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Your Familys Amazing Race

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Bryce Longton of Black Book Mag wrote this great piece on how to come up with a great travel idea for your whole family. What about the Amazing Race? We keep watching the show thinking, I wish I could do that. Well why not?

For those aching for a little more adventure in your travel, Competitours is right up your alley. The Ohio-based tour company has launched a new kind of European adventure: part backpacker’s paradise, part guided tour, all contest. The deal is this — you sign up for a 14-day adventure (there’re also a 10- and 8-day options) and rendezvous at the JFK airport. Once you’ve received your first assignment, you’re off to a mystery country to start on your first set of challenges.

Teams are pitted against each other in a series of choose-your-own-adventure challenges designed to showcase the city de jour. Each team chooses up to five challenges a day (out of 8-10) and sets about the city videotaping and uploading their progress to the Competitours website. [Read more…] about Your Familys Amazing Race

John Day Fossil Beds Oregon

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Carol Mathis at the Examiner as this great article about the Fossil Beds in Oregon which is a great place for your family to stop to see on a trip through the Pacific Northwest.

So this year the family is seeking something different to do. How about a trip to the John Day Fossil Beds for the entire family. The entire family will feel as if they have walked back into the prehistoric times of Oregon. The first place on your trip to visit is the Visitor Center at Sheep Rock Unit.

This is located on highway 19 between Dayville and Kimberly. Just a couple of miles from the junction, there are many destinations at Sheep Rock. Thomas Condon Paleontology Center filled to the top with monuments and fossil collections the family can spend literally hours in this fabulous building learning and seeing things that many of us will never see in a lifetime.

Another stop while visiting the John Day Fossil Beds is the Cant Ranch house. This is a cultural historic ranch house museum located ¼ mile down the road from Thomas Condon Paleontology Center. While you visit the Cant Ranch it will transport you to another time and place in the State of Oregon’s history. Learn about the settlement of the area of the John Day Fossil Beds and enjoy feeling as if you are transported to another place and time. [Read more…] about John Day Fossil Beds Oregon

Saunas in Thunder Bay

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I found the following story from Coastal Living Magazine about the small town of Thunder Bay and the influence of all the people from Finland that have settled there. Thunder Bay is in next to the Great Lakes in Ontario Canada.

As the temperature nears 200 degrees Fahrenheit, I peer through the steam at 75-year-old Pentti Hirvonen. “It’s time,” he says.

Finland’s love of saunas has taken root along the shores of Lake Superior.

He opens the sauna door and steps outside, where it’s several degrees below zero. I follow him, barefoot through snow, to a hole in a lake, my feet too hot to even register the temperature. He breaks the thin sheet of ice that has formed in the few minutes we have been inside. Without ceremony, he jumps in, deliberately splashing his face and shoulders. My turn will come next.

Thousands of miles separate Thunder Bay, Ontario, from Finland, but the country’s love of saunas has taken root along the shores of Lake Superior. The Canadian outpost is a miniature Helsinki, with one of the largest populations of Finns outside Europe. [Read more…] about Saunas in Thunder Bay

How to find great travel deals

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When it comes to air travel, the bumpy ride of 2008 is over, and the relatively cheap ride of 2009 is taking off.

With just a few minutes and a computer, we found a $39 one-way fare from Austin to San Francisco and a $79 round trip to Orlando — both trips that often cost more than $100 each way.

Prices are coming down, thanks largely to a recent drop in fuel prices. At the same time, airlines are aggressively trying to recoup losses from the last year and convince wary passengers air travel is still a good deal. [Read more…] about How to find great travel deals

Dark clouds in Vacation Market

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More struggles lie ahead for the tattered U.S. travel industry as hotels, casinos, airlines and travel agencies fight the tide of economic recession and flagging travel demand.

It’s a tough battle for the companies. Job losses, obliterated savings and falling home prices have made potential leisure travelers reconsider vacations. Business travel has taken a hit, too, as companies trim costs or shut down.

Executives from travel companies like Las Vegas Sands Corp, Marriott International Inc and UAL Corp’s United Airlines will speak this week on challenges facing their businesses at the Reuters Travel and Leisure Summit in New York. [Read more…] about Dark clouds in Vacation Market