All the grandparents want to visit all the time! How do we manage long-distance family visits?
We live on the West Coast, and the grandparents (my in-laws, my mother, my father and my step mom) live in three different East Coast cities. My eight-month-old son is the ONLY grandchild on either side. The grandparents are (understandably!) enthusiastic and each set wants to visit every couple of months, which adds up to a LOT of travel and/or house guests.
Passport Dinners: how our family travels the world from our dinner table
I like to think that our experiences with the Passport Dinners have helped them develop their curiosity towards the world around them. We talk about why people eat different things in different parts of the world. They know that hearty stews with root vegetables were common in Russian and Czech dishes because of the climate, and that bananas and plantains feature more prominently in Cuba and Jamaica for the same reason. They know that lychee jelly — an ingredient that was strange and unpleasant for them — is as common for natives of Malaysia as grape jelly is for Americans.
Send postcards to yourself: Keep track of your travels with this hack
This is my mom’s fantastic idea for tracking experiences while traveling. How many times have you promised to keep a travel journal only to return home with most of the pages left blank? If you’re like me, that’s happened a few times. On top of that, how do you go about displaying your travel souvenirs when you get home? Developing photos is nice, but are you going to label them to remember everything? My mom’s solution: Postcards to yourself.
How will my kid’s childhood be different from my own?
I grew up in Alabama so I’m well-versed in the wonders of the humidity in the region, and though my son spent three years living in the South before we moved back to Oregon he didn’t remember this particular sensation. I was struck by the funniest feeling, and realized I’ve never considered what it will be like to raise my child in an entirely different environment — and largely different circumstances — than I was raised.
Jenna & Brendan’s five-country, Central American, backpacking adventure
It’s summer time and as my mind starts to turn to vacation schemes, we also have new Home & Life schemes. We’re thinking of moving Offbeat Bride’s honeymoon profiles over here to continue our celebration of life after weddings. And, you know, to hook you up with awesome travel ideas!
For example, longtime Empire reader “Chanamasala’s” month-long trip through Central America will teach you things such as where you should be sure to drink coffee (in the only country that doesn’t export its best coffee!). Or the non-touristy places you should make sure to visit.
How do you stay awake on a long drive?
I’m about to embark on a weekend-long road trip. I’ll be driving, by myself, for 12 hours both there and back. I’ve made the trip before and it sucked, but at least my radio/CD player worked. Now it’s busted, and I’m worried about getting tired on the road.
How do you find an old but non-crappy travel trailer?
My fiance and I are getting married in August, and we are really excited about our idea of living in a travel trailer. I lived with my large family in an RV for several years, so I am familiar with how to make a home out of a small space, BUT we are unsure where to begin. I don’t really know much about how to find a good trailer that won’t crap out on us in a year! How do you know if a trailer is junk or not?
We’re about to spend two months road-tripping with our baby
I’m about to embark on a two-month road trip with my husband, seven-month-old baby, and our two 90-pound dogs. We’ll be living out of our car and tent hiking and camping across the United States. We decided to test the boundaries of what having a baby in your life means and want to introduce him to the world early. My husband and I used to travel in our car for a couple months at a time (pre-baby), so why stop now?