Family Vacation Central

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

If you’re like millions of other Americans, this summer you and your family are likely to buckle up the kids in the back seat, strap luggage to the roof and set out for a vacation driving the nation’s roadways. And if you do, there is one thing as certain as your kids getting antsy here and there: The trip will be more expensive this year than it was last year.

In light of rising costs of fuel, food and hotel accommodations, the American Automobile Association advises that you do your research before getting behind the wheel.

Fortunately, the Internet is an excellent resource for the budget-conscious traveler, with web sites offering everything from helpful tools such as fuel calculators to ideas about innovative and affordable lodging opportunities such as house-sitting. Read the rest of this entry »

Found this list from Cosavoo.com and wanted to share. As we all know there are a lot of things to think about when we travel with our very young children and here are some tips that make it that much easier for everyone.

Ask the hotel about child facilities

Some resorts are built for couples, with lots of spas and romantic nooks. Kids will hate this. You need a resort with plenty of indoor recreational facilities, where they can play safely, and happily. Some hotels will even offer babysitting or child care services, so you can do some shopping or sight seeing on your own, without someone tugging at your knee and saying, “Mommy, can we go now?”

Don’t overload the itinerary

Kids get tired more easily, or can rapidly become overstimulated and cranky. Make sure that the itinerary leaves lots of room for resting, snacks, or (if you’re taking toddlers) even naps. commercial carpet cleaners you should only cover two major destinations in one day (one in the morning, another in the afternoon). If you want to see more sights, make arrangements to leave your child to rest in the hotel (see tip number one) and do it on your own.

Bring a “child care pack”

This includes lots of water (kids get dehydrated more easily), an extra change of clothes, and small toys to amuse them at restaurants.

If you are going to a warm place (like a beach or a tropical country) remember that kids are more vulnerable to sunstroke and sunburn. Bring sunblock, a handheld battery-operated fan, and sports drinks (which will help them retain water). Avoid bringing them out in the hottest times of the day. Read the rest of this entry »

I have just seen a great list of tools that you can use on your computer to plan and have your next road trip.

The site Mashable is all about the cutting edge of high tech but today there is this article that list 20 tools that Mashable thinks are the great online tools for your family vacation.

Most of the article is including sites to book hotels, cars and other stuff as well as journalling your vacation experiences online.

The first tech stuff I used on a vacation was back in 1999 when I brought a laptop along on a long 16 day road trip. I used the program Map Point that is really the old version of Microsoft Streets and Trips and was able to map our vacation as well as get myself out of trouble whenever we got lost.

The newer versions of streets and trips actually come with a GPS unit that you can plug into your laptop so that you can find out where you are when you get lost…out of town this is really easy to do espcially in big cities.

Here is a great list that I just ran across of great vacations for families. I am not sure how accurate the list is but these certainly look like great places to check out with the wife and kids.

1. Fly fishing, Scotland
If your kids love to fish this is the ideal location where you can fish for salmon or trout. Fly fishing is great for older kids but the young ones would struggle a bit with the coordination. There are great places to fly fish all over the world.

2. Dude ranch stay
Give your kids an authentic taste of the old West and take a step out of your hectic family life. Where I live in Alberta Canada there is a lot of this as well as in Montana and Idaho.

3. Cappadocia, Turkey
Kids will love this region of underground cities where they can explore the subterranean levels and the labyrinth of tunnels. Read the rest of this entry »