The Mamahood

Kid-Friendly Europe (and Asia and Africa)

I have big plans to show my kids the world. We're already planning a trip back to China in 2017, and I'd love to take them far beyond that. But researching the perfect kid-friendly options in Paris or Prague at my current pace could take until 2017. Unless, of course, I take the easy way out, and try one of the Adventures by Disney (see an article by another travel guru on the topic here). The trips often include some cool, kid-friendly activities that'd be tough to book on your own (i.e. behind-the-scenes tours, cooking classes, "character" visits by historical figures), and you're pampered all the while by the guides.

Probably the biggest decision would be figuring out where in the world to go first—South Africa, France or Italy?

Maybe I Shouldn't Organize...

You'd be amazed at the kinds of things we need to pull together to get this whole China expedition off the ground. For instance, in an effort to control the types of people who enter the country leading up to the Olympics, China had us clear some new hurdles that weren't there a few years ago.

For instance, we needed to provide a copy of a bank statement and letters from our employers indicating our salary and saying that they know we're traveling to China on certain dates. Since I'm self-employed, that presented a bit of a challenge (though thankfully, one of my clients was happy to do the deed for me). And since we're traveling with a former Chinese citizen, we needed to provide her old Chinese passport as well.

Which leads to the subject of this post. Imagine what might happen if you discover, at 11:30 p.m. the night before the information is due, that the old Chinese passport isn't in the safe, as you expected. Imagine the level of stress when after two hours of combing through files and large piles and baskets of papers you still fail to track down that little red booklet. And imagine climbing into bed at 3:30 after hunting under couch cushions, through boxes of photos, and checking that safe for the 10th time hoping you missed it the first 9 times—wondering how you're going to break the news to your daughter that no, she's not going with you to China to get her mei-mei.

Then imagine how many times you wanted to kick yourself when you woke up the next morning at 6:30, dragged yourself into your home office and decided to thumb through a little file box you'd bought but thought you hadn't used—and discovered that the passport has been sitting in an appropriately named "Important Papers" folder all this time.

That would be me this morning.

Plane Fear

I'm not afraid of flying...but what I'm about to experience would make any mom tremble. Fifteen hours. On a plane. With a high-energy four-year-old and a husband who borders on flying phobic. And two weeks later: Fifteen hours back. On a plane. With a high-energy four-year-old, a husband who borders on flying phobic and a 18-month-old who may not like us much at that point and will probably be suffering from some sort of ear infection/stomach virus/nasty cold, courtesy of the brand new germs that we'll share with her.

I'm already picturing the "Dear God, please don't let them sit next to me" looks we'll be getting from the other passengers as we board the plane. I think I've got a pretty good strategy for handling the four-year-old. We're bringing my laptop, an airline adapter and a thick book full of her favorite DVDs. If she wants to watch Cars seven times through, she can be my guest. (I will have some cool travel art sets and a few of her favorite treats to keep her occupied during the "intermissions.")

We've tried various means of medicating my husband to calm his nerves, but with disastrous results, so we'll just have to download a few movies to his iPod and hope for the best.

I'm bringing a book and a movie on my iPod, just in case I get a few seconds to relax on the way there. I doubt I'll have the same luxury on the way home.

My New Dream...

I read about this family who took their kids out of school for a year and traveled with them around the world. How amazing is this? They had a pretty great itinerary, too, hitting most of the places I'd like to travel. I'd add in New Zealand, Australia, Egypt, Norway and Russia, and otherwise, I think all of my dream destinations are covered there.

There are so many amazing people and places to see in this world...and how wonderful to be able to share that once-in-a-lifetime experience with your kids.  I'm starting to save my pennies now!

Wanderlust

I do a fair amount of travel writing, so I'm on the mailing lists for several PR companies who handle posh resorts and fabulous destinations. Which means that on occasion, like today, I get invites in the mail or the e-mail inbox. Today, I was offered a 4-day stay at a brand new resort in Antigua, and a stay in a resort in Aruba. And I'm sooo wishing I could take one of the trips

I used to do these press trips quite often before our daughter came home. Basically, it's an opportunity to visit a location "on the house," to check it out and see what they have to offer, in the hopes you'll write a wonderful story recommending the place. I've traveled to Hawaii, New England, Las Vegas and through many of the top Caribbean destinations for free, filling up my passport quite nicely. And since I wrote mostly bridal travel, the resorts I stay at are usually romantic...and often I can bring my hubby along for free or just the airfare.

My loved ones often envied the fact that I "got paid to take a vacation," but there is work involved in it. Generally, you spend some time schmoozing with the PR people and resort management, you do a lot of group meals with the other travel writers on the trip (and there are some pretty bizarre folks in the biz), and you may end up doing some things that aren't exactly what you'd want to do on vacation...like take a guided tour through different room classes in the resort--or visit the local aloe vera plant, instead of lazing by the beach.

Still, after the trip to China for our daughter two years ago, we've only taken the roads I've already traveled, to visit family or to DisneyWorld. I'm yearning to see a little more of the world.

Disney with a Toddler

Nearly two years after our daughter came home, our family desperately needed a vacation. But surprisingly, we had a hard time finding something interesting that suited travel with a two-year-old. Our daughter's not a huge fan of the beach, and most resorts with children's programs start them after age three. So, we decided that Disney was the way to go, though with a bit of consternation: Would she be scared of the characters? Would she like the rides? Would she sleep in a hotel room? Fortunately, the answers to two out of the three were "yes." And can you blame a kid for not wanting to sleep when they're at DisneyWorld?

If you're planning a Disney trip with your kiddos, here are a few tips we garnered from our vacation:

1. Stay at the Polynesian. Yes, it's pricier, but you're in the best possible position for traveling--two stops on the monorail from Magic Kingdom, a short walk and a one-stop monorail ride from Epcot. Plus it's a beautiful property.

2. Prep your kids for the characters. Let them know that some characters will be bigger than mommy and daddy, and consider reading through a few Disney books to give them some grounding in who's who. Our daughter was so excited by the end of the trip that she wanted to meet any character around, even if she had no idea who it was.

3. Use the meal plan...especially if you've got little ones. Our meals at some of the restaurants (like The Living Seas) cost about the same amount as the entire meal plan for the day, and the portions were so huge for everything that we still had meals left at the end of our trip. Because our daughter was still two, we didn't have to pay for her meal plan...in most places, she just ate some of our meal (ours were plenty big enough). A lot of times, the servers would bring a drink for her and not even charge us for it.

4. If your child has a favorite Disney character, make it easy for the park people to spot. Our daughter brought her Woody doll along with us in her stroller, and a security guard noticed and let us know that there was a little "Woody's Round-Up" song and dance show in the middle of Frontierland 10 minutes later. Our daughter adored it, and Woody saw the doll and actually came up and danced with it and with our daughter. It was priceless.

5. Look for the characters outside of the Magic Kingdom. They have a meet-and-greet area in Epcot Center with almost no lines and all the major characters (Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, etc.). And every country seems to have their own characters who come out at staggered intervals. If your daughter's a princess fan, she'll find Snow White in Germany, Belle and Sleeping Beauty in France, Mulan in China (a particular favorite of ours), and Jasmine in Morocco. In most cases, there are short or no lines to meet these characters, either. We were actually able to have a good long talk with Mulan in China, and our daughter danced with Mary Poppins in England.

And our next stop? It might just be a Disney cruise.

Calling all mamas!

Anyone else tired of hearing about the "Mommy Wars?" If you believe the media, mamas just can't seem to get along these days, and stay-at-home mamas and working mamas are waging a bitter battle over who's better.

But we don't buy into that. Here in the Mamahood, we can all get along--working mamas and stay-at-home mamas; single mamas, partnered mamas and married mamas; adoptive mamas and bio mamas; soccer mamas and slacker mamas. We hope you'll join us to weigh in on what it means to be a modern "Mama."