Would you like an easy way to plan great family hikes in some of California’s most beautiful and unique outdoor destinations? Including FIVE NATIONAL PARKS? Your guide to 45 bucket-list family day hikes throughout Southern California, including 5 national parks. With all the tips you need to know before you go, plus multiple photos of what you’ll find there, trail maps, and more? With hikes the author’s own family has personally undertaken and approved?! The Rivoli kids hiking on a ridge top in the Mecca Hills Wilderness, California. Take a look at my new guidebook Hiking with Kids South ..read more

What is the WAYB Pico and why is it great for travel? The WAYB Pico folding car seat for vacation travel and carpooling with young children. The WAYB Pico is a travel-friendly folding car seat for kids 2 years and older, weighing from 22 lbs. up to 50 lbs., and from 30″ to 45″ tall. But is it the best car seat for traveling families? And is it the best option for your family? I’ll start with the “pros” of what makes the Pico ideal for many traveling families. This post contains affiliate links. Pico WAYB pros: The WAYB Pico folding car seat in folded position. At only 8 lbs., it’s light ..read more

To complete our Eastern Sierra road trip, I felt it was only natural that we should call upon one of my favorite California state parks: Calaveras Big Trees. The park is home to two groves of massive giant sequoias (AKA Sierra redwoods). As it happened, we would be “practically passing right by” on our way home — if we just took the Sonora Pass (Hwy 108) and drove a little way north. Famous last words. I remember hearing once that if you could take all the blood vessels and veins in the human body and lay them end-to-end, they could wrap around the earth nearly three times. I’m not sure i ..read more

Tangram tiles travel easily, require no batteries, and can be used to make flat images or stacked for a 3-D effect. If you’re looking for screen-free alternatives to help keep your child entertained on an upcoming flight, road trip, camping trip, train ride, cruise (when wouldn’t these come in handy?!) … consider these favorite travel toys for young children. No charging cord or batteries required! And better still, these travel toys will help keep your child’s imagination and hands busy in constructive–and tidy–ways. This post contains affiliate links, which help support TravelswithBaby ..read more

Just one of 11 DEET-free ways to help prevent mosquito bites on your next vacation. Chances are you have enough other things to worry about these days, so keeping mosquitos at bay — and off your bébé — during your vacation shouldn’t be one of them. For those of you planning a family camping trip or travel to other mosquito-friendly destinations, here is a timely excerpt from Chapter 8: Health “Ensurance” in Travels with Baby: The Ultimate Guide for Planning Travel with Your Baby, Toddler and Preschooler. This post contains affiliate links. Eleven DEET-Free Ways to Help Prevent Mosquito B ..read more

How about a National Park that is also an Island Escape?! Looking for family vacation ideas made easy? This is the post for you! Summer greetings! I hope you and your family are WELL and you have some fun plans lined up for the season. If you’re still looking for some ideas, remember that our sister site Family Travel 411 was BUILT on family vacation recommendations and reviews to help you plan your best trips possible – with kids from tots through teens. A kid-friendly canyoneering adventure in Zion National Park. Thinking about a road trip family vacation to a national park? Remember ..read more

  Kids will love “sleeping like a king” in this castle nestled in the Twelve Bens Mountains of County Galway, one of author Jody Halsted’s recommended family destinations in Ireland. Longing to plan a family vacation in Ireland, but not sure where to begin? Let this post kick-start your travel planning and give you confidence that (yes!) an Ireland vacation with kids may be your family’s best adventure yet. With tips from Jody Halsted, Ireland family vacation planning expert and our Ireland travel contributor at Family Travel 411 (our sister site for travel with school-age kids – ch ..read more

Placing their shoes by the door reminds the Kings how many children live there. Today, I invite you on a virtual visit to  Buenos Aires, Argentina, where the children anxiously await the arrival of the Three Kings … and their camels. Argentine native, Alejandra Vicco, first shared this Central and South American tradition with us in December 2011, when she was proprietor of Bebeba Baby Equipment Rentals in Buenos Aires. Enjoy — and don’t forget those hard-working camels this week!   ◊  ◊  ◊  ◊   In Argentina, and throughout Latin America, every 6th of Jan ..read more

Even without young children in tow, Thanksgiving can be the craziest, most expensive time of the year to travel in the U.S. But when you add a baby or young child to the mix, and possibly myriad members of your extended family in the adventurous terrain of someone else’s home … it’s all the more important to plan ahead for a happy Thanksgiving vacation. Here are some tips that can help make all the difference between a long weekend you’ll always lament–and one for which you’ll always give thanks. This post contains affiliate links, which help fund this website at no additional cost to you ..read more

Are you sitting on a mountain of American Airlines miles like my family is, with no immediate plans of big air travel trips? (Like most of California we’re under stay-at-home orders, with hospitals at capacity, at time of writing.) Here’s what you need to know to help protect your family’s AAdvantage miles from expiring. Though some airlines have done away with frequent flyer miles expiration completely, American Airlines still has an official 18 months of inactivity policy for your account. Go more than 18 months with zero activity and you could lose your miles. However, there are now tw ..read more