How do you manage all the details throughout the holiday and travel?  Share your best ideas.  Here are some helpful tips to get you through this busy month.

Managing the Gifts

Because you cannot bring wrapped presents on a plane (and they’d get wrinkled or torn anyway), I pack cloth bags to put gifts in, such as velvet bags from fabric stores or a fun purse I may find on sale. It’s easy to “wrap” the presents once I arrive, and the bag is a bonus gift. It also helps the environment a little by eliminating discarded wrapping paper.

To travel light and save money when visiting my family in Germany for the holidays, I purchase gifts through the German branch of Amazon.com and have them sent to the home where we celebrate, thus saving international shipping charges.

Traveling With Children

A few tips for traveling with young children on a long flight: (1) Check in early and request front-row seats. You’ll be less frazzled because Junior isn’t kicking the seat in front of him for 10 hours, and the nearby crew seat is needed only for takeoff and landing, so you can get some extra space. (2) Bring along little gifts: mini coloring books and crayons, to make your kids happy and relieve boredom; chewable candies to prevent earache and tears on landing; and a spare set of clothes for each child, plus a fresh T-shirt for yourself. (3) If you have a baby or a toddler, take your umbrella stroller with you on the plane. The crew will store it during the flight, and customs and luggage checks are much less stressful when your hands are free.

When I traveled overseas with my 16-month-old daughter, I was inundated with equipment (car seat, stroller, diaper bag). To thank fellow travelers who helped me through the customs and immigration lines, I gave them gourmet chocolate bars―a great way to see smiles on your travels rather than scowls.
Holly Driggers
Austin, Texas

My husband and I make his-and-hers travel CDs with copies of our favorite holiday tunes. As we take turns playing them throughout the long road trip, it’s fun to see which songs the other has come up with.

For long drives, I bring holiday and thank-you cards, stamps, and my address book. During the drive, I write cards for those I am on my way to see. On the way home, I write thank-yous for gifts, dinners, or parties for the people we just left. That way, no one is forgotten and the details are fresh in my mind. Finally I stamp them, and they are in the car, ready to be taken to the post office.

RealSimple readers share favorite tricks and strategies to make traveling easier.

Article by RealSimple

While electronic gadgets were created for convenience and entertainment, sometimes they can be frustrating at places like airport security checkpoints. This is an alert for our tech junkies with gadgets like laptops, laptop accessories, MP3 players, iPod, pager, cell phone, Kindle, video game consoles, video cameras, DVD players and much, much more.

I can completely understand the fun in listening to your favorite music, watching a movie filled with humor, or playing a thrilling game that makes time fly while on a plane. However, the TSA says Pay now, Play later. If we follow the TSA rules, we can have a fun enjoyable flight. All we need to do as travelers is pay attention to their rules especially for the electronic gadgets and it will make our security process smooth and neat.

Few quick gadget security tips:
Simplify…have only the electronic gadgets, which are crucial on your journey. This can quickly add up though between your laptop, phone, iPod, GPS and Kindle.  Besides the laptop and dvd player, many of your electronics can stay stored in your carry-on while passing through security – even your Kindle!  TSA prefers that you put most of your electronics in your carry-on as it makes it easier to screen the devices.  I once was pulled aside in security for an iPod docking station (last minute purchase).  I didn’t even think it was something that would be a concern…but it was!

Most corporate travelers have their laptops in their carry-on luggage. The best thing to do is to have laptops in checkpoint friendly bags. For more information on the styles, visit http://tinyurl.com/358hojk .  The seasoned business traveler has this process down to a science.  It really is important though for the average traveler to keep all the electronics organized.  Mini, convenient packing cubes are perfect for packing cords and small electronics.

Don’t be surprised if you are requested to switch off all your battery-powered devices. While packing your carry-ons, make sure the electronic gadgets are organized to make the screening process easier. If not, your bags have to undergo additional screening process, which would be more time consuming.

Every airport within U.S and international airports have similar regulations for electronic gadgets. If you are planning for a domestic or international travel, it is highly recommended to check the electronic regulations for the country.  You wouldn’t want your favorite gadget to end up in the hands of TSA in another country…never to be seen again!

What is the ONE gadget you can’t stand to travel without?  Have you ever had electronics confiscated?  Please share your gadget drama.

BottleWise is committed to manufacturing high-quality bags that make life easier for the discriminating culinary traveler and is founded by Amy Dias (adias@bottlewise.com).

With spring break upon us and summer vacations quickly approaching, parents are typically more nervous than excited as they prepare for a vacation with their lively kids in tow. As many know, traveling with kids can be stressful. Fear not, we have a few tips to easily prepare parents to think ahead and get organized for their vacation.  This will transform your vacation with kids into an “expedition of amusement” rather than a bitter experience.

Here are a few things to have prepared when traveling with kids:

1) A detailed agenda and tour plan of the places you are planning to visit.
2) Copies of all schedules and time lines to various places to cover.
3) Kids should be actively involved in certain activities such as:

• Putting together your trip ideas
• Planning out activities to do on vacation
• Making family rules during vacation
• Having a small rewards and penalties if the rule was broken
• Assigning roles based on age group such as food carrier, water carrier, photographer, etc.
• Collecting memorable items like tickets, brochures, pictures, etc.

4) Family games, cards, checkers,art supplies.  Many games come in travel form which are perfect for planes, trains and cars.

5) Electronic devices for kids(big and small) like cameras, laptops, DVD players, hand held games.  Don’t forget extra batteries and chargers.  Taking a GPS along is perfect for exploring your new destination and finding points of interests.

6)  Have a supply of healthy snacks on hand.  Don’t count of the airlines for much more than a drink and a bag of pretzels.
7) Packing your baggage:

• Limit check in luggage. Try to have carry on luggage and have backpacks for each kid and allow them to carry their own stuff. This will save you money and time.
• Pack light clothes, sweaters, jackets, beach wears, shoes.  The more items each individual can wear, the easier it is to pack and keep items to a minimum.  Ideally your destination has laundry facilities to do a quick load if necessary.
• Follow TSA’s 311 rules when are packing the liquids, gels, toothpaste, shampoo and other stuff for your kids. These are all important for your kids, but at the same time are restricted to carry on the planes in great volumes.

Packing the family’s items can sometimes be quite a challenge, one parent commented, “Nowadays opening my baggage after a trip can be full of surprises. I only wish that I don’t end up having a toothpaste stained shirt and shampoo covered pants.” A few great products that will come in handy when packing toiletries are Pitotubes and GoToobs. Often packing many of our daily necessities slips our mind and it is often a pain to carry full size products, make sure you have the TravelRite travel kit, which will make your life so much simpler. All of these items meet TSA 3-1-1 regulations so you can use them in your carry-on luggage.  Shop www.BottleWise.com.

Pitotubes Quart Size

Family vacations can be fun, enjoyable, memorable, cherishing and adventurous. Don’t let the detail of packing and planning ruin a family memory.  It  pays to plan ahead.  Have some planning trips that have worked for you and your family in the past, we would love to hear them!

BottleWise is committed to manufacturing high-quality bags that make life easier for the discriminating culinary traveler and is founded by Amy Dias (adias@bottlewise.com)

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