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This month we are hosting our first Traveling Moms Instagram meme and we would love to have you join in the fun!
Teens sometimes get a bad rap. People think they’re hard to please and harder to travel with. But the key to traveling with teens—and keeping the whole family happy—is to...
Family travel when it might mean the demise of all is no figure of speech for two brothers and a sister who maneuvered their 57-foot boat through the Northwest Passage...
“’Cause down the shore everything’s all right.” ---Tom Waits, JERSEY GIRL Some see the Jersey Shore as a travel destination, a place to take the family for a couple of...
Air travel can be stressful nowadays with long lines, flight delays and cramped seating. Add luggage, children, strollers and even pets to the mix and you have a veritable powder...
Planning your family vacation can be overwhelming--where to go, what to do, how to get there, you name it. There are a lot of details to planning a summer vacation....
Parents of toddlers – stop limiting your vacations to staycations. This is coming from a mom who has raised a ddler into a traveler once, and is doing it all over again. If you have a toddler, you have anarchy on your hands … trust me, I know! But you don’t have to stick close to home if you [ ... ]
It may not be Daniel Day Lewis walking the streets of Springfield, Illinois, but there’s likely someone who looks a lot like him. OK, it will be someone who looks a lot like Daniel Day Lewis when he looks a lot like Abraham Lincoln.
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Looking for the perfect summer vacation? Dreaming of something tropical and exotic, yet Tahiti just isn’t in your budget? San Diego’s dise Point Resort feels like it’s a world away, yet there’s no passport required. Paradise Point sits on a 44-acre island on Mission Bay, just minutes fr [ ... ]
Great summer vacations start with planning. Where are we going to go? Where are we going to stay? For my kids one of their all time favorite trips was a road trip through South Dakota.
Our first trip to South Dakota was going to be a quick drive through on our way to somewhere else. Fortunately, we [ ... ]
It's always refreshing to see a new choice of hotel property near the San Francisco Airport -- and the options have gotten even better recently. Just a half mile from the airport, the hip and ultra modern new Aloft hotel is a great choice for a comfortable stay before or after flying or when vi [ ... ]
Although summer vacation in Massachusetts will start later than usual due to many snow days, it's time to start planning those summer family vacations in Massachusetts! For a small state, Massachusetts boasts some fabulous summer vacation spots - here are a few of the best, along with some insider t [ ... ]
The thought of driving an electric car always seemed a little intimidating to me. Is there a learning curve? What happens when you are in the middle of the highway and the battery runs out? When it comes to the technology of electric cars I am a bit of an auto-techno peasant but I recently had a cha [ ... ]
Keeping family travel plans a secret from the kids is a fun way to see the surprise on their faces when we take them to a new place or to visit a favorite relative. It's also handy when travel plans don't go as planned or are disappointing. We recently had arrangements to travel to an attraction our three- and five-year-old would (and have in the past) loved visiting. However, due to a miscommunication, we were unable to go. If we had told the kids first, their disappointment would have put a damper on the entire weekend trip. But, since we hadn't told them we were going, we didn't tell them what they missed and went on with the rest of the trip.
We did, however, feel compelled to make the trip extra fun for them, to make up for what we had originally planned.
Other ways to deal with a change in plans include the following.
Make Family Travel Fun with Special Activities
Our original plans included a hotel stay, which the kids always enjoy. We still went to the hotel and spent extra time splashing with them in the hotel pool, another activity they love. Then we went back up to our room and enjoyed a movie on the DVD player, complete with popcorn.
Relax the Rules for Family Fun
When we travel as a family, we try to relax the rules a little bit for everyone to have more fun. Instead of worrying about eating healthy, we might indulge in dessert or an extra helping. We also popped the aforementioned popcorn, something we usually don't give the kids due to the possible choking hazard for the little one.
Bedtime is also a little later when we travel; everyone stays up a little later to play or relax and enjoy the time away from home.
Have your plans ever changed and made you unable to do something your kids were counting on? How did you – and they – cope?
Teresa J. Shaw is editor of the Free in 50 States section and writes about traveling as a working mom for Traveling Mom and on her blog Working Traveling Mom. Follow her on Twitter at @TeresaShaw
There is nothing like casting your line in and fishing away your worries….okay, I seriously can’t say that, because I am not much of a fisherman. Yes, I go fishing, but mo [ ... ]
Police, Fire and EMS Appreciation Days return in May. Police officers, fire fighters and EMS employees can receive a free single day admission to LEGOLAND Florida, along with [ ... ]
When the PGA tour heads to Ponte Vedra Beach, in Northeast Florida this May for The Players Championship they will once again be hosting multiple events for military memb [ ... ]
