Tell us a little about your family; how do you schedule your trips around your children’s needs? How have your kids adapted?

Have you heard of a little group called The Brady Bunch? That fairly well sums us up — down to the curly-haired youngest girl. We’ve actually got five kiddos between my newly gained husband and me. And this is where it gets awkward, because I have to point out the one big benefit of divorce (if it has to happen): visitation.  I have custody of my three, and my ex has visitations in week or two-week increments during school breaks. So basically, I just schedule the bulk of our travels around their visitations with the other parent. The kids never even know I’m missing, and I enjoy guilt-free travel.

The kids love watching the videos and all make me promise I’ll take them hiking in Italy’s Cinque Terre or to Rome’s famed monuments one day. And I will. In fact, whenever possible, I take the kids with me traveling now, because it not only expands their worldview, it helps them realize that packing a bag and going somewhere isn’t scary or intimidating (and that mommy always returns).

What was the inspiration for creating TBEX?

Debbie Dubrow and I wanted to get a bunch of travel folks together. Chicago is a great central location, and since the fabulous BlogHer annual conference is happening in late July, we cooked up a meeting and planned it. The whole thing has come together beautifully and the response overwhelming. Attendees are coming from far and wide and we want to make the big bash worth everyone’s time and effort.

My cohorts at Galavanting and I took it a step further and thought it would be great to involve the worldwide travel folks who can’t make it to the TBEX’09 meetup in an online community as well. So we spent many very late nights brainstorming and creating until we came up with the TBEX Community website in January 2009. To date, the site already acts as a hub for nearly 1,000 travel bloggers and PR professionals interested in connecting with them.

What are your future plans for TBEX and/or Galavanting?

We want to keep TBEX active and useful and will be reaching out to members of the press, media, and PR reps, as well as advertisers, to highlight the burgeoning community of travel writers on the web. TBEX can raise their visibility and connect bloggers to each other in ways that simply surfing the net for kindred spirits cannot.

As far as Galavanting goes, we want it to become a household name. My co-founder Katy Quissell and I had the original idea of a television show that featured women with spunk, useful information, adventurous tendencies, and non-boringness. Women we could relate to. And not many of the travel shows, if any, were doing that. We started the online travel magazine GoGalavanting.com to help other women tell their stories of adventure, and then launched Galavanting.tv which was fairly quickly picked up by a distributor called KoldCast.tv who made us available on TiVo and across the web. We hope it will soon be on regular television too.

You co-operate Galavanting, and the four of you live in very different places. Do you coordinate travel plans to see each other – and if so, how often?

Great question. I’m in Chicago, Katy is in London, and Maren & Courtney are in Omaha. In fact, I don’t know what we’d do without the many Google tools available to us — we use a shared calendar, collaborative spreadsheets, and endlessly confusing color-coded documents before a trip. We make carefree, fun Galavanting episodes, but there is a lot of behind-the-scenes work and planning that goes into it. And keeping up with a brand new travel destination every month has proved to be no small feat. We end up seeing each other about once every three months or so at least, which goes faster than it seems. Surely you experience the same thing with the fabulous Traveling Mamas group! It is pretty much the best job in the world.

Thanks for the Q&A, Kim! Any traveling mom is a friend of ours.  Kim can be found on Twitter, for anyone who would like to hear more from her.

At Sun Studios in Memphis.

Traditionally we talk to other traveling mamas here at Traveling Mamas, but we’re making an exception for successful travel writer and book author Candy Harrington. She is the editor of the print (and online) publication Emerging Horizons, and she penned Barrier-Free Travel, which will be released in its third edition later this summer. This heralded book is a “nuts and bolts guide for wheelers and slow walkers,” covering everything from the logistics of air travel and how to protect your wheelchair in flight, to how to find an accessible hotel room and how to book accessible shore excursions while cruising.

As Candy points out, she and her husband are parents to an aviary full of rescued pigeons and three ring-necked doves who reside inside their California home. Plus, there’s Agnes the chicken. (”Yes,” says frequent-traveler Candy, “We do have a bird-sitter.)

How long have you been a travel writer?

About 34 years now. Outside of a sappy advice column I wrote for a now defunct hometown paper (from age 8-17) I’ve pretty much always covered some aspect of travel.

How did you start covering accessible travel?

I’m able-bodied, and I pretty much got my start because of boredom. About 16 years ago I got tired of writing what I considered fluff. I was writing mainstream travel, I needed a change and a friend suggested accessible travel. Nobody was doing it at the time and it sounded challenging, so I went for it. My colleagues all thought I was crazy, but it’s worked out well for me over the years. It’s still a challenge, which is good for me.

Do you ever cover general travel anymore, or is all your work about the accessibility of a place pr excursion?

I don’t cover mainstream travel at all — just don’t have the time or inclination. I do however cover accessible travel from every possible angle — interviews, property reviews, new products, reader questions, op-ed pieces, destinations, cruises, best practices, legal matters, rules and regulations and the general nuts and bolts. It keeps me pretty busy.

This is the third edition of Barrier Free Travel; what’s new?

A lot of access laws and regulations have changed — in major ways — since the last edition, so I’ve included updates about them. This includes everything from the Air Carrier Access Act, Canada’s One-Person, One Fare regulation and Europe’ s EU PRMS (all concerning accessible air travel) to the landmark hotels.com settlement and even upcoming changes in the ADA regulations. And since cruise travel is such a popular subject with my readers, I added a new chapter about shore excursions, which includes the contact information for 45 local tour operators who can provide accessible shore tours. Additionally I updated everything and added lots of new resources, including a worldwide list of companies that rent accessible vans. And of course I threw in some new tips and tricks, as well.

What U.S. city is most friendly to travelers in wheelchairs? How about a foreign city?

In the US I like San Diego — very family friendly with good accessible public transportation, some nice hotels and lots of accessible attractions like Sea World, the San Diego Zoo and Hornblower Harbor Cruises. Plus they have a great access guide published by Accessible San Diego.

Outside the US, it’s a toss up between Vancouver and London — both offer excellent access — but if I have to pick one I’ll go with London.  The deciding factor is that all London Black Cabbies are wheelchair (and stroller) accessible. It’s the law, so in that respect they are even ahead of the US in access.

I’m assuming that in general, hotels, planes and public places have become more accessible in recent years. Is there still a hold-out anywhere — some place or some aspect of travel that is not accommodating to people with disabilities?

In the US, things are looking pretty good. Laws, including the ADA, have helped that; however in the past few years I’ve also seen a huge change in attitude from the hospitality industry. They are starting to look at disabled travelers as a market segment — one they want to attract. So I’ve seen many sites go above and beyond minimum access standards. I’ve even seen wheelchair-accessible tree houses in public spaces!

Worldwide, I’d say the biggest problem is with denied boardings to wheelchair-users by domestic airlines in Asia, Australia and Africa. In fact, Tiger Airways totally ruined one family’s vacation when they refused to board their daughter on a Singapore to Athens flight. The airline was well aware that she was a wheelchair-user, but when the gate agent saw her, her whole family was turned away. There’s not much you can really do about this, but it pays to be aware of the situation when traveling in those areas.

Candy at Bandelier National Monument.

Is there anything in particular that parents should keep in mind if they are booking travel for their wheelchair-bound or disabled child?

Probably the biggest hiccup comes when little ones get too big to fly in a car seat. Many parents forget that they will need to figure out some way to stabilize their child if they lack the balance or the strength to sit up unassisted. Sometimes this can be done with pillows and blankets (on airlines that still provide them), but it pays to plan ahead. And remember, you can’t bring aboard anything too bulky, or seating devices that are not FAA approved. If you can find a way to stabilize the child for take-off and landing, you can recline them for the duration of the trip. But sometimes this takes a little advance planning.

You’ve traveled all over the world. Do you have a favorite personal location? Or a spot to which you’d like to return?

Well, I’m a mountain girl, so I love Yosemite, but not in the summer as it’s way too crowded for my taste. I lived in Far North Queensland (Australia) for a few years, in a town called Palm Cove, and absolutely loved it. New Zealand, specifically the North Island, is also a favorite of mine.

What’s in the future for you? Will you keep on doing what you’re doing for a while?

I expect so. Emerging Horizons is doing well, and I will keep writing more books; and I get a lot of assignments from other publications and have several regular columns. I’m also accepting a lot more speaking engagements these days, which I really love. Accessible travel will probably be part of my life until I die. I can see myself slowing down, but never totally retiring.

Tell us a little about TwitterMoms; what inspired you to create it, and what would you like to see happen with it in the future?

As a stay at home mom, you sometimes don’t get enough adult interaction during the day. Twitter was great for connecting with friends, and I noticed a lot of interesting moms on it – but no easy way to learn more about them, or make decisions about who would be really interesting to connect with on Twitter.

My husband joked about starting a site to fill that niche. On Sept. 2, 2008 I had roughed out the concept on Ning (a free “build your own social network” web hosting company). I added the URL to my Twitter profile and the next morning we had four members. A month later, membership rushed past 2,200 active members, and now stands around 16,000. It’s been quite a rush!

For the future of TwitterMoms, I would like to continue to offer the moms high-quality opportunities and resources from the media, marketers or other moms. I want to give my members value that could possibly help them in either their professional or family life.

We believe that any mama can be a Traveling Mama. Where are some places you’ve vacationed with your children?

Well, I love to travel – it’s one of my passions that I would like to pass down to my kids. But since they are so young right now I’ve really only taken them to places to visit family like Colorado to go skiing with their cousins, Florida and Indiana to visit the grandparents. However, I plan to travel internationally with them when they are older.

Since becoming a mother, have you had to travel without your family?

Funny you should ask I’m leaving for a business trip to New York without my kids in a couple of days. It’s the longest time I have ever been away from them. On one hand, I’m very excited about having a break, but on the other, I will miss them so much.

Where is the one place you’d most like to vacation with your children?

Italy. Because I want to give my children the opportunity to learn about another culture and experience a different world outside of their bubble. And, I love the food, language and people. My dream vacation would be to rent a villa in Tuscany for many weeks and take trips to Florence, Venice and Rome. Wow! I would love that.

Thank you, Megan! And for the uninitiated, you can find Megan at Twittermoms, or on Twitter as, well…her Twitter name should be no surprise. Thanks for letting us get to know you better, Megan!

Show of hands: Who here has seen

Nia Vardalos is also a strong supporter of the Alliance for Children’s Rights – the Traveling Mamas’ featured nonprofit this month. What with starring in movies, raising her daughter, and supporting this worthy organization, she is one busy mama. She still finds time to be HILARIOUS though.

Your movie, My Life in Ruins, takes place in Greece. Where were some of the locations? Had you been to those specific places before?

All the locations are within the Mystical Triangle: Acropolis, Olympia, and Delphi which were built 121 kilometers from each other…2500 years ago! I had visited all these sites (bored) as a kid. Now I see the healing powers of traveling the triangle. You’ll come out refreshed. Your skin will be clear. And you will fall in love!

How did you come to be such a strong supporter of the Alliance for Children’s Rights?

I didn’t know, before my husband and I adopted our daughter, that we didn’t have orphanages in the U.S. But we do have 500,000 kids in foster care. Of these kids, 129,000 are legally free for adoption and waiting for a family. We had waited on many waiting lists for an infant and when these routes kept falling through, turned to FosAdopt. Nine months later our daughter, at the time 3 years old, walked into our house, and turned it into a home. Now I feel compelled to tell anyone and everyone: American FosAdopt does not discriminate against age, single parents, sexual orientation, income level.

Where is your favorite travel destination?

Clearly I love Greece, and not just because the men look like my costar Alexi G, and the landscape looks like the posters, but because there is a laid-back wisdom and joy in that country. Also, I loved being in Japan because I couldn’t speak the language or even read the street signs. It was a joy to just get lost and figure out what to eat every day (oh boy, I can only imagine what I thought was a gum ball, may have been an eye. Anyway, I loved it there!)

Any mama can be a Traveling Mama. Have you taken any trips with your daughter yet?

Yes, and I always thought I would be an organized drill sergeant. I am surprised how laid back I’ve become. So, we forgot the crayons, big deal…I hand her a lipstick and let her draw on my pants.

Lipstick on pants? Been there. Believe me, the Traveling Mamas are going to be first in line to see My Life in Ruins. And who knows – a group trip to Greece may be next! …we can dream, anyway. Thank you, Nia!

Ciao Bambino is our favorite luxury family travel planning website. It doesn’t merely list classy vacation packages and 5-star travel deals in swanky destinations. Ciao Bambino has reviews, opportunities for community feedback, and a hoppin’ blog. Nancy Solomon, one of the freelance contributors to the Ciao Bambino blog, was happy to sit for an (email) interview.

What special compromises do you make when you travel with your children?

Dinners out! We simply cannot enjoy a lovely meal with our four children. This is harder for my husband, a true foodie, than myself. We tend to get a nice lunch and then just a simple evening meal. We also love to hit local markets and picnic. Occasionally, my husband will take one of the older kids out while I stay back with the younger ones. By 8:00 PM, after playing tour guide all day, I’m usually exhausted, so I’m delighted with this. Every once in a while, we’ll book a sitter and enjoy a nice meal.

The other area where we compromise is in the destinations that we choose. For the last eleven years I’ve been either pregnant or traveling with a baby. This presents safety issues that limit where we felt comfortable traveling. We have tabled the exotic, far-off destinations. My youngest is 20 months now, and we are just starting to look at Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. For the last while, we chose Europe, the Caribbean, and the USA.

What destinations are on your “bucket list?” That is, where have you not yet been, that you’d love to get to when you have the time and it’s feasible?

I can’t wait to take my kids to London (pre-kid favorite). My daughter has been studying the Middle Ages and the time is perfect. We are headed there and to Ireland this summer. Other than that, I really want to go to Turkey, Morocco, Israel, Kenya, Costa Rica, Chile, Vietnam (gain, loved it pre-kids) and Greece. I want to do a farmstay in the Netherlands and a bike trip anywhere. Oh yeah, I’d also love to show my kids Yosemite, Zion, and the Grand Canyon National Park.

If there is one personal aspect of yours regarding travel that you’d love your children to emulate, what would it be?

To just go with the flow and to try to connect with the destination.  There are so many little things that happen when you travel that can be seen as irritating. You have to just be patient and enjoy the ride. Rarely do things work out just how I planned them. We have to be flexible and adjust. We also don’t over plan. We have a list of things we’d like to do and then go with it.  Also, I always love asking locals for suggestions. It’s how I’ve found the best things. While we are at a destination we try to do things that locals do, like grocery shop, visit the park, go to an amusement park or local ball game. When we side step from the tourist spots is when we really connect with a destination.

Family travelers who really engage in their vacation destinations give an enduring gift to their children.  World travelers will often say that they meet the nicest people while exploring different destinations. I’ve found that this is true. It’s heart-warming to know that this camaraderie exits between fellow travel writers, as well.

February was Authors Month at the lovely Tucson Miraval Resort and Spa. Since Miraval is only a few miles from my home, I once again had the opportunity to cruise over for the last session featuring Mary Ann Zoellner and Alicia Ybarbo, both Emmy award-winning producers for NBC’s TODAY show – yes, that one. We had a lot of good laughs and it was fun hearing Mary Ann and Alicia tell about their days on the set of TODAY, life as a mom, and how their new book: TODAY’S MOMS: Essentials For Surviving Baby’s First Year came to be (keep reading and you’ll find out, too).

Mary Ann and Alicia kindly agreed to chat with TravelingMamas.com and reveal a little more about themselves, their family, some travel tips, and of course tell us more about their latest endeavor: TODAY’S MOMS.

Welcome, Alicia and Mary Ann!

1. Tell us a little about yourselves and your children.

Mary Ann: I work full-time as a producer at TODAY and have been at NBC for over 12 years.   I live in NYC with my husband, Alexander, and we have two children, Zurielle, 4, and Arabella, 2.  They are two head strong girlie girls, I grew up with six brothers so that is new to me!

Alicia: I work full-time as a producer at TODAY and have been at NBC for more than a decade.  I live in NYC with my husband, Mark, and we have two children, Jack and Lucy.  They will turn 4 and 6 in April, so I’m starting to feel the pressure of planning parties… It’s that time of year for me, haha.

2. TODAY’S MOMS: Essentials For Surviving Baby’s First Year looks fantastic (I did get to sneak a peek), what will our readers find helpful about the book?

Alicia: Thank you!  We are so excited about the book.  It’s been four years in the making… I was pregnant with my daughter, Lucy, when Mary Ann called – from the airport – to say she had this sparkplug idea of a book, and look at us now.  We think this book helps to make the connection between the moms who watch the show and the moms who put the show together… from producers, stage managers and seniors to Meredith Vieira, Ann Curry, Matt Lauer, Al Roker, Natalie Morales, Tiki Barber and Amy Robach… they each share their tips and tales of having kids. We also have a huge team of contributors who’ve added their expertise, like Peter Greenberg/travel, Jean Chatzky/money, Joy Bauer/nutrition, Lloyd Boston/fashion, Eve Pearl/make-up and more… I wish I had this book when I was a new mom.

Mary Ann: TODAY’S MOMS is really about every modern mom.  It is kind of Girlfriend’s Guide/Meets What to Expect when your expecting.  Fun, easy to read, but full of advice and anecdotes.

3. Does your book offer travel advice?

Mary Ann: The book was conceived while I was traveling!  I think every mother should travel as much as possible with their babies when they are young – under 2.  I traveled all over the place with my daughter, Zurielle, starting when she was 3 weeks old. Just have a Sit n’ Stroll.

Alicia: Whether you’re traveling by road, plane or train, it’s all in there… and TODAY’S Travel Editor, Peter Greenberg, shares several tips, including how to baby proof a hotel yourself, with a homemade childproofing kit…

4. Where have you traveled with your children?

Mary Ann: Oklahoma, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Florida, California (for work and pleasure), Texas to see family. I loved Casa de Campo in the DR.  Great place for kids. My daughter still talks about the big pool and the little pool (whirlpool.) In Costa Rica my husband went down for two weeks and went to Language School. The women in the school watched my daughter while I was in class.

Alicia: I grew up in Northern California, so at least twice a year the entire family travels cross country.  We’re on planes a lot and, because of this, my son LOVES to fly.  Best piece of advice is to let them pack their own carry-on bag.  So cute to see them dragging their rolling bag around the airport. Even cuter when they’re responsible for their own crayons, stickers, paper, snuggly, books, water bottle, etc…

5. Is there any travel advice you would like to pass along to Traveling Mamas readers?

Alicia: Skip the cute outfits when you’re traveling.  I dress the kids in pajamas underneath a sweat suit. That way they’re comfortable traveling to airport and boarding plane, and if there are accidents (of any kind) it’s easy to change. Then, once on the plane we usually take off the sweat suit and they’re instantly ready for naptime/bedtime. Once we get to our destination I change them out of those items into clean clothes.

Mary Ann: Sit n’ Stroll and always take on the plane way more clothes/diapers/food/treats then you think you will need!

6. Can you give us more scoop about the book – when will it hit the shelves?

The book, TODAY’S MOMS: Essentials for Surviving Baby’s First Year will be released on April 7.  You can also check us out on todaysmoms.tv (and follow them on twitter @todaysmoms

Thank you so much for taking the time to chat, Alicia and Mary Ann. We can’t wait until the book comes out!

My own kids had an amazing two-day cruise experience recently. A highlight was when they met iCarly actors Jennette McCurdy and Nathan Kress. In fact, my younger daughter snagged herself an interview with Nathan Kress, who plays Freddy on iCarly. He’s a cool kid!  Here is the interview, straight from the Nick cruise:

Nathan Kress is a professional actor, despite his young age. He knows how to project his voice, whereas my somewhat starstruck daughter does not. In case you had a hard time hearing her questions (I know I did, and I was 3 feet away), she asked him what his favorite TV shows are, if he likes to vacation with his family, how it feels to have so many fans, his favorite place to travel, and what it’s like playing Freddy on iCarly. Softball questions, yes, but this wasn’t Meet The Press.

This partnership of Nickelodeon and Royal Caribbean is really exciting for those of us with Nick-crazed young kids. The ship that cruises out of Los Angeles, the Mariner of the Seas, is huge (Voyager Class), with plenty of things for the parents to do while their kids play.  It’s over a thousand feet long with 15 passenger decks, after all – room enough for an adult spa and fitness center as well as an ice skating rink, and designated youth and teen areas. Imagine that: While Mom and Dad are enjoying a relaxing body treatment in the spa, our children are getting a full-body treatment of their own, in the form of getting slimed. That’s right, the classic Nick Slime Time makes a big appearance on Nickelodeon family cruise vacatons, along with Dora, Diego, and the genial, friendly stars of iCarly. It’s hard to imagine a more child-friendly, entertaining family cruise trip.

I’m a big fan of entertaining and talented musicians, so when Little CajunMama and I were able to get an interview with the Texas native while we were at Disney World we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to ask him a few questions about how he travels and where he went on family vacations as a kid.

Little CajunMama took time out from touring the parks so that she could get her list of questions ready for Jason. Yes, Little CajunMama asked the questions. If you are already familiar with TravelingMamas.com, then you’ll know we like to do things a little different with our Staycation Boycotts and Festivus Celebrations, so who better to conduct the interview than a 10 year old (soon to be the old age of 11).

We observed as TV crews went in and out with all of their camera gear. In fact, things began to run a little late as we patiently waited. When our allotted time came around, we went in to meet Jason, with Flip Mino HD at the ready.

Jason Castro is a very nice, polite young man, so big kudos to his parents for how they raised him. He was super sweet and was a joy to interact with. The video quality on YouTube is a little off (as is the sound), and I’m thinking that the Flip Mino HD isn’t going to make it on our On the Move Approved list like the Flip Ultra did, but I’ll save that review for another post. Here’s the interview, and if you can’t see it on your screen, this is the direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIDE6oh6zac

Also, if you aren’t already familiar with Jason’s talent (or even if you just want to listen to him over and over), we’ve embedded a playlist below the video for your listening enjoyment. We’d also like to send a shout-out to Jason’s fans at Castrocopia and The Dreadheads Forum. To learn more about Jason Castro, visit his Official Artist Site.

Welcome, Yana!

1. Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m a proud mother of 4 wonderful children and a wife to a wonderful man that I adore. My oldest daughter is 21 and the youngest 16. I was born in St. Petersburg, Russia and immigrated with my parents when I was twelve. I grew up in Los Angeles in a tight knit family.

2. What made you launch such an inspiring website?

I believe in the power of girlfriends. I was fortunate to grow up and remain friends with my girlfriends for as long as thirty years. Our friendships lasted longer than most marriages, and remain to be the rock that we can always lean on.

Several of my girlfriends are a few years older than me. When they began turning 40 I saw a complete transformation. Some became a lot more bolder, others embarked on new careers; one of my friends that was shy and never really said much suddenly got her “voice”. She became passionate and vocal about many things.

As I observed all those changes, I knew that we were fortunate enough to have each other, to bounce ideas, to provide support, and to have a shoulder to cry on. We laugh at each other’s jokes, steer one another in the right directions, and more. I also knew that many were not as fortunate.

I woke up in the middle of the night with an idea of a website for women over 40. I woke up my husband and asked him what he though about building a community for women who share the same goals, dreams, issues and fears. My husband, who is my biggest cheerleader, thought it was a great idea. I waited till the morning to talk to my girlfriends, and we all agreed that all of us women can use a friend who will stand next to us as we embark on this journey to the next chapter of our lives.

3. How do you think today’s 40 is different from our mothers’ and grandmothers’ 40?

I think that our mothers and grandmothers were brought up to believe that once you turn 40 you are old. You have to cut off your hair, button up your shirt and call it a day.

Women today just begin their lives at 40. Many are just getting married and having kids, others are sending their kids to college and embarking on new careers, achieving their goals and reaching for their dreams.

4. What are some of your favorite destinations you have traveled to with your kids?

Because we have four children it is very expensive to travel as a whole family. My husband took our two daughters to Japan. Our son traveled to Hong Kong. My favorites however, are the trips we take together. When our oldest was 15 we took everyone to the South of France for a month. My husband and I worked out of the office in Cannes and the kids got to travel all through Europe. It was an amazing experience. My son came back and never again asked to wear baggy, hanging pants.

We also travel to Cabo San Lucas (see photo) every year during Thanksgiving week. It became a ritual that all of us enjoy yearly and plan with enthusiasm.

5. If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go?

I just came back from St. Petersburg. Only my son and my nephew that now lives with us got to enjoy the beauty and the culture that this city offers. I would love to spend two weeks with all of the kids visiting museums and introducing them to their roots.

Next stop- South America.