We’re on a cross-country road trip with our 5-year-old who has a bladder the size of a pea. When he needs to go, he needs to go immediately lest we suffer the consequences of the great flood inside our car. We’ve seen our share of frightful potties along the way. The open-air rest stops in the desert always worry me, especially when I see the “watch for rattlesnakes” signs. But I was at a complete loss when in the vast emptiness of west Teas my son announce, “I gotta go.” There probably wasn’t an exit in sight for another 60 …read more

I have finally booked our summer vacation. It only took us eight months to decide where we want to spend those two weeks in July. And now that the reservations have been made, I cannot wait for these next five weeks to pass and we can start on our adventure.
I have to come clean here. I don’t fly. Not anymore. The second-to-the-last time was many, many years ago when I was flying a Delta with my mother to visit family in California. We had a layover in DFW and while rushing to our connecting flight we watched another Delta jet …read more

When I was a kid on a family road trip, we used to play the car license game.  You may know exactly what I’m talking about when I say that.  For those who don’t here’s a brief explanation:
In order to keep the kids quiet, we were tasked to find how many license plates from different states we could spot.  My brother and I would keep our eyes peeled (and generally speaking were fairly quiet, too) until we spotted something. Then we’d call out, “Nevada!  I’ve got Nevada.”  Someone would dutifully write down who spotted what.
Since our road trips were …read more

With most families on a budget, many are turning to good old fashioned road trips by car instead of more expensive vacations this summer. With gas prices lower than last year, piling the family into the car for a cross-country (or cross-state) vacation is a fun and affordable idea.
When vacationing, you should be both budget-conscious and health-conscious when it comes to food. It’s easy for kids (and adults) to fill up on chips, cookies and other snacks. Instead, try to think of healthy snacks.
Registered Dietitian Gloria Tsang, founder of online nutrition community HealthCastle.com, provides us with these five simple, healthy …read more

Our family motto at home is “If Mom is happy, everyone’s happy” This motto is lovingly indulged by my Husband and daughter. Because I am an indulged mom and wife, I can afford to be magnanimous! Ha!

One way to ensure that Hubby is happy is when he gets to ride on his motorbike. He is happiest when he can go on his road trips. Due to family and work commitments, he can’t go on these motorbike road trips as much as he could. On my part, I encourage him to go on these road trips once …read more

My family and I leave in two hours, for our annual vacation. We will be on the road for approximately three hours. It doesn’t seem like a long time, when it is verbalized, but it is an eternity when there are seven bored and whiny children on board. I have learned, the hard way, to be prepared. Here is a list of road trip survival ideas that I’ve acquired over the past few years at the school of hard knocks and hellish road trips.

Bribery works. It is not a tactic that I am above using. I have purchased a bag …read more