Do you
remember what it was like to travel with your family as a kid? For me, family
trips meant getting stuffed into the back of a station wagon with three other
kids (my nephews), no air-conditioning, and four adults in the front. It meant
18-hour CAR RIDES with the windows open, knowing what part of the country we
were in by the smell (orange trees in Orlando was my favorite!), and stopping
at REST-STOPS for a picnic rather than eating at a restaurant.
Times have changed so much -- what will your kids remember when they look back on their travels as a family? Putting on headphones, playing with a Game-Boy, and shutting the world off for two weeks? Or being whisked from activity to activity -- everything whizzing by in a blur? Remember, family travel is about MAKING MEMORIES -- and experiencing new things together so that you can say, "Remember when..." after your kids are grown. And although any successful trip starts with good ORGANIZATION, your travel shouldn't be judged by how many activities you can check off of your list -- a hard balance to strike in this day and age.
Christine Loomis has put together a fun, educational, and practical guide to planning successful family vacations -- where to go, how to get there, and what to do once you have arrived --
Simplify Family Travel : How to Plan a Family Vacation the Whole Family Will Enjoy. It's like having your own personal "kid-friendly" travel agent at your disposal!
THE BASICS
Have you ever picked up a "how-to" book, only to find that you were expected to wade through pages and pages of text to find out how to do the thing you wanted to learn to do? Well that isn't the case with Christine's book. Her information is laid out in an easy-to-follow fashion, and is coded with a series of eye-catching SYMBOLS that let you know exactly what kind of tip you are looking at:
• LABOR and TIME SAVERS -
Tips to make chores go easier and faster.
• BRIGHT IDEAS - Creative travel ideas you might not have thought of before.
• SIMPLY SAFER - Suggestions for keeping your family and "stuff" out of danger.
• STRESS BUSTERS - Ways to cut down on frustrations, irritations, and delays.
• COST CUTTERS - Ideas for saving money and finding great travel discounts.
• RULES OF THUMB - Tried and true travel guidelines.
• DON'T FORGET - Important information -- make yourself a note.
PLANNING
Preparation is the most important part of any vacation -- especially one involving children.
The number one priority for harmonious vacation is selecting a destination and activities that EVERYONE will enjoy. And this can be a challenge, when you are trying to accommodate a variety of age ranges and interests into one trip. However, you can avoid potential squabbles by making your travel planning a FAMILY AFFAIR. Let everyone offer his or her input up front, and make sure all your travelers give their seal of approval to the final decision.
Christine also spends a great deal of time discussing the PHYSICAL
PREPARATIONS for your trip. There is so much to consider before you leave home. What should you pack? Will you travel by plane, train, or automobile? Will you make your own travel arrangements or hire a travel agent? How will you keep your house safe while you are gone? In all of her suggestions, Christine blends good old-fashioned common sense with a few creative ideas you have probably never considered -- and even the most seasoned traveler will learn some new tricks.
ON YOUR VACATION
It's hard to have a fun vacation if someone in your party suddenly comes down with the measles or breaks an arm. And although you can never fully prevent illness or injury, you can take a number of precautions to keep your family SAFE and WELL on your travels. Christine spends a great deal of time discussing health issues while on the road -- preventing communicable diseases, avoiding food poisoning, protecting your kids from injuries, and what to do if someone does get sick or hurt away from home. In her estimation, your travel health is greatly determined by how well-prepared and how ALERT you are about your surroundings.
But Christine also focuses on the positive side of your trip -- namely, making sure that you have a GOOD TIME during your vacation. She discusses creative options for lodging and dining and inexpensive ways to fill your days with fun. If you are normally "big-city" travelers, you might consider a change of pace with a trip to a state park -- camping in a private cabin, eating picnic lunches, and hiking in the outdoors. Or, if your family tends toward amusement parks for entertainment, try including a behind-the-scenes educational tour in your next trip. You could plan a dozen different vacations from the ideas contained in Christine's book, and never run out of amazing trips to take with your family.
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Ramona Creel is the founder of
OnlineOrganizing.com -- offering "a world of organizing solutions!"
Visit
OnlineOrganizing.com for organizing products, free tips, a speakers bureau -- and even get a referral for a Professional Organizer near you. And if you are interested in becoming a Professional Organizer, we have all the tools you need to succeed. (Copyright 2001, Ramona Creel) **************************************************************
. It's like having your own personal "kid-friendly" travel agent at your disposal!
