Travel Tip

Security-line times are notoriously unpredictable, but two American airports are making it easier to plan exactly how far in advance to arrive before your flight departs. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (atlanta-airport.com) and Denver International (flydenver.com) airports provide real-time updates on their Web sites, refreshed every 15 to 30 minutes. Hartsfield-Jackson will even send the updates directly to your PDA or cell phone, through its Trak-a-Line program. It’s worth noting that the TSA also publishes security wait times on its Web site (tsa.gov) for 450 commercial domestic airports, but the data is less reliable, as it’s compiled over a four-week period prior to your departure date—and does not reflect actual conditions.

Trip Review

Lauren and Mindy’s father, Ed and Mindy’s 13 year-old son, Max traveled to Israel this summer.  The main reason for the trip was to attend a friend’s Bar Mitzvah and catch up with many other friends, but the two also had a chance to experience and explore Tel Aviv and Jerusalem together with a lot of military history included.  The trip was a wonderful experience for Ed after more than 40 trips to Israel, but a nearly 15 year absence.  It was a first trip for Max appropriately so after his Bar Mitzvah late last year.  The pair started their trip by relaxing at the Dan Acadia, a beachfront resort in Herzliya just outside Tel Aviv.  Many family memories of this resort made this stay very special.  From here they ventured to the Palmach Museum for the history of Israel’s underground military movement.  Their stay in Tel Aviv was at the Carlton Hotel located beachfront along the pedestrian-friendly promenade.  A great place to stroll.  A private guide (and friend) took Ed and Max to the Ayalon Institute in Rehovot (a secret ammunitions factory) and to the Yad Lashiryon Museum (Armoured Corps) near Jerusalem which maintains an international display of over 200 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles from around the world.  Their final hotel, the King David in Jerusalem, also brought back many memories for Ed and they really enjoyed the Old City view from their spacious room.  They hired a taxi driver for the day to visit Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial, The Western Wall and Mount Herzl and also visited the Dead Sea.  They returned to The Wall and met up with another of Ed’s grandsons, Jake, who was traveling with a Birthright trip.  Overall the trip was a great success with Max meeting and hanging out with many children his age which he can stay in touch with through Facebook and grandpop catching up with his many Israeli connections and watching his grandson absorb the Israeli culture and history for the first time.

Travel Tip

GoVoluntouring is a new website that connects organizations that need volunteer workers with vacationers who want to offer their time and skills to bridge cultural divides, support endangered species and similar endeavors.  GoVoluntouring’s search filters offer detailed options by calculating variables such as age, fitness level and religious affiliation to help your family find the volunteer vacation that best suits your interests and needs. Volunteers can help disabled children with equine therapy, help out in an animal shelter or volunteer in a women’s shelter. For more information, visit www.govoluntouring.com or let The Family Traveler assist in finding a great vacation that also allows you to give back to local communities.

Travel Review

Lauren recently returned from three weeks in Europe where she visited her 15 year-old daughter, Anna in Tallinn, Estonia.  Anna is near the end of her fabulous year on the amazing Rotary Youth Exchange.  Estonia is a small, but well educated country with a fragmented history.   Anna showed Lauren the charming Old Town in Tallinn and the quaint university town of Tartu.  Then together they thoroughly enjoyed a 12-night cruise sailing from Istanbul to Barcelona on the Crystal Symphony.  The cruise sailed to Kusadasi, Turkey; Athens and Mykonos, Greece and Taormina (Sicily), Sorrento and Rome, Italy.  The ship is graceful and somewhat simple in decor, but the service from the staff was over the top.  They quickly got spoiled and appreciated the effort of every staff member to make sure this luxury sailing experience was the best possible.  The ship is ideal for families as well.  Supervised programs for children and teens run during the summer and school breaks.  The ship also features a comfortable pool deck, excellent spa and gym, movie theater, great library with DVD rentals and lots of guides books about the places you will visit; art, dance and computer classes; casino, theater with nightly shows; lecture series and beautiful cabins with spacious bathrooms with double sinks and full size tubs.  Food service is excellent and the two alternate dining options are included.   The highlights of their time in port were a VIP tour of the Coliseum in Rome, visiting the amazing ruins at Ephesus in Turkey on their own and the new Acropolis Museum in Athens where they used a private driver to take them around the city.  They also got to see Istanbul through the eyes of two Rotary Youth exchange students which was very special.  The low light was getting their backpack stolen in Barcelona.  Even the most seasoned traveler can let down her guard for 30 seconds and become another crime statistic.  Heed their warning.  Unfortunately their camera was in the backpack; therefore no pictures of this very special trip…but they will keep the memories in their hearts forever.

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Travel Tip

We love travel products that help keep your children entertained while traveling and are always happy to promote products that are creative and educational as well.  Check out TravelKiddy (www.travelkiddy.com) which offers a unique adventure in a bag for families on the go.  A bundle of toys, activities and crafts are carefully selected to challenge and engage your children for extended periods of quiet play.  The kits are designed to encourage creativity, develop fine motor skills, spark the imagination and foster learning.  Activity kits are age appropriate for toddlers, age 3-5 and age 6-9.  The Travelkiddy website also offers other activities, games and toys for a variety of age groups including your tweens as well as adorable suitcases, backpacks and travel accessories.

Trip Review

The Wolf/Tarnoff family from Philadelphia (with two teens ages 16 and 14) traveled to London and Liverpool for spring break.  Worried about anyone being bored proved to be a passing thought thanks to careful planning beforehand.  With their London Pass in hand to avoid long ticket lines, they managed to visit The Royal Mews, Churchill War Rooms, London Tower and Crown Jewels, Globe Theater, a boat ride on the Thames and got a goody bag at the Beatles Store.  Mom was surpised how the War Rooms really held the teens’ attention especially with the authentic set-up of the rooms.  Audio tours were also appreciated allowing them to tour at their own pace.  In the West End they saw Sweeny Todd, a fantastic production that mom loved even more than the original.  They also went on theLondon Eye –nice but they thought a bit over rated.  They also visited mom’s home during a college year abroad and crossed Abbey Road.  Visits to the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum were slightly arduous, but well worth the experiences.  This family of Beatles fans thought Liverpool was fantastic.  Dad loved hanging out in the Cavern Club, where the Beatles were a featured act in the early 60’s. The Beatles Experience and the Albert Dock were also enjoyed.  Their private Beatles taxi tour was informative, friendly and personal.  The guide, who managed to tell them things they didn’t know about The Beatles, even let them stop to have their son’s hair cut by the barber on Penny Lane.  There was never a cheesy feeling to the tour.  They stayed in London at the Crowne Plaza Kensington, where they were upgraded to the club level and the Hard Day’s Night Hotel in Liverpool.   A great trip for everyone!  Mom happily discovered that when kids are speaking with British accents they don’t complain because they have to sound proper and polite!

Trip Review

The Gaugler Family from Fairfield, CT  spent their President’s Week break at the newly renovated Club Med Sandpiper in Port St. Lucie, FL.  This active family with three teens ages 13, 13 and 15 loved their stay.  They let us know that they really enjoyed the fitness classes (zumba, pilates, stretching and toning), wine tasting, sailing and tennis.  They also had fun playing golf, but didn’t take any of the offered lessons.  Unfortunately injuries kept them off the trapeze.  The teen club also offered a nice variety of activities although their children didn’t partake.  Mom said that the food was absolutely incredible with so many ways of presenting fresh fruits and veggies.  There were so many choices at every meal and there were small portions of dessert that mom said was perfect – you had to really exert effort to go overboard!  The entertainment in the evening was more geared to younger families, but the hotel did offer games you could borrow.  Perfect after an active day.  Their connecting club rooms were large, simple and adequate, but still a little worn despite the recent renovation.  The Gaugler’s said the staff could not have been nicer, more helpful or more fun to talk to and that the Chef d’Village (the hotel general manager) was doing a great job.   Overall, an ideal vacation for an active family.

Travel Tips

are everywhere and the reality in many places we love to travel.  To avoid being a victim, Budget Travel suggest:

• Don’t hang your purse or backpack on a chair in a restaurant.
• Keep your wallet and cell phone in the front pocket of your pants or an inside pocket of a jacket.
• Don’t put all of your most important belongings in the same carrier.  Use clothing that has hidden pockets for stashing emergency belongings such as passports and spare cash.
• Ideally wear a money belt or hanging pouch inside your clothes.  Wrap items in a plastic bag to avoid wetness from sweat. 
• Be careful in crowds watching a street performer where you can easily be distracted.
• Beware of any strangers approaching you who start touching you for any reason.
• Be careful in crowds watching a street peformer where you can easily be distracted.
• Beware of any strangers approaching you who start touching you for any reason.

Trip Review

Lauren and Evan traveled to Punta Cana this month and stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.  When Bruce Springsteen music greets you on arrival, you understand right away that rock and roll is the theme that drives this popular all-inclusive on Bavaro Beach.  The property is large with nearly 1,800 rooms, but has a wide variety of pools, beach, dining options and other recreation that keeps the guest spread out.  There are 13 pools including active pools with plenty of games and activities; an adult only pool with cool Bali beds and hammocks, children’s pool with waterslides and water play areas and several smaller pools scattered around.  Lounge chairs in the pool is popular here and all pools offer drink and food service.  Recreation includes a huge gym with an array of fitness classes, tennis, golf, bike rentals, small rock climbing wall, 18-holes of minigolf, huge spa, large theater, big casino and tons of shops.  Horses are kept on property for beach riding excursions.  The beach is wide, but windy while we were there.  Therefore no watersports and an endless battle to keep the sand from building up along the wall before the pool areas.  At least you can take long walks down the beach.  Evening entertainment was mediocre in quality.  At least no reservations are needed for the many dining options.  Food service was good and food quality on par with most all-inclusives in this price range.  A few excellent meals were had at the steakhouse, pizza and Japanese restaurants.  The resort is still offering $1,500 in resort credits per room which actually makes guests a bit more active with a wide choice of excursions, spa treatments (limited to $300 total), bottled wine, shop purchases, etc.  But it also creates a lot more work for the hotel staff to attend to all the guests scheduling their credit arrangements. All rooms at the hotel are junior suites and larger.  Our Caribbean Suite was lovely.  Very spacious, clean, nicely decorated with a huge bathroom, large balcony and jacuzzi in the room.  Song lyrics prevail around the property to set the “tone” of your vacation and buildings are labeled by musical instrument.  Quite clever.  A shuttle helps those with limited mobility to get around.  Overall a very relaxing vacation.

Travel Tip

Immerse your children in the destination you will be visting before you start your trip. Bring home books of fairy tales from the country you’ll be visiting or age-appropriate novels, set in the destination. Rent movies that feature places that you’ll see. Learn about the local language, food, currency, holidays, history, etc.  By preparing your children in this fashion, you’ll increase their ability to enjoy the destination exponentially.