Here are a few stories I enjoyed this week.
This has nothing to do with family travel, but who can resist a story about the Salon Du Chocolat in Paris
Here's an interesting Podcast about a family's year-long around the world adventure.
Headed to Pittsburgh? Here are five days worth of activities in Pitsburgh
Giveaways
Wandermom is giving away some great winter gear from Lands End
Enter to win a BABYBJÖRN Travel Crib Light. You might also want to read my full review of the BABYBJÖRN Travel Crib Light" from earlier this year.
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Posted on October 20, 2009 |
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Imagine my surprise this week when Technorati unveiled their new topic based blog rankings. DeliciousBaby is listed as the #1 Travel Blog and the #28 most popular lifestyle blog. The rankings are designed to change quickly, so I'm sure I won't hold that top spot for long, but this did make for a nice weekend!
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Posted on October 18, 2009 |
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I love to explore as much as (or possibly more than) the next person, but it's telling that with each new baby our first family trip has been to Southern California. Most of my husband's family lives within a few miles of each other. With the 2 1/2 hour plane flight we bring each baby into the fold - and let him or her experience this for the first time: A few precious moments on the lap of my husband's grandmother (mommani). This trip was especially precious as Eilan was named (in part) after mommani's husband - bringing his memory and spirit forward into a new generation.
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 October 16, 2009 |
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I've been astounded to see how many of the bloggers whose work I read regularly participated in Blog Action Day today. In reading through everyone's posts, I was struck by how many people said that the personal connection they made by seeing climate change first hand on their travels. The posts are fascinating, and each one showcases a different dimension of the problem. I thought I'd share some of those posts with you.
Read this great post at Roaming Tales about why cruising isn't a "green" travel choice
Tourism Keys has a first hand account of what it's like to be a climate change refugee from Ursula Rakova a former resident of a small island in pacific southwest in Papua New Guinea.
Here's a story about the The Chacaltaya glacier just outside La Paz, Bolivia, which has virtually disappeared and what that means for the local community
Mom Most Traveled's wrote about the flooding Meekong River in Laos and what it felt like to witness it.
Gadling has a good roundup of where to research and book eco friendly travel
Peter Greenburg has some great advice on what to look for when choosing a "green" hotel
Lola Akinmade writes about what it really means to share the same air
And finally, in case you're not convinced that any of this matters for you, read who should care about climate change
If you have published a travel related Blog Action Day post, let me know in comments.
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Posted on October 15, 2009 |
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Today is Blog Action Day, and over 7000 bloggers around the world are uniting to post on a single subject: Climate Change. I thought I would share a personal experience in the hope that it inspires you to help.
In 2001, long before our children were born, my husband and I spent two weeks in Madagascar, an island-nation off the coast of Africa. It's a spectacular place, with unique flora and fauna (including many varieties of baobab trees and lemurs) and diverse micro-climates. It's also one of the most remote, and most interesting natural environments we are likely to ever visit. 250,000 species are found here, of which 70% are found nowhere else in the world.
Madagascar's rainforests and other micro-climates are still a largely untapped resource, and
the environments harbor undiscovered plants and animals that scientists believe may hold the secrets to curing cancer and other diseases. Even if you don't care about the animals themselves, this is a pragmatic reason to be concerned about the impacts of climate change.
Unfortunately, Madagascar, remote as it is, isn't immune to the impact of climate change. According to research from the American Museum of Natural History, "at least three species of amphibians and reptiles found in Madagascar's mountainous north could go extinct between 2050 and 2100 because of habitat loss associated with rising global temperatures." In addition, according to the WWF, "in 2005 bleaching events associated with warm ocean temperatures affected up to 80% of coral coverage, along with anemones and giant clams, on the northeast coast of Madagascar."
We all know that our actions here in the developed world impact the climate in countries like Madagascar, but making the connection between our daily consumption and the extinction of a potentially life saving plant or insect is harder to do. I hope the images I included in this post will help.
Want to learn more? The WWF runs many projects in Madagascar, including programs to reduce deforestation, help ensure that new development is sustainable, and integrate climate change awareness into their local programs. To make a donation to the WWF, or learn more about their programs in Madagascar, click here
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Posted on October 15, 2009 |
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My giveway for Hippo Hooray iPhone Apps is now closed. I have sent email to each of the winners, and I also want to say "Thank You" to everyone who took the time to enter.
If you didn't win, or missed your chance to enter, you can still buy your own copies of Hippo Hooray shapes, colors and letters. These apps really are fun and educational. At 99c each, they're a bargain, especially considering the fact that you're sure to use them to bail yourself out of some sticky bored-toddler-travel situation.
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Posted on October 13, 2009 |
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Here is a great reader tip from Regan that I wanted to share!
Wanted to share what worked so well for me on a recent trip that I took with my 13 month old daughter from Hawaii direct to Atlanta, GA. I was extremely nervous because I was traveling with my daughter alone. Fortunately, I was seated in an empty row (two seats on the side, putting my daughter in her car seat in the window seat.) I always keep diaper pins in my bag, for mishaps (like fixing a nursing bra or my daughters ripped pants), so I waited until my daughter fell asleep and I pinned one end of the airplane blanket to the top of her car seat and then the other end to the back of the seat in front of her. LIFESAVER!! Once the cabin got dark (red-eye flight), all the babies fell asleep. As soon as the adults started getting bored, reading lights were being turned on and off all over the place, waking up all the kids and filling the plane with tired cries. My daughter was the only one to sleep through the entire flight in her little tent. She woke up 20 minutes before we landed, just as the attendants were handing out yogurt. By the time I fed her the yogurt, we landed! I have shared the airplane tent idea with all the moms I know. Hope it helps you guys!
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Posted on October 12, 2009 |
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If you missed my previous classes at the Rick Steves Travel Center, you're in luck. I am scheduled to teach again on Saturday November 7th from 12pm to 1:30. Free registration is required, and you can register here
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Posted on October 11, 2009 |
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Here are a few stories I enjoyed this week.
Jamie Pearson's funny take on fun things to do at SeaWorld
If you're trying to get in some fall hiking, check out the free Book of Stuff to Do Outside from the US Forest Service. We used ours last weekend, and thought it had tons of great ideas for ways to keep the kids actively engaged in our hike.
Remember the woman who was removed from a flight because she refused to cover her nursing baby. She is now suing in court.
Curious about how to buy a camper for family vacations? Here's a story about buying a used camper on craigslist
Giveaways
Don't forget to enter my giveaway for Hippo Hooray iphone apps to keep your preschooler busy on a plane or in the car.
Travels With Baby is giving away one of my favorite travel products, the CARES harness
The VacationGals are giving away a Hands-free speakerphone for the car
Enter to win a Pacsafe daybag at Wanderlust and Lipstick
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Posted on October 10, 2009 |
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This picture was taken at a very fancy restaurant in New York's Columbus Circle shopping center (The restaurant is now gone). We played our usual trick of putting baby E to sleep in his car carrier before we arrived, and then parking him under the table where no other diners (or staff!) would notice.
This was the rare occasion where he didn't cooperate - waking up midway through the Entree. Luckily he was fascinated by the overhead lights and the reflections on the glassware and barely peeped during the rest of the meal. We were a bit embarrassed, but but surprised that both the other diners and the staff fawned over us instead of shooting us nasty looks - I'm so glad that we headed out for that meal instead of sulking in our hotel room with a sleeping newborn.
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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7 comments |
Posted on October 8, 2009 |
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