On an ‘uncruise’ Alaskan sea adventure
Unlike the big cruise ships, we can take our time in Glacier Bay, which offers 3.3 million acres of glaciers that calve right in front of us
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Grandparents and Kids Take on the Big Apple with Elderhostel
Elderhostel is known for their affordable, educational programs for seniors. But what many don’t realize is that there are 200 different grandparent-grandchild programs with almost 400 departures
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Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Parks & Outdoors | Volunteer & Service | Weekly Column
Sailing Around the Tahitian Islands
Tahiti is closer than many think — just a little over seven hours from Los Angeles, about two hours farther than Hawaii — and Air Tahiti Nui is encouraging more families to visit with kids-fly-free offers and discounted hotel rates.
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Disney | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Weekly Column
On a Trip Down Memory Lane at Disneyland
Ignore those office emails, forget all about the economy and for an afternoon focus instead on what’s really important, especially on vacation — making memories with the kids at a place where you made your own childhood memories
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Seeing More Than the Typical Sites in NYC
Visitors to New York have their pick of world-class and iconic sites…But there is a lot more to New York than the tourist track
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Joining Forces on Vacation
Maybe it’s the economy. Maybe it’s the need to reconnect with friends and family. At beach houses and on sailboats, city condos and mountain cabins, families and friends are joining forces on vacation
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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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Beach Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Volunteer & Service | Weekly Column
Meeting Up with Shaun White at Skateboard Camp in the Cayman Islands
The 22-year-old champion skateboarder and snowboarder has come down to Grand Cayman, his parents and sister in tow, to inaugurate Skate Cayman
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Taking the kids camping
Often families say the things that went wrong on trips are as memorable as what went right and that’s certainly true when you are camping and so completely out of your comfort zone
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Learning New Tricks at Caribbean Resorts
This summer, whether you want to learn to dive with your tween or snorkel with your kindergartner, teach your grade-schooler to sail or fly on a trapeze, you’ll find plenty of opportunities at Caribbean resorts — at prices that are surprisingly affordable.
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Kansas City here we come
This summer, when we’re all watching our vacation budgets so carefully, let’s remember there is a lot to see and do wherever you live — and those cities — large and small — want and need your business as much as far flung destinations.
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To ski country in summer
Yes, ski resorts in summer. They might just be the best vacation value going in this summer of great vacation values. Ski instructors around the country whisper that they came to the mountains for the snow but stayed because of the glorious mountain summers.
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TO PRAGUE
Another day, another castle. But no one’s complaining. Not in Prague, which many now call The Paris of the East. It’s crowded with tourists on this brilliant summer day.
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Checking out 21st-century resort kids’ programs
Hyatt heralded the movement toward kid-friendly resorts 22 years ago when it started the Camp Hyatt program here… Today you’ll find innovative programs at resorts across the country and beyond
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LET’S CELEBRATE!
Birthday, anniversary, wedding, good report card, Mother’s Day, being back home safe after a military deployment … whatever you want to celebrate on your next vacation, you’ll not only get feted like a VIP but also save some significant bucks
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Staying healthy right now away from home
The swine flu news is making us nervous — very nervous — just when millions of us are planning our much-needed summer vacations. But that doesn’t mean we should grab the kids and huddle under the covers.
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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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Becoming Junior Rangers in the National Parks
Everyone who sees the kids with the badges prominently displayed on their shirts are effusive in their praise, which makes the kids all the more pleased with themselves.
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To Innsbruck and beyond
Who says kids will be bored in Europe? Not in Austria. There’s plenty of culture and history — kids can dress up as royals, in fact, at the Schonbrunn Palace
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Teaching kids about food along the way in San Francisco
The beautifully restored Ferry Building Marketplace, built in 1898, is a must see for foodies of all ages.
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On a cruise for the first time
More than 1.6 million kids cruised last year and that number continues to increase…
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To the Kennedy Space Center
Just 45 minutes east of Orlando and well worth tearing the kids away from Mouseville, Shamu, Universal’s roller coasters and the hotel pools
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To the Colorado slopes — and getting the most bang for your buck
Cheap eats and other bargains are especially appreciated in ski country this season — even here in tony Aspen and a few hours away at Vail’s Beaver Creek Resort
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Going on spring break
Some almost canceled their plans this year, but they decided to go because of the opportunity for badly needed family time
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A new style all-inclusive resort on Mexico’s Riviera Maya
My mission: To see if a vacation with active teens and young adults can be successful at an all-inclusive resort. Conclusion: “yes”
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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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To the Mohonk Mountain House
There it is, right in front of us, a castle, a sprawling, Victorian castle, just a couple of hours north of New York City.
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To Stowe Vermont and elsewhere in snow country
I’ve forsaken the slopes today, as terrific as they are at the brand-new Spruce Peak base area at Stowe Mountain Resort. I’m snowshoeing at the nearby Trapp Family Lodge
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To Oaxaca, Mexico
Oaxaca is in the southeastern part of Mexico and we’ve come here for a few days of cultural immersion after a week lazing on the beach
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To the theater — in NYC and elsewhere
Despite the economy — or maybe because of it — there’s no better time for families to check out The Great White Way
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Planning a family reunion in tough times
I’ve met families who have gathered in Orlando and in the Galapagos Islands… celebrating 75th birthdays and 50th anniversaries, graduations, survival from serious illness and simple family togetherness
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IT’S ABOUT THE MEMORIES!
Remember that the next time you’re tempted to scold your impossible, uncooperative preschooler in the middle of Walt Disney World, peck away on your BlackBerry poolside, instead of jumping in and playing Marco Polo with the kids, or disown your teen who refuses to leave her hotel room, yet complains of being bored.
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BUYING BOOKS FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Emily, who lives in a Portland, Oregon suburb, is miserable without a good book. Emily and her mom, Patti Zebrowski, were part of the group traveling with us in Costa Rica last summer and Emily was never without a book, even in the pool. I know how she feels. I can’t think of anything worse than being stuck on a plane or in a hotel room without something to read.
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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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Traveling greener
The kids hate when I nag them about getting up early or posing for next year’s holiday card. But now I’ve got new motivation to nag, and I don’t think my environmentally conscious gang will complain about — traveling greener. If we turn out the lights when we leave home, why not in a hotel room, asks Herve Houdre, the general manager of the historic Willard Intercontinental Washington in Washington
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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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Debunking Thanksgiving myths at Plimouth Plantation
There’s no better place than Plimouth Plantation in Plymouth Massachusetts on a sunny fall day to debunk the myths of that first Thanksgiving and learn more about the adults and kids who lived here then. Just in November, some 70,000 people from around the world visit, some staying to dine with the Pilgrims. (Book early. The dinners, especially the traditional Thanksgiving Day feast, often sell out far in advance.)
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TO ORLANDO ON THE CHEAP
It’s bad enough to say no to the kids all the time at home, much less on vacation. (No, you can’t have that $40 sweatshirt. No you can’t order that $20 steak…) Vacation, after all, is when we all want to indulge the kids and ourselves. But with the economy the way it is, I think we’re all going to be saying no more often, until we figure out better ways to stretch those vacation bucks.
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Family adventures on the river
Welcome to the vacation world of family river rafting. You can go for a day, three days or longer on the Green River in Utah, which is mild enough for a 5-year-old or on others where outfitters suggest kids should be at least 12, in order to handle the rapids. Lewis, Kerr and Dr. Jacobsen give rave reviews to the trips down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River
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Hitting the slopes without busting the budget
Eleven-year-old Nate Gourd, an avid snowboarder from Manchester, Vt., couldn’t agree more. “You feel like you’re flying when you come down the mountain,” he says, adding that kids “definitely should wear helmets.” Meet Vermont’s vice presidents of fun. Bridget — who says she’s always waiting at the bottom of the mountain for her “slowpoke” family
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Belize offers a host of family friendly destinations
By Eileen Ogintz Tribune Media Services The big green moray eel stares at me, coming out of his hideaway in the reef, as if to…
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Take them for some spooky fun and games this Halloween season
My best friend JoAnne and I fashioned ghost costumes out of old white sheets, corralled my little sister Amy to join us and –presto — we were The Ghost Family. We happily went off trick or treating in our suburban Long Island, N.Y., neighborhood. No parents tagged along, of course, no one had expensive costumes or headed to a theme park fright fest.
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TO SAN FRANCISCO’S UNIQUE MUSEUMS
Adults and kids are hunched over mounds of multicolored clay, fashioning little clay people and assorted creatures that will star in kid-produced animated shorts. “This isn’t your typical museum,” says Mike Shomo, from Denver, who’s visiting with his wife and three kids, as he creates a sea lion.
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On a fall getaway when they’re too little for school
Sure you have to drag a diaper bag (not to mention stroller, car seat and a generous supply of Goldfish) everywhere you go, you haven’t had a full night’s sleep in you can’t remember when and the dire economic news makes you wonder how you’ll ever pay for preschool, much less college, but then there’s the bright side — travel-wise, anyway. While everyone else is up to their ears in carpools, homework and soccer games, you’re free to get out of town.
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WATCHING SEA TURTLES NEST
By Eileen Ogintz Tribune Media Services The beach is pitch black, except for the light from the stars dancing across the sky. The ocean waves…
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TO AMSTERDAM
By Eileen Ogintz Tribune Media Services I’ve found vacation nirvana for teenagers and it’s a place parents will like just as much as teens do….
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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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A new-style adventure by Disney — no mouse ears
We sniff the strong perfume that even kids used, since they bathed so infrequently (servants just once a year) and learn that even though royal children had servants to do everything for them (even brush their teeth), they didn’t have a lot of time to play because they were expected at court (sitting quietly for hours). Still, our gang decided they’d rather be royals instead of servants.
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OPTING FOR DIFFERENT KINDS OF LODGING
Searching out those markets and meeting the locals who shop there is all part of the charm of renting a flat in a strange city or a villa in the countryside. We sleep with cherubs over our bed and hear the noises of a city neighborhood — a baby crying, a couple jabbering in Italian and music playing.
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A trip to Costa Rica designed for teens and tweens (and one little sister)
After a morning of white-water rafting (and plenty of water fights) on Costa Rica’s Sarapiqui River, and a first-rate burrito lunch made by our raft guides at the river’s edge, we stop in the small town of Horquetas, about 10 minutes from where we are staying to visit an elementary school. Some 270 kids attend the ill-equipped school, which is so overcrowded that children must attend split sessions. The students mug for our cameras and giggle.
