A Family Travel Blog
The Beijing Taxi Scam In traveling through more than seventy countries, I’ve had very few bad experiences. And I’ve become a better traveler because of each one. This is the first in a series of posts about the worst things that have happened to me on the road and how they changed my travel… Read More
Nine years ago, when I used TripAdvisor for the first time—for a two-week drive around New Zealand’s South Island— I used it just to find places to stay. As the site has evolved, my use of it has evolved too. I’ve now posted 120 reviews and, during a recent six-week… Read More
Ethiopian Airlines – a flexible Star Alliance Carrier Africa – it’s not exactly a place where one can stick to a schedule or have firm plans. And that’s usually fine. As they say in Swahili, “pole, pole” – slow, slow, take it easy. Years ago some friends and I were… Read More
Europe with Kids We’ve taken our three kids (at the time of writing this 4, 6 and 8) to Europe every year since they were born. Some years we stay in one place for several weeks and really get to know the area. Some years we do the opposite, moving… Read More
Black Henna It’s fun to be a little reckless on vacation. Three weeks ago my kids were zip-lining through the Costa Rican rain forest, and we were eating fruit directly from roadside stands – no washing, no idea (in some cases) what it was. Water skiing or parasailing – why… Read More
Getting Away from the Crowds When we booked a Disney cruise departing in July from Venice, my immediate thought turned to how to give my young kids (4, 6 and 8) a great introduction to the city. The conventional wisdom is that July is a bad time to visit because… Read More
Flying with Kids We’ve flown probably 500 flights with our three kids – ages 10, 12, and 14. Most have been family trips. Some have been one parent and any combination of 1, 2 or 3 kids. I’m frequently asked for tips on making flying with kids easier. Every family… Read More
Easter Island with Kids Why Did We Travel to Easter Island? Easter Island! It’s one of those places that you see in National Geographic or the occasional Discover Channel show, or as a reference on the Simpsons, that never makes the news but that you grow up sort of knowing… Read More
Panama with Kids Hats. The Panama Canal. Noriega. The third track from Van Halen’s 1984. I didn’t know a lot about Panama. But flying from Los Angeles to Santiago with my 6-year-old son, our best Star Alliance option was to fly Copa Airlines via Panama City. We could have a… Read More
An Open Letter to the Mauna Lani Dear Mauna Lani, We love you. Really, we do. My wife used to visit the hotel every year with her family. Then we got married here ten years ago, and we’ve come back at least once a year since then. Some years we… Read More
