Category : Guest Posts
For Travel Blogger Tuesday this week, I am going to share with you this amazing project launch that I was lucky enough to be a part of. If you obsessively read travel blogs like I do (or just read a few favorites!), you might remember a blog tag by Tripbase that was going around for the past 8 months or so called the Best Kept Travel Secrets. We participated here at Two Kids and a Map and also at my Pensacola with Kids blog. I had so much fun following everyone’s best travel secrets on the web. I was honored to be asked to contribute my best kept travel secrets to the E-Book.
Today, they have announced the launch of the Best Kept Travel Secrets E-Book. For every FREE E-book downloaded, one dollar will be donated to Charity Water, an organization that provides the funding to build freshwater wells and clean drinking water to people in developing nations. You can also make your own Charity Water donation.
Be sure to stop by and download the book! You will be amazed the secrets that you will learn!
I’ve helped, please help too
Be sure to stop by Traveling Mom to read my interview with Amy from The Q Family Adventures. I consider Amy a good friend and I haven’t even met her yet (hubs calls her one of my imaginary friends!)! It was great to get to know her more and learn more about her family travel.
Also, I am looking for advice on our trip to Orlando. Big S broke his collar bone on Monday so the waterpark theme park tickets are out. We are looking for your family friendly free and cheap things to do in Orlando! Stop by and leave a comment with your suggestions!
Well, you guys knew that already didn’t you!?!
Besides writing for this blog, my Pensacola with Kids blog, and my new family craft blog, I have decided to add to my writing plate to help improve myself as a blogger and hopefully a writer so that I can get those darn book notes dusted off and get back to work. I recently joined the Traveling Mom Blogger Network where I will be blogging as Southern TravelingMom at least once a week. When you get a chance, I would love a visit from you over at TravelingMom. Leave me a comment at one of my first two posts:
Take Your ASTC Membership With You When You Travel
Panama City With Your Family During Spring Break
I look forward to seeing you there!
I love Trekaroo! This is one of my favorite websites and I stop by several times a week. Trekaroo is a great way to find family friendly activities, hotels, and restaurants in a city before you visit. You can also learn more about your own town! Got something to say about a family friendly experience? Stop by Trekaroo and open up a free account. You can start writing reviews about your favorite (or not so favorite) places right away. KidsMobile is another great part of Trekaroo. Every couple of weeks, bloggers all over the United States create lists that pertain to the stop that week. Well, this week we are on the KidsMobile and it is stopping in Washington DC…one of my all-time favorite places to visit in the United States! Check out all the great links below!
Trekaroo’s growing community of families from all across the country have pitched in with their votes for the most kid-friendly stops in Washington D.C. Here’s the line up for 2009!
Best Kid-friendly Hotels in Washington, D.C. – voted by parents
Best Activities for Kids in Washington, D.C. – voted by parents
Some of DC’s top blogging moms and dads have jumped on board the KidsMobile, playing the role of local tour guide. They are taking us into their fold by sharing with us their inside scoop about what’s fun for kids in their hometown.
Jennifer, a mom who loves the outdoors shares a fabulous list of The Best Kid-friendly Hiking Trails in DC. Jennifer’s passion as an environmental educator led her to start Hiking Along – a super cool educational program where she leads groups of children, preschool to high school, on hikes and allows them to participate in hands-on science activities to learn about their natural surroundings. She also keeps a blog about hiking with kids.
Dave, better known as SuburbanDaddy, knows that cold weather is just around the corner and any parent of a young child will be eager for his list of The Best Indoor Places for Toddlers Around Washington DC. He is the creator of Kidburst, an activities guide written by local parents about the Washington DC area with in-depth coverage of kids activities from summer camps to sporting facilities and classes.
Jennifers, tell us about 8 Things (Under $5) to Do in Washington DC with Toddlers. She is an adventurous mom of a 2 and 4 year old who has not allowed having kids to slow her down. Although she’s based in Florida, Washington DC is one of her favorite vacation spots. She writes in depth about their family’s exciting adventures on Two Kids and A Map
Sujatha is mom to a 9 year old (boy) and 3 year old (girl) and brings us Fun Washington, D.C. Activities that get Kids Fired Up. This list has some great ideas of places beyond the usual tour of Capitol Hill that will really get kids to perk up. She writes candidly and casually about their travels as a family and about her adventures in parenting on her blog: Blogpourri
Amy is a mom who sees everything as a teaching moment and traveling is no exception. As a local DC mom, she’s got some her favorite Day Trips with Kids From Washington DC. As a literacy consultant and former high school teacher her blog – teachmama – is full of wonderful ideas about how to weave education into holiday traditions, travel, games and more.
Jill, brings us her list of Must See Attractions in DC with Preteens and Teens. She is the mom behind her prolific blog Musings From Me that covers a wide range of topics including parenting, travel and reviews of cool products. Jill has been on the go all her life, living in England, Italy, and America but currently calls Maryland home.
Ms Twixt, brings us a list of What to do with Tweens in Washington D.C. As a mom to 3 tweens girls and a toddler boy, she is an expert on everything Tween. Her Blog Twixt and Between provides helpful insights on topics that are current for tween girls and their parents. She even has a store in Georgetown Park with adorable age-appropriate clothing, shoes, gifts and accessories for Tween Girls.
Other Resources for Washington DC:
Next stop, Sunny San Diego, CA
The Trekaroo KidsMobile is a blog carnival with a twist. It’s designed to provide a unique opportunity for mom and dad bloggers to be featured on Trekaroo while
1) expressing their unique point of view
2) getting a web of link exchanges.
Join us for one of our next stopovers.
Some of you may have noticed the little blue Raveable box at the bottom of my destination posts lately. I am part of an awesome group of bloggers who are part of the You Rave team at Raveable. This week I was the featured blogger on the home page (I think my picture taken by Adria Peaden Photography is still up on the homepage today!)! What an honor to be a part of this amazing group! When you have a moment, check out Raveable, a fairly new website where you can read hotel reviews before you go. You can also read various travel bloggers’ posts about things to do in the city that you are headed to.
When I was younger, the main way that we traveled was in a car…usually for thousands of miles at a time. Because I was a military brat, our road trips usually coincided with major moves across country. A few days before our road trip, we would begin the preparations. The two things that I always looked forward to were the trip to the bookstore to pick up brand spankin’ new books for the trip (which my mother would then hide in her closet so I didn’t manage to read them all before we left!) and the trip to the grocery store to pick out a few special snacks. One of the snack traditions that I have continued from my childhood is the little box of cereal. The ones that come in sets of 8 or 10? The cereal that is so far away from being good for you but makes a perfect snack?
One of the new traditions that we have started is Swedish Fish. Don’t ask me why, because I have no idea. All I know is that all of the sudden, I find myself gravitating towards the Swedish Fish in the candy aisle. I buy the huge bag and divide it into smaller baggies that I can toss into the back of the mom-mobile when needed. Before knowing if the Swedish fish are in the car, the kids will actually ask for “fishies” when we are on a road trip! They are our special treat. Some other snacks that we always pack are cheese cubes, crackers (not the crumbly kind!), apple slices and mandarin oranges.
I asked a few of my blogosphere cohorts to share what snack they make sure they always pack on a road trip:
“Before setting out on road trips, we make our own snack mix. I go to the local grocery and purchase a variety of ingredients. Each member of the family gets their own baggy (with name on it) and they fill it with their favorite goodies. This way, everyone has a healthy snack they like and they don’t have to worry about someone else eating their yummy stuff. Things we include: peanuts, cashews, sesame sticks, M&Ms, raisins, cereals (Cheerios, Chex, etc), pretzels, bagel chips.” -Shannon Hurst Lane, Twitter- @Cajun_Mama
“My favorite snack for the kids on the road are fresh grapes, washed and pulled in a baggie so the kids can help themselves without spilling. It gives them a non-messy, healthy fruit course that lasts for awhile because they can keep popping them in.” -Lorraine of Keeps Me Smiling, Twitter -@keepsmesmiling
“My favorite road trip snack is practical, portable, requires little refrigeration, but is not necessarily healthy. I usually pack some canned squeezy cheese and Ritz Crackers. If I have a refrigerator pack, I bring along some salami as well. It is super easy, the kids like it, and it is easy to throw in a backpack for an outing or roadside stop. Fruit leather made with 100% fruit also comes in handy on the road. For mom, those Starbucks lattes in glass bottles keep me alert enough to push on to our next stop.” -Bridget of Family Adventure Guidebooks, Twitter- @bridgetasmith
“My tried-and-true take-along snack is Goldfish crackers. I know my daughter will always eat them, and I assuage my guilt by buying the whole grain ones. They actually have some protein, calcium, iron, and fibre, and in moments of low blood sugar, I don’t mind snacking on them either. Unfortunately they make a right mess when they’re dropped on the floor and ultimately stepped on, but luckily my husband takes care of the car cleaning and maintenance! For emergencies, I always have a few lollipops hidden away.” -Corinne of Have Baby Will Travel, Twitter- @hvbabywilltrvl
“When we road trip, our snack foods must comply with the following requirements: they have to be entertaining as well as edible, they have to be non-messy, and they have to be a novelty (a rare treat). They do not, however, have to be healthy, necessarily. Our favorites that fit into these categories are: 1. gummy worms (I buy them in bulk at the supermarket) 2. Jelly Belly jelly beans (we all spend more time than is healthy trying to figure out the flavors and combining them) 3. Babybel cheese (the unique wax coating is fun to play with like silly putty when the cheese is consumed) 4. Ring Pops (yep, they still make ‘em!) 5. various pretzel shapes (stick them in the cheeses to make things!).” -Amy of Pitstops For Kids, Pitstops with Kids Facebook Fan Page
“We usually travel with a big Sam’s Club box of Rice Krispies Treats or Golden Grahams Treats. A tiny bit nutritious, not too messy, and prepackaged so we can keep them in the car or throw a few into our daytrip bag.” -Linda of Travels with Children, Twitter- @minnemom
What do you pack in your road trip snack sack? Please share your favorites in the Comments section!
When you travel, is there something in particular that you search for to bring home as a souvenir? We love to find random things that will make great additions to our household, but there are a few things that we always bring home in our suitcase: fridge magnets, ornaments and street art.
Head over to Velvet Escape to see examples of their reader’s favorite fridge magnets. The first magnet pictured is absolutely hilarious. It is a David dress up doll! I sent in a picture of the very first magnet that my husband and I ever bought together-we bought it 9 years ago on our honeymoon and it still holds a prominent place on the refrigerator.
I am working on photographing some of our favorite souvenirs…I can’t wait to share them with you!
Thanks to Lucia from Dim Sum, Bagels and Crawfish for introducing me to Pit Stops for Kids. This is a great site that is busy building up its database! It has already helped us out! The concept of Pit Stops for Kids is to share tried and true kid friendly pit stops. The site is extremely informative-information on each stop includes cost, which interstate it is located, website, bathrooms, food and other tips. We are roadtripping right now and I found one of our pit stops on the site. We stopped at the Mayfield Dairy for a brief bathroom break and if I hadn’t read about it here, I would never have known about it! Today, my submission about the Afred B. Maclay Gardens State Park is located here. You can read the full post on my blog here. Do you have a review of your own? Submit it here!
Be sure to check out the Carnival of Cities which is taking place at the Talking Trekaroo. My article about Five Things to Do in Mobile, Alabama is on the list. My article about our trip to Ft. Pickens at Pensacola Beach, Florida (which I posted at Pensacola with Kids) is also on the list. There are some great articles about some fascinating cities. Check out the beautiful pictures of the Lotus Flowers in bloom at The DC Traveler and the top 10 destination playgrounds in the San Francisco Bay area. I also liked the article about visiting Rome in a day (as we are trying to get there next summer!) over at Globe Cheap Travel.
If you want to participate, check out the submission guidelines. The next Carnival of Cities will be posted at The Family Travel Guide.
We love to travel around our little city and the surrounding area as often as we can. Instead of sitting around the house on a free day, we make a point to hit the road and explore what our city has to offer. Please take a moment to check out my guest post at Ciao Bambino titled Five Activities in Florida North of Mickey’s House. In this article, I wrote about 5 of our favorite Panhandle activities! While you are there, check out Amie’s great blog and all the reviews of family friendly properties.
