tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post6795072508908495813..comments2024-02-05T05:15:04.759-08:00Comments on Wandering Scientist: How We Plan Our Travel: The Gory DetailsCloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-57192906223346994532014-10-15T19:11:37.050-07:002014-10-15T19:11:37.050-07:00I look forward to your playground rant! We're ...I look forward to your playground rant! We're just in the middle of a 4 week vacation/living hybrid trip with a 3.5 year old and a 2 month old...and the playground that I was expecting to be around the corner is out of commission due to construction! Luckily we found another park that is just wonderful, further away, and always empty it seems.<br /><br />Since we'll be doing 3 more of these 4 week stints, there's a whole lot of playground google hunting in my future!<br /><br />I love your planning strategy - ours has become more similar now that we have little ones and want to do more travelling, even at their young ages. We've had such good experiences travelling with kids and we have big plans in the next year and I'm hoping to start a new blog chronicling our adventures, but with two littles, I'm starting with twitter!Raising Travellershttps://twitter.com/RaisingTravelrsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-71608817369237181782014-10-10T07:49:08.462-07:002014-10-10T07:49:08.462-07:00We share a Google Doc packing list with tabs/sheet...We share a Google Doc packing list with tabs/sheets for specialized trips.<br /><br />E.g. the front sheet is general packing stuff that we always take.<br />Then there are tabs for stuff our annual ski and camping trips.badmomgoodmomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11569728075698885020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-85729561299984060772014-10-09T10:23:27.872-07:002014-10-09T10:23:27.872-07:00I can see why you went into project management :) ...I can see why you went into project management :) My husband is totally fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants. We went to Africa on our honeymoon, in places with little tourist infrastructure, and had some tense calls in attempting to find places to stay or fuel the car. I think we missed some cool stuff we would have liked to see as a result. I tend to do more of the planning now (he usually does plane tix, because we're often using his frequent flier miles). I like to know where I'm staying at night, but we often don't plan out exact day to day activities, even with the kids. We like to be able to look at the weather, gauge interest, etc. Things generally work out, so we try to strike the right balance between planning and seeing what comes. Laura Vanderkamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06385504652419979583noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-46268389117864682282014-10-08T23:07:57.337-07:002014-10-08T23:07:57.337-07:00We are just starting to plan a HUGE roadtrip comin...We are just starting to plan a HUGE roadtrip coming up, which is the first real vacation we've taken as a family of four. Larabars and those applesauce pouches are staples for us in general and I love that they travel well too.<br /><br />I'm not one for a TON of planning as long as we've got a decent place to stay and transportation worked out. We're really laid back vacationers so having LOTS of plans actually stresses us out more.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15212690454989568626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-20046138590222873752014-10-08T12:30:44.314-07:002014-10-08T12:30:44.314-07:00Ha! We are more by-the-seats-of-our-pants travele...Ha! We are more by-the-seats-of-our-pants travelers, but usually with just one kid (who, as it happens, eats 'most anything. We are lucky). We mostly stay in out-of-the-way places and wander around in the woods if we need to get out, as playgrounds are sparse where we go. But I've learned it's best if we can be near a water feature (i.e. pond or stream, nothing fancy required) as this provides hours of fun. If we are staying in a hotel, I do try to pick one with a pool. <br /><br />This summer our vacation included a few nights in the Badlands; I <br />initially thought I'd allowed for 1 too many (nights) but then realized that DS is perfectly content if he is allowed to (a) climb things and (b) throw rocks [into a void, not AT anyone, obviously!!!], and, well, one can do those things forever in the Badlands. So, no worries! <br /><br />I got a big kick actually out of a planned trip to visit family in a city where they kept rattling off things we could do to keep DS entertained. And I was all, "Don't worry! We can always go out and take a ride on one of the public bus routes and be perfectly entertained." Which was true.<br /><br />I do sometimes worry that we are missing out on/have missed good local spots (and no doubt we sometimes do. But others we make discoveries that we might have missed were we more into planning ahead). This year, I learned that it is good to go find an age-appropriate kids book in the local gift store for whatever topic we're near (this summer: Native American history, Mammoths), as this seems to be something he enjoys, and educational but not pedantic.<br /><br />And, I do usually try to pack food. While DS will eat most things, most places, he eats more frequently than do we and is crankier when hungry, so having decently healthy snack food on hand is a good thing, wherever we are.Alexicographernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-21560009279700855202014-10-08T12:24:22.191-07:002014-10-08T12:24:22.191-07:00Hooray for the travel folder! We also keep an ongo...Hooray for the travel folder! We also keep an ongoing packing list for all 4 of us, that we revise as needed for weather and other circumstances. You should make one and add "bottle opener" to it! :)<br />But we haven't traveled much except to visit family with the kids yet. I like the specifics of how you plan what to do and where to eat. That is the stuff you really don't want to be scrambling for when someone is hangry or the weather takes an unexpected turn and you have no indoor plans, etc... <br />Please do write about how you find playgrounds. I always thought that was an awesome idea, but we can't seem to find anything just using google maps. Anahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00006807775816627217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-86239779191761770492014-10-08T10:06:48.545-07:002014-10-08T10:06:48.545-07:00So wonderful to see that someone else is so organi...So wonderful to see that someone else is so organized when it comes to making travel plans! I also find that this is a useful skill to have as an academic. I've made many friends by knowing how to get from the airport to the city centre using public transit or being aware of where the closest grocery store was to the conference centre or hotel.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-81081669659651901472014-10-08T08:50:57.879-07:002014-10-08T08:50:57.879-07:00To each her own! I can see the appeal of just push...To each her own! I can see the appeal of just pushing through with a long drive. I didn't like doing that even without the kids, though, so as long as I'm the one planning it is unlikely to happen often for us!<br /><br />We were MUCH less organized and more seat of our pants when traveling w/o kids. On our big 4 month trip, we mostly either rolled into a town and found a place to stay, or called ahead from the road (i.e., the long, bouncy bus ride...)Cloudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-61814476940720650432014-10-08T08:49:09.183-07:002014-10-08T08:49:09.183-07:00Yes, this is exactly true. Traveling with kids is ...Yes, this is exactly true. Traveling with kids is so much fun when you can figure out how to accommodate their quirks instead of fighting them.Cloudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-29935436903949141562014-10-08T08:48:26.915-07:002014-10-08T08:48:26.915-07:00If I thought I could make a living doing this, I m...If I thought I could make a living doing this, I might just try! I really do enjoy it. Is there a city you'd like to visit nearby or within an easy flight? We've stayed in some unlikely sounding cities, and always found some good things, for us and the kids.Cloudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-72486977239071834532014-10-08T08:47:22.571-07:002014-10-08T08:47:22.571-07:00You're not even hijacking! You're complete...You're not even hijacking! You're completely on topic. I look forward to reading your posts on one of my breaks today. And yes, we use the satellite view to figure out if that green space has playground equipment. That, and the parks and rec sites of the cities in question.Cloudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-48375689038819514982014-10-08T07:03:42.103-07:002014-10-08T07:03:42.103-07:00Here I was feeling generous that we're conside...Here I was feeling generous that we're considering breaking up our 16-hour drive to western Colorado into 2 days of driving this Christmas. Maybe. With kids who didn't sleep well in hotels for years, if often seemed better to just power through . Your level of planning reminded me of the time I flew to Paris in college. I arrived at the airport without either my friend's address or phone number. Thankfully, she managed to pick me up, and my fly by the seat of my pants approach to traveling has never been a problem. Caleehttp://xistpublishing.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-6278970742762501482014-10-08T06:26:52.111-07:002014-10-08T06:26:52.111-07:00Once I took my very - ahem! - selective eater on a...Once I took my very - ahem! - selective eater on a long trip involving a hotel room without a fridge. He is not only a selective eater but a child who finds it nearly impossible to eat in public - I think he finds it overstimulating, and the overstimulation of the busy loud new environment + unfamiliar food is just too much for him. We eat a lot at Panera while traveling, honestly, because it is weirdly the only place he will happily eat. But anyway, on this trip, I found a grocery store, bought bread, PB, fruit, milk, and cereal, and kept them in the room. He ate every meal in the hotel room (we put the milk on ice since they didn't have a fridge) and when we went out to eat, we let him watch a little video with headphones. We have a wonderful super fun trip, because I understood and sympathized with his limitations. I also tend to buy one new toy (usually a lego) when we travel so the boys have something new to be excited about. (We usually go on trips that are at least 2 weeks and involve a lot of downtime in houses or hotels, like visiting family far away.)Erinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-15631466966283432052014-10-08T05:52:45.187-07:002014-10-08T05:52:45.187-07:00I love it! I wish I could do something similar - s...I love it! I wish I could do something similar - sadly our vacation time is picked by the daycare, and she's taking ten days around Easter, and I have no idea what we could do not too far from home, with snow everywhere and a three year-old who doesn't ski or skate. Would you research it for us? ;)myr_heillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962156017983412224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-33710847458911696812014-10-08T02:31:17.394-07:002014-10-08T02:31:17.394-07:00I should also say (sorry for hijacking) that now t...I should also say (sorry for hijacking) that now that our kids are a bit older than yours, we have found huge rewards from researching the stories about a place ahead of time. Even little places have great stories that the kids really enjoy which come to life when you are in the place that it actually happened. The story of this lighthouse really worked well last week:<br /><br />http://www.parksaustralia.gov.au/booderee/people/lighthouse.html<br /><br />JenniferJenniferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08110533906307368556noreply@blogger.com