Our affordable London hotel (lower left) was under the Eye!
It wasn’t that long ago when finding a hotel meant pulling out my Lonely Planet Guide and telling the taxi/rickshaw/tuk tuk driver to take me to whichever guesthouse was recommended. Many other travelers used the same method and inevitably places became too popular and overcrowded. Sometimes I found lodging by word-of-mouth and by getting advice from other travelers, but often these recommendations were based on the very same guidebooks. Sometimes lodging solicited me. I remember coming out of immigration at the Kathmandu airport and being accosted by a sea of people offering beds in their various guesthouses and feeling overwhelmed by it all; the sights, the sounds, the hustle, the bustle. But that was in the 80’s, when international phone calls were only for periodically checking in with worried relatives at home and incoming mail was so slow it had to be sent general delivery weeks in advance. Read more
How many teddy bears, favorite stuffed animals, or blankies have been left on board and lost forever? Too many! They slip between the seats when kids are sleeping, get tucked into unexpected places, or get missed during the hubub of gathering adult valuables and cranky kids at the end of a long flight. It’s a tragedy you should do everything to avoid. Grab a luggage tag at check-in, fill it out, and attach it to the bear, rabbit, or blanket corner. If it doesn’t attach naturally, use a safety pin. Even if you have already written your name and phone number on this item (which you should do!), the tag will get folks’ attention. When you fill out the tag, write “Best Friend – Please Return” or some other note that will tug at the heart of even the grumpiest airplane cleaning staff. Include all your contact information for the next week. Hopefully, your child will be quickly reunited with her friend.
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.
Here’s a great keepsake for your kids! It’s free, fun, educational, and functional. Find a decent map of whatever city you happen to be visiting and give your son or daughter a highlighter and a pen. At each destination, highlight the route that you’ve just completed, mark and annotate where you are and what you see. Want to make a really cool map? You’ll have to be willing to walk a long way! Keep the maps from various cities as a reminder of where you traveled, what you saw, and what your kids enjoyed most.
. The bags are filled with dirty laundry, there isn’t any milk in the fridge, your e-mail inbox has filled up, everyone’s exhausted, and the adventure is over. The trip was supposed to be relaxing but the minute you walk back through your front door, a world of responsibility smacks you across the face. And, sadly, you find that the trip is over. If it was a big adventure, it can be a disappointment to land back home. The long-planned and saved-for trip is finished. Being overwhelmed by errands while suffering from post-trip let down is a killer combination. We call it “re-entry shock.” 
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