Tis the season for gratitude, and we’re grateful for the give back gifts that offer sustainable options to help others, support good causes and let us skip long lines.
Put one of these give back gifts on your holiday list. Accelerate the journey towards a more sustainable future this holiday season.
Fund Wildlife Conservation around the World
A friend whose daughter is in love with snowy owls discovered that the Sierra Club offers snowy owls and bison among their collection of virtual animal adoptions ($49 and up often includes a plush toy). Discover your own adoptable tarantula or honey bee. If you can’t choose, let the next family vacation drive the decision. Protect an armadillo, for example, if you’re heading for Big Bend National Park in Texas.
Explore opportunities to help protect other endangered animals with the World Wildlife Fund. In addition to research, they sell wonderful gifts that give back. For $25 and up, your family funds a Symbolic Adoption that helps conserve an elephant, polar bear, tiger, orca, panda, snow leopard or other species. At the $60 level and higher, WWF will send adorable plush replicas of the adopted animals.
The koala population has been declining in Australia due to the loss of habitat, bushfires, disease and domestic dog attacks. Fortunately, Koala Conservation Australia Limited of New South Wales rehabilitates these cute animals when they’re found sick or injured. Their Adopt-A-Wild-Koala e-program starts at A$50. Donate a bit more (A$80 for overseas families) to receive a story about your specifically chosen koala, a booklet about koalas and more. If you’re on your way to Australia, select an ‘Exhibit Koala’ so you can visit them in the hospital. Adoption money helps treat and rehabilitate koalas with the goal of releasing them back to the wild.
Give Back Gift to the Oceans
Adopt a sea turtle or manatee — or an Orca, for those who think big. It’s the ideal gift that gives back to marinelife lovers and the world’s oceans. The non-profit organizations that raise money by selling symbolic adoptions run many real life events and educational programs year round.
Adopt-A-Sea Turtle gifts animal lovers with a personalized Adoption kit and plush toy ($56) from the Sea Turtle Conservancy. Once adopted, follow the turtles they are tracking by satellite. Plus, teens may be interested in opportunities to volunteer in Costa Rica or Panama as a research assistant. The STC has done this important work for more than 50 years.
Why not Adopt-A-Manatee for just $25? Save the Manatee was co-founded by the late Jimmy Buffett, singer, songwriter, marine life activist and hotel owner, who championed their cause. STM also promotes sustainable and eco-tourism events around central Florida. At many of their programs, see the creatures up close. You may even meet your adoptee.
Washington state’s Adopt-an-Orca program is run by the Whale Museum in Friday Harbor, San Juan Islands. Select the Orca of your choosing from the three pods living offshore. Invest $50 and up per year to find out how they’re doing and learn much more about this unusual breed. Contributors get a free yearlong membership to the museum and 10% off at their gift shop.
Support People’s Lives with Gifts that Give Back
Support nonprofit groups whose work represents an incredible give back gift for all ages. Recipients say that even a greeting card with a powerful story is well worth receiving.
Oxfam America is a nonprofit organization committed to ending the injustice of poverty. At Oxfam, make a donation to fund the purchase of any number of items. Your $60 gift trains a local volunteer to be a community health care worker. Fund the construction of an emergency toilet for $250 or give $510 towards a cash-for-work program for six months. Recipients receive an e-card describing the contribution.
Heifer International is charitable organization that donates livestock, poultry, agricultural products and more to support people around the world. Their online holiday marketplace is also full of hand-crafted ornaments and toys (from $15) and sustainably farmed items. Hear moving stories about donated heifers ($500) that helped families build new houses, a goat ($120) that provided warm milk for children, and a flock of chickens ($20) that fed them. Partial contributions from $10 and up are pooled with others to fulfill these needed gift items and to support educational programs in lesser developed regions.
Kids to Kids Direct Giving
Help your child give a gift to another child through Save the Children, for an incredible bonding moment. Choose from an online catalogue of ‘gifts’ ranging from $15 (one soccer ball) and up. Hospital essentials, for example, include sterilization materials, cleaning supplies, blankets and fuel for generators. This charity lets you focus your donations on relief and emergency funding, at home or overseas.
Support many other worthwhile groups in person by signing up your family for a volunteer vacation next year. Read our “How to Volunteer” guide before planning that special trip.
Give Back Sites & Auctions for Good
To raise money for a variety of causes, upcoming projects, and non-profits, the online auctioneers at Bidding For Good can’t be beat. Schools, youth groups and other non-profits use their Commerce for Charity system to upload donated Major League Baseball tickets, Paris walking tours, collectible Barbie dolls or Amazon gift cards so everyone can take part in the worthwhile bidding process.
Want to give back with your child through a family donation? Among many sites out there, the educator-founded DonorsChoose.org allows families to pick what type of school project, field trip, sports team, activity or need they want to support. Search together through the collection of actual requests made by teachers around the United States.
Don’t use this holiday to give another unwanted gift that will soon be forgotten. Instead, help a good cause and let your child (or your nanny, or your neighbor, or your boss) take part in a kinder world.
Dear Reader: This page may contain affiliate links which may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Our independent journalism is not influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative unless it is clearly marked as sponsored content. As travel products change, please be sure to reconfirm all details and stay up to date with current events to ensure a safe and successful trip.
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Again, politic caused a mess. I do not know what is wrong with politic, but I think it just make everything hard. I never found that politic bring good things to society.
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Upiq.com actually finds much cheaper flights & hotels prices than Momondo because Upiq compares much more travel sites than Momondo. You can check it out at http://www.upiq.com
The Guardian newspaper has a few great suggestions for those who want a simple, old-style campground geared to tents and relaxation. First off, they like the guidebook "Cool Camping France" (Punk Publishing) which describes 100 campsites for a variety of budgets.
They also recommend the sites ran by Camping Indigo (camping-indigo.com), or those listed on Rural Camping in France (rural-camping.com) and the Dutch site Kleine Campings Frankrijk (kleinecampingsinfrankrijk.nl; in English).
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The Little Gym sounds a bit like Gymboree, a long time chain of organized play spaces called Gymboree. Gymboree Play & Music classes are available through more than 600 franchised and company-operated centers in the United States, Canada and 30 other countries. Here's a link to the page which describes locations and hours of their international programs, if you ever want to drop in on one in future travels:
http://www.gymboreeclasses.com/index.jsp
We have lots of stories about traveling with kids in New York City and we are happy to help you plan a customized visit, so you can make the most of your time. Get in touch!
When my wife and I wanted to enjoy all the beauty Antwerp has to offer, we just looked if there was a The little Gym for our son (4) Jason!
Back home Jason ( bouncing off the wall kind of child) attends regular classes at Little Gym. But they also offer Holiday programs. 3 hours or full days are available! Jason had a blast with his new (international) friends and my wife and I could really enjoy the city without feeling guilty about walking too much or going in too many Cathedrals 🙂
Thumbs up for this worldwide concept, next stop Amsterdam!
Hi there,
I am planning a 4 night vacation to NYC this May and am looking for a custom itenerary as it is our first time in the big apple and it's pretty overwhelming trying to figure out a logical sequel of events as we do not know what the most efficient way to go about it would be. Do i just let you know our points of interest?? Thanks, Steph
I am off to Orlando in October.
How is the theme park here for under 3 yr olds? anyone been?
We've been. The parks are great for a toddler as long as you plan short days and keep the walking to a minimum; don't wait in a lot of lines. Weather should be cooler in October, that's good. If you can afford one of the hotels that gets you the first in line access, that would be great. It's pretty exhausting but your kids will have fun, and they have a rider swap so that your spouse can watch the baby, while one of you does the amazing Harry Potter ride, and then you can switch duty and the other rides too.
At Universal Studios (the movie themed part of the parks), there are cartoon stars from Nickelodeon shows, and they're in gentle rides or in live shows. The best bet may be Woody Woodpecker's KidZone, where there is a fun interactive playground and sing-a-longs with characters.
At Islands of Adventure, we all loved Suess Landing where you can go on the Cat in the Hat ride, and a very crazy carousel. Just love those books and our son remembered a lot of the words from having them read to him so often. The Jurassic Park ride area has a neat water playground you'll enjoy it if there aren't a lot of teens squirting each other.
Thanks for your article on beg bugs when traveling. Bed bugs are something that I've been very concerned about. I found some information on bed bugs pictures on the Bed Bugs Handbook.
Thanks for your article on bed bugs when traveling. It's something i've been looking out for recently. I found some information on what bed bug bites look like on Bed Bugs Handbook.
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My family and I returned a few weeks ago from a wonderful 10 day trip in Morocco that was seamlessly organized by Sahara Magic Tours. After my first phone conversation with Hassan at Sahara Magic Tours immediately felt my anxiety about planning my trip go away. Hassan was GREAT, he was friendly, flexible, very patient with all my questions and requests and always responded to my emails and phone calls promptly. He was extremely knowledgeable in all areas of Morocco. The depth of his knowledge made his advice and guidance priceless as his recommendations all turned out to be perfectly suited to our needs.
I requested Mohamed as our driver based on the reviews I read here and on other sites. Mohamed was EXCELLENT! We were so happy with him in every way. He spoke good English. He has a great personality and sense of humor. He's such a genuinely good guy, really friendly, caring, down to earth and can get along with all types of personalities and ages. You immediately feel so comfortable and safe with him . Mohamed took care of all of our needs and was very patient and flexible. He was always on time for our daily adventures and was a knowledgeable guide so we learned a lot from him about Morocco. Also, I have to mention how GREAT a driver Mohamed is. Not only does he drive safe but he handles the vehicle really well, whether it's winding roads or BUSY streets, etc.
We chose the Imperial cities tour as well as the desert and Essaouria. We covered 1,300 miles. Morocco is a beautiful country. We found the Moroccan people to be warm and friendly. Each place has it's own look and feel and it's so picturesque as you drive from one place to another. Morocco felt like a bunch of different countries in one country. Be sure to keep a day or so aside for shopping. For us, it was a struggle within our 10 day itinerary since there was so much to see and do. An extra day or 2 would have been perfect.
I would definitely recommend staying in a Riad at least once during your trip. For us after the first 2 Riads we missed some of the conveniences of a hotel so we were glad we stayed in both. Bivouac in Merzouga was really cool, you can literally walk onto the dunes from the Bivouac. In Marrakech I liked Les Jardins De Le Koutaoubia , the hotel was beautiful and the location was stellar, less than a 5-minute walk to the Dejemma el-Fna and all the souks.
As someone who travels frequently I would highly recommend Sahara Magic Tours http://www.Sahara-Magic.com/ to anyone thinking about taking a trip to Morocco. Their knowledge, contacts throughout the country, personal attention to every detail of your trip and excellent service is one of the best I've experienced. I'm so thankful to all the people that wrote reviews about Sahara Magic Tours and Mohamed. Thanks to Hassan /Sahara Magic Tours and Mohamed, my family and I had an AMAZING experience in Morocco. Can't wait to go back!
I agree with several points in the post, the readers of this site have found a treasure of info. I will share the post with my friends who value forums of intelligent depth on subjects the author is an expert. Our forum discusses the oral health of dogs. Our staff at http://www.vitahound.com is currently studying products formulated to eliminate bad breath in dogs.
If you need further info on Wales the government brochures from this site can be really helpful. It's very easy to use, you don't have to register before ordering and the brochures arrive in a couple of days. http://www.wales-holiday-brochures.co.uk
Hope they can be of some help… They were for me!
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If you do not speak Turkish, avoid the airlines no matter how good that deal seems. The customer service is non existant.
We had a multi-leg trip with Turkish Airline from Rome to Istanbul to Cairo to Athens. We only ended up taking the flight from Rome to Istanbul.
Their flight from Rome to Istanbul was comfortable and relaxing. The staff was cordial. We only had carry-ons because of the horrible experiences other users have had.
Our overall experience with management, however, turned out to be extremely frustrating and awful. Our first interaction with them was when we tried to cancel our Istanbul to Cairo part of the trip because the US department highly suggested that no US citizens should travel to Cairo. We had called Turkish Airlines prior to the trip, but the staff spoke limited English and didn't understand that we wanted to cancel only one leg of the trip. They would planning on canceling the entire trip which we didn't want.
We then decided to keep the trip but use one of the layovers that was originally intended from Cairo to Greece but stops at Istanbul to get to our final destination- Greece. However, due to their international rule and regulation, they canceled our entire trip leaving us no way to get to Greece. They didn't inform us via email or phone like many other airlines do. We found out the day before we were supposed to leave when trying to check in for our flight.
We accepted the fact that there was nothing we could do but when we asked on the phone what we could have done to have prevented this, the manager started yelling that she couldn't help us, and that it was our fault for losing the tickets. We asked again. She admitted that she couldn't understand our question and started shouting at us that it was our fault and hung up on us. I was furious.
Looking at the other posts, I think the moral of the story is – Do NOT book with Turkish Airlines unless you speak Turkish. The staff's English is very limited, and trying to change flights or dealing with management is just a pain, ends up with customers losing money and valuable time.
I've had such bad experiences with the customer services at Turkish Airlines. ON the phone, the managers who are supposedly "English" do not understand simple sentences and when they don't, they get frustrated and hang up on you.
We had a multi-leg trip with Turkish Airline from Rome to Istanbul to Cairo to Athens. We only ended up taking the flight from Rome to Istanbul.
Their flight from Rome to Istanbul was comfortable and relaxing. The staff was cordial. We only had carry-ons because of the horrible experiences other users have had.
Our overall experience with management, however, turned out to be extremely frustrating and awful. Our first interaction with them was when we tried to cancel our Istanbul to Cairo part of the trip because the US department highly suggested that no US citizens should travel to Cairo. We had called Turkish Airlines prior to the trip, but the staff spoke limited English and didn't understand that we wanted to cancel only one leg of the trip. They would planning on canceling the entire trip which we didn't want.
We then decided to keep the trip but use one of the layovers that was originally intended from Cairo to Greece but stops at Istanbul to get to our final destination- Greece. However, due to their international rule and regulation, they canceled our entire trip leaving us no way to get to Greece. They didn't inform us via email or phone like many other airlines do. We found out the day before we were supposed to leave when trying to check in for our flight.
We accepted the fact that there was nothing we could do but when we asked on the phone what we could have done to have prevented this, the manager started yelling that she couldn't help us, and that it was our fault for losing the tickets. We asked again. She admitted that she couldn't understand our question and started shouting at us that it was our fault and hung up on us. I was furious.
Looking at the other posts, I think the moral of the story is – Do NOT book with Turkish Airlines unless you speak Turkish. The staff's English is very limited, and trying to change flights or dealing with management is just a pain, ends up with customers losing money and valuable time.
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Our family had been so excited to go on our make a wish trip.My daughter was diagnosed with a terminal cancer at age 2,and we waited till this month to go,so we knew she would be healthy enough to enjoy herself.When we got there we were very tired and it was around 5 in the afternoon.I first noticed the strange odor when we walked in the room,it was like they were trying to cover up something.Then later that night I started seeing little bugs everywhere.I am not native to Florida,so I thought it might be just some outdoor bugs.Then as the days went by,i kept seeing more and more.Knowing this trip was free,I didn't want to complain to much,but by the 3 rd night I was horrified.I got up to check on my daughter and there were bugs all over the kitchen counter.I was so disgusted,I slept in the car that night.My husband complained the next morning,and they sent a technician in.They were water bugs.That is so nasty.We did get moved,but the next room wasn't that clean either.This is a place for sick kids,and the rooms aren't clean.Come on.Then as we were walking to the restaurant,and man was spraying chemicals around the side walk,and he had a respirator mask on.So whatever he was spraying must have been really poisonous.And here he is spraying it around sick kids!!! I'm glad others had a good time,and loved this place,but I was not impressed.
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Just a note to let you know that the Holiday Inn SunSpree has been renamed and is now known as the Holiday Inn & Suites North Beach. See news article annoucement here . Just want to make sure there is no confusion when people click on their listing and arrive at the new site. The renovation was great and the hotel is still very family friendly. Keep it in mind if visiting Virginia Beach.
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I dont think there should be a mixture of kids and casion on same vacation as it will leave a wrong impression at such an early age….We know every kid will be adult some day…. I belive kids childhood is so enormous for him/her that he/she requires a very good surrounding. This will always help in creating a very good future.
Thanks/////
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