Snapshot Chronicles Roadtrip - Family travel through a slightly twisted lens. Sense of humor required. Shoes optional.

Surviving Summer Vacation: Keeping the kids entertained on the road

June 25, 2010 by Susan Getgood

School’s out for summer, and if you are like most Americans, you’ll be taking a family vacation. Parents, kids and possibly even pets displacing themselves from home to a vacation destination. By plane, train, automobile and even boat.

And the $25,000 question is: how are you going to keep the kids entertained in transit? Here are my tips for making getting there a part of the fun of the holiday, not just something to be endured.

1. Give each child a new game, toy or activity as you depart. Nothing expensive — a travel game or book for older kids, a small toy for younger ones. New is the key here –something novel that will keep their attention for the first stage of the trip, which is often on familiar (boring) ground, especially if you are driving to your destination. Important: don’t give books to kids who get carsick. It’s a tease, not a treat.

2. Now is not the time to impose a moratorium on electronics. Carefully stage and pack all hand held video units, iPods/iTouches and DVD players to make sure you have all the necessary chargers, headphones and games/DVDs. Try to avoid bringing every last game and movie — make the kids pick a few favorites You can always buy new movies in transit, even at rest stop convenience stores. Do the same for your own electronics — mobile phone, laptop, Kindle, iPod etc.

3. If you are traveling by plane, train or boat, each child should have his/her own appropriately sized carry-on for toys and games. If it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t come with, and don’t let your children have two carry-ons. You will end up carrying one of them. Instead, if you are traveling by plane, use one of the extra alloted carry-ons to pack a small suitcase with a change of clothes for everyone, basic toiletries and medicines. If your luggage is lost, or you have an extended layover, you will appreciate it. I learned this from experience. When Douglas was one, we had a lengthy and unexpected layover in Zurich on the way back from Europe. I had packed the diaper bag with everything I thought we’d need to get home, but hadn’t accounted for a 6 hour layover. I don’t know about now, but at the time, they did not sell disposable diapers at the Zurich airport. We made it home with none to spare!

4. If you are traveling by car, let the kids use their electronics when you are on long boring stretches of road. When there’s actually stuff to look at, or when the batteries die, try some of these games to encourage them to look out the window.

License Plate — This was a family favorite when I was a kid (pre-electronics era) You simply try to spot plates from all 50 states. This is especially good when traveling long distances.

Alphabet — Play Alphabet when you are in areas with lots of billboards and highway signs. Two teams, each has one side of the road. Your challenge is to spot the letters of the alphabet in order.

Travel Bingo — You can buy travel bingo sets or print your own from the web. We’ve used a pad and pencil version from eeBoo Travel Bingo and also have the cards with the sliders (Regal Travel Auto Bingo), no pencil required. As long as each player has a different card, you don’t have to pick sides of the car. Just be sure that every player stands a reasonable chance of seeing a number of the things on his or her card.

Want to get your kid’s nose out of the Nintendo while eating at a restaurant? Play I Spy. I Spy with my little eye something that is…. Our basic rules are the players can ask yes or no questions, and get 20 guesses/questions. But we often skip the rules and just have fun playing.

5. Popular games like Battleship and Mastermind have travel versions. Pick up some of your families favorites and a deck of cards for your travel games kit. Keep it small so it can fit in your airline carry-on as well as the backseat!

Next up in Surviving Summer Vacation: Kids and cameras

Paris with Kids: Tour Montparnasse, le Jardin du Luxembourg and Montmartre

June 20, 2010 by Susan Getgood

: Image via Wikipedia

One of my favorite cities in the world is Paris.

I loved it in my youth when I lived in France for a year in high school and a semester in college. I loved it as an adult in the 90s when I was lucky enough to have a few business trips that brought me back. And I loved it as a parent in 2001 when we brought our then one-year old son on a two-week trip to Switzerland, Strasbourg, Paris and London. Hopefully, I’ll get back there again sometime in the next few years.

One of the reasons I love the city is that you don’t have to be wealthy to have a good time in Paris. In my experience, it is much easier to live and eat well in Paris on a shoestring than it is in other major capitals like New York and London. Don’t get me wrong, I adore New York and London. But I find that I enjoy them much more when the money flows a bit freer than I do when on a tight budget.

In Paris, though, like in the US capital Washington DC (also a planned city), there’s so much that can be enjoyed for free. It’s also a very walkable city. And the cheap food is good food, not fish & chips (which, while good, do not make a healthy steady diet) or cardboard hamburgers (although there is a McDonald’s on the Champs-Elysée).

It’s also a great city for families. Here are three things that should be on your must–see list when visiting Paris with kids.

Tour Montparnasse – The lines to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower are long. Nearly all the time. When you have young kids, waiting in line can be murder. So instead, see the Eiffel Tower from the ground, and then make your way over to the Montparnasse train station and the Tour Montparnasse. It’s an ugly iron and steel modern office building, but the views of Paris from the top are amazing. According to some, it’s the best place from which to see Paris, because you CAN’T see the Tour Montparnasse.

Le Jardin du Luxembourg is the jewel in the crown of the Paris parks. Just walking through it, at any time of the year is a treat. What makes it so great for families with young kids, however, is the children’s playground. There’s a small entrance fee — just a few francs when we were there in 2001. It’s a great way to break up a day of sightseeing.

Montmartre – It takes a while to get there, from wherever you are in Paris, but it’s worth it. It’s fun to ramble through the narrow, unplanned streets, and the views of Paris from the Basilique du Sacré Coeur are terrific. The best part for kids though is the Carousel.

If you have time on your trip to Paris, a visit to Versailles is also fun to do with kids. I’ve been four different times, at various points in my life, and each time, the experience was amazing and different. It’s an easy trip by train (about an hour), and a short walk from the train station to the Château de Versailles. Warning: there are two principal train stations in Versailles, each corresponding to a different train line (Rive Gauche, Rive Droite). Both are in walking distance of the Château.

Travel tips for road warriors

May 30, 2010 by Susan Getgood

: Image via Wikipedia

This month, I took two overnight business trips, to Atlanta and Fort Lauderdale. Didn’t see much other than the companies I was visiting and my hotel rooms, both of which were your standard chain rooms (Omni in Atlanta and Westin in Florida), although I was able to have dinner with friends in both places – Mexican at No Mas! Cantina in Atlanta and sushi at Asia Bay on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. Both terrific and I highly recommend them.

Here are some tips for surviving short turnaround trips like these.

Always get two hotel keys. If one doesn’t work (and it happens often) you have a back-up and can avoid the long journey back to reception. Because, guaranteed, you’re tired and when the key doesn’t work, your room is ALWAYS at the furthest possible point from the elevator.

Don’t check your bag. Bring just what you need and carry-on. If you check and your bag gets lost, you’ll probably be home before it catches up with you. And you won’t have clean clothes for the second day. Problematic if that’s when the big meeting is. A variant on this tip for your family vacation is to carry-on one bag with a change of clothes for everyone plus your basic toiletries. It’s like carrying an umbrella on an overcast day. You may not need it but if you don’t have one, it will rain.

Extra fees are a fact of airline travel these days. I fly JetBlue or Southwest when I have a checked bag, because I will not pay the big airlines for the privilege of checking a bag unless I absolutely have no choice. Some fees are worth it though. Early-bird check-in on Southwest is well worth the $10 each way. When you are on a tight schedule, you can’t guarantee that you’ll be able to call in at the 24-hour mark. Early-bird pretty much guarantees you won’t get stuck in a middle seat, but you don’t have to pay the higher ticket price for business class (or whatever they call it.) On JetBlue, the extra legroom seats are worth it for longer flights, especially if you have to work on the plane, but don’t bother for short hauls. Don’t forget to bring your own headset for JetBlue.

If you like to read, get an e-book reader. Especially if you read fast. I got a Kindle (affiliate link) for Christmas and now can bring 2-3 books on a trip with the same slim footprint. Freed up lots of space in my briefcase and makes carry-on realistic, even for 2-3 day trips. In summer, when the clothes are lighter. In winter, I can do carry-on for an overnight, but not longer trips.

Invest in a netbook instead of lugging your laptop. I’ve also heard that some folks are substituting an iPad for their laptop. Bottom line, lighten the load. If you are using a netbook, definitely get the Kensington Wireless Mouse (affiliate link) that has a USB option for inflight use.

Don’t assume that a round-trip ticket is the least expensive option. Especially if it involves multiple airlines. Look at the cost of each leg booked as a one-way before buying your ticket. This is super important if your plans may get “fluid.” I recently lost a great return flight, even though I was only changing my outbound travel, due to the extremely rigid rules of the airlines. Had the tickets been two separate tickets, I still would have been screwed on the last minute change to the outbound, but could have kept my return. This applies to Amtrak as well when using the AAA discount. The outbound leg of my upcoming trip to NYC (on the Northeast Regional in off-peak hours) would have been more expensive booked as a round-trip with my return on the Acela. Instead I booked it as two separate trips, getting the great off-peak fare for the trip to NY and the AAA discount on my Acela fare for the return to Boston.

Only carry the things you will need during the flight in your “under seat” bag. Everything else goes in your overnight bag. I even put my netbook in the outside pouch of my roll-aboard bag unless I am going to use it on the plane. This reduces the weight on your back or shoulders. Seems like a small thing but you’ll appreciate it as you navigate a terminal for a connecting flight and your shoulder bag doesn’t feel like it has bricks in it.

Hotels — even those that aren’t part of chains — have soap and shampoo in the room. Don’t waste the space in your 1 quart plastic bag with those items for a short trip. Your skin and hair can take one night without whatever special products you use at home. Save the space for things like moisturizer and your favorite make-up remover. I always bring eyedrops.

What are your top tips for short trips?

It’s all happening at the zoo

April 26, 2010 by Susan Getgood

I’ve always loved the zoo, and this month, I visited two.

Columbus Zoo

During a business trip to Columbus, Ohio, I had a a full day to spare before my flight home due to last minute changes in my travel plans. The good news, however, was that friend Christina McMenemy (A Mommy Story) was free that day and suggested we go to the Columbus Zoo. We only had time for a few exhibits, but I was impressed with the facility — especially how clean it was, and look forward to a future trip to Columbus to see more.

Baby Elephant, Columbus Zoo

Red Panda, Columbus Zoo

Gray Wolf, Columbus Zoo

Stone Zoo

Douglas decided he wanted to go to the zoo too, so I took the afternoon off yesterday from book editing, and we went to a small local zoo, the Stone Zoo in Stoneham, Massachusetts.

You can see the whole zoo in about 90 minutes, but it is a pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon, and the staff is very friendly. One zookeeper pointed out a little turtle — wild — that had moved into their pond, and when we said we hadn’t been able to spot the Snow Leopard, offered to walk back and point her out to us.

The animals in the Stone Zoo are mostly American (North and South) native animals, with a couple of Himalayan species for good measure. Sister zoo, the Franklin Park Zoo, has the African mammals and will be our next zoo destination.