Vacation in comfort with kids

Written by David Leonhardt


Vacation in comfort with kids Three stress relief tips for families while away from home By David Leonhardt

It takes a special person to travel with kids – a parent. Children have their own needs. Their idea of a vacation is more "adventurous" than a parent's. They need constant stimulation and they can get as tired as they are tiring.

There are many top ten type lists of tips for traveling with children: how to ensure they eat well and drink enough, how to dress them forrepparttar various weather forecasts, how to providerepparttar 135976 stimulation they need, how to make sure they don't drive off withrepparttar 135977 family car and leave you stranded inrepparttar 135978 Mojave Desert, etc.

This list is how to travel in comfort – without tyingrepparttar 135979 children torepparttar 135980 roof rack -- which hopefully will reduce your stress.

Make sure you have plenty of room while traveling.

This is easier said than done. On a plane, everybody is cramped. On a train, everybody is cramped, although a little less so. On a bicycle... don't even try it.

If you are driving, get a mini-van. Sure, you might be more of a "car" type, and you might have resisted buying a mini-van so far. But pick up a rental van forrepparttar 135981 vacation just to giverepparttar 135982 kids a little more room for fighting. (Make sure it has a roof rack, just in case.)

Reality check: Cram enough people into a tiny space and watch everybody get stressed and enraged. See my humorous but true article on hippo rage.

Accommodations alongrepparttar 135983 way can be tricky. Usually it involves a cramped motel for just long enough to sleep, then back inrepparttar 135984 cramped car (or somewhat cramped mini-van). This is not anybody's idea of a home away from home.

An accommodation alternative is to camp. When not sleeping, you have allrepparttar 135985 space inrepparttar 135986 world (unless you have to huddle underrepparttar 135987 tarp whilerepparttar 135988 storm passes through). I love camping, but not everyone enjoys a good early morning wake-up wrestle with a grizzly as much as I do, so a motel might be required.

Make sure you have plenty of room when you "get there".

My childhood vacations, often involved wandering around lost. Assuming you are actually heading for a destination, make sure to have lots of room when you get there. This part is easy. But it requires thinking outsiderepparttar 135989 box. Forget hotels, motels, and inns. Look for private rental homes.

Probablyrepparttar 135990 biggest destination for families is Walt Disney World in Florida. Good news – Orlando, Kissimmee andrepparttar 135991 surrounding area is just teeming with private vacation homes for rent. In Florida they call them vacation villas, and they offer allrepparttar 135992 space of home (without having to fix a leaky sink or oilrepparttar 135993 door hinges or mowrepparttar 135994 lawn.) Here are some examples of vacation home rentals inrepparttar 135995 Disney area.

How to Pick a Travel Agency

Written by Nathan Lynch


"How To Pick A Travel Agency" By Nathan Lynch www.SouthBeachUncovered.com

The trip of a lifetime can take a lifetime to plan unless you know how to pick a travel agency.

A common misconception is that travel agencies add torepparttar cost of your trip. In truth, finding and using a good travel agency to plan your trip usually saves you time, money, and frustration. So how do you pick a travel agency?

Ask around!

The best way to find a good travel agency is through word of mouth. Ask your family and friends who they’ve used and then ask them about their trip. How did they travel? Where did they stay? Was their trip enjoyable? Getting a few referrals from friends helps you to know in ahead of time what to expect from a particular travel agent and helps you weed outrepparttar 135816 good fromrepparttar 135817 not-so-good as well.

Are you a member?

Many clubs and organizations offer travel services for their members and many corporations have established relationships with travel agencies that their employees can use. “Members only” travel plans frequently offerrepparttar 135818 best values.

Compare

Shop a couple of experienced firms. Travel agencies come and go like any other businesses. The ones that stay in business add experience and know-how to each trip they plan. Make your first inquiry with a travel agency a listening experience; judge how wellrepparttar 135819 agent listens to you and how comfortable they make you feel.

Cont'd on page 2 ==>
 
ImproveHomeLife.com © 2005
Terms of Use