Welcome to Travel Insights

Your official site for all the latest news, updates, and excerpts from "Coast to Coast with the Kids" by family travel expert Laura Miller

Before You Go

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Great Gear (That's Worth Taking on your trip)

Before You Go

Perfect Your Packing
L. L. Bean offers several particularly useful travel products including both accessories and luggage. One item whose usefulness stands out among the others is the suitcase organizer, or what they call “ultralight packers.” The ultralight packers are small, relatively thin, rectangular nylon storage bags with a mesh top. They’re really great for packing items that tend to get lost in the shuffle (like socks and underwear, jewelry boxes, accessories, and other items that otherwise tend to just float around in the suitcase) or just to keep everything neat and orderly. You can use them to hold just a few items or organize your entire suitcase with them. They’re offered in a set of 3, each a differen size, and currently cost around $29 for the set. While I first thought it a somewhat rather frivolous purchase, I’ve found them to be absolutely invaluable and wouldn’t think of packing a suitcase without them. L. L. Bean also offers some handy travel wallets and document organizers. The document organizers come in a handful of sizes and configurations, but each provides a handy organized way to carry your tickets, luggage claim stubs, passports, and other necessary items such as your license and credit cards. They’re perfect for carrying inside a pocketbook or diaper bag for quick and easy access to all of your necessary documents.

Lands’ End is another company that offers a variety of particularly useful travel bags and luggage for kids and adults alike - and they even have one of the most useful, practical, and functional (not to mention nice-looking) diaper-bag lines around.

You can easily shop at either online, by catalog, by phone or at their stores (in select locations).

Staying Cool
You see them everywhere, especially during the hot summer months - squirting water bottle fans. They’re really quite effective, offering temporary relief from the heat as they spray a cool mist (or stream depending on how it’s set) in whatever direction you point the fan. With numerous water fountains scattered throughout the parks, refilling them is quick and easy. Beware however that they are horridly expensive if you purchase them at the parks. I discovered on one of my many trips to the grocery store that they are available practically everywhere (grocery stores and pharmacies alike) for about a third of the cost of what the parks charge. There’s a reason however (other that that the park price items at a premium) that they are less expensive…you won’t find the Disney logo stamped anywhere on it or a single character adorning the bottle…they’re plain. For a few dollars more however, take a pack of Disney stickers (bought at either at the same store in Florida or even better - at home before you go) and decorate it yourself – even better let the kids create their own masterpiece. The fans sell for approximately $6.00 at the grocery stores and $18.00 or so at the park. And if you’re wondering? Yes, I found this out the hard (and the very expensive) way.

Traveling with Toddlers
If you’re traveling to the theme parks with toddlers in tow, it’s quite likely that at some point or another at least one of them will beg to be carried as their tired little legs begin to give way. While most little ones would be happy to simply sit it out in their stroller – there is always one (and I speak from experience, believe me) that insists on being carried by mom or dad. Now, don’t go breaking out the heating pad for your aching back just yet…for parents who find themselves having to carry more than just their bags of souvenirs its the “Hip Hammock” to the rescue. Platex has created a hip carrier for kids
up to 35 pounds…and it’s great…it really works! While it doesn’t all together eliminate the tediousness of having to carry a wiggly (and often rather heavy) toddler, it does however help to alleviate some of the weight and pressure that is often placed on your back.

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