Beat the Heat on the Slopes of New Zealand
This summer, while some families are lying on beach blankets, others are making snow angels at Southern Hemisphere resorts that are celebrating "winter" with crisp ski deals. For example, the Queen's Birthday long weekend in early June often marks the earliest resort opening for Coronet Peak, New Zealand. This mountain...
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Packing Light: The Ultimate Checklist for Traveling with Your Family
Many people believe that it isn’t possible to pack light with kids without sacrificing your sanity, however, they are wrong. Now I’m not talking about "I'm a backpacker and I wear the same clothes for a month" light, I’m referring to reasonably light.
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Cruise With Kids Vacations And Family-Friendly Ships
Cruises are hot, and we are seeing families cruise with kids in the Caribbean, Europe, Alaska and far-flung destinations like the Galapagos Islands. Given that the industry’s trade organization, CLIA, projects a whopping 30 million cruise passengers worldwide in 2019, you can count on kids being seen and heard everywhere. Why take a Cruise Vacation Now? Parents love cruising because...
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51 Great Family Summer Vacation Ideas
Two-thirds of leisure travelers plan to take vacations this summer, according to AAA Travel, with good reason. Summer is the traditional time for families to reconnect. Parents and grandparents strive to recreate favorite childhood memories and make new ones together with the youngest generation. Each year, we present 51 great summer vacation ideas in collaboration with our partners at
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Sponsor Allianz Global Assistance Helps Student Travelers Every Day
We want to thank Allianz Global Assistance for their sponsorship of the annual FTF Teen Travel Writing Scholarship for 2019. Did you know they assist student travels every day, in many other ways? Operating in 34 countries, Allianz Global Assistance is a leading insurance and assistance company that provides...
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9 Lessons Learned: Michelle Obama on Becoming a Family Traveler
I recently learned some family travel lessons from Michelle Obama, one of the most traveled women in the world. Anyone who’s had the pleasure of reading Becoming, the new...
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Required Documents For Travel With Minors
Solo Parents, Grandparents and Guardians can satisfy legal requirements before crossing international borders with minor children by using these Permission to Travel Letter and Children's Consent forms. The Family Travel Forum community has learned the hard way that you need this paperwork: in the special FTF report “
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8 Ways Travel Alerts Should Impact Your Vacation
Frightening travel alerts, amplified by the 24-hour news cycle and lots of genuinely bad news, have become a daily occurrence… and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Although terror incidents, strikes, swarms of refugees, Zika and extreme politics have affected travelers the past few years, these crises usually don’t deter young parents from traveling the world with their children. But...
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Permission To Travel and Travel Consent Letters And Why You Need Them
Adults traveling outside the U.S. with children under 18, other than their own, must have a Permission or minor travel consent letter from both of the minors' guardians. The travel consent letter also covers a child traveling internationally with only one birth parent, one guardian, grandparents or other adults. This written and notarized Permission to Travel Letter from both birth...
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8 Days Wellington to Queenstown: New Zealand Our Way
My fiancé and I set off to explore the South Island of New Zealand on an eight-day road trip that coincided with the wedding of dear friends. Using online travel blogs and friends’ recommendations, we built our jam-packed, eight-day driving itinerary, trekking from Wellington (site of the wedding) to Queenstown. Air Qantas: NYC> LA > Sydney > Auckland > Wellington Getting...
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