Tag Archive for: vacation with kids

Dumb stuff people say (and write)

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I fly solo on business trips, but I am not a pedophile.

I fly solo on business trips, but I am not a pedophile.

Believe it or not, Donald Sterling—the racist owner of the Los Angeles Clippers—wasn’t the only person to say something really dumb in the last week.

Nope, in the world of family travel, Tracey Spicer, a mommy blogger from Australia, scored some serious stupid points, too.

Spicer, who has A RECURRING COLUMN in the Sydney Morning Herald, wrote Sunday about how she doesn’t want her “kids sitting next to a man on a plane.” In a nutshell, her post alleges that men are more likely to commit child sexual abuse on planes.

One of the final lines reads: “Sure, not all men are pedophiles [sic], but offenders are predominantly male.”

(Seriously.)

If this line isn’t offensive enough, the rest of Spicer’s argument certainly does the job. She cites “data” from the Australian Bureau of Statistics that indicates “90 percent of all child sexual abuse is committed by someone in, or known to, the family.” Then she goes on to write: “However, stranger danger is a risk and women are perpetrators in only about 8 percent of the cases.”

Spicer cites other “information” to support her case. One incident—an obvious outlier—was from 2001. Another, from 2012, widely was accepted to be a case of an airline behaving badly. She mentions a third incident, but that one was from 2012, as well. And it also wasn’t cut-and-dried.

Don’t get me wrong, I applaud the author for trying to raise awareness among parents that you never know who your unaccompanied minor might get as a seat-mate on a long flight.

Still, to do it and besmirch all male travelers in the process—that’s just irresponsible and dumb.

Here’s a novel thought: If you’re a parent and you’re spazzing out about who your child might sit next to when he or she flies solo, how about you just FLY ON THE PLANE WITH YOUR KID?

More important, why do so many people wig out over issues relating to family travel by air? Why do kids on planes prompt people to do and think and say such weird stuff?  What is it about family airplane travel that makes so many sane humans sound nuts? Every time an item like this hits the news, I ask: What could we be doing differently to change the perception of kids on planes?

Let’s hope we find some answers soon.

‘Storybook’ Yosemite post comes to life

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Little R, seeking a cozy hideaway.

Little R, seeking a cozy hideaway.

As I have noted here in the preceding weeks, we’ve just come back from our biggest trip of 2014—a family excursion to Yosemite National Park.

We took the trip as part of an assignment from Expedia, for whom I serve as (senior editor and) a contributing writer to the Expedia Viewfinder blog. Now—finally, IMHO—my main narrative piece from the trip has been published for all to read.

The piece, titled “Family adventure in Yosemite” appeared on the Expedia blog today—just one day after Earth Day.

It kicked off the blog’s “Storybook” campaign.

In the story, I detailed the best parts of our four-day excursion from our home in Northern California to Yosemite. Some of these highlights:

  • Our day “hiking” with the girls to Mirror Lake
  • Our game of “Pooh Cones” in Tenaya Creek
  • Our trip to Lower Yosemite Falls
  • Our rock-tossing session on the banks of the Merced
  • Our nighttime stroll under the starry sky

Perhaps the biggest personal milestone: The trip was the first time the four of us had visited a national park as a family, and the first time my lovely bride ever had stepped foot in the park (considering she has spent nearly half of her life in California, this is a big deal).

Yes, regular readers of this blog have read portions of the Viewfinder recap before. But there’s new stuff in there, too. And there’ll be more; I plan to publish two additional installments over the next few weeks. Please give it a read! Please check back often! And please follow along with the rest of the campaign, as my colleagues will be writing their own “Storybook” posts between now and July.

What to do when the kids won’t fly

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Our L would rather just pick poppies all day.

Our L would rather just pick poppies all day.

We pride ourselves in this house on being a family that can go anywhere at any time. We’ve traveled as a unit to multiple continents and multiple countries. We’re old pros at just about every type of transportation. Heck, our kids have more stamps in their passports than about 90 percent of the population of the United States.

Imagine, then, our surprise this week, when L declared that she did not want to fly on airplanes anymore.

(Her exact words were: “I’m done with planes.”)

The Big Girl’s last flight was more than four months ago—our return trip to London. Neither Powerwoman nor I is entirely sure what prompted the kid to put her foot down like in this fashion. Some of the theories we’ve discussed:

  • She reflected on the duration of the flight home from London and decided it was too long.
  • She really hated running out of lollipop on the descent and does NOT want her ears to hurt like that again.
  • She just wants to stay closer to home for a while.

Whatever the reason, her declaration definitely has complicated matters. On one hand, we want to take her wishes seriously and at least make it seem like we’re listening to her. On the other hand, travel is what we do in this family, and a handful of our upcoming trips inevitably are going to involve airplanes of some kind.

(For instance, we’ve got upcoming vacations to Hawaii and Walt Disney World, in Florida. You can’t really get to either of those places from California without flying.)

Ultimately, I think we’ll compromise—slow down a bit on the air travel (we’ve already booked more road trips for the summer, including one that involves an RV) but also make sure L understands that some of our family vacations necessitate a plane.

Privately, Powerwoman and I also will hope L’s current stance on airplane travel is nothing that a few Dum-Dums can’t cure.

How do you respond when your kids say they don’t want to travel a certain way?

A family travel Twitter party worth attending

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KidsNTrips_Bahamas_BubbleBadge3-1024x1024The coolest things about Twitter parties? Everyone’s invited. The coolest thing about family travel Twitter parties? Everyone’s invited AND you can learn neat stuff.

That’s why I was jazzed this week to hear about the new #KidsNTrips Twitter parties from (friends and) inspiring family travel bloggers Jen Leo, Colleen Lanin, and Katie Dillon. According to the organizers, they’ll be tweeting away with the #KidsNTrips hashtag once or twice a month to bring useful family travel tips and useful destination information.

Oh, there also will be giveaways. (Because, really, what would a Twitter chat be without giveaways?)

The first #KidsNTrips chat was this week—April 17—at 9:30 a.m. PDT. According to Lanin, the next one is slated for Thursday, May 22, also at 9:30 a.m. PDT. I’ve already got the May 22 event in my calendar, and I suggest you do the same. See you there!

The map of all maps

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The base map for Kidsmap.

The base map for Kidsmap

Despite the fact that we live in an age of GPS navigation and Google Maps, I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for old-fashioned, fold-‘em-up-and-stick-‘em-in-the-glove-compartment paper maps. I’ve raised my kids to know them and appreciate these travel aids. Call me a dinosaur. I don’t care.

This archaic obsession of mine has prompted us to keep the folks at our local AAA office busy with requests before big road trips (or, I guess, big international air trips).

It also is the reason for my rabid love for The Kidsmap, from German cartographer Simon Schuetz and his company, Awesome Maps.

This map—which (it’s important to note) exists in physical, not virtual, form—comprises three main parts: A super-simple base map showing nothing other than continents, deserts and major mountain ranges; sheets of re-attachable stickers depicting natural wonders and indigenous animal species from around the world; and a deck of quiz cards with questions about different sites and people and lands.

Because the map has both stickers and cards, it can be used as a sticker map, or as a full-on geography game.

Of course if you’re like me, you also can use it to teach your kids about which landmasses are where.

The most delicious irony: This map isn’t available yet, and only will be available later this year if Schuetz can get the project funded through his Kickstarter campaign to do so. (In case you’re wondering, I don’t know this guy at all; I just think his project is REALLY REALLY kick-ass. And, yes, I’ve contributed.)

Schuetz is no stranger to cool maps. In 2013—also through a Kickstarter campaign—he created the bucketlistmap, a map that depicted most of the must-see places in countries all over the globe. As part of that project, he also created world maps featuring all of the best places to surf, take snow trips, and see football/soccer matches.

IMHO, this latest map—the one for kids—is by far the most awesome of the maps from Awesome Maps. In this house, we’ll stop at nothing to incorporate geography (and cartography) into the stuff we teach our girls every day. The Kidsmap is a great tool to do just that.

Doing is believing

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Tossing rocks (and pinecones) into the Merced.

Tossing rocks (and pinecones) into the Merced.

There are logical reasons why touch tanks always are kids’ favorite part of the aquarium. The exhibits are at kid-level! They’ve got stuff kids can reach in and grab! Most important: They are one of the only places in the facility where kids can DO instead of just SEE.

This last reality is one we traveling parents often overlook. Yes, it’s amazing to expose our kids to international cities and world-class museums and great music and all sorts of cultural phenomena like that. It’s also a big deal to let ‘em get down on their knees, roll up their sleeves and interact with stuff for themselves.

I was reminded of this last weekend, during our storybook family vacation to Yosemite National Park.

Sure, the kids loved it when we hiked to Mirror Lake. And yes, they loved it when we traipsed around Yosemite Valley for different perspectives on Yosemite Falls, the highest measured waterfall in North America.

But they were happiest when they were able to get their hands on the nature around them.

The first example of this came during our hike (from The Ahwahnee hotel) to the lake. About halfway out, L and R insisted on wandering off-trail, exploring the granite boulders around us for “cozy hideaways” for fairies. I monitored these activities closely; technically they weren’t supposed to be off-trail at all, and the terrain wasn’t exactly easy to navigate. Still, amid the boulders, picking at moss and leaves and all sorts of other stuff around them, the girls played for hours (literally).

The second example of the importance of doing came toward the end of our visit, on a day when L and I went out to explore while R and Powerwoman napped back in the room.

My older daughter and I wandered out of the hotel and back toward the Merced River. There, along the riverbank, we spent 15 minutes tossing pinecones into the current and watching them head downstream. I could tell L was curious about something, so I asked her if there was anything else she’d like to do. Her response: “I want to feel the water, Dad.”

And so, I let her. I held her jacket while she leaned out from the side of the bank and dipped her hands in the Merced. Once her hands were wet, she pulled them back and wiped the water on her tiny face. As the droplets ran down her cheeks, she stuck out her tongue and giggled.

“It’s cold!” she commented. Then she dipped her hands in again. And again.

To be honest, I had no idea how meaningful that moment was until the drive home. Somewhere around Mariposa, my wife turned around and asked the girls what they liked best about our trip.

R’s answer was simple: She loved the waterfalls. L’s response, however, caught both of us grownups off-guard. “My favorite part was feeling the river,” she said. “It was fun to see the waterfalls but touching the water itself was amazing.”

I’m not sure I could have said it better myself.

The yin and yang of family travel

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Outside The Ahwahnee, right after we arrived.

Outside The Ahwahnee, right after we arrived.

Five days have passed since our family excursion to Yosemite National Park and The Ahwahnee Hotel. Though the trip was, by its very nature, a dream come true, the adventure included stratospheric highs and horrendous lows.

Chronicling the highpoints is easy. On the list: Watching the girls seek “cozy hideaways” for fairies as we hiked amid granite boulders on the way to Mirror Lake, hearing the kids sing songs from “Frozen” as Little R experienced snow for the first time in her life, taking them to the Curry Village Pizza Deck, helping L put her hands and face in the Merced River to see what it felt like, and, of course, spotting a bobcat slink by less than five feet away.

Of course watching my girls watch Yosemite Falls also was pretty amazing—the baby could not get over the fact that the waterfall never “shut off.”

The lowpoints are just as easy to enumerate.

Like the mid-brunch tantrum on the last morning that featured L scratching her mother like that aforementioned bobcat. Or R’s insistence on being carried for the duration of a 3-mile hike.

Both of these experiences paled in comparison to the indisputable nadir: The night when my 2-year-old daughter kicked me out of the bed we were sharing and screamed like a banshee until I agreed to sleep on the floor.

(At first this scene amused me; then I realized I was paying close to $500 a night to camp in a hotel.)

Personally, I expected the trip to have a little yin and yang—this is what happens when you travel with two humans under the age of 6. Still, I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t at least a little surprised by just how much yang there was on this particular adventure, especially considering how well the kids did on our last major adventure in London.

Overall, the experience was a perfect reminder of what family travel really is—beautiful, frustrating, exhilarating, and exhausting. Yes, there were low points. But there also were high points, and all it takes is one of those to make a memory that can last a lifetime for any of us.

All about the storybook(s)

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AAcover

Inside spread, Alaska Airlines magazine

This is shaping up to be the biggest week of the year for those of us here at Wandering Pod, and it’s all about the placements.

First, on Tuesday, the April 2014 issue of Alaska Airlines magazine hit seat-backs with a cover story written by yours truly. The story, which runs nearly 4,000 words, spotlights family travel in Hawaii. In it, I pulled together anecdotes and experiences from five years of visiting the Aloha State with (at least one of) the girls.

Check it out by clicking here (and then scrolling to page 34, where the piece begins).

Next, later this morning, Powerwoman, L, R, and I will hop in the Prius and head out to Yosemite National Park, where we’ll spend the next four days disconnecting from the world and exploring as a family.

This trip is part of a HUGE package of articles I’ll be writing for Expedia’s Expedia Viewfinder blog. The effort is in conjunction with Expedia’s new “Find Your Storybook” advertising campaign; during the promotion, each Viewfinder will create content about a dream trip.

The first of *my* storybook stories is slated to run on the Expedia Viewfinder later this month. I’ll be creating oodles of content for this site, too. Stay tuned!

The things they carry (on family trips)

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Just some of the stuff we'll be bringing to Yosemite.

Just some of the stuff we’ll be bringing to Yosemite.

When you leave home on an extended trip, you never know when you’re going to want to have a tin pencil case in the shape of a mummy. Or when you might need that unwrapped green straw from Starbucks. Or when you’ll be looking for a ladybug eraser.

But if you’re one of my kids, you bring these items anyway. Just in case.

Yes, as we pack up for this week’s family vacation to Yosemite National Park, the girls have opted for some unusual items to bring along for the ride.

The mummy tin, green straw (??!!??), and ladybug eraser are only highlights. Also in the gyre of ridiculousness they plan to take: A die-cast double-decker bus, a Lego rectangle, a plastic Cinderella amulet (which sings when you depress the center), a bunch of bow-shaped hairclips, two pieces of wooden model railroad track (but, peculiarly, no trains), a Candyland game piece, a ball-pit ball, and old t-shirts that are way too small (apparently these will serves as “nightgowns” when the stuffed kitties get cold at night).

Powerwoman and I don’t really understand why the girls want to bring all of these tchotchkes—not one bit. At the same time, we recognize the familiarity our kids have with each of these items, and respect the notion of bringing some of those familiar goodies along for a trip to somewhere new.

Sure, travel is exciting. But for little ones, it also must be scary (to a point). We’re in favor of anything the girls can do to make the experience more comfortable.

And if we need to invoke ancient Egypt along the way, we’re covered. Thank goodness.

What silly/ridiculous totems do your kids insist on bringing for family vacations?

Next on the family travel wish list: Cayman Islands

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Family bike-riding in the Cayman Islands.

Family bike-riding in the Cayman Islands.

We’re not big into “Bucket Lists” in our family; generally speaking, when we want to do something, we do it. Still, we live by our Dream Jar, in which we have collected our family travel wishes since L was born in 2009.

We’re making one of those wishes come true next week with a four-day excursion to Yosemite. And tonight, as I ceremoniously stripped the jar of all those wishes about Yosemite Falls and Glacier Point and El Capitan and the iconic Ahwahnee Hotel, I added a new destination to the mix: The Cayman Islands.

The islands comprise a territory of the United Kingdom; there are three of them in all (Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman), and they sit in a cluster south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica.

They also seem like one of the most family-friendly places on Earth.

No, I’m not talking about the powder-soft sand or the turquoise waters. Nor am I singing the praises of the friendly people (the world’s friendliest, according to Forbes). I’m also not extolling the virtues of the island hotels or restaurants. I’m just saying that it sounds like these islands have cool stuff to do.

Such as Cayman Carnival Batabano, an annual event in early May that is one-part circus one-part cultural celebration. Friends who have been tell me the event is a one-night cultural immersion, featuring music, dance, and colorful costumes. According to locals, it also features street parades for adults and children alike (this year, the family day is on May 10).

Another family-friendly draw: Pirates Week. This time-honored November tradition celebrates Caymanian culture with more than 40 family-friendly events, including live music performances, street games, parades, sports competitions, fireworks, costumes, and more.

(There’s also an homage to the “Pirates of the Caribbean” flicks.)

I know my older daughter in particular would love the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, which looks like it has other-worldly displays of native flora and fauna. L would never want to leave the Floral Color Garden, which bills itself as one of the most colorful places in the world. When we go, we’ll have to be sure to bring a sketch pad and enough colored pencils for the girl to share.

And we’ll have to stop at the Stingray City Sandbar for R. This natural sandbar area is home to a fleet of people-friendly southern stingrays who congregate all day long. Visitors can swim among these creatures and touch them. Because Little R is an animal lover, I know she would not want to leave.

Sounds fun, right? It does to me. I’m putting the Cayman Islands in the jar.

If you might want to visit the Cayman Islands, check out the current “Caymankind” promotion being offered by the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism (which paid me to write this post). As part of this promotion, one family can win an all-expenses paid trip for 4 to the Cayman Islands by sharing what makes their child a “Caymankind” of kid. To enter, click here and submit a blurb about your child’s kind act, his/her respect for others, or the care your child shows for the environment. Good luck!