Jennifer and Craig Ruckert, a very attractive 30-something couple, were sitting in front of a terrific fire, enjoying some great cheeses and local wines, a regular pre-dinner ritual at the Tidewater Inn, in the laid back, classy Connecticut shore town of Madison.
Except Jennifer wasn't drinking wine. She was nursing a sparkling-something drink because she's pregnant with the couple's first child.
"This is a special weekend for us," she said. "This is the weekend we pick a name for our baby, a
family travel- (11)
It’s pretty clear that the trend in travel is toward the kinds that build memories and forge connections. Especially when it comes to family travel.
And increasingly, that kind of travel seems to be a "familymoon" where remarrying couples do so with their children sharing the event and the commitment.
The Caribbean Wedding Association reports and uptick in familymoons by those who are finding love again, but who’ve done the big formal wedding and now want something different.
When the
The “bad” news is that the number of single parents seeking quality vacations with their children is growing.
The good news is that the number of single parents seeking quality vacations with their children is growing.
More than one-quarter of all US households with children are headed by a single parent. That’s 16.5 million single-parent households in this country, and many more non-custodial single parents.
And that doesn’t even include married adults traveling alone with their kids, or
Go ahead, type in “Perfect Family” in Google images. What do you see? Probably no one you recognize as a “typical” family. Pretty shocking.
New Media Travel once asked “Why Is Hotel Content So Boring?”
The point was that hotels, airlines, and often the entire family travel industry, are inclined to present images of the perfect family: a leggy blonde mother, two gorgeous light-haired kids and a handsome, fit dad playing in the blue water.
Or, worse, lest they offend anyone, their family tra
Would you sedate your child on a flight?
Are parents who do so wrong?
Not long ago, a Wall Street Journal article reported that many parents "drug" or sedate their kids on planes so they'll be less bothersome for the parents, flight attendants and fellow passengers.
The drug of choice seems to be Benadryl, and while it does calm kids, often putting them out for hours, it has awakened others to what might be an abusive practice.
The testy responses to an About.com (and other) postings on t
Not so long ago we stumbled upon an online chat where the subject was banning children from flying, or at least banishing them from flying in business class.
So we were not completely surprised at the USA Today Travel article that said 74% of UK-based business class travelers get annoyed at children on flights, and that airlines should provide children-free flights, or at least flights for those over 18 years old.
The survey of 1,000 business-class
Used to be they were called “mommy bloggers,” but that was before their Klout scores soared and corporations avidly courted them.
And while I may be exaggerating, I’m not by much. This group of bright, engaged mothers who travel with their kids and run homes and blog, now run the family travel market and drive some of the most exciting conversations on line.
While CEO’s of hot start-ups and established web sites are pronouncing and pontificating, these women bloggers and journalists are runn
It’s not easy or always reassuring.
You're on the road for a family vacation. You've done lots of family-friendly things and now you and your significant other want a night out.
Or at least a dinner in the hotel's much touted dinning room.
But who'll watch the kids?
Hotels will often provide staff sitters or the names of agencies that they do business with, who'll sit for children while the parents are out.
But the question nags: How safe are your kids in the hands of a stranger ...and how do
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A random drive along First Neck Lane in fabled Southampton, Long Island, New York brings you very close to gorgeous homes with endless driveways, selling for 20 to 80 million dollars, and that's in a depressed housing market.
But a few feet away is the Southampton Inn an attractive, Tudor Style complex that happens to be a very family friendly place with subdued class.
Owner Dede Gotthelf, a warm and accessible woman, makes it clear that while s
The road warrior, the business traveler represents a huge 50% or more of a hotel’s revenue, so the report just out in Travel Leaders was good news..
The 2011 business travel survey suggested that 76% of business-focused travel agents are predicting their booking will match or exceed bookings for 2010, and while they were at it, they identified the top reasons a business traveler books a hotel.
But what we found very interesting in the same report,
