Slowing the roll on a family trip
If you’ve ever seen any of the National Lampoon’s “Vacation” movies, you know that Clark Griswold’s travel style is nothing short of insane.
Entries by Matt Villano
California road trip oasis
The girls and I are road-tripping around California again, our second such road trip of the calendar year. The destination this time looks a lot like the destination back in January: Southern California. Then we crammed the trip into five days. This time we’re stretching it out into eight.
Wandering Pod in The Washington Post
Despite this very blog, despite the fact that I’ve now parented THREE human children, I often forget I’m an “expert” on the subject of family travel. To me, a lot of this stuff is just life. It’s how we roll. Every now and again, however, I’m reminded that people actually look to me for perspective. […]
Making a Splash with Family Travel
One of the biggest misconceptions about family travel is that you have to splurge for airfare and fly somewhere faraway to have an experience your kids will remember.
Feeling the pain
Family travel can be full of wonderful, magical moments that everybody remembers forever. Most of the time, however, as any parent will tell you, the experience verges on shitshow, complete with meltdowns, tantrums, complaining, and whining—from kids and parents alike.
The Worst Family Travel Destination in the West
It is with great embarrassment and shame that I admit I never had visited the Grand Canyon before this month.
Happy Free National Park Day
Today, our annual celebration of the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., is the first free national park day of the year. This means every single American gets free entrance to every national park and national monument site in the country. It also means you’ve got no excuse to spend the kids’ day off from […]
Hunting for Dollars
When my wife and I pre-booked the final night of our road trip in Morro Bay, we had one thing on our minds: Walking on Morro Strand State Beach.
Toddlers as Truth
One of the best things about exploring the world with a toddler is that she lacks all semblance of an internal editor. When things suck, Baby G says so. When things rule, she says that, too.
The Gambler Lesson
Here’s how tonight was supposed to go: The girls and I would leave our hotel at 4:45, pile in the car, drive 15 minutes to the house of an old college friend, and hang there through dinner before coming back.