Spiderman vs. Harry Potter at Universal Orlando
Move over, Harry Potter. Spider-Man has arrived. “I’m just not that into Harry Potter,” explains 16-year-old Jordan Madow who preferred the newly reanimated Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man
-
-
Frozen Planet brings back memories of the Arctic
The new Discovery Channel series Frozen Planet is reminding me of the exceptional trip to the Artic Circle last summer. We were smack in the middle of a bustling fast food court—for Arctic animals.
-
Two teens explore Universal Orlando and Harry Potter’s world
Once we arrived at Universal we met up with Matt, our amazing tour guide, who immediately brought us to our most anticipated attraction, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
-
Remembering a great adventure in the high Chilean desert
It’s only 10 a.m. but I feel like we’ve been going all day. That’s because we left our hotel Tierra Atacama before dawn—I’d never seen such bright stars across the desert sky—on our way to the highest geyser field in the world—El Tatio Geisers at 14,190 feet!
-
A visit to see the biggest Budda in the world
Not just any giant Buddha but the Tian Tan Buddha, the world’s largest outdoor sitting Buddha — some 98 feet tall and weighing 250 tons, his humongous right hand raised to deliver a blessing to all.
-
Mexico’s Riviera Maya is a safe place for kids to learn
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention we’re less than a year away from Dec. 21, 2012, the date the ancient Mayan Long Count calendar forecasts will signal the end of all humanity. But experts aren’t convinced and I’m not worried.
-
Learning to scuba dive with the whole family
I’m just thankful to share this spectacular adventure in paradise with my husband and kids. It’s terrific — and rare — when you can find something you all enjoy, especially as the kids grow older
-
It’s not too late to plan a spring break — or think about summer
The good news is it’s not too late to plan a spring getaway (check the rest of my website for ideas) whether you’ve got just a few days or an entire week to spend and there’s still time to find a great deal.
-
From Guest to Guide: Growing up in Adventure Travel!
Guest blogger Kasey Austin writes that her “earliest memories go way back to Alaska, everything from ice fishing with my dad to spending time at a remote fly-in camp and hiking trails frequented by moose and other larger than life critters!”
-
The un-cruise: a sailing trip in the British Virgin Islands
The best part: There is no one telling us what time we have to eat dinner or even where we are going next. Welcome to the alternative to mega cruise ships and fancy resorts.
-
A day of water sports (or not) at the Bitter End Yacht Club
Snorkel, sail, windsurf or kayak?
We’re at the Bitter End Yacht Club on the island of Virgin Gorda which has been a haven for sailors and yachters for years. -
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.
-
A whirlwind tour of Hong Kong over the holidays
I can’t believe I’m here. Hong Kong’s famous Victoria Harbor watches as I try to follow William Ng, a 75-year-old Tai Chi master, as he introduces about 20 of us to the ancient art of Tai Chi or “shadow boxing.”
-
Diving and learning fascinating history in the BVI
Today we are all diving as a family. The Wreck of the Rhone is just off Salt Island in two big pieces 60 to 80 feet down, but there are many smaller pieces.
-
“We’re grownups mom! Don’t sweat the small stuff”
“That’s part of the adventure,” says my 25 year old daughter Reggie. “It’s not like we’re at a fancy resort where everything is being done for us.”
-
Back to the BVI and sailing a Moorings catamaran
When it came time to decide on a family trip for my far flung gang—the first time we’d all be together in more than a year—sailing, with some diving included, was everyone’s top pick.
-
SCUBA Diving for the First Time in the British Virgin Islands
Reggie and I are already imagining our next dive back home in the much colder, kelp-forested waters of Monterey, California — just a couple hours away from our domicile in San Francisco.
-
An amazing geological park just outside Hong Kong
Geologists still argue today how these columns were formed some 140 million years ago. What is known is that a huge amount of volcanic ash and lava spewed forth with the volcano ultimately collapsing and forming a caldera.
-
A visit to an ancient monastery and a giant Buddha
This isn’t just any Buddha but the largest outdoor sitting Buddha in the Po Lin Monastery on the island of Lantau. The Monastery was established in 1906—some 100 monks hidden from the tourists still live here
-
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.”
-
In 2012, why not let the kids lead the way?
Whether the kids were mine or someone else’s, I realized — sometimes belatedly — that the best times were had when we took our cue from the kids and let their passions-of-the-moment dictate.
-
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?
-
A memorable trip: to Africa and a safari
Welcome to Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park, at 5,700 square miles bigger than the state of Connecticut and home to some of the largest prides of lion in East Africa as well as these other animals.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Silverton Mountain is not your typical ski resort
This isn’t any ski resort. For one thing, there is only one lift and no bathrooms–just an outhouse. Apres ski means a beer or a coke in the chilly tent that serves as a base lodge. It’s heated by a wood stove.
-
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.
-
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
-
Learning to scuba dive at a Caribbean resort
We’ve just finished the most spectacular dive of the day off of Grand Turk Island called “anchor” so named for a historic 10-foot anchor deep in the water. We’ve seen a Manta ray and sea turtle, hog fish, huge grouper, eel garden ray, that flounder and all kinds of other big and little fish–blue and purple, silver and spotted…as well as all varieties of coral.
-
Cruises & All-Inclusive | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries | Volunteer & Service
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.
-
Families & Groups | Cruises & All-Inclusive | Destinations | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries | Weekly Column
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….
-
Families & Groups | Beach Vacations | Destinations | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Taking the Kids Blogs | Volunteer & Service
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.
-
Beach Vacations | Cruises & All-Inclusive | Destinations | Disney | Families & Groups | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Snow Vacations | Weekly Column
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.
-
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.”…
-
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….
-
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….
-
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….
-
Where Sitting Bull met Custer at the Little Big Horn
I look out and try to imagine thousands of teepees and 30,000 ponies on a scorching June day in 1876, just before the nation’s centennial. Above all the tribal leaders from the different tribes was Sitting Bull, dedicated to the traditional Indian ways and opposed to relationships with the white people after being pushed out of the Black Hills when gold was discovered.
-
Wet and wild in the raft on the Yellowstone River
The kids are sorry our adventure is over. So are their parents. Mike Sitzman, Hannah and Ethan’s dad, has had a real vacation—not often the case when kids are part of the equation– because, “The guides facilitated 100 per cent of the experience. I didn’t have to worry about where to park or having water… They even brought our suitcases to the rooms and got us checked in.” That’s not counting how much knowledge they shared.
-
Escaping Yellowstone’s Crowds with Guides to Show the Way
The park is packed with families — especially around Old Faithful (just one of the park’s 300 geysers) and in the new children’s discovery area at the Old Faithful Visitor Center. The National Park Service says the vast majority of visitors don’t get more than a quarter-mile from the road though only about 3 percent of the vast park can be seen from that vantage point. That was why we opted to let Austin-Lehman lead the way.
-
Spotting wildlife and overcoming juvenile fear in Yellowstone
Welcome to perhaps America’s greatest natural zoo— Yellowstone National Park with 67 species of mammals, 322 species of birds, 6 species of reptiles, 4 species of amphibians where the kids—my nine-year-old cousin Ethan Sitzman and his six- year-old sister Hannah have been naming the wild life as we go…Betty and Bobby Eagle…Oscar Osprey…Brett Bison…. And today we spot bear!
-
Finding fish and frogs on Lake Yellowstone
We were camping in a wilderness site on Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park and had spent the morning kayaking, stopping in a meadow full of wildflowers to fish, fly a kite and catch frogs. The wildflowers were gorgeous– purple (lupine), blue (columbine), yellow (buttercups), red (Indian Paint Brush) and white (Elk Thistle. And the kite was certainly fun, brought along by our intrepid Austin Lehman Adventure guides Matty Kirkland and Katie Gugliotta, who also brought a football to toss and gave Ethan and six-year-old Hannah some lessons in rock-skipping.
-
Seeing the sights without the crowds at Yellowstone
Certainly we could tour Yellowstone on our own but Austin Lehman has been guiding families in the vast park for 25 years and this is an opportunity to get away from the hordes of tourists (up more than 10 per cent last year from 2009 with 3.6 million visitors) and experience the park with those who know it well. Sadly, the majority of visitors don’t get more than a quarter of a mile from the road when there are thousands of hiking trails in the park.
-
Ziplining and other adventures at Big Sky and the Gallatin Canyon
Ten seconds of sheer terror or the most fun you’ve ever had. It’s all a matter of perspective. We’re at Big Sky Mountain Resort in Big Sky Montana at the edge of the first Zip line of the morning. Did I mention I’m supposed to fly across 425 feet—60 feet above the mountain tops at 25 miles per hour? No sweat says my young cousins nine-year-old Ethan Sitzman and his six-year-old sister Hannah, who are geared up, like I am, with safety harness, helmet and carabineers that will attach us to the cables. I’m told they are so strong they could hold the weight of a small car but I’m still nervous.
-
A guided trip through Montana and the Yellowstone — no better way to travel
This is the first morning of our guided trip to Montana and Yellowstone, arranged by Montana-based Austin Lehman Adventures, which has been guiding visitors to Yellowstone and beyond for more than two decades—several hundred families a year. The company sends adventurous families around the world but Yellowstone remains their signature trip and the Museum of the Rockies is a great place to start.
-
Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Parks & Outdoors | Volunteer & Service | Weekly Column
How to combat your family’s nature deficit
The next time you’re thinking about hiring a private soccer coach, more violin lessons or a new video game, take the kids for a walk in the woods instead. Inject a little nature on your next vacation too, even if you’re heading to New York City (how about a long walk through Central Park?) or Orlando (get up close and personal with the manatees, or go fishing). You’ll all be the better for it. …
-
Learning about wildlife and photography in the Arctic Ocean
A polar bear sighting (we’ll see 16 before the week is out), a whale (two enormous blue whales swam and played right by the ship), sea birds (imagine thousands nesting on high cliffs) or walrus (60 of the huge creatures weighing a ton or more lolling right in front of us on a beach) are all reason enough jump out of bed, bolt from lunch, forgo a shower or get off the ship’s treadmill. It’s why the 145 guests have paid thousands of dollars and traveled thousands of miles to cruise through ice.
-
Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Parks & Outdoors | Taking the Kids Blogs | Volunteer & Service
History and adventure abound at Mount Rushmore
So where can you see the guy with the 20-foot long nose? Here’s a hint: Conceived as a tourist gimmick and celebrating its 70th birthday, it’s recognized around the world as a symbol of the United States and democracy. The answer, of course, is Mount Rushmore, which literally will give the kids an in-your-face history lesson they won’t forget.
-
Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Weekly Column
Want an old-fashioned family vacation? Think Maine
Maine is ideal for an old-fashioned family vacation with plenty of modern touches. Indulge your young foodies at Portland restaurants ( www.visitportland.com) or shop till you drop in Freeport, home of L.L. Bean and more than 200 retail outlets. Eat blueberry pancakes (the season starts in mid-July). Head out on an old-fashioned schooner for a few days, like we did one summer aboard the Isaac H. Evans, where we ate our fill of fresh lobster on a deserted island, or explore Acadia National Park and hike some of the famous Appalachian Trail.
-
The Arctic Desert holds many surprises — including Walruses
This is called Arctic Desert, the man with the rifle—naturalist and geologist Jason Kelley tells us. While hiking in the land of the polar bears, our guides always carry rifles. We stop to look at huge whale bones that date back to the 18th Century and tiny fossils of crinoids stems (they look like flowers) that are 180 million years old. Then we see the Walrus.
-
Cruises & All-Inclusive | Destinations | Families & Groups | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries | Volunteer & Service
A chat with Richard Louv on the benefits of being outdoors
Louv’s work has stimulated an international conversation about the relationship between nature and children. His new book has just been named to Oprah’s summer reading list He as the chairman and co-founder of the Children and Nature Network, and hopes to inspire the many parents and grandparents on board to realize how important it is to get kids engaged with nature on trips like this as well as at home.
-
Spotting all kinds of wildlife in the waters and ice around Svalbard
It’s drizzly and cold but no one on the deck is moving—not when a bear and her cub can be seen on the ice in the distance –and much closer through the scope, binoculars or the long camera lens they’ve got. We’re the guests here so we speak in whispers so as not to disturb the bears.
-
Searching for polar bears in the water and ice
We’re 950 miles from the North Pole. While some of the crew and naturalists scan the horizon—all we see is blue sky and floating ice of all different sizes and shapes—the captain explains that as much as 30 feet of the ice bergs are below water… This ship, of course, is built especially to handle ice. “Potentially any floe can have bears,” he says.
-
Learning how to shoot like a photo pro in the Arctic Ocean
Because of Lindblad’s partnership with National Geographic , there is now a new Expedition Photography Initiative, which means that there are certified photo instructors aboard all ships in the Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic fleet who can help take our photography skills to the next level, from composition to proper exposure. There are special sessions for kids too.
-
Sailing into the land of the Ice Bears
We were told the night before to be prepared for middle-of-the-night sightings here in the Arctic north of Longyearbyen, Norway. “You can sleep any time,” exploration leader Lisa Trotter had told us the night before. We’ve been instructed to have binoculars, cameras, mittens and hats always at the ready (It’s cold here—just 40 degrees today!)
-
To Norway and Svalbard and the Land of the Ice Bears
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.
-
Memories of a hot air balloon adventure in Albuquerque NM
I wasn’t dreaming. We were floating high above Albuquerque, N.M., in a giant, rainbow-colored hot air balloon. We gave each other one of those I-can’t-believe-we’re-here grins that made every argument we’d had on our Southwest road trip fade away. Every vacation should have at least one standout moment like this.
-
Early American history comes alive in and around Philadelphia
The Continental Army. Here in the heart of historic Philadelphia on a steamy summer day, we’ve time traveled back to the heady days of the American Revolution, the drafting of the Declaration of Independence and the making of Betsy Ross’ famous flag sewn at the request of General George Washington — all right where it all happened — thanks to 30 terrific costumed “History Makers,” as well as 40 first-rate storytellers from the nonprofit Historic Philadelphia organization .
-
Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries
Maine’s Hidden Pond resort is designed for 21st Century families
Hidden Pond is just 16 spacious cottages spread over 60 wooded acres a mile from Kennebunkport’s famous Goose Rocks Beach that’s open just from May to October. It’s a place where kids can tool around on bikes, go for a hike, do cannon balls in the pool and gather around the fire pit for s’mores and even take an outdoor shower in the cottages or pick vegetables or herbs in the gardens
