The animals in the Galapagos Islands come right up to you. A blue-footed booby perches calmly on a ledge as you walk past. A sea lion lies down for a nap near your towel. An iguana doesn’t move out of the way when you step closer. The experience is startling—birds, reptiles, and sea mammals, unafraid of people, tilt their heads curiously and pose for photographs. The Galapagos archipelago, 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, was isolated from external influences {Read More}
National Park Week 2016 – National Parks in the U.S. West
April 18, 2016 by Leave a Comment
If there was ever a time to visit our nation’s parks, this is it. 2016 marks the centennial celebration of the National Parks System and from April 16-24th every park in the system is offering free admission in honor of National Park Week with special events taking place each day. There are currently 411 parks, trails, waterways, historic sites, recreation areas, monuments, and memorials that fall under the designation of the National Park Service. In honor of these national treasures, {Read More}
Cozy Digs on a Frosty Night – A Review of Burlington’s Hotel Vermont
March 21, 2016 by Leave a Comment
If you follow this blog you know that our family spends quite a bit of time in Vermont. Whether we’re skiing the slopes or hiking the trails, the Green Mountain state is one of our favorite destinations. Despite frequent visits, we hadn’t managed to make it to one of Vermont’s coolest cities. Subsequently, Burlington has been at the top of my travel list for quite some time. Because of the abundance of outdoor activities in and around the area, I’d {Read More}
Stratton WOWs at its Women on SnoW Camp
February 8, 2016 by Leave a Comment
When I first learned to ski at the age of 40, I expected to fall—a lot. I expected the learning curve to be far steeper than a bunny hill. I expected it would be a long time before I would climb aboard a real lift and ski down a real slope. I was wrong. My initiation to the sport happened in Stowe, Vermont with two beginner group lessons. In the morning, our Stowe for Starters instructor started us off with {Read More}
Car Shopping at the Washington, D.C. Auto Show
January 29, 2016 by Leave a Comment
For our first family ski trip to Vermont a few years ago, we drove our 2006 Honda Odyssey. We were headed to the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, a six-plus hour drive north of home outside of New York City. My Odyssey is a good car—a minivan with lots of room for the girls to spread out and be comfortable on longer road trips, a fact that’s helped us out on more than one drive down to Florida. It’s also {Read More}
Québec’s P’tit Train du Nord – The Perfect Family Bike Trip
January 6, 2016 by 2 Comments
My husband has always loved a good bike trip. As a boy of 15, his dad drove him uptown to the George Washington Bridge from their Greenwich Village apartment to pedal from New York City to Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia lead only by a 20-something American Youth Hostels counselor. Several more trips followed, including a month-long cycling and camping tour through Italy. When we’d been dating about a year, my own two-wheeled initiation took place along the Pacific Coast {Read More}
Passports with Purpose 2015 – Worldreader Brings Books to Kenya
November 8, 2015 by Leave a Comment
I cannot imagine what my life as a child would have been like without the magic of books. From the time I learned to read, I spent countless hours with my nose buried in the pages of my favorites–the Anastasia series by Lois Lowry, All of a Kind Family, Where the Red Fern Grows, and anything at all by Judy Blume are the ones that come to mind first. My daughters are the same, especially the oldest, and as a {Read More}
Fun Things to do with Kids in Old Quebec City
November 4, 2015 by Leave a Comment
It’s pretty cool when you can hop in your car and drive to another country—especially one that makes you feel as though you’ve been transported someplace vastly different from home. I’d long heard about the European vibe of Old Québec, with its alluring labyrinth of cobblestone streets and classic French flair, yet despite the easy access from our home in New York, we had never visited. Though it had long been in my mind to head north to Québec during {Read More}
10 Easy Ways to Save Money on Your Next Family Ski Trip
October 8, 2015 by 2 Comments
Let’s face it, skiing is far from cheap. With lodging, equipment rentals, food, and lift tickets, a family has to make a substantial investment in order to take a ski vacation. Even if you don’t stay overnight you can easily drop $500 for just a day on the mountain. But there are ways to avoid blowing a huge chunk of change to have a family that skis. Since skiing is one of Kids Unplugged’s favorite ways to get everyone outdoors in {Read More}
Little St Simons Island – Nature and Beauty on Georgia’s Golden Coast
October 6, 2015 by Leave a Comment
“Are there going to be snakes? I don’t want to see any snakes.” Such was the refrain from my 13-year old daughter in the weeks and days leading up to our visit to the Lodge at Little St. Simons Island, a private island retreat off Georgia’s coast. This is a child who has an Indiana Jones-like fear of serpents of all kinds. A child who once emitted a blood curdling shriek at sight of the tiniest of garter snakes in {Read More}
