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July 12, 2013
July family trips you might not have considered 
Have you planned your summer vacation yet?

Dear family travelers:

 

Uh Oh.  Summer is here and you still haven't planned a getaway.  No worries!  You still have plenty of time to plan a trip with the kids, whether you've got a few days or a few weeks and whatever your budget. When I interviewed Mrs. Obama recently,  she encouraged families to get more active on vacation.  

 

 

Here are six  guaranteed-to-please picks you might not have considered that will get your families outdoors and having fun from our Very Best Summer Vacation Ideas put together jointly with Family Travel Forum:  

 

FARM VACATIONS are well recognized in Europe, and they're gaining popularity in North America as working farms offer overnight lodging, meals and a peek into their lifestyle. Here's your chance for the kids to see where their food comes from! Eggs are collected fresh from the hen house; carrots are pulled from the ground, berries from a bush. Go to our directory of farm stays and choose your pick of working farms and ranches across the U.S. (in all 50 states and U.S. Territories).  Here's what I wrote about a farm stay last summer with a city child.

 

RAFT on the Middle Fork of the Salmon, the Green River, or if you have teens, through the Grand Canyon.   You're guaranteed to be unplugged without cell service and to relax since the guides do all of the work, even preparing sumptuous meals and entertaining the kids.   Besides rafting, you can hike in deserted canyons, fish, and play on beaches. Companies like OARS, who have been around the world's major rivers since 1969, now host trips as diverse Alaska or Zambia and many take children as young as 4 years (download OARS catalogs here).  Also check out companies ROW and Dvorak Expeditions, who typically have some kids-free dates.  Here's what I wrote about rafting on the Yellowstone River

 

GET OUTDOORS WITH THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN CLUB, celebrating its 125th anniversary this year.   Stay in their famous huts along the Appalachian Trail, or their lodges in Maine and New Hampshire.  We love that there are guided activities every day and that you can borrow whatever gear you need without charge. Here's what I wrote about a recent winter visit.  If you stay in the huts, you can give your kids a taste of the wilderness without carrying loaded backpacks as cots, bedding and meals are supplied.

Read our Travel Diaries about our July 4 trip to Maine, where 14-year-old Enesi Domi caught his first fish!

 

VOLUNTEER,especially if your kids are older. The website Together for Good lists over 90 places that families can give back-even just for a day- on a land-based vacation or cruise in the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America.  Organizations like Cross-Cultural Solutions, Earthwatch and Global Citizens Network among other non-profit organizations can help you find a family volunteer opportunity; Even in Orlando, you can volunteer at Give Kids the World, the unique resort for children with life threatening illnesses and their families, through a new package with UniversalOrlando hotels.  

 

EMBRACE SPECIAL CHALLENGES. The National Ability Center in Park City, Utah, the National Sports Center for the Disabled in Winter Park, CO  and Vermont Adaptive  offer many different  summer outdoors programs for children with special challenges and their families-everything from horseback riding to kayaking to  cycling to special camps.  There are sliding payment scales so that if a child or a member of your family faces special challenges that no longer should keep you home.  

 

GO TO FAMILY CAMP.  Many traditional camps open their doors to families during specific weeks at the end of the summer, including Camp Nebagamon in Wisconsin, which my son attended for many years.  The American Camp Association's Find a Camp database lists over 400 family camps that are searchable by location, cost, activities offered, and more. (Start the search by selecting the 4th option, "Family Camps or Camps for Adults)  There are many camp-like resorts too from Maine (Migis Lodge) to Minnesota (Ludlows Island Resort ) where we vacationed when my kids were small, to California (Montecito Sequoia Lodge and Summer Family Camp). Among the most popular YMCA camps are Trout Lodge and Camp Lakewood in the Ozarks of Missouri and on a 360-acre lake surrounded by 5,200 acres of forest.  The YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park and Snow Mountain Ranch in Colorado are so popular for family reunions that they have an entire staff just to plan activities for reunion groups.  Here's what I wrote about our stay at Migis Lodge.

 

Happy Summer!

 




Also on TAKING THE KIDS:

Visiting kids should not leave the Bahamas without meeting the local kids

  

  And from our partners at Family Travel Forum  

Top 10 Family Camps For Family Together Vacations

 


Our Kids' Guides Series from Globe Pequot Press continues to grow with new books on Los Angeles and Chicago publishing later this year!
   
Kids Buide to New York City  
 

 

   

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