Tips for getting ready for 2014

Even though I'm not planning any big international trips in 2014, I have a checklist of items I like to look at at the start of each year, many of which will apply to both international and domestic trips. Here are some of the travel-related activities I like to start off the year with:

• Check passport for both available pages and expiration dates. If you're planning on traveling overseas, it's good to have at least two blank pages available in your passport. Additionally, some countries require you to have a certain amount available before your passport expires before you can enter.
  
• Start checking airfares. Kayak is one of my favorite airfare comparison search engines. If you are traveling internationally, I recommend Vayama which specializes in international flights; I used the latter to find an awesome airfare to India in 2009. You can also use Bing.com's price predictor to figure out whether you should buy now or wait for a better deal (this service was previously known as Farecast).
  
• If you are traveling internationally, determine whether you need a visa. Obtaining a visa can be tiresome and bureaucratic; I still have nightmares of the amount of time and paperwork required to obtain my husband's Indian visa in 2009.
  
• Check with your insurance to find out what your coverage is while traveling overseas. In general, it's a good idea to review your coverage every year and to understand what's available to you when you're away from home, especially when it comes to out-of-network charges.
  
• Borrow a guidebook/video from your local library or discount bookstore on any places you might like to visit. Guidebooks are constantly being revised and unless you know 100 percent you're visiting that place, it's probably not worth sinking a lot of money into the books. In the past, I've used my Kindle to look up information on the Internet or buy guidebooks when I'm actually "in country".
  
• Review your vaccinations and determine if you need any new vaccines (Yellow Fever, for instance, comes to mind for some parts of South America) or a booster (Pertussis is an example). You might also want to talk to your doctor about any necessary vaccinations or medical care/precautions for your self and/or your children. If you're visiting someplace where malaria is an issue, there are medications you can take beforehand and afterwards, for instance.
  
• If you are a member of Costco, you can check out their travel deals, including discounts on car rentals that are about $20 to $40 cheaper (in our experience) than nearly anywhere else we look and can sometimes feature additional benefits such as a free second driver and a discounted rate on a GPS. We routinely rent our cars using a Costco discount.
  
• If you are renting a car at your destination, talk to your insurance agent about what your car insurance covers. You might also review your credit card to see if you have some additional protection there. Many times rental companies offer additional insurance coverage for a charge that you don't need to take because you're already covered by your personal policy and/or your credit card.

Kindle Fire at Amazon

I've mentioned in a previous post that the Kindle Fire has been an invaluable "toy" for both Mommy and baby when traveling. I have the original Kindle Fire, not the HD version, that goes for about $159 right now. It's a great buy, mho, for the tablet, especially if you plan to let your child use it for any length of time. I've learned that no matter how much I try to teach my child that a tablet is not for throwing, somehow, it always ends up on the floor!

There are lots of apps available for kids at the App store, though rumor has it, the app selection is not as extensive as what Apple offers for the iPad. For my child, at 17 months old, Picasso - Draw! Paint! Doodle! is a great free app. I've downloaded a bunch of the free puzzle apps, but they are a bit complicated for the child right now and I end up having to fill in the puzzles for her. Another app I like is also free: iStoryBooks. Another thing to keep in mind is that Amazon also has promotions every now and then for an app, for example, buy this app and get $1 mp3 credit at the music store. Some of the apps that qualify for this promotion are free to begin with so it's win/win!

And oh! The best part? All the music and video you purchase on Amazon is put in the Cloud so it's accessible on your Kindle anywhere you have an internet connection. I bought my child 50 Nursery Rhyme Songs, which she adores, and it's awesome that I can play it for her on the Kindle anytime she wants to hear her favorite songs.

If you're interested in finding out more about the Kindle, go here to shop Amazon's New Kindle Fire.  

All sales made through this page directly support this blogger. Thank you!

Travel toys!

We just returned from a 10-hour round trip transatlantic flight. We weren't concerned about going over to Europe as our flight left at bedtime and sure enough, a few hours after we took off, baby fell asleep and promptly slept most of the flight. Coming back though, we knew would be a completely different story as it would be broad daylight and our baby isn't the greatest of sleeper when removed from the 'comforts' of home.

When looking for entertainment for an airplane ride, here are some of the things we are looking for:

1. We want a quiet toy so we don't bother other passengers. To be honest, more and more people are using noise cancelling earphones (my husband uses Able Planet noise cancelling headphones
2. We want a toy that doesn't roll away when dropped. The last thing we want to do is chase a toy all the way down the aisle, especially if the flight attendants are in the aisle with beverage/food service. 
3. We want a toy that doesn't have a lot of pieces that can get dropped/lost/render the toy inoperable for the duration of the flight.
4. In the past, we wanted a toy we could use with a lanyard (we used Baby Buddy Secure-A-Toy for this purpose; worked great with pacifiers, but not so great with the type of sippy cup we used -- handles left a gap for the lanyard to slip out!).

A couple of toys that have worked well for us in the past for both airplanes and cars include the Bright Starts Clack and Slide Activity Ball and Freddy Firefly. We've always had decent luck with our Kindle Fire as a diversionary tactic, but while overseas, our child become unbelievably fascinated with the Kindle and constantly wanted to watch 'Elmo'. I was able to stream short bits of Sesame Street on the Kindle, but I knew that would be an issue while flying home. So while I was able to download Elmo Loves 123s (Kindle Tablet Edition) "just in case" and many other apps, I knew Elmo and the Kindle wouldn't last the full 10 hours home!

We also knew Baby had pretty much outgrown the toys I mentioned above and so I wanted to get her something new for the trip. Before we left, a friend recommended stickers as a good toy for an airplane. We loved the idea and set about searching for an appropriate book. The friend had suggested a Melissa & Doug sticker pad set and we liked that idea because right now we're trying to keep Baby as free from 'commercial influences' as possible (a losing battle as all parents know!). Because I didn't have enough time to get the set from Amazon and couldn't find a similar Melissa & Doug in stores, I ended up getting a gigantic -- and I mean, gigantic! -- activity book with 1000+ stickers, sketch pad and 'scene pages' from Costco for $12.99. It was Disney-themed, but we decided to let it go for now given the shortness of time.Best $12.99 we've ever spent as Baby spent much of the flight pointing to stickers, sticking them on the 'scene pages', resticking them and occasionally decorating us and the seats around us with the stickers.

Since a sketch pad was included, we also picked up triangle crayons from Crayola; they don't roll AND they are washable! The latter became especially important when Baby decided all she wanted to do was color on the tray table! It didn't take more than a single swipe of a baby wipe to clean up the mess and baby was completely happy. Also, whenever she dropped the crayon, no matter where, it stayed put. Love, love, love. We will definitely be using these again.

The items kept her occupied enough that I didn't have to break out the Kindle for entertainment purposes. This was definitely a concern as I wasn't able to fully charge the Kindle before leaving the hotel and also because I knew Baby would protest mightily when we had to take it away during take-off/landing. I'm still glad we had the Kindle and the apps/videos on it as back-up, but am really glad we didn't have to use it at all for this particular flight.