The Cure For The Boring Family Vacation

The words every parent dreads at home, are even worse when they are heard on a family vacation: "I'm bored."

It's no wonder so many parents give up on the idea of an educational, off the beaten path vacation, full of exciting memories and experiences, and opt instead to head toward Disney World.

But fear not. You can still plan a family vacation that can include things like checking out the Grand Canyon, climbing to the top of the Statue of Liberty or getting goose bumps in the Tower of London without turning your kids into catatonic vegetables.

The secret is easy: involve your offspring in the travel plans before you go.

Like all shameless psychological ploys, the trick here is to make them think the educational elements of the trip were their ideas. So gather all the information on your travel destination ahead of time. Print web pages, collect brochures, clip out newspaper articles etc. Make all of these choices look as exciting and colorful as possible - hopefully with photographs of families laughing and having great time - and then lay them all out in front of your planning committee, I mean family.

Ask your kids to help plan what to do in Germany or London or West Virginia. Let them select a few of the choices while you select some of the others. The beauty is that they just might select some of the options you had in mind in the first place. Moreover, they will also begin to look forward to the very things you had previously feared would bore them into a stupor.

If some of your kids are older teens, you might even assign them part of the original research. Just say, "Jeff, I want you to come up with some ideas to do in Tuscany and Jennifer, I want you to find some things we should do in Sicily."

Another important tactic is to keep you kids busy once your vacation begins. Even if you need an afternoon nap, find things they can do in a safe, supervised environment while you catch up on your rest.

And let them handle some of the money. Convert some of their allowance into the local currency (choose an amount appropriate to their ages). Let them learn to calculate the exchange rates on their own so they can purchase their own gifts and souvenirs.

Dealing with kids is simply a matter of outwitting them. Yes they have youth, energy and street savy going for them, but you have life experience and ruthless cunning on your side. Use them to your advantage.

About The Author
Charles Brown is a former attorney who now spends his time indulging his passion for travel and shares the unique travel destinations and adventure travel bargains he uncovers on his blog, Guerrilla Traveler - Adventure on a Budget, www.guerrillatraveler.blogspot.com.
Think budget travel equals boring travel? Think again! Learn the Guerrilla Traveler's insider secrets to budget adventure travel to the world's most exciting places and experience the coolest travel adventures without spending a bundle.

Entrepreneurial Holiday Guilt for Creative Professionals

Guilt, guilt, guilt. Guilt is a terrible feeling and is often self-inflicted by creative entrepreneurs, especially during the holidays.

Most people who work for themselves say they chose to do so because they wanted to "control their time." People who value time over money, recognize that time is a precious commodity that cannot be created, bought, or borrowed. You have to use it wisely or else it is gone.

Having the luxury to control how, with whom, and where you spend your time is one of the bonuses of working for yourself. So, why is it that an overwhelming number of female entrepreneurs also say they feel guilty when they are not working on their businesses or with a client between the hours of 9 am to 5 pm?

To be truly happy and successful as an entrepreneur, you must break the corporate-created walls of time and learn how to set your day according to your needs and the needs of your clients. There is no law chaining you to your desk eight hours a day between 9 am and 5 pm.

Here's my advice: stop feeling guilty about when you are working and when you are not, and ditch the idea of playing by rules set up by other organizations. Make sure you benefit from the freedoms of entrepreneurship and maximize your time by performing regular activities such as food shopping at off times like 10 am on a Tuesday or having your teeth cleaned at 2pm on a Monday. You will spend less time waiting in line, you will be less stressed, and actually have more time to devote to your clients and other activities, then if you went on a weekend or during a busier time.

Of course, be sure to take a day or two off completely during the holidays to go gift shopping, ice-skating, or for decorating your home. Give yourself permission to enjoy your life and do something for yourself, even if it is on a week day between nine and five. You deserve it.

Happy holidays!

About The Author
Kirstin Carey is the author of "Starving Artist No More: Hearty Business Strategies for Creative Folks". Kirstin knows that most creative professionals hate sales, contracts and discussing money. She consults creative folks on the business side of creativity so they make more money, attract better clients, and love what they do. Get proven strategies and insider secrets to help creative types like you get the business help you need at http://www.MyCreativeBiz.com.

What Does 'Ski-In, Ski-Out' Really Mean?

When you are booking a vacation rental property in a ski resort there is an indisputable magic to the phrase 'ski-in, ski-out'. It conjures up images of a loving restored log cabin on the edge of an immaculately groomed piste, of watching fellow skiers carve elegant turns from your living room window, with the occasional spray of snow against the window pane. It suggests stepping out of your front door, clicking on your skis and gliding down the slopes to the lift. You may anticipate avoiding the crush of people waiting for a lukewarm and soggy pizza in the mountain restaurant by using your own chalet as ... a mountain restaurant. And, perhaps best of all, you may look forward to skiing back to your own front door at the end of the afternoon and forgetting about trudging along paths and the indignity of crowded shuttle buses.

The reality may be very different. Knowing the power of the term 'ski-in, ski-out', vacation rental providers are quick to use it to cover a myriad of different arrangements and a range of proximity to the slopes. Here are a few things to watch out for:

1) The 'ski-in ski-out' home that is really 'hiking distance' to the slopes. The economics of housing development on mountainsides mean that when an area is developed next to the slopes, only some of it is actually next to the slopes. There is almost certain to be a hinterland of properties that have access to the slopes...via pathways, steps, roadways etc. The pathways may be short, or they may not. Make sure you ask exactly how far a particular property is from the actual ski slope, and what the path is actually like: is it a level walkway or a series of dozens of icy steps?

2) The ski-in, ski-out home that is reached via an ungroomed trail through the woods. When these homes were originally built the developers cut a trail to them so that they could be sold as 'ski-in, ski-out'. However these trails are very often too narrow for a snow-cat to use; furthermore, they are very likely private property and the lift company which grooms the slopes may have no responsibility for them. Only if the owners of properties served by that trail get together and make private arrangements for grooming will you find the trail in good enough condition for safe usage.

3) The ski-in, ski-out home that offers good ski-in, ski-out access...if you've chosen one of the 2 weeks of the year when the snow is down to that level. Many resorts that offer ski accommodation are down in the valley, and global warming has led to a raising of the snow line and a decline in the number of weeks that snow is on the ground at given elevations.

4) Finally, there is the nirvana: a ski-in, ski-out home that is what it says it is: situated right on slopes which are snow-covered throughout the season and groomed by the lift company's snowcats daily. This is what is often now referred to as 'true ski-in, ski-out'. However, you may find that because this real estate is so scarce it is also very pricey, or alternatively it is developed with rather high-density and charmless accommodation. The Aspens in Whistler is a good example of this. The situation is perfect, right on the slopes, but the accommodation is mostly fairly spartan.

The lesson here is simple. When you are booking ski-in, ski-out accommodation, make sure that you know exactly what you are getting. If you are booking a resort such as Whistler,, where there are many gradations of ski-in, ski-out accommodation, consult one of the local property management companies like Holiday Whistler, and question them very closely on its exact location before you book yourWhistler accommodation.

About The Author
Henry Schlee is the owner of Holiday Whistler, which offers a wide choice of great vacation rental properties in Whistler, BC, North America's #1 ski resort. Try this link Whistler accommodation for a great choice of rental properties.
Henry also operates several other travel websites which actively engage in link exchange with legitimate, high-traffic travel-related websites. If you want a link from a high PR URL, go to on of these sites: Travel link exchange, or Free travel links.