In getting ready for our trip to Frankfurt, I have been amazed anew at how many travel blogs there are out there and yet how rarely is any one of them comprehensive, even in the specific areas they are targeting, such as flying with infants or family tours of Europe or what have you. In addition, I feel as if there is so very much repetition on these sites, particularly when it comes to family travel tricks of the trade. Is what I want to see so hard to do? I want a site with comprehensive coverage of a significant number of destinations, with an emphasis on family friendly locations, particularly those off the beaten path, along with the basics in family travel (gear recommendations, tips and tricks, packing lists, etc.) augmented by unique, out-of-the-ordinary discoveries for family travel. Is that really so hard??
Apparently so, since no such site appeared during myendless and obsessive research, UNTIL the heavens opened and I stumbled upon Travel for Kids.
This site has it all: location guides covering destinations on six continents, recommendations for family hotels in many major cities, loads of travel tips concerning every phase of your potential trip, links to reputable family tour companies if you want someone else to do all the planning for you, reviews of helpful travel apps, and even information on passports and visas and a currency converter! It's one stop shopping (especially if your destination is one of the ones for which they have a guide--and yes, there is a guide for Frankfurt--hooray!). Best of all, they include picture and chapter book recommendations for every location they review! GENIUS! I love that idea! (I would love it even more if I were in a place where I had libraries from which I could check out these books, but that's my problem, not theirs!) We will definitely be visiting some of the places they have pointed us to on our German escapade and I will report back on how it all went, of course, but I feel that we are much better off for having been armed with all the resources available from Travel for Kids!
I did, finally, come across some other new (to me) travel ideas while I was doing my research. For instance, one site recommended that I let my kids watch a DVD series called Travel With Kids (not the same) and while I found that the destinations with this series available were a bit limited, my search revealed that there are many travel DVD titles available to stream for free with Amazon Prime. So I am going to watch those that visit Frankfurt and environs and get all sorts great ideas for our trip!
While looking for Frankfurt sites, I have also been thinking about gear for our future adventure trips, and one question that I have returned to is why haven't there been any major advancements in the area of money/passport concealment? How can it be that one is still basically limited to the same uncomfortable and not particularly user-friendly money belts and neck pouches I used when I was backpacking in Europe many...ahem...some years ago? Turns out, there HAVE been a few new ideas out there, but you really have to look hard to find some of them. P-cubed Pick-Pocket Proof Pants seem very promising and have been getting all sorts of positive reviews like this one from my very favorite travel gear review site ever, Practical Travel Gear. But my favorite new product is the Sholdit, a patent-pending infinity scarf with a secret zipper pocket inside to stow your money or your passport or both (though I really hate the name!). SUCH a good idea! It's available directly from the Sholdit site or through Travelsmith or Amazon but shhhhhh, I wonder if I could make one of these myself...and by I, I mean my mother, of course, because she is much better at that sort of thing, i.e. sewing, than I am!
Apparently so, since no such site appeared during my
This site has it all: location guides covering destinations on six continents, recommendations for family hotels in many major cities, loads of travel tips concerning every phase of your potential trip, links to reputable family tour companies if you want someone else to do all the planning for you, reviews of helpful travel apps, and even information on passports and visas and a currency converter! It's one stop shopping (especially if your destination is one of the ones for which they have a guide--and yes, there is a guide for Frankfurt--hooray!). Best of all, they include picture and chapter book recommendations for every location they review! GENIUS! I love that idea! (I would love it even more if I were in a place where I had libraries from which I could check out these books, but that's my problem, not theirs!) We will definitely be visiting some of the places they have pointed us to on our German escapade and I will report back on how it all went, of course, but I feel that we are much better off for having been armed with all the resources available from Travel for Kids!
I did, finally, come across some other new (to me) travel ideas while I was doing my research. For instance, one site recommended that I let my kids watch a DVD series called Travel With Kids (not the same) and while I found that the destinations with this series available were a bit limited, my search revealed that there are many travel DVD titles available to stream for free with Amazon Prime. So I am going to watch those that visit Frankfurt and environs and get all sorts great ideas for our trip!
While looking for Frankfurt sites, I have also been thinking about gear for our future adventure trips, and one question that I have returned to is why haven't there been any major advancements in the area of money/passport concealment? How can it be that one is still basically limited to the same uncomfortable and not particularly user-friendly money belts and neck pouches I used when I was backpacking in Europe many...ahem...some years ago? Turns out, there HAVE been a few new ideas out there, but you really have to look hard to find some of them. P-cubed Pick-Pocket Proof Pants seem very promising and have been getting all sorts of positive reviews like this one from my very favorite travel gear review site ever, Practical Travel Gear. But my favorite new product is the Sholdit, a patent-pending infinity scarf with a secret zipper pocket inside to stow your money or your passport or both (though I really hate the name!). SUCH a good idea! It's available directly from the Sholdit site or through Travelsmith or Amazon but shhhhhh, I wonder if I could make one of these myself...and by I, I mean my mother, of course, because she is much better at that sort of thing, i.e. sewing, than I am!
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