I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite blogs for family travel information. I hope this list is representative, but if you know of a GREAT blog that I missed, please share it in the comments!
My Favorites
Family Travel
Sheila Scarborough's blog on BootsnAll is a great resource for well-researched destination ideas, news and views from around the web, and Sheila's own travel stories and insights. Check out this article about Taking Kids Manga and Anime Conventions
The Perrin Post
Wendy Perrin's blog on the Conde Nast Traveler website is a great great general resource. Wendy also happens to have two children who travel with her frequently. She often blogs about the best and worst of traveling with kids as well as her tried and true tricks for making travel with kids go smoothly. Check out this recent post on Ten Toyless Ways to Occupy Kids on Planes
Away.com's Family Travel Blog
Away.com's travel blog is a great source for inspiration. The guide posts travel stories and ideas for family friendly destinations around the world, many of them off the beaten path. I particularly liked this article back in March about choosing a resort with a kids program (they're not all created equal.)
Taking The Kids
Eileen Ogintz writes a regularly syndicated weekly column about travel with kids. You can find all her articles here. There are a blend of articles about traditional ideas, like amusement parks, and new ideas like Volunteering With The Kids in New Orleans
Traveling With Elliot
I enjoy reading this blog when the family is traveling. The pictures are great, the writing is both interesting and informative, and I'm feeling particularly jealous of their recent trip to singapore
Mommy Poppins
Mommy Poppins is about activities for kids in New York. It's a great resource if you're headed to New York and want to find out what's happening during the week of your visit. I enjoy reading this site even though we don't have a New York trip planned... maybe I'm hoping for an excuse to go.
Blogs devoted to Family Travel
DeliciousBaby.com (me)
Family Travel
Are We There Yet
Taking The Kids
Kids Can Travel
Families.com Travel Blog
About.com Family Travel
Travel Focused Blogs With Periodic Articles about Family Travel
Orbitz Blog
Traveling Mamas
Perrin Post
Families on a "Round The World" trip
There are lots of these, but here are a few that I think are particularly good:
Soul Travelers 3
Family On Bikes
Six In The World
Four Go Round The World
The Wide Wide World
Families who blog about vacations
Traveling With Elliot
5G Journeys
Travels With Baby
Minnesota Mom (mostly road trips around Minnesota)
Wee Life
Destination Blogs Focused on Kids (A great way to find out about local events during your visit)
Mommy Poppins (New York)
ParentMap (Seattle)
Instant Hausfrau (Seattle)
aParentlySpeaking (SF Bay Area)
Other Great Family Travel Resources
Rookie Moms "A Week In" Series
Know of a great travel site that I didn't list? Tell us in the comments.
6 comments |
Posted on April 25, 2008 |
Save to del.icio.us
Wow! It was inspiring and fun to read everyone's dream travel destinations. I want to thank everyone who entered and shared their dreams. I'm excited to announce that the winner of the GoGo Kidz Travelmate
was Jenny who said:
Our dream destination is Fiji. My husband is an avid surfer and my son and I both love the beach. Also, I find the Polynesian people and their culture fascinating.
Many thanks to Go Go Babyz for generously sponsoring this giveaway.
Didn't win this time? Check in next Monday for another fantastic giveaway.
Related Links:
GoGo Kidz Travelmate
DeliciousBaby:Car Seat Carriers for the Airport
0 comments |
Posted on April 24, 2008 |
Save to del.icio.us
We woke up to super cold weather and snow, so I decided to forgo a last gondola ride and take the kids to the
Whistler Public Library. The Library is housed in a beautiful, light-filled new building and has a wonderful collection of children's books. Even better, there was a story hour during our visit, and the kids loved the special children's story room with comfy cubes to sit on, the relaxed atmosphere and the stories and singing. What a welcome break from the cold weather!
We also stopped by Expressions Art Studio to pick up the tiles the kids had painted the day before. I expected E to be delighted with his, but I was surprised that D so clearly remembered her tile and was so excited to see and hold it. It was tough work to get my kids creations out of their hands, wrapped, and safely stowed in the base of the stroller so that we could take them home without breaking them.
By now it was time to pack up and have lunch. The whole family met up for lunch at Behind The Grind. E was delighted to find packets of peanut butter and jelly on the table, so we ordered him some toast and he made his own (very messy) sandwich. D munched contentedly on avocado and other vegetables from my delicious vegetable sandwich, and P snacked on fresh baked banana bread. A great lunch before hitting the road.
We loaded up the car and kids with the hope that both kids would nap on the drive to Vancouver (about two hours). D fell asleep almost immediately, but E, as exhausted as he was after so many late evenings, did not.
We passed the time in the car making up stories. We make up a few sentences and then let him fill in some of the details. For example "One morning, E woke up and heard a knock on the door, he opened it to find..." It is always fun to hear what he says and storytelling also builds a variety of skills around story telling, creativity and verbal expression. Car rides are (unfortunately) one of the few times we make time to do this with him, so it always feels like a special treat for all of us.
When we tired of storytelling, I taught E a few Passover songs and gave him a Train Sticker Book to play with. These books are one of my favorite travel toys, and I keep a stash of sticker books with different themes at home so that they're easy to grab when we head on a trip. Each book comes packed with reusable stickers and a small laminated scene to stick them on. The stickers are durable enough to use a few times, and they are also easily removed from windows, airplane tray tables, and other places that stickers aren't usually allowed. Best of all, they're inexpensive and small enough to fit neatly in my purse or the diaper bag.
This was the first long drive we've done with E awake. And while it probably helped that he was tired, we were surprised at how smoothly it went.
We stopped at Vancouver's Granville Island and unloaded the kids. This popular tourist destination is great fun for kids. There's a "Kids Market" filled with activities and stores for kids, a really great playground, a pond with ducks, and best of all a model train museum. During the summer, there's also a free water park to play in. When the family gets hungry, the Farmer's Market has a variety of different takeaway options or you can head to the popular and casual Go Fish for fish and chips or any of their more grown up fresh fish dishes.
We let the kids run off some steam in the playground and play with a train set in one of the toy stores and then grabbed a quick dinner before hitting the road. Both kids slept soundly and we returned home to some of the coldest April Seattle weather on record and the first April snowfall since 1972! So much for the idea that getting away from home was the only way to get the kids one last snow day before Summer.
Related Links:
Vancouver With Kids
Whistler With Kids
A Day on Your Family Vacation
0 comments |
Posted on April 24, 2008 |
Save to del.icio.us
In this picture from our last family trip to Vancouver, E has a chance to "get inside" one of the huge fish tanks at the Vancouver Aquarium. The Vancouver Aquarium is the largest Aquarium in Canada and has enormous tanks and both indoor and outdoor exhibits. We spent a great morning at the Aquarium with the highlights being an outdoor dolphin show and the mesmerizing jellyfish displays. We can't wait to return now that the kids are older and little D will be able to participate in the fun too.
Related Links:
Vancouver With Kids
Vancouver Aquarium With Kids
1 comment |
Posted on April 23, 2008 |
Save to del.icio.us
I was shocked this morning as D climbed out of bed, forgoing her usual morning cuddle to race to the window and scream "gondola." Afraid she would wake up her very tired brother, I hauled her out of the room and we went off in search of coffee. A quick stop at Behind The Grind gave us a chance to scope out their delicious (and hearty) looking breakfast options while I picked up some coffee to go.
Once everyone was awake and dressed we escorted P to the slopes and the kids and I headed up the Blackcomb gondola for some more snow play. We don't see much snow in Seattle, so we don't have much snow gear. The kids wore snug footless pj's as a base layer, lined pants, and rain pants on top. I kept their feet warm and dry with thick socks and rainboots. Gear like this might not be great for skiing, but for 20 minutes or so in the snow it worked great.
We warmed up with lunch at Zog's Dogs, otherwise known as "the toddler dream restaurant." Zog's serves hamburgers, hot dogs, and fries with different toppings. E had his fries plain with ketchup while D and I shared fries topped with gravy, cheese curds and sausage. It was fun to talk to E about how quickly the food cooled down in the cold air, and how it steamed as if it was straight out of the oven even when it had reached a comfortable temperature. He was a bit puzzled, and I bet we'll return to that discussion next time we're eating warm food in cold weather.
Next stop, back to hotel for D's nap (and a little down time for me) After deciding that E is probably still a little too young to go tubing independently, E and his dad returned to the Whistler Core Climbing and Fitness Center for more climbing and play. P discovered that in addition to the climbing area, they have a selection of books, some chalk and a chalkboard and other quiet activities.
After D's nap, the kids and I headed out to explore the village. What I thought would be a short stop at Hatly turned into a long one as my kids explored their great selection of PVC free rain boots and umbrellas. E and D (who have been fighting over our one child friendly umbrella for the past few months) picked out matching frog umbrellas and delighted in carrying them everywhere for the remainder of the trip.
Our final stop was at Expressions Art Studio where the kids got to paint on ceramic tiles. D had more fun painting with the water than the paints, but did manage to choose two favorite colors (blue and yellow) and get quite a bit of them on her tile. E, who likes orange and green for EVERYTHING (a green sippy with an orange lid makes milk taste best and his birthday party didn't so much have a theme as a green and orange color scheme) decorated his tile exclusively in those two colors. E was fascinated with the kiln (which was visible in the studio) and cannot wait to return in the morning to pick up his tile.
Related Links
Whistler With Kids
Whistler Family Vacation Day 1: Snow and Sun
Finding Kids Activities on a Family Vacation
0 comments |
Posted on April 22, 2008 |
Save to del.icio.us
Today Away.com's family travel blog published a guest article by me about
Visiting Seattle With Kids The article lists some of my favorite things to do as tourists in our own city.
You can view the article here:
Away.com: Insider's Guide to Seattle
If you're visiting from Away.com, here are some of the other useful links and resources on DeliciousBaby.
0 comments |
Posted on April 21, 2008 |
Save to del.icio.us
If you haven't had a chance to enter our free giveaway of a GoGo Kidz Travelmate, now is the time to do it! The Travelmate lets you convert your carseat into a stroller at the airport, and our contest ends Wednesday April 23 at Midnight PST
Just visit this article: Giveaway - GoGo Kidz Travelmate Stroller Attachment for Car Seat and follow the instructions.
0 comments |
Posted on April 21, 2008 |
Save to del.icio.us
Our main (and only) trick for making roadtrips go smoothly is to drive when the kids are supposed to be asleep, so last night after a quick pizza dinner, we loaded everyone in the car and headed north. We arrived at around Midnight at Whistler
I rarely rave about hotel rooms, but our room at the
Westin could hardly be set up better for kids. We have a separate bedroom and living area, a kitchenette, and a huge soaking tub. There's plenty of space for the kids to play during the day, and it's nice to know that in a pinch I can cook up a warm snack or meal for the kids. Everyone was super considerate about getting us checked in and up to our room quickly so that we could get the kids into bed.
In the morning, P headed off to the slopes while the kids and I ate breakfast. The gondola ride up Blackcomb mountain is free for non-skiers, so I pulled rainpants over the kids clothes and we rode up to the top of the mountain to play in the snow. The kids loved the ride, and E and I chatted happily about his last gondola ride in Barcelona . Little D is pretty steady on her feet on solid ground, but the slippery snow was a little too difficult for her. The gloves I brought, too, were a failure... the kids simply couldn't enjoy the show without the use of their fingers. Luckily I had thought to bring along the kids shovels and pails and the kids happily sat in the snow, scooped snow into their pails and built "snow castles."
Another gondola ride took us back down the mountain to sunny (today) Whistler Village where E had a snack in the stroller D drifted off to sleep in the sling as I walked. With D safely asleep, E and I decided to explore Whistler Village. We checked out the music, crazy activities, and found Whistler Core climbing and fitness. While Core specializes in rock climbing, they also have a fun indoor playground (ages 3 and up) where kids can climb and slide (parents pay a fixed hourly rate and for an additional charge, parents can leave while kids are supervised). Kids ages five and up can also climb on kid friendly climbing routes.
We spent the afternoon together as a family exploring the village, taking a dip in the hotel pool, and finally heading to dinner at the hotel's Japanese restaurant. P and I reflected on how nice it was to have a day where neither of us thought about work, the cares of home, or even a particular travel agenda. We're pretty sure the kids thought so too, and little D ended her day by looking out our hotel window at the gondola and screaming "gonga, go-gola, gongola, gongola."
Related Links:
Napping In The Stroller
Finding Kids Activities on a Family Vacation
0 comments |
Posted on April 17, 2008 |
Save to del.icio.us
With all the flight cancellations in the past few weeks, more travelers are finding themselves stranded in the airport. There have been a couple of good articles recently on dealing with flight delays with kids.
On Concierge.com, Wendy Perrin wrote a great article on
Ten Things To Do When You're Stranded at an Airport. Check out the comments for all sorts of helpful ideas from fellow travelers. **
Vagabondish had a nice article on Travel Games for the Road It's a good reminder that if you're creative, entertainment on the road doesn't have to come in the form of heavy electronic equipment or expensive toys with lots of small pieces. Playing a game together might even turn those idle moments into a special part of your trip.
ParentHacks, always a favorite of mine, has a nice hack on carrying a travel journal for each child with you wherever you go. Once filled the journal becomes a nice keepsake for the child to keep or send to grandma.
Need More Ideas? Here are a couple of my own:
-
Get a room at an airport hotel. Sometimes having a private space (or a place to sleep if you're jet lagged) can make a huge difference in everyone's mood.
-
Try to get your kids moving, find an empty gate area and let them run or jump a little
-
If you are stuck on the tarmac (instead of in the terminal) and the plane door has not been closed yet, ask whether you can let your children walk and play on the jetway.
-
Even though you're frusterated, try not to let your kids know it. They'll only pick up on your mood.
-
Resist the temptation to keep your kids (temporarily) quiet with juice or sugary treats, it will only make them harder to manage later.
-
Engage your kids in imaginative play. If they're old enough, try making up stories about why the flight is delayed (maybe squirrels in the cockpit?), where the plane should go instead, or make a list of things you would pack if you were staying at your destination for a year
**Note:
Wendy Perrin was the first travel writer I knew by name, and I was inspired by her writing long ago when I still worked 70 hour weeks, had no kids and little vacation time. Her article on a difficult trip to Club Med back when I was thinking about getting pregnant for the first time struck a chord & I decided right then that we'd do the research ourselves instead of relying exclusively on resorts that might not actually be as family friendly or efficient as they appear. Her blog posts often feature helpful information about traveling with kids, and now would be a great time to check it out.
Related Links:
Flying With Kids
Filed Under:
travel-tips
3 comments |
Posted on April 15, 2008 |
Save to del.icio.us
Last week's giveaway was a great success and I'm excited to have another great product for giveaway this week.
GoGo Babyz just sent me a Travelmate, and I'm delighted to give it away to one lucky reader.
The GoGo Kidz Travelmate, first featured in our article on Using Car Seat Carriers to get through the Airport and your Flights, attaches to your car seat and makes it into a rolling stroller. Your kid can sit in the seat as you go! This is a great way to get through the airport, especially if you don't need a stroller at your destination. You can gate-check your car seat or carry it on the plane and stow the Travelmate.
This Giveaway is now closed. To learn about new giveaways as they become available, please 
Subscribe to our feed
Note that the Travelmate must be removed before the car seat is installed in a car.
If you'd like a chance to win a Travelmate, leave us a comment before Midnight PST on Wednesday April 23 and tell us your dream destination for a family vacation. If you win and wish to be contacted by email, please include your email address with your comment (your email isn't shared with anyone). Otherwise, you must check back here to see if you've won.
We'll choose a winner randomly and announce the results here on Thursday April 24. Many thanks to Go Go Babyz for generously sponsoring this giveaway.
If you have family or friends who you know will love this giveaway, just click the "share this" link at the bottom of this (or any) post to email it to a friend.
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 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. To enter, you must be a U.S. resident, age 18 or older. 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.
173 comments |
Posted on April 14, 2008 |
Save to del.icio.us
