Vacations Blog

Babble is an online magazine that covers all things kid and parenting. It’s what they do. That means that with the summer suddenly upon us they have devoted a good portion of their time planning how to get away from it all – assuming all does not include the children (but nice try).

Here are a few examples of what they offer:

From “Babies on a Plane” by Hana Schank:

“We’re just checking to make sure you’re not over the limit,” the security officer said when I asked exactly what they were looking for with regards to the baby food.

“What’s the limit?” I asked.

“Just a reasonable amount,” explained the security officer.

Which is what? Enough to feed a baby but not enough to make an exploding applesauce bomb?

As if that’s not bad enough, the type of baby food you bring on board is also subject to inspection. I was once in line in front of a woman who had a jar of Gerber’s Peach Cobbler confiscated because the security officer said it was a dessert, not baby food.

For more Babies on a Plane visit Babble!

From “10 Toddler Vacation Tips” by Merideth Broussard:

Fill up the iPhone or iPod with family photos and videos.

If you have an iPhone, it’s probably already loaded up with kid-friendly apps like MyFirstABC, Poppin’, Doodle Kids, Scribble, and KidArt. When your little one tires of doodling or popping bubble wrap bubbles, pull out the big guns: family photos. I’ve yet to meet a toddler who doesn’t love going through the family digital photo archive. It’s a chance to tell stories, reflect on the past, and remember the good times your family has had. In other words: a perfect way to begin a family vacation! When you tire of explaining who’s who in every photo, it’s time to move on to home movies of your child. Unrepentant narcissists that they are, toddlers looooove seeing movies of themselves and people they know.

Going to a warm place? Don’t forget that afternoon nap conflicts with prime time on the beach.

There are two strategies for dealing with the afternoon nap issue.

Option 1: reserve a room with a balcony, or a first-floor room with outdoor access. It sounds simple, but I can tell you that it made a huge difference in my happiness on our beach vacation. While my little one napped in our first-floor beachfront room, I sat outside in the sun and read my trashy mystery novel or chatted with friends. It was perfection.

Option 2: Avoid hotels and go to a family-friendly B&B or small inn.

Find out why and some other great tips for Traveling with Toddlers at Babble!

From “25 Family Travel Tips” by Annie Bacon:

Always have a couple of small toys in your bag for outings. Avoid toys that have many small pieces: Polly Pockets are perfect to keep a young girl occupied in the hotel room, but you don’t want to have to crawl under the table to find a missing shoe. Also, don’t bring any “beeping” or musical electronic toys: parents have a selective sense of hearing that allows them not to go crazy in the presence of anything from Vtech, but others might not have that skill.
A few good choices…
- Coloring book with washable pencils
- Activity or sticker books
- Etch-a-sketch
- Magnetic play scenes or dress-up dolls
- Anything that comes in a small case

Resist the urge to ask for a child’s plates before yours. It might keep him quiet at first, but then he’ll have nothing to do once it’s your time to eat.

If you travel abroad, keep in mind that some cultures have different meal schedules and that restaurants’ open hours may differ from what you’re used to. Make enquiries before heading out, or you might hit your nose on a “Closed” sign.

Read more Family Travel Tips at Babble!

As you can see, they offer plenty of advice on how to make the most of your family vacation, from airports to passing the hours of a long road trip and all the beaches in between. It’s also a great place to see what the rich and famous are doing over their summer holiday, and who doesn’t want to know that?

Safe travels!

All photos and quoted text are property of Babble.

Air travel with a small child doesn't have to be stressful

Airplane travel with a small child is a challenge that, if handled incorrectly, can turn what is intended to be a relaxing vacation into nothing short of a ‘memorable’ travel experience for all the wrong reasons.  The mere thought of traveling, especially for the first time, with an active toddler was enough to cause some serious anxiety for this first-time dad.  However, after a recent trip to San Francisco, I have now experienced planes, trains, automobiles, trolleys and hotel rooms with my 20-month-old and survived with my sanity intact.  So, I thought it would be a good idea to pass on some of my observations of what worked in air travel and what didn’t to other rookie parents who may be stressing ever so slightly about traveling with their little ones.

Here are my 10 observations.  Please feel free to add your own by leaving a comment to this post.

1.  Airline Tickets for Kids – My young son rarely sits still for more than a couple of minutes at a time, much less in our laps.  Although domestic airlines no longer offer discounted children’s fares, we thought a dedicated seat in which to put his car seat would be the best way to go.  You can’t count anymore on a “free” seat being available on a flight – airlines are fully booking most flights.  So, we perused recent airline sales and bought him his own ticket at a great rate. 

2.  Car Seat or No Car Seat – We chose to use an FAA approved car seat for the flight.  The good thing was that he was safely restrained in a familiar place.  The biggest downside was that our son’s feet then easily reached the seat in front of him, which he felt compelled to kick repeatedly.  Thankfully, the occupants in the seat on both flights were very understanding.  We also bought a car seat rolling attachment, which allowed us to wheel it through the airport.  This worked great once it was attached, but was extremely cumbersome to attach and detach.  With a fidgety toddler to entertain, this was a bit of a pain.  However, the car seat became necessary because, although we rented a car from Thrifty car rental and they do have car seats available, they could not guarantee one would be available when we arrived.  What is the point of that?

Airport Security can be cumbersome with a little one in tow

3.  Airport Security/Gestapo - It was a new experience navigating airport security with a toddler.  We actually had to take the size 6 ½ shoes off of our 20 month old and try to coax him to walk himself through metal detector.  We also had to have the car-seat and stroller personally inspected since they wouldn’t fit onto the conveyor.  Lastly, we had a sippy cup of milk which we were instructed to run through the x-ray machine, then once it came through it was subjected to another test to make sure it was actually milk.  Remember to add enough extra time for all these inconveniences when planning when to arrive at the airport.

4.  Airport as Playground – It is was a great idea to arrive early at the airport so that we could find the children’s play area.  This allowed our little guy to get plenty of exercise and wear himself out for the flight.  Another success was finding a large window at the gate area so that he could watch the airplanes taking off and landing.  He absolutely loved that – this was a plan that worked!

5.  Avoid Late Night Flights – Scheduling one leg of the flight for our son’s mid-day nap time was great.  He played at the airport, ate some lunch, visited with the other travelers, conked out just as the plane took off, and woke up when the plane landed 2 hours later with a smile on his face.  In contrast, the return flight at 10:30 p.m. was excruciating.  All the things that made the airport fascinating to our toddler on the flight out were the exact same things that kept him from going to sleep on the return flight.  So, he was overtired and over-stimulated by the time we boarded the plane and crying in misery as the plane lifted off.  It might have worked better had the return flight been at his bedtime – 7:30 p.m. – rather than three hours later.

6.  Air Flight and Ear Pain – The cabin pressure only bothered our son during the decent of the return flight.  Unfortunately, this happened while he was sleeping and caused him to wake screaming.  He wasn’t interested in sucking on a sippy cup to pop his ears, so this was one time we wish we had a bought a binky to give to him for those few minutes (for the record, he hasn’t used a binky since he was 5 months old).  Consider ear pain a reality when you travel with kids and plan for how you will relieve it – sippy, binky, bottle or breast.

7.  Keep the Child Busy – Since they have to be strapped into the seat for long periods of time, it is a great idea to bring plenty of small, unfamiliar things to distract their attention.  Our approach was to have a small backpack filled with interesting new items to discover.  Once that had been exhausted, we had loaded a couple of kids videos (educational, of course) on my video i-pod and bought him some child-sized headphones with tiger ears.  This worked great and since he normally doesn’t get to watch television he was transfixed.

Arrive at the airport early and explore

8.  Snacks, Snacks and More Snacks – We packed a little travel bento box for our son and kept it crammed with healthy snacks.  He could eat whatever he wanted whenever he wanted, and we didn’t have to worry about a hungry toddler meltdown.  This plan worked out great – no drawbacks!

9.   Travel Lightly, But With a Big Baby Bag – I normally travel pretty light.  However, this time was a whole new experience as we ended up packing so much extra stuff, including the full sized stroller (which worked great to gate-check) and car seat on wheels that it actually seemed well worth the $4.00 to rent one of those luggage carts to schlep it from the car to the security check in.  The rest of the time I ended up being a glorified Sherpa.  We used most of the kid stuff, including the new toys we packed to keep him occupied in the hotel room, but could have packed less for ourselves and him.

10.  RELAX! – The airport staff, flight crew and most travelers are more understanding than we expected.  We got lots of smiles and assistance on both legs of our journey, and no one complained about our screaming toddler on the flight home (at least not to us).  People are much nicer than we often give them credit for.  Don’t forget to ask for your child’s first “wings” or a TSA sticker – both fun things to add to your kid’s scrap book.

Now, sit back and enjoy the flight!

Photo credits: Airliner by two stout monks; Security by Chicagoeye; Child by Stephen Witherden

By Guest Blogger, Carly Mills

I work for STA Travel, and we live and breathe sending students into the world to experience it in any way they choose.

Unlike the business traveler or the older leisure travelers, students have the luxury of time – and we’re not talking just 2 weeks of vacation time.  When times get tough, students aren’t saying NO to travel.  They’re just changing the way they do it to save a buck.

Two weeks ago, we sent a survey to our customers just to find out if they are still going on Spring Break this year.  78% said “Yes, of course.,” just 3% said “No”.  Amongst those going on Spring Break the majority are budgeting between $500 and $1000.   So this year, STA Travel is packaging trips to meet these budgets.  We have a Bahamas cruise package starting at $310 and a combo volunteer-beach package to Dominican Republic for only $700.   We’ve done the same thing with winter holiday trips and weekend packages to make it easier for students to choose from what falls within their budget.Photo Credit: International Festival

Students are notorious for saving money, and we can all learn a lot from how they travel. Maybe stay at a hip hostel or the B & B down the road instead of that 5 star hotel?  Maybe this year, go to Asia or Latin America, where the dollar goes further once you get there?  There are things we can all do to keep traveling without breakin’ the bank.Here are 5 tips from the student travel experts that we can all use for holiday and spring break travel…

1.    Be flexible with your travel dates.  If taking a day off work or skipping just one class (not on a test day, of course) knocks $50 off your flight, it’s worth it.
2.    Eat & Stay Cheap- Choose a hip hostel or 2-Star hotel and stop at the local joints and food stands – delicious and cheap.
3.    Travel in Groups- 4 or 5 to a room is way cheaper than 2.  Some companies, including STA Travel, offer discounts- and free trips- when you have large groups.
4.    Book Early!-  Space fills up, and if you want the cheapest deals for holiday and spring break you’ve got to book early.

Last, but not least…

5.    If you’re gonna go, go big!  Student traveler pick: The ‘Round the World Ticket. Pack your bags for one super-size trip.  It will save you money on airfare and help you put off that thing called the real world for a while.

Happy Travels!

Carly Mills

Carly is the Marketing Manager for STA Travel.  Her favorite country is Spain, and if she could go anywhere in the world, she’d go to Argentina to learn to Tango dance.

My friend recently lost her dog on a long weekend hike. She finally found him after two weeks of a county wide search. Whether your travels take you far away or just around the corner, keep your collar on your pet with your name and phone number. I also realized with Halloween approaching, pet owners everywhere need to be a bit more vigilant about protecting their dog. As you and your kids travel the streets this Halloween in search of some fabulous treats, remember to keep you pet safe and warm at home.

1. Halloween can be scary. Keep your pet inside, preferably in their crate with a nice toy and a good chew toy or treat. My little dog is an escape artist that rivals Houdini. She will out the door in a flash if she sees an opening.

2. Keep that chocolate up high and out of reach. It is poison to dogs, but they don’t know that. My lab once casually walked by my chocolate cupcakes cooling on the counter and wolfed four down in four seconds, paper and all. He was fine. I had to make another batch for the school party.

3. Light up your dog. If you must take your dog with you, keep it on leash and attach a little neon glow stick to its collar. You can also purchase a glow- in-the- dark collar. Your pet will be seen by pre-occupied drivers and you can find your roving friend easily if it takes off in a fright. Glow sticks work for kids too.

4. Keep it warm. My little Shih Tzu gets cold easily. Her costume is just a warm coat to ward off the chill.

5. Costumes can be a bit tricky. Make sure they won’t choke your pup or hamper their movement.

6. Candles and tails don’t mix. A tail and a candle can be an inflammatory combination. Make sure all glowing candles, especially those inside pumpkins are out of reach of your dog’s wagging tail. Those glow sticks can also be used inside your pumpkin. I really love glow sticks, can you tell?

7. Protect your dog. As the night progresses, tricksters may see your pet as a target for a prank. Keep it safe inside.

8. If you have a cat, I assume it already knows what to do on this day, especially if it is black.

Have a great Halloween.