Everyone knows traveling with small children and young kids can be a challenge even on a good day. Here are some fresh ideas for families who travel, and an unusual one for expecting parents!

1. Keep young children safe in a seat belt. We all know that lap belts aren’t safe for little kids in cars, and the same goes for airplanes. Airlines don’t offer over-the-shoulder harnesses for kids, but you can get your own from CARES. Instead of carrying a heavy, cumbersome car seat on board, take a lightweight CARES harness that fits in your pocket and is easy to install in any plane seat. Your child will be safer and you will have peace of mind.

2. Keep older kids connected.  Older kids like to venture out on their own—whether you’re traveling as a family, they’re on a teen tour, or just visiting a friend. And you want to know where they are and what they’re doing. I’mOK is an iPhone app that makes it fun and rewarding to check in. Each time kids check in their location shows up on your phone. They can then add more information, such as whom they’re with and what they’re doing. They can even send pictures. And for every detail they provide, they earn additional points that can be redeemed for rewards you’ve agreed on in advance. As the I’mOK web site says, “It’s knowing without the nagging.” [Read more →]

Airplane travel during the height of the holiday season can be tough enough, but when you’re traveling with young children it can make the whole trip seem not worth the trouble.  Here are a few tips that will make flying with family a lot less frustrating and more fun for everyone.

1. Do plan in advance. Make lists of what you’ll need for each family member and check it off as you pack. The last thing you need is the added anxiety of forgetting some essential item or having to run out at the last minute to buy more diapers.
2. Don’t assume that you’ll be able to buy whatever you need at the airport. Have a supply of baby wipes, diapers, and bottles or juice boxes in your carry-on before you leave home. Reasonable quantities of formula, baby food, breast milk, and juice are not subject to the TSA’s 3.4 ounce carry-on limitation and do not have to be in a quart-size zip-top bag.
3. Do make sure you have enough supplies and medicine in your carry-on to get you and your child through a day or two of lost luggage.
4. Do bring toys to keep your child occupied during the flight. But don’t bring things a baby or toddler can bang on the tray table or seat back to annoy your fellow passengers. And don’t bring toys with too many tiny pieces that can get scattered and lost or toys that make al lot of noises or beeps. Soft toys or a coloring book and crayons are good options. [Read more →]

Want to travel like a Pro? Wonder what the secret is for the traveler who never seems to get flustered when everything is going wrong? Whether you are flying out for business or pleasure, these tips that are proven to help you have a better trip!

In this video from my interview with “The Look’s” Maggie Rulli I tell you:

1. How to be prepared in case things go wrong. Doing this will give you piece of mind for your trip.

2. What you should never leave home without.

3. What you should always do once you step on airport property.

4. What will make YOU a standout for that last minute (free) upgrade to First Class. And you will never hear this from the airlines.

5. What I always have in my suitcase that makes me feel at home.

Now that most people are taking their vacations, I am often asked for my advice on how to deal with post-vacation transition. Whether you’ve been away for a week or a month, you want to make it as easy and effortless as possible to get back to the reality of your everyday life.

That means just a bit of planning before you leave so that there are no unpleasant surprises (or forgotten errands to complete) when you put the key in the door and all you want to do is relax. Here are 5 things you can do to make that re-entry as seamless and stress-free as possible.

1.   Let’s face it, the end of a vacation is harsh enough. I think that there is nothing better than to come home to a “stocked” clean house and fresh sheets. Take care of all those  errands that are tempting to put off like going to the dry cleaner, grocery store, and shopping for essentials. Its so much easier to come home (and off Cloud 9) when you know that you don’t have a huge TO DO list.

2.   Make sure you leave food that will keep in the freezer, refrigerator, or cupboard so that you have something in the house to eat if you arrive late at night, if your flight is delayed, or you’re just too exhausted to shop. Also, toss anything before you leave that will expire in your absence.  I always leave milk in the freezer (sounds weird, but it defrosts perfectly) so that I have it the next morning in my coffee. [Read more →]

I am delighted to speak with Carol Martin, founder of  Sit ‘n Stay Global, LLC, a company that provides a supremely safe and luxurious experience for corporate clients traveling on private jets with their pets. As part of her deluxe service, Carol and her staff are all trained in pet first aid and CPR; travel with a pet oxygen mask, a pet flotation device, and pet seat restraints; and they begin each flight with a thorough passenger briefing on pet safety.

With Carol’s pet travel expertise in both commercial and private aviation (she was a commercial flight attendant for many years), I wanted to ask her a few questions about how to care for our animals and the best way to prepare them for their journey.

Carolyn: What do you recommend people do to prepare their pets for air travel – commercially?  If the pet is in the cabin (small) or if the pet is checked below?

Carol: First and foremost, do your homework and be prepared.  Just like a successful trip for you doesn’t come together without some planning and research, neither will it for your pet if you just “wing it” and show up at the airport unprepared.

- Go to your air carrier’s website and look up the rules for traveling with your pet.  They will be very specific about what documents you will need from your vet in order to check in.  Just as you will not travel if you show up at the airport without proper ID, your pet will not travel without proof of immunization and confirmation that he or she is fit to travel. [Read more →]

Summer is here—the height of the season for visiting friends in the country or at a beach house. Whether you’re a mother sending her teenager off for a weekend with a friend (and friend’s parents) or you’ve been invited to the boss’s house for the first time, unless you’ll be staying at a grand manor house with a full staff of servants, the rules of good guesting are pretty much the same for everyone.

1. Never arrive empty-handed. That means, bring a house gift (Dean & Deluca has great gifts baskets like the one above). Depending on the circumstances, it could be anything from some nice wine to a basketful of gourmet goodies to a lovely scented candle, or, if you know your host and his or her taste well, a decorative item for the home. Your gift doesn’t have to break the bank but it needs to show that you’ve put some thought into what might be most appreciated.
2. Be neat. Keep your belongings to yourself and your room neat and tidy. Whether it’s your shoes, your sun tan lotion, or your glasses, it belongs in the space you’ve been given, not left around in the common living area. And whether or not you’re in the habit of making your bed, hanging up your towel, and generally cleaning up after yourself when you’re at home, now is the time to adopt those habits—even if it’s only for the duration of your visit. [Read more →]

When is a vacation not a vacation? When you’re just as stressed as if you’d never left home! Here are 7 tips for making sure that you do recharge and don’t waste your vacation time dealing with unnecessary stress.

1.     Tie up loose ends. Make sure you don’t leave anything at home to nag at you when you’re away. That can mean anything from paying the bills that are coming due to leaving your home neat and tidy. No one wants to come home to overdue bills, an unmade bed, or a refrigerator full of food past its prime. We’re all different, so be sure you take care of whatever “business” would otherwise be stuck in the back of your brain while you’re trying to relax on the beach or take in the beauty of the Taj Mahal.

2.     Don’t over-schedule. Give yourself some time to switch gears. We all seem to think that the second we leave home we will automatically shift into full relaxation mode. But it doesn’t usually work that way. So if you go with the expectation that it will take a couple of days to unwind, you won’t wind up stressing about not being instantly unstressed.

3.     Make up your own mind. By all means do your research and get advice from your friends about what to see and do in your vacation destination, but don’t let their information limit your spirit of adventure. You just might discover that there’s a museum or a restaurant or some kind of activity nobody mentioned that sounds interesting to you. Don’t cross anything off your list just because it wasn’t recommended. Go for it. Otherwise you could be missing out on what turns out to be the highlight of your trip. [Read more →]

I know, it’s a supremely nasty subject no one wants to talk about. Even I don’t want to talk about it! But bedbugs are an unpleasant reality of life these days, especially for travelers (all travelers), even in the most luxurious hotels.

So what I do want to talk about is a new, proactive, eco-friendly solution to the problem: BedbugLogic Protection and Treatment Spray.

Developed by Jill Taft and her partner in the Logic Product Group after she rented a summer house in the Hamptons that turned out to be infested with bedbugs.

This is a non-toxic, hypoallergenic, pesticide-free spray that kills not only the bedbugs themselves but also their eggs so that they don’t take up residence in your luggage or your surroundings. Best of all, it does this by using natural, biodegradable enzymes that leave no harmful residue on humans.

It comes in a variety of sizes, from a gallon refill bottle to a convenient  travel friendly 2-ounce TSA-approved size.

Family vacations are right around the corner. Traveling with a small child, the elderly, or the disabled can make the whole process a bit more stressful than it already is for other people, but there are ways to make it easier for everyone involved.

1.     Book a direct, nonstop flight. Whenever possible, its bets to go directly to your destination even though it may cost a bit more. That way you won’t have to worry about missing your connecting flight or even finding out that it’s been cancelled, thus putting you in the uncomfortable position of having to camp out in an airport. And if you do have to make a connection, be sure to leave plenty of time (at least a couple of hours) in case your initial flight is delayed or just to get to the next gate, or, in some cases, to a different terminal. The goal is to keep the stress level as low as possible for everyone.

2.     Depart early. Try to book the first flight out in the morning the plane is more likely to already be at the gate (having arrived the night before) and, therefore, your flight is less likely to be delayed.

3.      Sit up front. Reserve seats as close to the front of the plane as possible. Not only will you be less affected if you should run into turbulence but also you’ll be among the first to debark.

4.     The best seat… Try to book an aisle seat for anyone who has a mobility problem so that they’ll have less trouble if they need to get to a restroom. Children, on the other hand, will probably enjoy sitting by the window and looking out at the sky. [Read more →]