Monthly Archives: June 2012

Music Education on the Road

We think about cultural and historical education when we’re on the road with kids. We remember to take our kids to art museums, historical landmarks, and famous icons. But what about music? Music differs all over the world, it’s everywhere, and it’s often free. It’s something that can be hard to find time for at home so take advantage of being on the road to expand your child’s vision of what music means.

There are street musicians in almost every tourist hotspot around the world, local concerts, special cultural performances, and musical history. Try saving some focus for street musicians on your next trip. They’re in fairly predictable places so plan a visit and take some time Read more »

Seat Mates

Seattle skyline – Taken by my seat mate on my last flight

Inflight, I’ve met fabulous people.  It’s a funny phenomena.  A few years ago, I sat next to a man about my age and, during a long delay, we discovered that we both gave a lot of Powerpoint presentations.  We passed the time by opening up random Powerpoint presentations on our laptops and sharing them with each other.  How geeky is that?  And, who would have guessed that I could have found a seatmate so like-mindedly geeky?  

I’ve had four more strikes of good luck recently.  First , a young PhD student in environmental engineering traveling home from a college reunion.  Next, an undergraduate returning from an invited Microsoft recruitment event.  She loved it and was hoping for a job when she graduated.  My last flights were particularly lucky.  Coming home from North Carolina a few weeks ago, I sat next to a mother of 5 who home schools all her children.  We are such different people that we might never cross paths during our regular life but, on board, we found philosophical connections and exchanged parenting advice.  I gave her our website and hope she takes a look.  On the very next flight segment, Read more »

Neck Pillows: Baggage or Brilliant?

My kids were gifted some kid-sized neck pillows full of pleasing beans and sand.  I was worried about one more thing to drag around.  Nope!  These are super because they make reading a lot more comfy and they give an air of luxury to an otherwise dull plane flight.  Would I take them on a 3 month trek across Asia?  Nope.  Will I bring them on the next cross-country trip to see relatives?  Absolutely!  They get plenty of use between flights on the bed at home too.