This time of year in the US, most of us are consumed with buying the perfect toys for our children, finding the most adorable holiday outfits and decorating our homes to be the perfect backdrop for childhood memories. But those things aren't essential for a happy childhood, are they? One of the things that struck us in Cambodia was how often we saw kids playing with makeshift toys - things made out of old water bottles, or string, or sticks, or a plastic bag. In this picture, my husband is showing some kids how to juggle using some small rocks, and they're obviously fascinated.
These kids will be just fine without the toys, fashionable clothing, and scheduled activities that our kids take for granted, but what they do need is an education and a healthy diet (almost 50% of kids in Cambodia are malnourished). I hope you'll take a moment to make even a small donation before the Passports with Purpose fundraiser closes on Monday.
Related Links
Passports With Purpose - Help us Build a School in Cambodia! (and enter to win some fab prizes)
Photo Friday:
Share a favorite travel photo by adding your link below. Please take a moment to make sure that you are linking directly to your photo post instead of your homepage. If your url is longer than 100 characters, you will need to use a url shortening service, like bit.ly
First timers, here is
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Posted on December 17, 2009 |
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I'm so thrilled that the Frugal Traveler wrote about Passports With Purpose, our fundraising effort to build a school for children in rural Cambodia today. The column will also run in Sunday's paper, so if you see a car struggling along under a load of newspapers this weekend, be sure to stop me and say hello!
About Passports With Purpose
We're building a school in rural Cambodia with American Assistance for Cambodia. Through the generosity of our sponsors and donors we have raised over $20,000. The school is fully funded; we're now raising additional money to provide health services to the kids that attend "our" school. We expect that the school will be completed in June of this year!
You can donate here. Our success has been built on donations as small as $10, and each $10 donation enters you to win a fabulous prize.
About DeliciousBaby
DeliciousBaby is about Traveling with Young Kids. We have lots of tips and helpful advice to make your family vacation easier and more enjoyable. If you are new to DeliciousBaby, you might want to check out some of these useful links and resources:
Sponsors
I want to take a moment to thank the sponsors. Each one made a direct contribution to AAfC and their generosity helped us launch this effort with a bang!
Platinum Sponsor
Silver Sponsors
Got Passport: Will Travel, We'll Serve
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Posted on December 16, 2009 |
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Here are a few stories I enjoyed recently.
I loved this article from Minnemom about why she travels with young kids and this one from Scribbit about why family vacations are important
Here are some tips for traveling in China with kids
Here are a few ideas for road trip games
Giveaways
Enter to win a vacation in Jamaica complete with a vacation nanny! from Travels With Baby
Win a Putamayo Kids Christmas CD and a Zebra Mix cookie baking kit from Wandermom
If you are running a travel related giveaway and would like to be listed here fill out my giveaways form
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Posted on December 13, 2009 |
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This photo from our trip to Cambodia never fails to make me smile. Here in the US, we talk about "living above the shop," meaning that someone would have a multi-story building with a shop on the ground floor and an apartment above. What do you do, though, if you have a bakery in a one-floor building in the center in town? You use your bed to cool bread during the day - I bet it works perfectly.
Related Links
Passports With Purpose - We're Building a School in Cambodia!
Photo Friday:
Share a favorite travel photo by adding your link below. Please take a moment to make sure that you are linking directly to your photo post instead of your homepage. If your url is longer than 100 characters, you will need to use a url shortening service, like bit.ly
First timers, here is
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Posted on December 10, 2009 |
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I want to thank everyone who entered and everyone who made a donation to help build a school in Cambodia. I will be giving a $100 donation to AAfC on behalf of Monica who said that her favorite prizes were:
Monica may have won my random drawing, but you can still enter to win any of these prizes at Passports With Purpose. Your donation is tax deductible and helps build a school in a part of rural Cambodia where there is no school.
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Posted on December 10, 2009 |
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This is a guest post by Nancy Solomon of Ciao Bambino. Nancy has generously shared her story about a dramatic trip to London with kids.
The Injury
Our trip to London had an ominous start. I ruptured my calf a week before we were due to leave. Although this was not part of the plan, everything was booked and we were not about to cancel our trip. So, I found a “roll-a-bout”—think razor scooter with a knee pad— which allowed me to have much more mobility in London than crutches.
This scooter basically gave me celebrity status (can you imagine how ridiculous I looked— a grown-up on a scooter!) throughout London as curious people (particularly those in the orthopedic field) stopped to take pictures.
This was all great, except my disability doubled husband’s workload and his patience wore thin.
The Flight
We love Virgin Atlantic! We traded American Express points in for “upper class” pods, the best-spent miles to date. Lying flat wrapped in down comforters after a delicious meal was truly luxurious. As I watched my wonderful older children drift off to sleep, I noticed my toddler was getting increasingly hyper. Not unusual when she is tired. Unfortunately, her activity level grew just as all the adults around us were grabbing eye masks and getting ready to sleep.
After an hour of pushing every possible button in the vicinity, she burst into screams. This is our fourth child. You’d think we’d stay calm. But no, I started sweating, stepped on my injured foot—which cannot bear weight—and was in agony. Finally, I hopped to the bathroom where I flip-flop from nice mom to psycho mom with alarming ease.
FYI, covering your child’s mouth doesn’t work.
The kind stewardess came to our rescue with food for her. Could she really have just been hungry? At long last, she doses off to sleep. We all get about 3 hours of rest and arrive just as the morning started in London.
The First Day
I had an idea that the first day would be tough, however, I was lulled into a false sense of security by thinking that my kids were experienced travelers. Pulling an all-nighter is tough on anyone. Add kids to the equation and you have a nightmare!
Driven by the excitement of being in London, we had a strong start, but then we all faded quickly. Literally, by nightfall, four out of six of us were ready to go home. My husband and I decided that we were just plain stupid to travel internationally with kids.
Fortunately, a good night’s rest cures all woes. The next day we started fresh and all went well. I have to thank a thoughtful colleague who sent me an article about that horrible first night when traveling abroad with kids—it enabled me work through the desire to go home and move on with our trip.
We ended up sleeping in every day and then stayed up late together. Although we gave up some sightseeing time on this schedule, it worked well as we were always rested.
The Shopping
On Ciao Bambino I’ve covered kid-friendly activities in London, and a London food tour and then did tips for visiting London with kids on PeterGreenberg.com. What I didn’t include in those articles is shopping highlights. I usually don’t get a chance to shop when traveling, but this trip it just seemed to work out because the antique markets had a little something for everyone.
Our favorite street was Portobello Road, located in Notting Hill. My husband and boys looked for war memorabilia and antiques. My daughter and I had fun at the boutiques. London has a well-earned reputation for being expensive, but we were able to find many stores that were reasonable and unique. I loved the shopkeepers as well; we met quite a few characters.
Portobello Market on Saturday, offered a ton of items, but it was incredibly crowded. I recommended visiting this neighborhood during the week.
Here’s a list our favorite stores and stops on Portobello Road:
Appletree Boutique (164 Portobello Road, Notting Hill, London W11 2EB): A trendy collection of women’s clothes, accessories and shoes. Very reasonably priced. My daughter and I both loved this store.
Their Nibs: (214 Kensington Park Road, Notting Hill Gate, London, W11 1NR) We couldn’t resist some of these retro-inspired designer children clothes.
Hummingbird Bakery (133 Portobello Road, London, W11 2DY): Capitalizing on the cupcake craze, this bakery is a wonderful stop with children.
Bangers Bros (225a Portobello Road London W11 1LU): An inexpensive and easy stop for breakfast sandwiches.
Electric Brasserie: (191 Portobello Road London W11 2ED) Yummy milkshakes.
Gail’s Bakery: (138 Portobello Road, London, W11 2DZ) Perfect for delicious muffins and healthy snacks for refueling.
Nancy Solomon lives outside Boston with her husband and four kids under 10. She enjoys traveling the world and sharing helpful tips for finding fun family activities on the road. She writes about travel with kids on Ciao Bambino, a guide to the best kid friendly hotels and family travel blog.
Other Articles by Nancy Solomon on DeliciousBaby
Alexandria, VA With Kids: A Charming Place to Stay outside of Washington DC
What to do in Boston With Kids
Related Links
What to do in London With Kids
City Guide: London With Kids
A British Summer Vacation With Kids
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Posted on December 9, 2009 |
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A Giveaway
If you haven't had a chance yet to make your donation to help build libraries in Zambia, now is the best time to do so! Our fundraiser ends on Friday. This week, I match one lucky reader's donation (up to a $200 contribution) by making a contribution to Room to Read. Since I cannot win any of the prizes, the reader will get to choose which prize drawings to enter.
Here's what you need to do:
- Visit our prize list
- Come back here and tell me what your three favorite prizes are
- If you made a donation, tell me that too!
- That's it
I'm making a bet that once you see all the great prizes, you won't be able to resist helping build this school. Every donation is tax deductible and enters you to win the prize of your choice.
Winners
I will choose a winner randomly from the people who comment on this post before 11:59PM PST on Wed Dec 9. I will announce the results here on Thurs Dec 10 2009. If you win, I will ask you to tell me which prizes on the Passports With Purpose website you would like to be entered to win.
Updating our Goals
I'm overjoyed to announce that
Passports with Purpose raised enough money in one week to build a school in Cambodia! We're not resting on our laurels though - there is so much more we can do to make our school a true resource for the entire community. Each additional dollar that is donated will be used to improve the health of both the students and the overall community. We have updated our goal to $26,000 in order to fund the following improvements:
- Hagar water filter: $300 one-time cost
- 1 "Victory" vegetable garden,: $7,500 funds first two years, $2,000 each additional year
- School nurse: $5400/year
More about The School
We know a little bit more about our school now. It will be built in Preah Vihear, the region that's under dispute with Thailand. We also know that it will open in about six months -- June of 2010 is our current best guess.
Thank You
I want to thank the very generous sponsors who gave us a great headstart towards our goal by making donations directly to AAfC to help build a school in Cambodia
Platinum Sponsor
Silver Sponsors
Got Passport: Will Travel, We'll Serve
Related Links:
Passports With Purpose Travel Blogger's Fundraiser
Rules
Please, only one comment per person per giveaway post. Duplicate comments and Anonymous comments will be discarded. Please make sure that the email address in your comment form is valid (email addresses are never public). Winners must claim their prize within three business days after the date of notification of such prize. A Sweepstakes winner's failure to respond to the prize notification within the specified three business days will be considered such Sweepstakes winner's forfeiture of the prize and an alternate winner may be selected from the pool of eligible entries. If an entrant is found to be ineligible, an alternate winner may also be selected from the pool of eligible entries. Employees, partners and vendors of DeliciousBaby and their immediate family members are not eligible to enter. We will disqualify any entries that we believe are generated by scripts and other automated technology. When applicable, the winner may be required to execute and return within five business days an Affidavit of Eligibility and a Liability and Publicity Release to be eligible for the prize or an alternate winner will be selected. All prizes will be awarded. No substitutions including for cash are permitted, except that DeliciousBaby reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater monetary value for any prize. Winners shall be responsible and liable for all federal, state and local taxes on the value of their prize.
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Posted on December 7, 2009 |
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It's no secret that mines dot rural Cambodia. You see evidence of it everywhere, from the children and adults who are missing limbs to the "Danger!! Mines!!" t-shirts that many tourists buy.
Did you ever stop to think what the impact of the land mines might be to a child? Open fields aren't a place to play, they're a place to avoid. If your ball should happen to go "out of bounds," it's lost forever. Retrieving it requires an act of bravery that no child should be asked to make. Building a school won't help speed the demining efforts in Cambodia, but it will provide one more safe place for kids to learn and play while they wait for their country to be fully returned to safety.
Related Links
Passports With Purpose - Enter to Win and Help Build a School in Cambodia
Photo Friday:
Share a favorite travel photo by adding your link below. Please take a moment to make sure that you are linking directly to your photo post instead of your homepage. If your url is longer than 100 characters, you will need to use a url shortening service, like bit.ly
First timers, here is
more Information about Photo Friday
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Posted on December 3, 2009 |
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Yesterday I posted about the amazing the outpouring of support for our Passports With Purpose fundraiser, and today I am feeling even more grateful. Not only did over 40 bloggers post about their own prizes, but together we raised over $1000 in donations in 24 hours - $10 at a time. We are well on our way to our goal of building a school in Cambodia
I'm also excited to have one more prize to offer as part of this fundraiser. (You can check out the full list here.) The Four Seasons Seattle has very generously contributed a one-night stay in a city-view room, plus an American breakfast for two at ART Restaurant or through In-Room Dining. This offer is based on availability and upgrade to bay view room may be available based on availability.
This brand-new hotel is absolutely beautiful. It's modern and sleek while feeling restful. Here's a shot of the lobby.
And here is a guest room. It's so pretty that you'll want to leave the kids at home, but there's space for a whole family.
The ART restaurant, where you'll be having breakfast, has a lovely view of the bay. I find it relaxing, but the fact that this is an active shipping corridor means that your kids (should you bring them) will enjoy the view too. I've eaten here several times, once as a guest of the hotel. The food was great every time.
The kids meals are adorable, and the staff is very accommodating of persnickety eaters. I love the fact that the server brings out a fruit salad "appetizer" for the kids as soon as we are seated for breakfast.
But maybe you'll get to leave your kids at home? Check out this cute "TV tray" with Eggs Benedict, a smoothie, fruit salad, and yogurt with granola.
I bet you'd like a chance to win? Your $10 donation not only brings us closer to our goal, but lets you choose which of our fabulous prizes you would like to enter to win. So please go check out the full list of prizes and make your $10 or more donation
Sponsors
The following very generous sponsors have made donations directly to AAfC to help build a school in Cambodia
Platinum Sponsor
Silver Sponsors
Got Passport: Will Travel, We'll Serve
Related Links:
Passports With Purpose Travel Blogger's Fundraiser
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Posted on December 1, 2009 |
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Today, as bloggers everywhere started posting about Passports With Purpose it finally hit me, we really ARE going to build a school in Cambodia this year. If you've been a regular reader, I don't have to tell you how much it means to do something so concrete for people who have been so abused and who have so few opportunities.
I am thankful for the support we have gotten from the travel community. I am absolutely in awe of the wonderful prizes travel bloggers have rounded up, and the very generous companies who provided them. We have everything from multi-night hotel stays to camera gear and travel gear. On top of that, a set of amazing sponsors (more about them later) has put us well on our way to our $13,000 goal.
Now it's your turn. Each $10 not only brings us closer to our goal, but it also enters you to win a fabulous prize. So, before you read further, please go check out our list of prizes and make your $10 or more donation
My own prize is something you simply cannot live without this season. This Kodak Zi6 video camera retails for 179.00, but you might win it just in time to make your own family videos during the new year. You can use this pocket sized HD video camera to edit and upload videos to YouTube or Facebook (or just share them with your family and friends). A 2.4-inch LCD screen lets you view everything you record. Here's a full review from PC Mag
Shipping within the continental US only
Check out our full list of prizes and choose the ones you would like to enter to win.
Sponsors
Our very generous sponsors have already brought us half way to our $13,000 goal, and I'd like to tell you a bit more about each of them.
Platinum Sponsor
Virtuoso is the industry's leading leisure travel network. This by-invitation-only organization comprises more than 6,000 elite travel advisers associated with over 300 agencies in 22 countries in North and South America, the Caribbean, Australia and New Zealand, as well as over 1,000 of the world's best travel providers and premier destinations.
Being a client of a Virtuoso travel adviser means your travels will be customized to your specific desires by a foremost expert, and that you'll be recognized as one of the most prestigious guests in the world with all the privileged access, perks and service that implies.
Silver Sponsors
Got Passport: Will Travel, We'll Serve We are a family of three, with a passion for travel, seeking out new experiences, meeting new people, and living simply.
Austin, Texas-based HomeAway, Inc. operates the world's leading and most-established vacation rental websites around the world, including HomeAway.com, VRBO.com and VacationRentals.com. With 425,000 global listings, the company connects homeowners and property managers with travelers who seek the space, value and amenities of vacation rental homes as an alternative to hotels. HomeAway is committed to providing the safest marketplace for vacation rentals offering the Carefree Rental Guarantee and Reviews, and has contributed significantly to the popularity of the vacation rental industry.
Named one of Travel+Leisure's Top Travel Websites of 2009, Raveable.com is the fastest way to find the perfect hotel. Raveable.com is the first and only website that creates hotel review summaries based on the common rants and raves found in millions of online hotel reviews.
Travelfish.org produces original travel content for the independent traveller heading to Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Recommended by Rough Guides, Footprint, Lonely Planet and others.
TravellersPoint is a vibrant travel community dedicated to seriously passionate travellers. Upload photos, create a blog or travel map, share travel tips in the forums, and contribute to the wiki travel guide.
Related Links:
Passports With Purpose Travel Blogger's Fundraiser
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Posted on November 30, 2009 |
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