5 Travel Tips for LGBT Parents
In our first year of marriage, my wife Kendra and I tested our relationship with a six-week trip to Europe. Fortunately it was a great tip and the first of many more. Not even with the birth of our daughter Addison in 2010 has slowed down. Our 2-year-old has been to more than 30 U.S. states, England and France.
Adding a little one to the mix has definitely changed how we travel. …
What the Heck Can You Do in the Hamptons With Kids?
By Eileen Gunn
The East End of Long Island is less than two hours from New York City and suprisingly rural, so parents often ask me what there is to do out there with kids. Unfortunately, everything I know about the Hamptons I’ve learned from watching Sex and the City and Revenge, which tend focus on adult pursuits like drinking, back-stabbing and adultery.
To find some better answers, 5-year-old Tiny Traveler and I headed …
Sidney: Vancouver’s Best Secret for Family Vacations
When we contemplated returning to Canada with our young family after a decade overseas we wanted a friendly, walkable town with plenty of (cheap or free) things to do with kids like the summertime outdoor market to the right. We found Sidney, a former fishing town on Vancouver Island.
We’ve since moved on to bigger Victoria. But we’re still evangelists for this town located on the tip of the Saanich Peninsula, about …
4 Tips For a Family Weekend in Lancaster & Hershey
By Eileen P. Gunn
We went to Hershey, PA last summer on a whim. We had no weekend plans, it’s a reasonable drive from New York City, and my husband and I both had childhood memories of the place that made us curious about it.
We had a good time, but there are a few things we would have done better (like not saved our sojourn into Pennsylvania Dutch Country for Sunday when things are …
5 Kyoto Activities Kids Will Love
By Michele Chan-Thomson
The action in Thea Stilton and the Cherry Blossom Adventure moves between Tokyo and Kyoto. So we did, too, on a visit that the book inspired.
You can make Kyoto a long daytrip from Toklyo with the Shinkansen Nozomi “bullet” train, but I recommend two days. Here is a roundup of things we liked best of in this smaller but culturally rich city.
Half the Fun is Getting There
My three kids, …
Tokyo With Kids: Pokémon, Skyscrapers and Shrines
By Michele Chan-Thomson
Believe it or not, we decided to go to Japan because we read a book. The action-packed Thea Stilton and the Cherry Blossom Adventure moved between Kyoto and Japan, offering cultural tidbits and city highlights and setting the stage for our visit there.
Here the activities we found that worked (one way or another) with a first-grader, a third grader and a tween.
Hit the Museums
• The Fukagawa Edo Museum recreates …
Our 4 Top Tips for a Puerto Rico Vacation With Kids
By Eileen Gunn
Puerto Rico is a no-brainer for a family beach getaway. It’s a reasonable flight from the East Coast, you don’t need a passport and you can use American money. The food is yummy, the beaches are roomy and there’s a lot to do and see. Yet parents often overlook it for its various Caribbean neighbors.
We spent a week at The San Juan Marriott Resort, a stone’s throw from Old San …
5 Tips for a Family Ski Vacation (With Non-Skiers)
By Eileen P. Gunn
Before we had Tiny Traveler, my husband’s yearly ski trip with his college buddies went something like this: wake up, ski, eat, ski, eat, sleep (dream about skiing), repeat. Now, instead of his downhill-loving friends, he has a non-skiing wife and a 5-year-old who has yet to master the bunny slope.
Nevertheless, this March we tried our first family getaway at a winter resort by going to Hope Lake Lodge* …
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The Best Travel Toys and Games of 2013
By Eileen P. Gunn
One of the most fun parts of editing FamiliesGo! is getting to go to the annual Toy Fair in NYC. It’s huge! And i always find something that makes me say, “That is so cool!” and wish I were a kid again. Some are already available; others will hit the shelves later this spring. Here are some of the most innovative, handy or just plain fun things I spotted this year …
10 Tips For Your First Vacation With a Child
A vacation with kids, especially little ones, isn’t the least bit relaxing. But it is a break from your routine, a change or scenery and an opportunity for mom, dad and the kids to have plenty of the elusive quality time, instead of having to squeeze family time among work, school, activities, laundry and grocery shopping. Finding the right balance of new and familiar, routine and flexibility takes some trial and error. But when you …
10 Tips For Stress-Free Flying With Little Kids
By Eileen Gunn
We’ve taken quite a flew flights with Tiny Traveler and haven’t had a meltdown (yet). We have had a lot of squirming and inappropriate climbing, scrambling in our pockets and bags for amusements, forbidden foods and badly timed naps. That’s OK. When you’re trapped in a confined space with a child for several hours, anything that avoids passengers staring while the child melts down or glaring while she sobs endlessly is entirely…
City Vacation: 6 No-Fail Family Travel Activities
By Eileen Gunn
Sea lion feedings never get old for Tiny Traveler. But I’ve seen enough of them to hold me for quite some time. Unless they’re exceptional—Philadelphia’s Please Touch Museum, Baltimore’s National Aquarium, the San Diego Zoo — I skip tourist attractions with fish, animals or waterplay rooms whenever I can find an alluring alternative.
It is possible to find activities that make mom, dad, kids and even the smallest toddler happy …
Tips For Taking a Taxi With Kids
The taxi cab thing…
Yes, we know. You don’t need a rental car and you can’t deal with public transit with the kids in tow. You just need to get your family from the airport to your hotel and back again in a safe manner in a destination you don’t know. And you’d like to not have to carry your child’s car seat for two 20-minute cab rides. We’ve been there.…
12 Questions To Ask Before Booking A Family Cruise
Cruising is an easy way to vacation with children, especially if you live in a city that’s an embarkation point. Whether you were an avid cruise-goer before you became a parent, or you doubted you’d ever go on a cruise in your life (guilty!), there are things you’ll want to find out before boarding with kids in tow. Here are some questions to ask your travel agent or cruise line rep before …
5 Ways To Hire a Vacation Babysitter
There are times when you need to get away from your kids when you’re getting away on vacation. You might have a wedding or other social obligation. Or you might just need one dinner where no one has to be told that chocolate pudding isn’t finger food.
Whatever the reason, finding someone you trust to get your kids fed and put to bed isn’t easy in a town you don’t know. Here …
