when it rains, not being in a soggy tent.
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RVing to Mesa Verde — the kids are fascinated
The kids are climbing up a 32 foot ladder, squeezing through a tunnel, walking in toe holds carved into the sandstone, learning all about archeology, Native American culture and ancient history as they go
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RVing and camping — finding togetherness
Certainly tent camping was cheaper and many suggest that RVing is cheaper than other vacations but the Muellers aren’t so sure. That wasn’t why they did it anyway—it was a lifestyle thing, to get outdoors with the kids.
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On the road in a fabulous RV in Colorado
We’re OFF! A 32-foot RV stocked with food from Costco, toys, movies, two kids aged five and eight, two parents and me. The family is my cousins the SItzmans, who live in Denver. We’re off on a weeklong RV trip across Southwestern Colorado in a home away from home from Winnebago
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If you thought you could get away without buying your baby a plane seat, think again
For years, everyone from the FAA to the American Academy of Pediatrics has been saying that young children are safest when restrained in a safety seat on board an airplane
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Passengers stranded on plane – not again!
Another full load of passengers stranded in a hot crowded airplane for four hours yesterday! This isn’t supposed to happen… Congress need to close another loophole and you can help… Here’s how
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How to avoid problems sending kids into the air alone
Here we go again. Delta Air Lines blames a paperwork mix-up for sending two children traveling as unaccompanied minors to wrong destinations, AP reported this past week. Before you put your child or teen on an airplane along, here’s what you need to know.
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Ready for some sand and surf?
The way it sounds, oil is washing up on shore at every beach along the Gulf Coast. But that’s not the case, folks in the Southeast want us to know
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Make lemonade out of lemons
Of all the things that could disrupt travel, volcano ash is at the bottom of the list. If you’re stranded here… visit a nearby national park or historic monument. Entrance fees are waived this week and there are all sorts of special activities.
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Traveling Greener as We Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day
Little things really make a difference.That’s why on vacation, just like at home, we should all do our part to protect the environment. It’s as simple as turning off the lights and AC when you leave.
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Enough already with the baggage fees!
So now Spirit Air is going to charge us for carry-on bags–as much as $45 a bag. In some cases, that might be nearly as much as a ticket might cost. It’s crazy!
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Thanks JetBlue!
Since it started as a low-fare carrier at Kennedy International Airport a decade ago, JetBlue has called itself “New York’s hometown airline.” However, it almost decamped to Orlando. Thanks for staying Jet Blue!
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What can you do about those annoying baggage fees?
We used to just worry about whether the airlines would get our baggage from point A to point B. Now they’re charging us–in some cases nearly as much as the flight ticket–to ferry it there
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A two-week trek to Chile – DAY ONE: Valparaiso
We are sprawled under giant eucalyptus trees, chickens squawking as we tuck into a picnic (our trays are the tops of oak wine barrels—at the Emiliana Winery, which makes only organic wines in the Casablanca Valley—one of Chile’s big wine-growing regions about 22 miles east of Valparaiso.
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KINDER, GENTLER AIRLINES?
Don’t we wish! I was thinking about that this morning as I drove my husband to the airport because his elderly mom had been rushed to the hospital and was very seriously ill. Luckily, I was able to get him a free flight. If not, it would have cost nearly $1,000 for a round trip ticket from New York to Chicago (and never mind change fees since he doesn’t know when he returns.) That’s what you get for trying to buy a ticket instantly.
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Scoring a Holiday Deal That Won’t Bust the Budget
I’m perched in a wooden treehouse lazing on a cushy double mattress atop a white sand beach along Mexico’s Riviera Maya. Overlooking the turquoise Caribbean Sea, I’m about as far away from holiday hoopla and craziness as I can get when the beach butler comes by to see if I need anything.
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When Life Interferes With a Planned Celebration
Life has a way of changing planned celebrations. Jean Anne McKiernan and Richard Sandano were planning a big Brooklyn, N.Y., wedding when they discovered—very happily—they were going to have a baby.
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Getting There | Parks & Outdoors | Weekly Column
Surviving (Maybe Even Enjoying!) a Road Trip
No matter how snazzy the car and how short (or long) the trip, the biggest challenge is keeping the kids amused along the way. And that’s clearly a challenge a lot of us will be facing this summer.
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On the old-fashioned train to the Grand Canyon
It’s that rare vacation moment when everyone is happy at the same time. And all it took was an old-fashioned train in a remote Arizona town and a singing cowboy leading the kids in a spirited rendition of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.”
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ON THE TRAIN TO THE GRAND CANYON
Today, the train once again carries more than 200,000 passengers to the Canyon 60 miles and 2.5 hours from Williams. Some will return the same afternoon. My cousins — -Jayme and Mike Sitzman and Ethan, 6, and Hannah,4, and I have decided to overnight at the canyon so we have more time to “explore,” as Ethan says.
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DAY ONE OF A TRIP TO THE GRAND CANYON
DAY ONE (Tuesday, March 31, 2009) — The Purple People Eater; Qutie (well it’s a four year old’s turn); Rhinoceros; Tickle Monster… by the time…
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How snow sports can transform a child’s life
“This is a lot more than teaching kids how to turn on the mountain. This is about using sports to do character development.”
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Finding an affordable last minute holiday getaway
Finally, some good news for traveling families. If you thought the ever-worsening economy meant you should forgo a holiday or post-holiday getaway with the kids, think again. The reality is that this may be the year to travel.
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Surviving the holiday travel crush while you are watching every penny
Another Thanksgiving weekend, we got back to Chicago with our crew after visiting the relatives to discover that the battery to our minivan was dead — in the airport parking lot. We waited a long time that cold night for AAA. Isn’t holiday travel with the kids fun?
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HITTING THE AIRPORT VIP LOUNGES
Pancake, the much loved blue bear, seemed right at home among the oh-so-serious laptop-toting business people. So did his 4-year-old owner, Colin Blodgett. Colin, Pancake and Colin’s parents were awaiting their flight from London to New York in British Airway’s expansive $60 million Executive Lounges in Heathrow’s new Terminal 5
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Heading home from Europe — is duty free a bargain?
A word about duty-free shopping. It’s tempting but I’ve never found any real bargains, except maybe on liquor or cigars. I buy something we can’t find at home for my husband and son just before we board our flight home and resist the temptation to stock up on cosmetics and perfume that I don’t need and that likely cost the same or more than at home.
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SURVIVING A ROAD TRIP
What the kids don’t get is that driving for hours with a couple of antsy children (not to mention sullen tweens and teens) is no fun for parents either — especially not when we’re paying record prices for gas. Still, millions of us — 20.4 million just over the July 4th weekend, AAA reports — are hitting the road with the kids this summer.
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Pay for your luggage, fight for the overhead bin… what next?
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.
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PACKING SMART FOR FLIGHTS THIS SUMMER
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.)
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A Week in Belize (after a nightmare in the airports)
We arrived yesterday evening after typically frustrating flights. First, we had to get our flights changed because of the American Airlines MD-80 inspection mess. That took hours on the phone. We thought we were home free when we were able to rebook our flights on Delta but no such luck. At the airport in New York, we encountered incredibly long lines for check-in and security.
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A LAST-MINUTE SPRING BREAK
What are you waiting for? Spring Break is looming and you haven’t planned a getaway. We’re not talking a Big Trip — a cruise, for example, or an adventure trip to Costa Rica, though, according to Travelzoo.com, there are good last-minute deals to be had in Costa Rica.
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Back to Crested Butte — where there’s plenty of snow
We’re heading to Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado to meet up with an assortment of family, all staying at a condo in the spanking new Lodge at Mountaineer Square, which is part of the hundreds of millions of dollars of improvements here.
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Heading South in the Minivan
ALONG INTERSTATE 95 HEADING SOUTH —: “PLEEZE make the radio louder!”
“Turn off the radio and put on a CD!”
“Not THAT CD!”
