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Creating a visual guidebook of things to do with children in tow all over the world.

 
 
It’s no secret that planning trips with kids is a ton of work. Flying by the seat of your pants while traveling is just not as fun with kids in tow! When we travel with our child, I spend hours researching and compiling information. I don’t mind it though because I’m a big nerd. Nursing research was my favorite class in college. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦✈️🌎 One problem I’ve run into is that all the information I need is scattered between blogs (which can be years old and are seldom updated), guidebooks, Instagram posts from travel families I follow online, and crowdsourced recommendations from friends. That’s when I had an idea. What if I put all this info in a master list for parents to pull from while planning trips? What if I leaned on those who use it to keep it updated so I don’t show up at a closed children’s museum in New York and waste a morning where I managed to coax my toddler into wearing shoes? 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦✈️🌎 That’s why I’m going to make a library of budget family travel e-books. They’ll be organized, current, and filled with tons of pictures so kids can enjoy them too! I’ll make an interactive map with all restaurant and activity recs laid out for you. I’ll also include a daily budget estimate for each city so you can estimate costs before you go. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦✈️🌎 In order to do this, I need your help. When you see my requests for recommendations please share what you know! If you can’t think of anything to add, tag people who have been to/lived there so we can all benefit from their knowledge. Because these e-books will be a collaborative effort they’re always going to be free! The first e-book will be on the city I love most and know the most about... San Francisco! 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦✈️🌎 What are your favorite places to eat in SF? Anyone stayed in an amazing hotel/Airbnb/ home exchange there? What are the best things to do there? Any other kid-centric tips I should include? If you contribute I’ll make sure to send you the book when it’s finished. #getglobetrottingsfbayarea #getglobetrottingsanfrancisco #getglobetrottingstory
We went to see Alex’s aunt perform cello in the Messiah tonight. I started writing about it and then realized Alex knows more about it than I do, so here he is. 🎶🎄🎻 The Messiah was originally written as an Easter Oratorio, which makes sense considering the subject matter. Over the next 50 years, it became a staple among Christmas music. The general feeling was that there was so much fine Easter music and so little great sacral music written for Christmas. 🎶🎄🎻 Handel composed the score in just 24 days, and at the end of the manuscript, he wrote the letters "SDG"—Soli Deo Gloria: "To God alone the glory." This inscription and the speed of composition has encouraged belief in the story that Handel wrote the music in a fervor of divine inspiration. He stated that as he wrote the "Hallelujah" chorus, he saw all heaven before him. 🎶🎄🎻 One thing that Handel is known for (when compared to other composers, such as Bach) is his sense for humanity. Where Bach's oratorios exalted God, Handel was more concerned with the feelings of mortals. When you listen to the Messiah, you start to understand that Handel was writing his music to capture the human response to the divine rather than simply praising the divine. 🎶🎄🎻 The tradition to stand during the Hallelujah chorus comes from the belief that King George II stood out of reverence during the chorus. You usually don't have to look too far to find live performances of the Messiah at this time of year. Whether you believe Handel was divinely inspired to write it or not, listening to The Messiah is my favorite way to feel the joy and majesty of the Christmas season. 🎶🎄🎻 Who wants to read more from Alex in the future? 🖐 #getglobetrottinglighttheworld
The Sand Snowman Competition combined three of my favorite things: art, the beach, and being completely extra. We walked around all the sand creations and then our toddler asked to be made into a snowman, so that’s what you see here. We loved seeing all the families working together on a project! Perhaps we will submit one next year when our kid builds more and destroys less. I posted my favorite submissions to my stories. #getglobetrottingsouthbayLA
OUR STORY: My excitement to become a mother was palpable. I loved college and then working, but I couldn’t WAIT to be a mom. That’s why I was so surprised that when our first baby came along, I found staying home terribly boring. I felt trapped looking out at the homebound years stretching in front of me. We did a few trips in our baby’s first year and they were fun but expensive. I still felt trapped at home thinking about how our travel budget would shrink as our family grew. We considered following the path of some of the families we saw online, quitting our jobs and selling our home to live a nomadic life. But the reality was neither of our careers were portable and we needed an income to live. That’s when we did our first home exchange. We began seeing the world for just the cost of the plane fare. I started putting together trips filled with cheap kid-friendly activities in far-flung places. We were doing it; we were seeing the world without spending much more than what we spent at home! Suddenly I didn’t feel trapped anymore. The years of child-rearing opened up in front of me with visions of showing my kids the Louvre and strolling the night markets of Taiwan. Eventually putting together budget trips for our small family grew into crafting itineraries for our extended family and friends. And that’s how Get Globetrotting was born. If you’re a family that travels, we want to show you how to save money doing it. If you’re a family that doesn’t travel but would like to, we want to help you reach that goal. If you’re thinking about starting a family someday but are secretly worried it’ll ruin your life, we want to show you it doesn’t have to! Raising children and travel have a lot in common. Both are hard work, uncomfortable, exhausting, awe-inspiring, and overwhelming all in the span of about five minutes. Yet each are interspersed with moments that make them 100% worth it. Follow us on our journey to create a life full of purpose, travels, and children. We are choosing to share our family budget travel tips along the way in the hope that we can help other families create the lives they want too! #getglobetrottingstory
Santee Alley is an LA gem. It’s a trendsetting cheapskate’s dream nestled in the middle of LA’s fashion district. Usually when you go thrifting or bargain hunting, you are stuck with last season’s looks. I’ve noticed that many new fashions start in LA before gaining popularity elsewhere and Santee Alley reflects that. If it’s at the mall, it’s at The Alley for cheaper. They had a whole store of just $5 fanny packs!!! I know where I’m doing my Christmas shopping! 👗👠🛍 I found it very family-friendly. Each store had a toy display right at kid-level. The streets are small and car-free so I felt comfortable with my child walking along beside me instead of confining him to the stroller. The whole outing only cost us USD $18 ($7 for parking, $5 new fanny pack for me, $5 toy for him). I found $7 all day parking at 1116 Santee St, Los Angeles CA. #getglobetrottingla
Had such a peaceful afternoon yesterday getting our Christmas tree and putting up our lights. One advantage to a tiny house: it’s easy to decorate! We’ve bought an ornament as a souvenir for every trip we’ve taken together as a family. I love reminiscing on each trip as we decorate. When it was time for bed, our toddler unplugged the Christmas tree, said “night night Christmas,” then began pulling off all the ornaments. I guess we have some Christmas teaching to do. ☃️🎄🎁 Alex and I are having a ton of fun brainstorming service ideas for #lighttheworld this month. I’ll be posting them to my stories every Sunday night. Some of the ideas we came up with involve serving some of YOU so watch for that! If you can think of any easy service ideas, please comment them below and I’ll add them to the lists we have going. Also open to suggestions of holiday activities to do in the LA area! #getglobetrottinglighttheworld
Had a ton of fun participating in #internationaldayofservice with The California State Parks Foundation. We found them through @just_serve . The project was well organized with free lunch at the end. Alex dug the holes and our toddler went around and undid his work by filling them in. As an added bonus, we found out about Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook. We will definitely be visiting again because it was beautiful there. #getglobetrottinglighttheworld #getglobetrottingla
The Bay Area is a special place for our family because not only is it my hometown, but it’s where Alex and I met, dated, and got married. We went on our first date to Rock City. Apparently I pretended to be a velociraptor when we got to a section labeled “The Land Before Time.” I have no memory of that so I’m pretty sure he made it up. I think I would have a little more decorum on a first date at the risk of not landing a second date, but who knows. We also took our engagement pictures here (swipe to see us as babies)! 🌳⛰🦖 Rock City is located in Mount Diablo high above the East Bay Area. My dad calls it “our own private Yosemite.” There are a ton of caves to crawl in and hiking with great views. We went here after being cooped up inside due to smoke from the California Fires for 6 days and we were so grateful for the clean air! To get here, drive past The Athenian school and wind your way up Mount Diablo until you see the signs for Rock City. The gate fee is $10 cash, so have that ready! #getglobetrottingsfbayarea
Hi travel friends! Anyone find this time of the year challenging with all the materialism pushed on us and our kids? I’m determined to make this year different by participating in the Light the World Service Campaign. I’m hoping for my child to associate Christmas with giving and to build meaningful holiday traditions as a family. ☃️🎄🎁 Here’s how it works: every week in December our family will pick one act of service to do together. These acts can be big or small, performed in the home or outside of it. We will begin with an International Day of Service this Saturday Dec 1st and so far there are over 30k signed up to serve with us around the world! We found our project on the JustServe app which shows lists of service opportunities organized by zip code. ☃️🎄🎁 This campaign is organized by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. However spreading peace and goodwill does not belong to any one religion! So please join us no matter what you believe or how you celebrate. I’ll be posting simple service ideas in my stories all month to get your creativity flowing. If you’re in the LA area, DM me and maybe we can do one of the service acts together! Tag me and use and #lighttheworld for a chance to be featured.
Anyone need a place to run the kids between SF and LA? Try out Bravo Farms. It’s a pseudo-western town with slides attached to every building. They also have a sand pit with trucks which was a big hit with the toddler. I highly recommend ordering from the Tex-Mex menu. Take exit 309 from I-5 to get there. What are your best tips for surviving road trips with children? #getglobetrottingtraveltips
His grateful list: swings and the beach. Alex’s list: a healthy family, surfing, and a job he’s interested in. My list: my husband and son, my job as an ER nurse, and having a creative outlet where I get to write about family and travel. ✈️🗺🏖 As a thank you to anyone who has encouraged me in this endeavor, I will be posting links to killer Black Friday plane fares in my stories today. So far I’m focusing on deals out of SFO/OAK, LAX, and SLC. Comment your home airport and I’ll find you a deal! #getglobetrottingtraveltips
Good news! There’s a ton of rain in Northern California today, hopefully improving the air quality and raining out what’s left of the fires. We spent this welcome rainy day at The Jelly Belly Factory. We got there at 9:45 and we had no line for the FREE tour. Our toddler loved watching the machines do their work from the windows right at his level. He kept waving to the factory workers and blowing them kisses! The highlight of the excursion was attempting to eat the Bamboozled Beans samples. You may get green apple flavor or you may get fart flavor. Tutti Frutti or barf? Coconut or sour milk? Strawberry banana or dead fish? See our reactions in my story. The factory is located in Fairfield, CA east of San Francisco. It’s easiest to get there by car and parking is quite easy. I was impressed by the quality of the cafe food, especially the bean shaped pizza. #getglobetrottingsfbayarea
“Whenever possible, say yes!” - Marjorie Pay Hinckley. I try to let this quote inspire my parenting as much as possible. I spend so much time taking my kid from one thing to another that some days I like to let him take the lead. Those are usually the best days. 🚂🚂🚂 Our toddler had been begging to ride a “choo-choo” for months. That’s how we found ourselves on a train to nowhere. He had the best morning of his life for only $1.75 each way. We rode the LAX Metro, but any train will do! Have you ever let your child dictate the activities for the day? How did it go? #getglobetrottingLA #getglobetrottingkidsactivities
The 16th Avenue Mosaic Steps tell a story. You begin in the ocean, climb through the earth, ascend into the skies, pass the moon, and finish at the sun. Our toddler loved walking up every step and pointing out all the fish and bird tiles right at his level. When you get to the top, turn around for a panoramic view. ☀️🕊🐠 The folks who live in The Golden Gate Heights neighborhood maintain the stairs. You’ll see their names on themed tiles as you climb. The steps are located on Moraga St. between 15th & 16th Ave. Parking is free in the neighborhood or you can take the N-Judah to Judah and 16th St. If you’re hungry after, all Asian restaurants on Judah are delicious. #getglobetrottingsfbayarea #getglobetrottingsanfrancisco
Gimmelwald was the final stop on our Schilthorn journey and the one I was most excited about. Most of towns in the Swiss Alps are chock-full of tourists and the businesses that cater to them. Gimmelwald is different. Some wise resident saved the town from being turned into a ski resort by convincing developers it was an avalanche zone (it’s not). Now it’s a peaceful traffic-free town populated by cows and their farmers. We followed Rick Steve’s guided walking tour up and down the tiny main drag. 🏔🎶🇨🇭 Our first stop was this amazing playground adjacent to the gondola stop. Our child refused to try the slide, but Alex and I both went rocketing out the end and nearly injured ourselves. Worth it. After tending to our wounds, we admired the charming flower-laden Swiss cottages and their associated cows. We perused deserted cheese shops operating on the honor system by encouraging us to leave our Swiss francs on the counter. And then we plotted how we could bring the simplicity and peace of this way of life back to LA. #getglobetrottingswitzerland #getglobetrottingschilthorn
Murren was the next stop on our slow journey down the Schilthorn. A fellow traveler tipped us off on a nearby playground that was not to be missed. We were feeling pooped from our hike so we took the CHF 9 funicular up to The Flower Park. This playground was so beautiful that it was half kids actually playing and half kid-free adults staging Instagram photoshoots. We played here for a while, ate our packed lunches, and then hiked the 1.5 mi back down to the gondola. This hike couldn’t have been more different than the previous hike. It was all lush countryside and cows and had us both (alright mostly me) belting The Sound of Music at every vista. #getglobetrottingswitzerland #getglobetrottingschilthorn
On our trips, I am the activity-finder and Alex is the navigator. It’s rare that he finds something he REALLY wants to do. When we got to the top of the Schilthorn, Alex spied a crazy steep hike down to the next stop. He begged me to do it with him instead of taking the gondola. I waffled a bit, but eventually trusted him because he rarely leads us astray. And that’s how we began descending a cliff of sliding shale. I complained a bit (ok a lot) and we didn’t dare let our child out of his hiking backpack, but it was one of the most amazing places we’ve ever hiked. 🏔🎶🇨🇭 The trail was free of vegetation except edelweiss because we were high above the tree line. We had to scoot down some portions on our backsides but eventually we made it to the next stop, Birg. Birg has a free Thrill Walk perched over the edge of a massive cliff. I refused to let my toddler near it, but it would be cool for adults and older kids! Hike was 2.2 km (40 min without kids) and is free with your lift ticket. Wear good shoes. I wouldn’t recommend taking children on this unless they are confined to a backpack or very obedient. #getglobetrottingswitzerland #getglobetrottingschilthorn
I am all about cheap travel. However there are some attractions you MUST see if you make it all the way to a certain location. We did this on our Schilthorn Day in Switzerland! Most people go up the lift, see the top, and then go back down devoting about 2 hours to the expensive excursion. When we book something pricey, we do our best to milk the attraction so that our money stretches further. We planned a full day of adventuring on our way down the mountain and it was the most memorable day of our 3-week trip. We were exhausted by the end but mentally rejuvenated. We will look back on this day as one of those magical travel days that we can reminisce on during more mundane days of parenting. 🏔🎶🇨🇭 We began our day by getting to the lift early (not early enough to score the before 8:55 AM 11 CHF discount thanks to toddler tantrums) and buying our passes. We added breakfast to our ticket from the ticket booth because it’s cheaper to buy it at the base of the mountain than the top. We then ascended 4 different lifts with spectacular mountain scenery. We alighted at the top and were greeted with panoramic snowy mountain views in the middle of summer. We then turned to an even more glorious view: an overladen breakfast buffet. We feasted on Swiss cheese, European pastries, various meats, fruits, and eggs in a glass rotating restaurant allowing us to eat and view simultaneously. The James Bond franchise used this lift as their filming location for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, so the entire place is Bond themed down to the bathrooms. According to Alex, the urinals encourage you to “aim like James!” Once we had eaten our fill, we perused the interactive Bond museum and danced a bit to the live Alpine band. 🏔🎶🇨🇭 Prices: RT base of the mountain to the top (3 gondolas) CHF 105 for 16+. CHF 8 to add brunch at the base of the mountain, CHF 20 to add it at the top. Ages 5-16 are CHF 52.5, under 6 free! We treated these tickets as a Swiss Mountain theme park ticket. This was the only money we spent all day on food or anything else; see my next few posts to find out how! #getglobetrottingschilthorn #getglobetrottingswitzerland
Braved Disney with two toddlers and no other adults. We hit my favorite toddler-friendly attractions, ate snacks, and made it home in time for naps. I only had one panic moment when I stupidly set them free in Toontown and each kid bolted for a different car. Luckily another mom had my back and I left with the same number of children I came with. 🏰💫🌹 Here are the best attractions for active toddlers in Disneyland: Casey Jr. Train, King Arthur’s Carousel, Small World, Mickey/Minnie’s Houses, Mad Tea Party, The Tiki Room, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and Goofy’s Playground in Toontown. All the rest either too scary (honestly Mr. Toad freaks me out a bit too) or my kid tries to escape over the low walls (I’m looking at YOU Storybook Cruise). #getglobetrottingdisney
Voting day in the US of A! I love to see other countries, but I also love my own country. Here’s a place for you to take your kids: the polls on Election Day. I always watched my mom and sisters take their kids to the polling place wearing patriotic clothes. Today I got to do it too, although my kid had a major meltdown while I was filling out my ballot. I had to have Alex come bail me out. There’s still plenty of time for him to develop some patriotism. In the meantime, maybe we will vote by mail.