The best way to explore an off-beat destination

If you share your life with a dog, you probably already know that winter provides many unique opportunities and challenges for adventuring. Most dogs, especially the young ones, don’t differentiate between beautiful sunny days and frigid snowy ones. They are up for anything, despite the weather.  And if you live in the snowy tundra of New England, there is no better way to enjoy the winter than to head out on a little adventure – snowshoeing with dogs, or even cross-country skiing. On the one hand, our dogs are an inspiration – getting us off the couch and out of our weather-induced funk. On the other hand, dogs make it hard to enjoy those days when you would rather be cuddling up with a good book. Sigh… When it comes down to it, we’re thankful for all the dogs in our lives. Rain or shine,  snow or sleet, we get outside, and because of our dogs, we enjoy (just about) every minute of it. It doesn’t take much to adventure with your dog in ...

Today I’m welcoming guest authors, AJ Ratani and Natasha Sandhir from The 2 Idiots Travel Blog. They’re sharing their favorite tips for embarking on car trips with toddlers.  How to Survive a Long Road Trip with a Toddler When we spent our year traveling with our son, most of our travels were spent in a car, including long drives around Iceland, traveling through Patagonia, and exploring Southern Spain. What did we learn? Boredom leads to tantrums when traveling with kids. And, what could be worse for a child than being strapped into a car seat for hours in a car? Being the parents of the child who is throwing a tantrum in a car. Here are five tips for traveling with toddlers that we learned the hard way on our around the world journey: Plan Your Route with Multiple Stops to Break up Long Drives with Toddlers Taking a long drive in Australia   Find small attractions, or even just a rest stop where kids can take a break from the car and let out some ener...

Do you have a picky eater in the family? Nothing is more difficult than being on the road and struggling to find something your little one will actually eat—no one wants a cranky kid before you get the chance to do your first activity of the day. Travel, however, is the best way to entice your child to try something new. Try these tricks at home to broaden his horizons before you head out to wander. Make something together My toddler loves to cook with me, and he is always interested in eating what he worked so hard to make. When your child gets the opportunity to work with you in the kitchen, he understands what goes into preparing a meal and can definitely appreciate it more. Invite your little person to do things like smell the spices and ask them which ones they like the best—use those to season the food. Have them help you measure ingredients and mix them—allow them to taste as you go along so they can enjoy everything you are putting together from start to finish. Eat out I’l...

For those who are relatively new to using Airbnb, it may be kind of intimidating to try to pick the place that you’re going to stay for your next vacation.  I mean, there are so many options, how are you supposed to pick the best fit?  Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ve had some Airbnbs that were a little different from what I expected.  However, now I’ve figured out some of the tips and tricks.  So here are six steps on how to find an amazing Airbnb.

A Spanish territory located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, just 100km from the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara, the Canary Islands offer the visitor a unique blend of European and African influences. Not to mention year-round sunshine. Islands like Fuerteventura, which lies closest to the African coast, can enjoy an average of 3,000 hours of sunshine per year. They’re the ideal destination whether you’re looking to jet away from the dour winter months or enjoy a blazing summer holiday. © Martin Robson The Canary Islands are made up of an archipelago of seven major islands, from Tenerife (the largest) to El Hierro (the smallest). Each has its own unique charms but some standard things to expect are sunshine, watersports facilities, bars, restaurants and all the other trappings of a major tourist destination. The beaches vary in quality. As the islands are volcanic, some are made up of coarse black sand but others are finer and islands like Tenerife ha...

Every now and then you will have an early flight and then you might find yourself sleeping at the airport. Either because it saves you the stress in the morning to take care of transportation and checking out of the hostel or because it just saves you a night of accommodation. Money that you could spend otherwise such as for new flights for example. Usually it will not be the most comfortable place and you won’t get as much sleep as you would like to get. But if you are fine with that then there are still some things that you should be co considering before arriving at the airport. 1. Airport Opening Hours Most importantly: Is the airport even open? No use to be spending the night at the airport when it closes over night for a couple of hours. You would think that all major international airports would stay open at night, right? But when I was staying at Sydney airport for a night because I had an early flight, the airport was actually closed and I had to spent the nig...

The island of Bali is the smallest province of Indonesia, and the country’s most popular tourist destination.  Bali is best known for its beautiful beaches, but the little island has so much more to do and see.  Make sure to try one of the many adventure activities the island has to offer! Scuba Diving Bali is an extremely popular diving destination, and for good reason.  The coral reefs here are healthy and teeming with fish, starfish, eels, sea cucumbers, and other marine life.  There are also several easily accessible shipwrecks to explore around the island, such as the USAT Liberty and a Japanese wreck.  Certified divers have many choices for diving around Bali, and many shops and guides to choose from.  If you aren’t a certified scuba diver, you can take a certification class at one of the island’s many dive schools.  If you’ve never tried diving before, most dive schools offer a half-day guided diving experience. Go Underwater Not interested in diving, but still want to see t...