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Tip #60: Give Thanks for Train Travel with Children

Ever since the first mention of this year's Thanksgiving, the girls have been anxiously awaiting their next trip on what they are calling "The Thanksgiving Train (exclamation point)." I can relate. When I was young, my family traveled by train over many Thanksgiving weekends from Oregon to Seattle to visit relatives. For my brother and I, it was always an adventure--a chance to meet other kids, explore fascinating ViewLiner cars and snack cars, and of course: flush the toilets to see the tracks whizzing by below. Like most kids growing up in the States, train travel was a novelty for us and we counted ourselves lucky to do it at all.

When we became "big kids," with passports and rail passes in hand, we dove into train travel in Europe head first, naturally. But it's not as easy to travel around the U.S. by train. Amtrak's routes are limited, sleeper cars for a family are steeply priced, and most often you'll still need a car at the other end which tempts most people to just drive theirs instead.

That's why holiday travel to visit friends and relatives may be the perfect opportunity for many of us to do a little U.S. train travel. If the obvious benefits of not having backseat hostages in heavy traffic aren't enough for you already, consider these points:

1. You may have relatives happy to greet you at the station with their own car--and possibly even a borrowed or rented car seat.

2. On peak traffic days like Thanksgiving, you'll stand a chance of actually arriving by Amtrak faster than you would by car (probably not so most other times).

Heading to Grandma's for a long Thanksgiving weekend with promises of marshmallows in the fruit salad, pie with whipped cream AND ice cream, a new kid's movie to watch in the evening, pajama parties while mom and dad disappear for a date (exclamation point) and so on, we can't get there fast enough. But that's when the usual 1 hour 15 minute drive to Sacramento easily becomes 2 hours and 30 minutes, and feels more like 6 hours.

If you don't relish the thought of an extra hour or more spent creeping along down crowded interstates and highways this Thanksgiving, particularly with a toddler strapped in your backseat, I'm with you. For us, weekend Bay Area traffic can be bad enough, so when it comes to Thanksgiving weekend, we are onboard with the Amtrak plan.

We can board the Capitol Corridor at Emeryville and arrive at the Old Town station in about 1 hour and 30 minutes, chugging by way of the C&H sugar mill and expanses of wetlands dotted with more egrets than we can count, neither of which we see when driving by car. With little ones along for the ride, it's been easy to nurse the baby when feeding time was upon us, hop to the loo to exercise potty power just in time, and keep our toddler amused as we smile smugly to ourselves and think of the cars idling on Interstate 80.

We explore the train cars, make faces at the conductor, color pictures, read books, enjoy snacks, sip hot chocolates, and arrived almost too soon for all the fun we are having. From our first Thanksgiving Day arrival with the fanfare of Grandma waving to us and waiting on the platform with big hugs ready to hear all about the Thanksgiving train adventure, it was clear that this should be and would be a new holiday tradition for us.

Although you can no longer see the tracks whizzing by when you flush the toilets on Amtrak, I highly recommend taking the train wherever possible as an alternative to driving with kids during the big holidays. Bring toys, bring snacks, bring a deck of matching cards. And instead of converting 4-letter descriptors of the drivers in front of you into child-friendly euphemisms, spend some quality face time with your kids. After all, isn't that what family holidays are supposed to be about?

Tips for your trip:

To see if Amtrak is an option for your holiday travels, visit www.Amtrak.com and see their route maps and interactive atlas. Remember that AAA members get a discount for leaving their cars behind, too, and children 2 years to 15 years old ride for half price on most Amtrak trains. Babies under 2 years get a free ride.

In California, Amtrak has added extra cars and hundreds of seats to each of it's popular "Thanksgiving Trains" (Pacific Surfliner, San Joaquin, and Capitol Corridor) in anticipation of the highest number of holiday train travelers yet. Tickets for all but the Capitol Corridor must be purchased in advance.

For more tips on planning train trips with children in the U.S., Canada, or Europe, see Part 6 of Travels with Baby, where you'll find 40+ pages on the subject, including day trips by train, sleeper car info, best family pass info, and more.

Winner of "Get a Baby Bedtime Routine that Travels...and Grooves": Congratulations to "Jesi and Joe" and their 11-month-old twins who will indeed have some familiar music on their next trip. Strap on those babies and groove! Contact me with your details and I'll get your Lullaby Exercises CD/DVD set out to you ASAP. 

Safe journey,

Tip #59: Packing Tips for Holiday Travel and Best Baby Travel Moments Winner

Baggage Tips as you Pack for Holiday Travel

I know many of you will be playing "suitcase Jenga" this weekend as you get ready for Thanksgiving travel with your little ones. Don't forget these tips as you pack:

3-1-1 Your Diaper Bag

Baggage Fees and Babies

Weigh Your Suitcases Before Flying 

Best Baby Travel Moments Follow-Up: Thanks to everyone who participated in last week’s Free Book Friday. I really enjoyed reading your Best Baby & Kid Travel Moments, and glimpsing the vastly different snapshots of your adventures—from hopping public transportation for the first time with an infant and managing two young children on a day trip to the zoo to catching a ride to town on a donkey (with a 1 year old + luggage) or riding a camel to the Saraha with a young child.

Everyone seemed to share a feeling of newfound confidence and pride as a parent by venturing out with their children, whether close to home or onto a playground in China or into a café in Italy. If you haven’t read the comments yet, check them out at the Best Baby Travel Moments post. 

The randomly selected winner of the gift copy of Travels with Baby is “Soup of the Day,” so please shoot me an email via my contact page at www.travelswithbaby.com with: the name(s) you would like me to inscribe your book to with any special wishes, what you would like your gift note to say, and the address where you would like it sent.

Current Giveaway: Have a tip to share on how you help your child get to sleep in strange places—or a lesson learned on how not to?! I have another giveaway in progress for a DVD/CD combo set of the travel-friendly Lullaby Exercises by Chicks-n-Chickens (makes a great gift for new moms). Post your tip in the comments for Get a Baby Bedtime Routine that Travels by Monday night. I’ll announce the winner next Tuesday.

Pictured Above: As I strolled down the hall while mentally sifting through best baby travel moments this week, I stopped in my tracks as I passed this shot of me celebrating my birthday at Pompeii with Baby Angelina on my hip. What a day, what a moment. As I look at the picture, I still feel just as I did then and there contemplating "How lucky am I?" (This photo is part of Photo Friday at DeliciousBaby.com.)

Tip #58: Kids Fly Free to Disneyland

To those families hoping to do the "full-meal deal" Disneyland Resort Vacation experience in 2009, take a look at the promotion just announced by Alaska Airlines. Families that take advantage of Alaska's "Kids Fly Free to Disneyland" packages for will get more than just free airfare for the kids.

Here's what you'll get:

- Roundtrip airfare for one child (2-11 years) per adult from Alaska and Horizon departure cities (prices will vary based on city).

- Four nights for the price of 3 at the Clarion Hotel Anaheim Resort.

- Free lunches and dinners from the kids' menu each time the adult buys one entree (one free child per purchased adult entree) at the Clarion.

- One 5-day Disneyland Resort Park Hopper Bonus Ticket for one child and one adult.

- 1,500 bonus miles for each passenger, in addition to the miles earned en route if you book through Alaska Air Vacations online.

To get the deal:

- Book before March 18, 2009

- Travel between January 7, 2009 and June 17, 2009

- And go to www.alaskaair.com to click the special.

A few extra tips:

- Book early to get the best deal since space is limited.

- Trying for spring break or early summer? You can "change up" your destination airport within the area and/or hotel if you like with their vacation booking engine, which may be helpful for finding your best deal if the initial advertised deal sells out during your dates.

And don't miss my two giveaways still in progress:

Free signed, gift-wrapped copy of Travels with Baby mailed to the recipient of your choice with your gift note. Ends tonight!

Free Lullaby Exercises CD/DVD combo set ($29.95 value). Ends Monday.

Tip #57: Get a Baby Bedtime Routine that Travels... and Grooves (Free DVD giveaway)

I think I finally found the antidote for the Post-Trans-Atlantic-Flight-Jetlagged-Baby Blues. And I'm giving it away to one lucky reader.

Whether you're landing the unfamiliar setting and soundtrack of a relative's home or the the crazy new time zone of Rome, the question of how you'll help your child adjust to changes in sleeping routines can have everything to do with how prepared you feel for your journey--and an awful lot to do with how much you'll be able to enjoy it.

I've learned that one of the best things you can do is to make your bedtime routines as portable as possible. But how about a bedtime routine that is not only portable, but helps you relax and unwind--and even get some exercise at the same time?  What I would have given to have had some Lullaby Exercises at my disposal one bumpy night in Barcelona, and certainly after a midnight arrival in Mexico. Some familiar soothing music my daughters knew meant bedtime, and some clever ways to work out my leg cramps and stiff back after the long flight would have been most helpful.

Lullaby Exercises is the brainchild of Darcy Albrecht, a mom of two boys and longtime exercise enthusiast. It didn't take her long as a mom to figure out that having a baby actually means wearing a baby much of the time. That's why her entire exercise program is designed to do with your child in a baby carrier or sling (or even in your arms for the Sleep set). And while you're not likely to take along your child's familiar crib from home, the motorized swing with four settings, or the zany mobile of stuffed animals that plays Beethoven and Bach, chances are you will have your child's carrier or sling along.

I first met Darcy and her "chicks" (read on) in the green room at ABC before her segment on The View from the Bay, which you can watch here (don't miss the second set with demo). I thought it sounded like a great routine to take on the road with babies, and then I started to hear the tales of how it had indeed helped some of the mothers while taking first trips with their babies.

Darcy's program includes an upbeat "Groove" set followed by a soothing "Sleep" set. Since no one likes to move and groove more than a fussy baby, you'll see that the Groove set actually turns into a snooze set for many babies on the DVD, and may do the trick for yours as well. The Sleep set is soothing enough to put on repeat as desired after you've put your baby down.

Our Test-Drive of Lullaby Exercises

As for my test-drive of the DVD, I thought better than to put my 30-pounder in the Ergo on top of my baby bump, and instead let the extra pounds from my 6 months of pregnancy fill in instead (and it did). I assure you I did improvise during the baby squats and tummy exercise segments. But while the routine is not for prenatal use, I have to say it got me moving and grooving in spite of my awkward self. 

To my surprise--and delight--my girls wanted to join in half-way through the first Groove tune: "Silly Little Mama." Without discussion, Angelina threw on her doll's baby carrier and took her place next to me. I caved in to Rozzie's demands and whipped up a toddler-sized sling out of a blanket and in went the stuffed animal. Though we looked like a most unlikely trio of "chicks and chickens" as Darcy likes to call mamas and their exerbabes, together we grooved. 

The Lullaby Exercises are set to original music by Lisa Phenix with lyrics new moms can appreciate (with songs like "Chocolate = Love," we could all be moved to firm up our lower halves). The moves are are easy to follow along with your first time through. The set comes packaged with the instructional DVD (option of watching and hearing just the music without voice over when you're really ready to Groove), and also the music CD--either of which travels much more easily than a vibrating bassinet.

I look forward to lullaby-exercising Baby Boy Rivoli in 2009. Who knows, if the girls stick with it we may just take our family routine on the road (look out Matt and Mozart). More information about Lullaby Exercises, and and I should mention some other great baby products and gifts that are handmade by moms in the U.S.A., at www.chicks-n-chickens.com.

Free Lullaby Exercises DVD-CD Set Giveaway:

"How Do You Help Your Child Sleep in a Strange New Place?"

I have a FREE Lullaby Exercises DVD/CD combo set to give away. Just post a comment below (at www.www.travelswithbaby.com/blog for those who are reading this in syndication) about what you've done to help your baby or child sleep in a strange new place, or... what you vowed you would do differently next time when it didn't go so well!

Post your comments by 11:59 p.m. Monday. I'll announce the winner on Tuesday, so be sure to check back then so you can email me your address if you are the winner!

Free Book Friday in Progress...

"Best Baby Travel Moment"

There's still time to win your signed, gift-wrapped and gift-noted copy of Travels with Baby to have shipped to the friend of your choice FREE (which could of course be you!). Post a favorite "Baby Travel Moment, or moment traveling with children of any age by 11:59 p.m. this Thursday at the blogspot post. The winner will be announced this Friday.

Safe journey,

Tip #56: Best Baby Travel Moments (Free Book Friday)

Here we are (I'm the one behind the camera) at Inspiration Point on our first trip as a family to Yosemite National Park. Yes, that's a soul patch on Tim, and no we didn't actually hike with our infant heads dangling like wet spaghetti. We try to make a pilgrimage to Yosemite each year, be it in spring, summer, or fall, whether we are lucky enough to have the highly competitive reservations for camping or the comforts and conveniences of staying in a cabin or lodge.

As with any place a family visits annually, seeing the pronounced changes in its children from one year to the next, Yosemite will always have a special place in our hearts. For us, it's where Angelina took her first independent steps right in the Upper Pines Campground (the year after this photo was taken), among other great memories. It was also during the trip when this photo was taken, that Tim very innocently asked me, "So, what do you want to do next?" He, of course, was thinking in terms of eating lunch, hiking up the falls, or something of a more logical nature.

I, however, was thinking of the bigger picture: of how incredible it felt to be out in the world with our infant in spite of how hard it could be to simply get out the door with her at home, of how I would live my life as a new mother, of what I might do next with my writing career. And it was there on the valley floor that I first described what would become my next book: Travels with Baby: The Ultimate Guide for Planning Trips with Babies, Toddlers, and Preschool-Age Children.

We found ourselves back at Yosemite just a few weeks ago, coinciding with the 1 year anniversary of its publication. What an amazing journey it has been since that afternoon in Yosemite, when we had no idea just how many adventures were in store for us as new parent. The chiding barrage of baby-loving Buddhist monks Bangkok, the surprise grand escorted entrance at the Louvre in Paris simply because we had a stroller, climbing up ancient Mayan stone steps with my second-born on my back, watching my children climb all over the Alice in Wonderland sculpture in Central Park, watching my big girl riding her tag-along bike so proudly through Yosemite Valley.

There have, of course, been many challenging moments along the way. But while the words "travel" and "baby" are all too often followed with a groan by people who associate the two with noisy flights and slow-moving families at airport security, some of us know better. As the song "Moon River" attests, "There's such a lot of world to see." And who is luckier to see it than the mom with a baby on her hip or a child at her side?

Win a free signed copy of Travels with Baby:

In celebration of Travels with Baby's first birthday, I'm giving away a signed and personalized copy of the book. The winner can keep the book as a gift for herself (or himself), or send it to a friend as a gift--in which case I will include some lovely wrapping and a gift note from you. Early holiday gift? Present to the new parents in your life? You decide who I'll send your new book to.

To enter: simply post a comment below with one of your favorite moments traveling--close to home or far afield--with your child before 11:59 p.m. next Thursday, 11/20. If you don't have an email-linked Blogger account, send me a copy of your comment via email to my first name at TravelswithBaby.com so I can reach you if you are the winner (I won't email you otherwise!). Subject line: "FREE BOOK - your comment ID."  I'll announce the winner next Friday.

I'll have more giveaways and some fantastic prizes for traveling parents coming up between now and New Year's Day, so stay tuned. And once again, I'm participating in DeliciousBaby.com's photo Friday, so head over there to see more fun travel photos--or post one of your own!

Safe journey,

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