Blog Archives - Page 26 of 46 - Mom's Guide To Travel

Feb 03 2015

Galileo Summer Camp: A Recipe For Learning Success

Yes, it’s only February and I’m already thinking about vacation planning and summer camp. It’s cold and my family is craving warm weather and fun activities.

What about you? Are you thinking about your summer plans yet? What’s your annual mix? Ours is part family travel, part camp for the kids.

Although it seems like we just took down the Christmas tree, the school year is halfway completed and now’s the perfect time to start planning. Prices are low and we’re recuperating from the consumerism of the holidays.

The first thing that I ask myself is: how do I keep the kids engaged and learning over the summer break?

The Annual Summer Camp Challenge

Every year, I deal with the same issue: what type of camp am I going to enroll my 11-year old? I want to keep things fun and exciting for him. I know how he learns and what he enjoys learning but it’s not always easy to find a camp environment that will keep him engaged, learning, and growing.

Other parents face this same challenge. And unfortunately, not everyone can afford (both in time and resources) to travel all summer long with their kids while managing summer learning.

This is why summer camps like Galileo learning camps are so valuable. They have deep and lasting educational impact that parents appreciate.

Galileo Camp Offerings

Galileo summer camps offer several themes/curriculum options which include:

Music and Art
Destination San Francisco
DIY Art and Real-world Inventions
Mount Everest Expedition
Arts Academy (painting, filmmaking, photography, fashion design)
Technology (mod, website and video game design, 3D modeling / printing, music production)
Culinary Arts (International cooking, dessert making)
Building/Inventing

In-Home Camp

My boys are like many other kids – they excel in hands-on, interactive learning experiences. When my oldest was first learning about fractions and measurements in school, he had trouble grasping the concept. So, I did what any mom would do who needs to explain measurements to her child: I made him bake!

Ok, well maybe not all moms do that but I thought it would be a fun, educational, hands-on experience for him. In one of our in-the-kitchen math lessons, he helped me measure oil, water and batter for brownies.

This exercise taught him fractions and the metric system.

Another time he helped me make sugar croissants. The exercise required measuring ingredients like brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. We used smaller measurements like teaspoons and tablespoons.

Here are some pictures from the activity we did, complete with steps on how you can make your own cinnamon bites:

Aside from being fun (and yummy), these activities were lessons for him that not only help to develop life skills but also teach him a thing or two. After a few hands-on experiences in the kitchen, the concept of fractions was clearer to him.

What Summer Camp Is About

This is what summer camp should emulate for kids: creative learning opportunities that will have educational impact. Camps like Galileo camps do just this. These hands-on camps teach pre-K-8th graders to be innovators who explore, create and fail without fear.

Being able to create without fear of failure is important to a child’s growth, esteem, and enjoyment. This is why kids love Galileo summer camps.

We all know that camp can be expensive. Try Galileo camps out for yourself and save $30 off per family for 1 session. Click the link to check out their offerings and use code: 2015INNOVATE to save. When a child is interested in what they’re doing and how they’re doing it, that is when they’re most successful and when they excel.

Thanks to Galileo Learning for sponsoring today’s discussion.

Feb 02 2015

What To Know About A Lake Placid Winter Getaway #PerfectDayADK

Last week I wrote about ways that you can enjoy a winter getaway in Lake Placid, New York. With over a dozen different winter activities, you have your pick of how you can play in the snow.

It was funny to read all the comments from people who don’t like the snow. I feel you on that.

I grew up around snow so it doesn’t bother me. Now, do I want to be driving to work in it or trapped in my house because of it? No. However, I don’t mind watching it come down while tucked under a warm blanket with a cup of hot chocolate, marshmallows and whip cream.

I also don’t mind traveling TO snow for a three-day winter getaway. I love to play in the snow. We do it every year. The key is, I get away from it in 72 hours and leave it behind.

That’s how I appreciate snow the best.

This week I interview a local expert to find out what you need to know about vacation planning for Lake Placid. Check out the interview above for more details about the area and its offerings. I added some visuals, courtesy of the Lake Placid Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The contest for the Lake Placid winter getaway is anew with a second prize. You can enter the giveaway directly for your chance at a trip for two and a stay at the Lake House, the newest lodging property in town.

If you won the winter getaway to Lake Placid, how would you play in the snow? Who would you take with you?

Now that that’s settled, enter the giveaway –> http://bit.ly/15Ik819

Disclosure: As a brand ambassador with Lake Placid, Adirondacks USA, this content was written in conjunction with the “Play in the Snow” winter vacation campaign. All opinions expressed are my own.

Jan 25 2015

Plan A Perfect Stay in The Snow: Win A Trip to Lake Placid #PerfectDayADK

Growing up in Brooklyn, I didn’t enjoy many nature-driven outings unless we took the occasional family trip to the park or a drive to Upstate New York. I’d heard about Lake Placid and the Adirondack Mountains but it was one of the many regions of New York that seemed so far away.

Lake Placid is in fact, 300 miles from Brooklyn, a cool five-hour drive. If you drive further East along the 95 corridor, you actually pass through four states before you are parallel to Lake Placid, Adirondacks.

No Outdoors in New York

My family wasn’t the outdoorsy type so my parents never did any vacation planning to wilderness-centric destinations. There was so much I didn’t know about New York.

It wasn’t until I went to boarding school in Connecticut that I was able to participate in outdoor activities which didn’t offer a hard greeting of concrete. Once I got to college in California, I had acquired an appreciation for the outdoors. Traveling to friends’ homes in Oregon and Washington for school vacations, I always thought we New Yorkers were missing so much.

Lake Placid, Adirondacks — Avalanche Pass – what a name!

I soon learned it wasn’t “New Yorkers” that were missing so much, just the small percentage of us that chose not to venture into the wide open area of our great state that offers more beauty than cold high rises and skyscrapers.

More Than The Olympics

An estimated 7-10 million visitors travel to the Adirondacks region annually.

The Adirondacks is a 6-million acre area rich with Olympic tradition. More significantly, and based on research from the region’s CVB, people visit the Adirondacks for its outdoor recreational opportunities. It’s the premier natural setting for hiking, boating, ice-skating, snow-shoeing, fishing, cycling, hunting, skiing, mountaineering enthusiasts on the East Coast.

Did you know that the Adirondack Park is larger than Yellowstone, Everglades, Glacier and Grand Canyon National Parks combined?

Remember what I said about thinking we New Yorkers were missing so much when I drove through Oregon and Washington? Talk about not appreciating what’s in your own backyard!

In that same vain, if you live on the East Coast and you want to plan a vacation for that perfect winter getaway, you don’t have to schlep all the way to Colorado, Utah, or Nevada. You can “Stay & Play in the Snow” in Lake Placid. The village as well as the rest of the Adirondacks offers a nice selection of winter travel opportunities.

Things To Do In Lake Placid, Adirondacks

So to help you in your winter vacation planning in Lake Placid, here are some activities to consider:

bobsledding
cross country skiing
telemark skiing
downhill skiing
snowboarding
ice climbing
ice skating
snowmobiling
hockey
sledding
tubing
tobogganing
skiing
snowshoeing
dogsledding

Snowboarding is my favorite winter activity but I also like iceskating, cross country skiing and dogsledding. I would love to try bobsledding as its not an activity that’s available in many places. There are only two tracks in the U.S. like the one in New York’s Adirondack Pack, and only four in North America.

True to a mountain village, Lake Placid offers several types of accommodations as well:

Bed & Breakfast
Cabins & Cottages
Hotels & Resorts
condos, town homes, rental homes
green lodging
hostels

With my recovering knee, I’d be participating in a little après ski. The best part of a “play in the snow” getaway (hurt or not) is either cozying up to a fireplace with a warm cup of hot cocoa or relaxing in the stillness of a spa. What’s your favorite winter activity on the list?

Enter to Win A Trip To Lake Placid

Are you ready to head to Lake Placid Adirondacks, USA? I know I am! Let me know if you need help planning your trip or enter for you chance to play in the snow in Lake Placid: http://bit.ly/15Ik819. It’s a wonderful winter getaway for two that I’m sure you’ll love. No purchase necessary (although I would love for you to send me pictures)!

Jan 19 2015

The Mountain of Despair: Traveling to the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial in DC

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

The Martin Luther King Jr Memorial is one of the most beautiful memorials in Washington, DC. It is located at 1964 Independence Avenue in West Potomac Park. The address commemorates the year that the 1964 Civil Rights Act became law.

I remember when it first opened in 2011. We, like so many others, were excited to visit. It was DC’s second proudest moments in recent years.

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

Finally, a man who had done so much for advancing the civil rights of blacks in America, as well as other disadvantaged communities, was being memorialized on the National Mall. It’s an honor that’s usually reserved for presidents.

The Walk There

The air was infectious. People were selling all kinds of paraphernalia on the roads as crowds of different nationalities walked eagerly to set eyes on the park. You could feel the excitement.

My mother, sister and nephews came to visit from New York. I had their weekend completely planned out. We were going on a family day trip to check out the memorial together.

My Mother’s Journey

I could tell that my mother, the only one in our little group who had experienced it all, was beyond excitement. I remembered her recounting the day of Dr. King’s assassination. She was 20 years old at the time. My sister was a newborn. She said that when she heard the news all she did was cry.

I could only imagine.

In her lifetime, she’s seen a lot. She knows what it was like to grow up in a Jim Crow society, to read about lynchings on the regular, church bombings, blatant segregation. The America that we live in today, although some wrongs have been righted, is still struggling with the same issues and injustices. The country has come a long way but there’s still deep-rooted problems infesting our society. All they do is hold us back from progressing further.

Watching my mother’s face as she took it all in was a blessing. I wondered what that was like to live through such stark social transitions irregardless of us not being there yet.

The walk to the Memorial from the North part of the National Mall (the closest place where we could find parking) was bright and open. Although visiting in August of 2011 can be hot, it’s also convenient. The tulips are in bloom and nature is just as energetic as the people who make their way to the National Memorial.

MLK Jr. Memorial

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park sits on 4 acres of land. It is an open and beautiful layout of stone and white granite blocks. When you enter the park from the Northwest corner, you walk past a 450 feet long crescent shaped granite wall inscribed with excerpts from Dr. King’s sermons and speeches. Those fourteen excerpts were pulled from various speeches of Dr. King’s ranging from 1955-1968.

You’ll read in the National Park Service’s brochure for the Memorial that the inscriptions were chosen to highlight four of Dr. King’s primary messages: “injustice, democracy, hope, and love.”

A 30-ft. high relief of King is called the Stone of Hope” and is the centerpiece of the Memorial Park. There are two quotes on this behemoth of stone, one on each side:

“Out of the Mountain of Despair, a Stone of Hope.”

“I was a Drum Major for Justice, Peace, and Righteousness.”

I couldn’t help but lay my brown hands on the stone, to absorb the power of his words and pray for the best in this country. I watched my mother read the inscriptions, taking quiet moments of pause. I was happy that I brought her here.

The Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial is a must-see if you’re traveling to DC, with or without kids. Our generation doesn’t have a leader of the same caliber of Dr. King. However, this doesn’t mean that we should stop striving to recalibrate ourselves.

Jan 13 2015

8 Travel Security Tips You Should Know From A Professional

We don’t all have the pleasure of bringing our spouses to work with us. However, last October my husband accompanied me to Greece for the annual TBEX Europe conference. After a heated conversation, I asked him to share his travel security tips with me for the blog. It’s nice to have another voice on here. He is raw, honest, and doesn’t pretend to be a writer. He knows what he knows and I love him for it.

Read below to see what he had to say.

On a recent trip to Greece with my wife, I had a chance to mingle and observe some of her travel writer counterparts. I was amazed to see how nonchalant most of them were about security and their surroundings. Naturally, she said that I overreacted.

When I pointed out a few examples, she huffed and puffed and asked to me share my security advice.

So, here we go: Travel Security Tips to staying safe.

1. Trust Your Instincts

If it doesn’t feel right it isn’t. I know that sounds like a cliché but you’d be surprised how many people try to “MAKE” things ok. Trust your gut. Get in the habit of looking over your shoulder every once in a while.

2. Know Your Surroundings

NO, listen to me! Know. Your. Surroundings. Part of this means: see, hear and smell what is around you. A great way to do this is to take a walk or jog around the area where you’re staying.

It also means:

Know at least two routes to your hotel/house/apartment.
Learn where the cameras are in your location (this can save you).
Identify where you can find the nearest police station and save the number in your phone. You can always delete it when you leave. Make sure you know how to dial it.
Observe and be familiar with the shops, stores, and people who frequent your area.

3. Plan, Plan, Plan

Know what to do in emergency situations. Run scenarios in your head. No one ever suspects that they’ll have an issue on a vacation but you never know. Here’s what you should think about:

Where’s the exit if a fire happens?
What should you do if you see a crime (i.e. how to get away; how do you report it to the police)?
Where do you go if you get injured? Having travel insurance is also very wise if you’re traveling overseas.
What should you do if someone is following you?
What’s your escape plan if you need to get out of somewhere quickly?

4. Protect Important Information

Don’t carry your official documents with you. Always carry copies of your passport or visa. You can also scan and email important documents to yourself to save on your phone.
Save the address and phone number of the US Embassy in your contacts or email it to yourself as well.

5. Backpacks Come In Handy

Whenever we went out for the day, I carried my backpack with a few essential items. Note, I did not keep my money in my backpack. Whenever my wife bought something at a store, I stored it in the backpack so that she wasn’t walking around with visible shopping bags in her hand.

You should always have a go-bag prepared so that if you need to leave in a hurry, it will be easy for you to move quickly.

6. Mind Your Money

Keep your money and your wallet in your front pockets. Be sure to pull out only what you need when making a purchase.

Keep money separated. One pocket should have small bills, another pocket should hold the larger bills. For bigger purchases, opt to use your ATM or a credit card.
Know how much money you have at all times.
Look over your shoulder when using cash.
Never carry all of your bank/credit cards with you when you go out exploring.

7. Be Smart About Communications

I learned this the hard way in Greece, depending on the use of my wife’s global phone. On the last day of my trip we were separated. I had no way to get in touch with her until I was able to connect to wifi at the airport. I walked away learning a valuable lesson:

No matter what the cost, make sure you have the ability to use a phone. It may cost a little extra but it’s good to have that option should an emergency come up.
Having communications is important but when you’re walking, don’t keep your face buried in your phone. Twitter and FB can wait.
Smart phones are targets for thieves. Keep them out of view as much as possible.

8. Remember Faces

Lastly, when you’re talking to people, make sure to look at them closely. It’s common courtesy to look at someone eye-to-eye but you also want to remember what they look like in the event you need to describe them later.

Please keep in mind that these are not the only things that you can do. However, these are a few tips that will definitely help you stay safe.

I really appreciate my husband for taking the time out and providing me with these very useful travel security tips. I love traveling with him because I know he has my back. It seems like a lot to remember but once you train yourself to think about these precautions and do some pre-planning for your vacation, it’ll always be in the back of your mind when you travel.

You’ll be safer for it.

What tip did you find to be particularly useful? I’d love to let him know.