Knowing when to fold ’em on family trips
Poker players and country music fans alike are familiar with the famous 1978 Kenny Rogers song, “The Gambler.”
Entries by Matt Villano
Gone but not forgotten
They meant so much to so many. Symbols of financial prowess. Pillars of modern engineering. Giant quote marks. Some New Yorkers even saw the two twin towers of the World Trade Center as two huge middle fingers to the rest of the world. “Fuck all of youz, New York is the best!” they seemed to […]
The dirtiest place on a plane: The tray table
For generations, traveling parents have assumed the lavatory is the dirtiest part of a plane. But a study released this week offers ground-breaking new data: Nothing on an airplane is more germ-infested than the tray table. The study, from an organization named Travelmath, gives us family travelers new reason to spaz out about wiping down […]
Great new tool for organizing family travel
Considering the chaos that is traveling with two (soon to be three!) kids under the age of 7, I’m a huge fan of tools that help organize family travel. I’ve blogged about some of these tools previously. My new fave: The Qliplet. Essentially, this tool is a carabiner on steroids. It’s a heavy-duty clip for […]
Farewell to a friend and family travel advocate
Keith Bellows was a luminary. In 17 years as Editor-in-Chief of National Geographic Traveler, he pushed his writers to write better, dream big, and allow themselves to be moved by travel. He also took a stand as a staunch advocate of family travel, writing books and essays about the importance of introducing kids to the […]
Family travel hacks from an old friend
When Sara Clemence and I first met, we were two twenty-something freelancers who were (both working out of the same communal work space in Manhattan, and) still new to the whole writing game. Fast forward almost 20 years; the two of us are a lot more successful, and we’re still pals with a whole lot […]
When pictures and video take over
How many pictures do you take on your family trips? How much video? According to a story in this weekend’s edition of The New York Times, it might be too much. The piece, which appeared in the Style section (technically it’s Fashion & Style, but I’m old-school), was titled, “That’s a Wrap. What Did I […]
Jumping away the last days of summer
As much as our family loves to travel to faraway places, we also love discovering new family-friendly stuff in our own proverbial backyard. Today we found a new fave 30 minutes south of our house: Rebounderz, an indoor trampoline park. The place is a kids’ fantasy land with dozens upon dozens of trampolines. Plain trampolines. […]
Golden Gate Park by Segway on a family trip
Golden Gate Park is one of the greatest urban parks in the world. It’s even better when you explore it on a Segway. You know the Segway; that two-wheeled transportation device made famous by the movie, “Paul Blart: Mall Cop.” The one that looks like a futuristic scooter. The one that simultaneously looks like the […]
Family travel inspiration from the Mendocino Coast
Most of the time, family travel is all about the ins and outs of traveling with the kids. Other times, it’s about family-oriented epiphanies, observations, and/or discoveries when traveling while the kids are back at home. This past weekend, Powerwoman and I were lucky enough to experience the latter form of family travel. The two […]