Does the thought of a long haul flight with your little kids leave you in a cold sweat? It shouldn't. We've taken flights from Vancouver to Hong Kong, hopped between islands in the Philippines, and flown from Canada to Cancun to Costa Rica as well as Calgary to Cuba and all over North America with two little ones in tow. The kids are now seven and three, but we flown with them from the time they were still breastfeeding and in diapers. Here are our top tips for taking long flights with little ones...
Put your feet up, pop some popcorn and indulge in some great travel TV shows with us.
In this day and age, anyone that travels seems to be defined by what they bring (or don't bring) on their travels. As a result, this digital age has brought another term to the backpack scene: flashpacker. Flashpacking is simply backpacking with more technological toys. It also usually refers to travellers with a few extra dollars to spend while on the road. The term affluent is sometimes associated with it as well however in this day and age almost everyone has a few tech toys with them. As such I suppose you can call us flashpackers but in truth, I like to refer to us simply as travellers or even nomads since we tend to follow the seasons. Our little ones tell everyone we're Barefoot Nomads and to be honest, it puts a smile on my face every time they say it.When we first started seriously travelling back in '02 one of the first places we stopped was Singapore. At the time Singapore was said to be miles ahead of the West in terms in technology. It usually took a few months for products to show up in Canada and the US that were already collecting dust on the shelves in this Asian country. As such, we had decided to pick up both a digital camera and a new laptop while we were there. Though we were far from pioneers at the time, a traveller with a decent laptop was still a rare sight.These days, finding a serious traveller without a laptop is a rarity and digital cameras are cheap and plentiful. Some of the equipment the typical backpacker takes and uses could probably...
Costa Rica is the land of waterfalls, volcanoes, abundant wildlife and beautiful landscapes, making it the perfect place to immerse your kids in nature and outdoor fun.Here are 8 fun ways to enjoy Costa Rica with kids.Check out La Paz Waterfall GardensThe La Paz Waterfall Gardens are a fantastic way to see Costa Rica's wildlife and lush rainforest up close. There are over ten animal exhibits, where you can see monkeys, snakes, frogs, birds of every color and size imaginable and jungle cats. Don't miss the ...
If you've considered traveling with your kids, you've probably run into the common belief that traveling with kids can be a nightmarish experience.Before we had kids, countless friends and relatives told us to enjoy travel while we could, assuming we'd stop traveling when our kids arrived. But we persevered, and as a family, we've visited Cuba, Hong Kong, Hawaii, Florida, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Mexico, Canada, the Philippines and Costa Rica.We've traveled through diapers, the terrible twos, toilet training and all the way to first grade.After all that, I'm here to announce loud and clear: It is possible to ...
If you're a family like us, or you just want to travel with a little more luxury, is it still possible to afford to travel for months at a time? We show you that it is.
If you've got a burning desire to outdo everyone at your next family reunion, TripAdvisor's TripWow may just be the slideshow for you.
TripWow's free, and much more than your boring PowerPoint style slideshow. Admittedly, it's pretty over the top, but you can create a flashy mashup of your travel photos online in just a few minutes, complete with maps and music.
The process is pretty simple. Go to TripWow, and choose your slideshow theme, photos and music. You can use your own music, if you prefer, and grab your photos from your computer, Picasa or Flickr.
Once your slideshow is done, you have the option to share on Facebook, by email, Twitter or MySpace (really? MySpace?).
When Charles and I first started our travels, we lived the typical backpacker's lifestyle, staying in hostels and eating out every night. Now that we're a family of four on the road for months at a time, we find we need more space and privacy. As a family, we use vacation home rentals whenever we stay somewhere for more than a night or two. They're cheaper than hotels, and have a ton of space and amenities (and personality!) that hotels don't offer. We've rented vacation homes with gourmet kitchens, amazing swimming pools, and top quality linens at far less than half the cost of a hotel. During our side trip to Disney World, we decided to stay in Kissimmee, Florida. Kissimmee's a short 20 minute drive to the Disney World resort, and offers a big variety of homes for rent. We thought a Kissimmee vacation rental would give us some peace and quiet, but be close enough to Disney World to make it an easy drive. We splurged a bit for an awesome four bed, three bath townhouse in Kissimmee's Club Cortile with all the bells and whistles (pool, tennis courts, movie theatre, high speed internet) for $590 for six nights, including all taxes and cleaning fees.