Travel Tips

It’s so easy to give your kids a few dollars and send them on their way. They probably even came to you and asked for money to hang out with their buddies. But, many times what they really want is time with you. They don’t want to interfere with your busy lifestyle so they take the easy way out by going out. You make it easier for them by handing over the money, no questions asked.

Today’s rapid paced world makes it difficult to find spare time to meet with your family much less spend quality bonding time. Everyone is always on the go and you see each other in the morning before the day’s activities begin and at night when everyone comes home; but then it’s time for bed.

Even meals are too often eaten standing up or at a fast food restaurant. There’s no time for conversation and that includes both talking and listening to your children. It’s the wise family that schedules time to be together.

Set aside at least one night a week for the family to be together, alone. This doesn’t mean the kids can invite friends over on that night. Take the phone off the hook or any activity or conversation will be constantly interrupted. If you’ve not done this all along and your kids are older, it will be difficult at first but soon everyone will look forward to it.

What you do is not that important. But, it’s important that you’re together. Talk to your children, asked them questions, be interested in their world and get involved if needed. Listen to how they spent their day and the problems and successes they had.

Board games for the family can be fun and entertaining. If you’re watching your budget, most board games can be found inexpensively at discount stores and yard sales. You probably already have the basic games such as cards, dominoes and checkers. Younger children love for someone to read to them. If they’re older, read with them and share what you’ve read afterwards.

Work together on crafts or cooking. Building something together is a great way to discover each other’s talents and converse at the same time. You probably remember when your dad helped you build a model airplane or go-cart. Perhaps it was memorable times in the kitchen with mom baking a cake or preparing dinner together.

Always compliment your children and emphasize the positive not the negative. Let them know you’re there for them anytime, anywhere. Hugs are always nice to enforce the positive and so are notes left unexpectedly on the refrigerator or lunch box.

All together, time doesn’t have to be spent at home but try to plan outside activities that allow interaction. A camping trip or fishing expedition would be fun and inexpensive. You could even camp out in the back yard.

Your kids probably are involved in many school sports, plays and festivals they would love for you to attend. Giving children your time and love is not expensive and one of the most worthwhile investments you’ll ever make.

What You Need to Know to Stay Safe

There’s nothing like seeing new things and experiencing different cultures, but sometimes this can come at a price. Traveling abroad can be serious business unless you know how to stay safe. Here are some things to keep in mind the next time you have to travel abroad.

Check out weather patterns – Check out the weather patterns for every place along your route. Plan for possible plane delays if the weather seems to be iffy in one or more areas.

If there’s a chance of severe weather, like a hurricane, for your destination then plan on going another time if possible. Play it safe and don’t risk getting caught in severe weather like that.

Check for security concerns – Find out what’s going on within the country you plan to visit. Are there any political arguments that could lead to an all out war? Don’t get caught in the middle of a battle if you know ahead of time that a war could break out.

Research the culture of the country you’re planning to go to. Different countries have different cultures. Don’t assume that the country you’re planning to go to will accommodate your cultural beliefs.

You may ultimately offend someone in another country by what you deem to be innocent behavior. This can cause them to retaliate against you. Know as much as you can before leaving for your trip.

Learn their language. Learn as much of their language as possible. Some people can take advantage of you if they think you don’t have any idea of what they’re saying. It can also help to eliminate any misunderstandings, which may cause violence.

Check with your health insurance company. Find out if your health insurance will cover medical costs abroad. Don’t just assume they will. If they do cover medical costs abroad, find out what they do and don’t cover.

Reserve your stay at the more popular tourist attraction hotels. These are more likely to have better security than ones that are off away from the tourist spots. Don’t wander away from hot tourist areas because you can be an easy target for the locals. If you have a trustworthy guide, then it’s okay to explore – but only with them. Never go off alone.

Don’t advertise yourself as a tourist. Try to wear clothes that will make you blend in with the locals. If you choose to rent a car while abroad, don’t go for anything too flashy. It will only scream out to the locals that you’re a tourist and you then become a target.

Traveling abroad to another country can be a safe experience if you take precautions before you leave on your trip and don’t let your guard down when you reach your destination. Respect the locals and their cultural beliefs and try not to offend anyone. They’re more likely to welcome you then and may even protect you if needed.

Traveling can be a headache, especially when it’s done with kids. Long plane rides or car rides can make any child restless, thereby making your trip miserable. It doesn’t have to be. Here are some tips to use to try to make traveling with tots a bit better:

Plan ahead. Last minute, spontaneous car rides don’t work when there’s children involved. Plan your route and plan for frequent stops, too. Children need to get out and run around at least once an hour to stretch out their legs. If your child isn’t old enough to walk yet, get them out of the car seat for a little bit anyway.

Prepare yourself. Children have smaller bladders than you do, so they need to go more often. They also tend to ask a lot of questions and noise is inevitable for them.

Don’t act surprised when you have to answer a lot of questions and make more stops than you anticipated. Keep your sanity by preparing yourself for these things before the trip.

For long trips in a car or plane, bring along some new toys for them to play with. Handheld video games are good time killers for the older children and some travel games are good for the younger ones.

Avoid books and coloring books because they can cause car-sickness. Infants aren’t immune to boredom either, so make sure they have new squishy things to hold or a rattle to shake. Switch off every so often to maintain their interest.

Don’t forget the snacks. Children get bored on long trips and tend to get hungry quite often. Have some good, healthy snacks handy to dole out at these times to save you from having to make yet another stop and spending a lot more money for snacks at a gas station.

Recruit reinforcements if you can. Invite friends or other family members along on your trip. They may be able to keep your kids busy while you get a few moments here and there for yourself, so you can recuperate and refresh your mind.

Space out your activities. If you’re traveling with young children, don’t try to jam a day’s worth of activities for them in only a few hours. This will only exhaust them and cause them to be irritable and grumpy. Give them time to do what they want as well, even if that means some time at a video arcade.

Try to keep as much of their normal routine as possible. There’s nothing wrong with letting your kids stay up a little later while you’re on vacation, but don’t let them stay up for hours longer every night. This will only cause more trouble when you get back home.

Traveling with children can be a very exhausting task for your mind and body, but try to keep these tips in mind to help ease the process. Think of the trip through the eyes of your children and don’t expect them to act and react the same as you. It will only make your trip miserable.

Going on vacation is a nice way to get away from it all and have fun. It can also be an energy-sapping experience with troubled times. Packing a few extra items for your trip can help make things go a lot easier and allow you to have time to relax. Here are some top travel accessories you can take advantage of.

Digital Camera – This is actually a must for any trip. How many times have you been to a place where you saw something you want to take a picture of, but you didn’t have a camera to do it with – or you take a picture and you get home only to find out the picture didn’t turn out right?

Digital cameras allow you to see the picture right away, so you have time to try again if needed. Don’t get anything too expensive or bulky, just a small cheaper one will do.

Personal grooming bag – Grooming bags help keep all of your items together in one place instead of you having to rummage through different suitcases to find one item. It also eliminates problems with getting make-up or other substances on your clothes.

Travel alarm clock – If you need to get up at certain times while on your trip, use a travel alarm clock. This is less intrusive than the annoying wake up calls from the front desk. It also lets you take a cat nap and will wake you up when needed so you still have time to enjoy your vacation, instead of falling asleep and waking up hours later.

Compressor bags for clothes – This is an awesome accessory to have. These bags are stuffed with your clothes and then the air is sucked out of them, leaving you with a compact bag.

It enables you to have more room in your suitcases and they protect your clothes. When you need an item of clothing, all you need to do is open up the bag and get it. The amazing part is that they don’t wrinkle the clothes.

Fanny pack – These are nice to have to keep your money and credit cards in. It eliminates the need for purses and you don’t have to worry as much about losing your wallet or purse. For women, it frees them up to move around instead of having to struggle with a purse strap always coming down.

Travel first aid kits – These are perfect for those minor emergencies that occur on the drive to your destination spot or even while you’re there. Buying them on the road can be costly, so bring your own and save that money for something else.

Traveling can be hard, but if you bring along some accessories, they can make things go a lot smoother for you. It may mean a few more things you have to pack, but it can be well worth the space and effort in the long run.

A night at the movies can be a great get-together for the entire family whether at the theater or at home. Hollywood is getting more family conscious and producing more movies for general audiences so the selection is better than in times past.

If you’re not sure about a certain movie’s content, go online and do your research. You can’t always go by the rating but that’s a good place to start. You might wonder sometimes how a movie got a PG rating.

Movies, like most everything else in life, are not as affordable as they used to be. Depending on what city you live in you can expect to spend $7 to $10 or more for an adult ticket and about $2 less for children under 12. Discounts are available for students who provide a valid school ID. [Read more…] about Movie Fun Savings for Families