great takes on family travel in the U.S.

My husband and I have enjoyed traveling with both kids since they were young, but as I look back to when they were toddlers, I must admit to myself that I am enjoying our travel together more as they grow older. I’d share some of our experiences and hopefully they are helpful for you in planning a trip with toddlers or preschoolers.

Travel with 2 Year Old Toddler

Tons of stuff! Have you ever seen the sherpas from Nepal on an Himalayan trek? As a parent of a two year old toddler, I think I carried more! Car seat, portable crib, stroller, diapers, change of clothes (1 per hour of flight time), snacks, books, games, other games (in case the first did not work out), cameras, more diapers. If we were driving, we would need things to entertain in the car. If we were flying, we would need things to entertain on the tarmac. Woe be the airline that decided to load us on the plane and stay on the ground! Natalie Pechacek on Minti.com backs me up here!

Walking! My son was an active toddler and sitting in his seat for the whole flight was pretty hard to do. We had to get up and walk, up and down and up and down the aisles. Sometimes we ran! Wish I had had Min’s suggestions for keeping my kids busy on the plane.

Organized! Each trip took several weeks of planning, a staging area at home, test runs, information gathering, and packing and re-packing. The first three days of every vacation were total recovery - I mostly slept!

Tips for you: Don’t try to do too much or plan full-day schedules when traveling with your 2 year old.

v.s.

Travel with 5 Year Old Preschooler

Flexible! My 5 year old daughter is now flexible enough in her travel that I don’t have to bring a snack or game for every situation. We can play things by ear, catch a snack when we are hungry, go with the flow when faced with delays.

Independent! Now that my kids are 5 and 7, they take responsibility for packing their own suitcases (with a provided packing list), organizing their own plane and car entertainment, and helping us cart the suitcases through the airport. We are getting very close to the time when all four of us will be able to handle our own wheelie suitcase and a backpack. Success!

Varied! When my son was younger, he preferred everything to be on a schedule, so he would know what to expect. Nowadays, he is open to new experiences and can adjust to vacation schedules that are different from home. In fact, being away from our regular schedule allows us to learn more about ourselves and each other and deepen our family experience.

Exciting! They say that you experience familiar places in different ways when you go with your children, as you see everything through their eyes. It is true, as my family visits places I have been too before, I am amazed at what new experiences we encounter with the help of my kids. Travel is now exciting, not so much of a burden and I cannot wait for our next trip!

Tips for you: Prepare to learn more and experience more with your 5 year old!

I have spent many months with my fellow Kangos collecting and documenting the best ideas for helping travelers like you plan fun getaways and unforgettable vacations. We have worked very hard to produce a site that is extremely useful and easy to use. Now the time has finally come to see if our hard work has paid off. Take a sneak peak at our site through our Private Beta!

I want your feedback, both positive and constructive to make our site even better. All you have to do is sign up for private beta by clicking the button in the upper right corner or here. My co-Kango, Alex, will send you a password so you can take it for a test drive. We’d love to hear from you!

San Francisco has many wonderful museums, some within walking distance of each other. The mother of them all is the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), a architecturally fascinating building across from Yerba Buena Gardens. Interestingly enough, my kids enjoy the building almost more than the exhibits. Last time we went, we spent a long time on the suspension bridge on the 4th floor, running back and forth, looking down to the lobby below.

Around the corner, on Howard Street, is the California Academy of Sciences in temporary digs while their Golden Gate Park home is being retrofitted. The Steinhardt Aquarium is fascinating all by itself, but my 5 year old thinks the Nature Nest was created just for her!

Across town, near the Palace of Fine Arts, is probably our favorite family adventure in San Francisco, the Exploratorium. We can go and spend the entire day here! My favorite has always been the cow eyeball dissecting exhibit. When the kids were little, I could hardly pull them away from the giant bubble maker; nowadays, my son is fascinated with the science of sports, especially skateboarding, while my daughter likes to spend all her time in the tactile dome. As I said, an entire day’s worth of activities!

Recently on my flight back to Shanghai from the Kango headquarters in Palo Alto, California, I began chatting with a nice lady sitting next to me. She soon warmed up to me and informed me she was the mother of two sons, a college accounting student and an autistic teen. One thing led to another and she began telling me how much the elder boy enjoys putting effort into planning family vacations (i.e. selecting destinations, scheduling itinerary, routing on maps.)

This was my first experience talking to the mother of a child with special needs. I was surprised that she didn’t rant about the inconveniences that accompany traveling with her younger son. I have the feeling that if we can do some research and put up a summary of travel tips for parents of disabled children, we can help make trips better for all involved.
Here are stories and photographs for and about traveling with disabled children— from fathers, mothers, researchers and the kids themselves.

Get Around Guide — a blog by Darren Hillock. Darren is the father to a child who needs a wheelchair to get around. His blog is updated very frequently and he keeps close track of the latest news and regulations about disability travel. He also blogs about destination travel access for parents like him.

Dream Mom, formerly a Senior Account Manager in the healthcare industry, blogging motivation is her son, Dear Son, “who has lost his ability to walk on his knees, sit up and hold his head up (in 2005)“.

Growing up with a disability : David is going to Dominican University this week. Congratulations to him! He has been recording his interviews for people living with disabilities: “Personal, real stories - be they humorous, sad, angry, fun, or … whatever!” He is an active participant of blog carnival for disabilities and has many quality posts (like Top 10 Disability Themes) on his blog.

Ryn Tale’s Book of Days: ROOOOAAAR!: Kathryn is the mother to a beautiful girl Ellie, who is a “27-weeker preemie warrior princess“. I like Kathryn’s Observations from the blogosphere which provides great reviews on the blogs of this interest.

Rolling Rains Report: by Scott Rains: Keywords to describe this blog are: Travel, Disability, and Universal Design. The most exciting part of this blog is the photo sharing about ‘Travel with a Disability’. It is a 286-member group on Flickr. Is there a better way to share a trip than through sharing photographs?

Here are some tips about disability travel from my research:

Jill Browne from Suite 101 writes great articles about air travel guide for disabled travelers. Besides A Guide for Persons with Disabilities: Taking Charge of the Air Travel Experience by Canadian Transportation Agency, UK Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee also provides printable guidelines on its website, Access to air travel: guidance for disabled and less mobile passengers.

Jill Browne also analyzed the Airline Disability Complaints 2006, helping everyone make sense of the numbers in the U.S. Department of Transportation reports. The relative number of disability complaints per 1 million passengers is the best metric by which an airline should be judged.

Jim Lubin started this ultimated resources for disABILITY in 1994. Disability Travel and Recreation Resources provides a list of websites in the following categories:

• Travel Planning
• Destinations
• Transportation
• Air Travel
• Especially for Children
• Books to Buy!
• Other

Updates:

- Scott from Rolling Rains Report suggested Candy Harrington’s travel tips for us. Candy is an editor of Emerging Horizons a magazine about accessible travel and author of 3 books (1 is upcoming). There are some great links on her blog roll. Thank you Scott!

* Please feel free to suggest good resources about accessible travel to us. Email me: min.guo#kango.com.

For my birthday this year, I received a Garmin eTrex Legend personal navigator, better known as a GPS device. I asked this for this little wonder, so our family could engage in something called GeoCaching. After a few test runs around our neighborhood, we were ready to take it on vacation, and what better place than the beautiful island of Maui!

Our family loves to travel, but with two kids age 5 and 7, spending long days looking at tourist spots is not going to cut it. And in Maui, too much time on the beach turns us all into lobsters. A mid-day treasure hunt would allow us to learn more about a locale, at the same time providing my kids an outlet for their boundless energy.

Consulting Geocaching.com, an online repository for hidden caches, I downloaded a plan to find a cache in downtown Lahaina. This was not far from where we were staying in Kaanapali, and a quick ride on the West Maui Shopping shuttle put us right behind the movie theater on Front Street, a good starting point for our search.

I already knew from reading the other reports about the cache, that it was hidden close to the Banyan Tree on Front Street. That tree alone is worth a trip to Lahaina - the tree was planted in 1873 and is currently 60 feet high and takes up about 2/3 of a acre at Banyan Tree Park. After snapping the required photo of kids next to one of the huge trunks, we moved away from under the tree (the signal was not able to make it through the canopy) and got a line on our treasure.

We were after a virtual cache, which meant there was no hidden treasure to find, but there was a plaque for us to locate with some significant historical information. We were to find the plaque and email the answer to the question to the cache owner. From Front Street, we headed towards the water, around the side of Banyan Park. On the way, we went past local musicians playing ukuleles, and many island crafters with their wares set up on blankets in the park. As we got closer to the water, we could see the cruise ships out at sea. Our GPS device was telling us we were very close, so we started to look for a plaque. The only one we could find nearby was in front of the lighthouse. And reading the plaque indicated we had found the right place! Our job was to find out how much the Hawaiian caretaker was paid - $20 a year! In addition, we learned that the Lahaina Lighthouse was constructed in 1840 to help navigate the tricky waters through the narrow coral reef. At this point, my kids lost interest and spent the rest of the time climbing on the posts around the lighthouse. However, we decided that all in all, the adventure was pretty successful. The husband and I learned more about our destination and our family had a fun puzzle to solve. As soon as we found it, the kids were asking what our next cache was going to be!

Elliott, Min and Alex have all given their introductions, so now it is time to tell you a little about me. I was born in Tennessee, a state in the southeast part of the U.S., and home to Al Gore. I now live in California, on the west coast of the U.S., and now also home to Al Gore (detecting a trend?). No… I am not stalking the former vice president. I do share some of his ideas, like improving the environment, and I believe there is no better way to instill a desire to preserve nature than to experience its beauty and wonder first hand. I think traveling outside your familiar surroundings and your comfort zone can be an education as well as an adventure.

Living in San Francisco provides me with a wealth of cultural and historical nourishment, (not to mention amazing views) but it also gives me easy access to completely different settings. Two hours south, I am on the beaches of Santa Cruz; three hours east, I am in the mountains surrounding Lake Tahoe. I have also been blessed to live in very different parts of the country such as Florida, Texas and Utah. Moving around a lot has given me an appreciation for different climates and cuisines, but it has also taught me that stereotypes are for the mentally lazy – there is always something to learn or discover.

San Francisco, California — Marina District

I am excited to be building a travel product from the ground up. Having worked in other online start-ups as well as the travel industry, I have an appreciation for the limitless possibilities the web brings to the traveler. Whether it’s a 2 day road trip or 2 weeks abroad, I want to give you the tools to inspire a great experience and prevent any pitfalls.

Do you stress when faced with a long flight ahead with your kids?

You might recall hearing about the mother and toddler who got kicked off a plane back in early July. This became a national story and a hot topic at preschool PTA meetings around the country. According to the mother, the flight attendant advised the mother to give the child baby Benadryl after he wouldn’t stop repeating “Bye, bye plane,” understandably upsetting fellow passengers. The mother took offense to the suggested ‘drugging’ of her 18-month old and refused. We’re not here to debate who’s at fault… but we’d love to offer you seven tips to calm and entertain your child/children during air travel. The Perrin Post also provides a quality list of tips.

#1：Books and Games

Babies and toddlers love pop-up books and stuffed animals they can interact with and talk to. New toys and books the kids have never seen before should be brought as a special treat. (Just be sure that whichever toy you choose is quiet so as not to disturb your neighbors). Older kids enjoy hand-held video games, books, card games, coloring books and even crossword puzzles. Make use of your surroundings as well – the phones, window coverings, and even plastic silverware can all be used to entertain the youngest of kids. See if you can find any games in our previous post: Kango’s Picks: Top 5 blog posts and sites about car games for kids.

#2：Movies and Music

Do you have a portable DVD player at home? Definitely bring it with you on the plane! (They also rent them for a small fee at most major airports. about.com has tips about renting DVD players.) Portable music players (iPods) are great as well for kids of all ages. The Berkeley Parents Network suggests picking an airline with TVs on the back of the seats, especially when traveling internationally (i.e. Japan Air or Singapore Air).

#3： Pack Your Kids a “Picnic”

Chances are that, unless you are flying internationally, the food selections on your flight will be limited to peanuts and drinks. Help keep your kids happy and entertained by packing each of them a “picnic” made up of their favorite foods. Check out Babycenter.com for other great recommendations about flying with kids.

#4：Take Evening Flights If You Can

Kids are likely to be more tired on evening flights, and are more likely to sleep. The lights will be low, and the atmosphere is likely to be more calm and peaceful. If you can afford it, book an extra seat for your baby or toddler so they can lie down in the seat and take a nap more comfortably

#5：Take Frequent Trips Up and Down the Aisles

It’s important to get up and stretch your own legs on longer flights to prevent circulation blockages, and it’s just as important for your kids. Frequent walks up and down the aisle are great for short breaks, and smaller kids will love the attention they will get.

#6：Get a Map of Your Destination

Slightly older children will enjoy figuring out where they are on a map, as well as looking at pictures of the places they are going to visit and even the hotel they will be staying at. Let the kids make a list of the things they want to do and see first.

#7： Book Ahead and Get the Bulkhead (First Row) Seat

This great suggestion comes from a forum on Flytalk.com. Have you ever been on a plane and envied the extra space for the people sitting in the very first row? It’s called the bulkhead row, and it’s a great idea for traveling with kids! When the seatbelt sign is off, your children can get out of their seats and quietly play on the floor with puzzles, books and toys. You’ll enjoy the extra legroom as well.

So there you have it, seven awesome tips intended to allow you to do what you’re supposed to do on your vacation - RELAX.

Why don’t people outsource pricey medical operations?

Over the past twenty years, outsourcing has grown from an eccentric decision to an efficient and economic business staple. Companies small and large outsource their accounting, manufacturing, and customer service to emerging economies such as China and India. When a trend (outsourcing) is successful in one industry, it’s natural for it to spread to other fields (medical procedures), or at least attempt to.

The answer to my initial question is they CAN and they ARE…often with very positive experiences.

Although medical tourism is a growing global industry, it is hardly a new practice. Greek pilgrims traveled from all over the Mediterranean to Epidauria (100 miles SE of Athens), the sanctuary of the healing god Asklepios, seeking health. In 2006, roughly 500,000 Americans traveled abroad for major surgeries to countries where the cost of living is comparably lower, but the medical methods and technology are modern. Some U.S companies and insurers have gone so far to advocate their employees and clients become medical tourists, in effort to cut back their own bills. As long as universal healthcare remains a national mystery and a global deficiency, the notion of medical tourism in emerging countries will continue to spread. This is yet another example of the flattening world we live in.

While the AARP article understandably focuses on life threatening procedures (hip replacement surgery, bypass surgery, etc.), medical tourism spans the vainer world of aesthetic treatments (a.k.a. cosmetic surgery).

If you trek to Brazil for discount breast augmentation, must you declare the implants in customs upon your return home?

Caveats
• Routine follow-ups are made difficult, although medical records can be transferred to one’s local physician.
• Support from friends and family plays a large role in aiding the fragile post surgery psyche. Traveling thousands of miles away will inevitably reduce the number of “Get Well Soon” balloons in the patient’s room.
• If medical procedures go poorly, especially tricky aesthetic operations, foreign doctors are not held to the same legal liabilities.

Whether you want to feel younger (hip replacement) or just appear younger (face-lift), trekking abroad to go under the knife gives your savings a rest and affords you another reason to check out a new country. “My trip to Goa was amazing! On Thursday I had eye surgery and on Friday I witnessed the most astonishing sunset I’ve seen in decades…”

Would you ever consider “killing two birds with one stone” by throwing a major surgery into your travel itinerary?