Trip Review: Kenyan Romance

We’ve been operating The Family Traveler for more than two decades.  One of our favorite types of trips to book is honeymoons for the children that grew up with our trip planning.  A new generation making their way in the world.  We had such an opportunity with the Berman Family from Bala Cynwyd, PA with a memorable trip to Kenya.  After their Thanksgiving weekend nuptials, they set off for a 10-night safari experience through various parts of Kenya to take advantage of the diverse topography, lodging styles, and local culture.  The honeymoon started with a highlight stay at the famous Giraffe Manor located in the suburbs of Nairobi.  An ideal place to decompress from the long trip with flights through Germany.  They said their Giraffe Manor experience was unreal where they fed the resident Rothschild giraffes in the morning and evening while cozying up in the British Colonial-style manor home.  They loved chatting with the locals who worked there about the country’s culture and lifestyle; a great introduction to their stay.  They were then driven to the Loldia House in the Great Rift Valley near Lake Nakuru where they spent time animal viewing and had a lovely picnic by the lake.  The next stop was flying to the picturesque Solio Lodge for more animal viewing by jeep and on foot along with horseback riding.  This famed lodge set in a valley between the slopes of Mount Kenya and the Aberdare Mountains is also a private rhino breeding sanctuary.  A trip highlight was eating breakfast in the bush with the rhinos just a few feet away!  They said it was truly incredible.  Their last stop flew them to the Massai Mara for a tented stay at Angama Mara where animals were in abundance including elephants, lions (they saw a pride of more than a dozen), zebra, buffalo, wildebeest, cheetahs, and they even spotted an elusive leopard which they said was very exciting! Here they also took an early morning hot air balloon safari and saw hippos and giraffes from above.  A private guide showed them a bit of Nairobi before the journey home.  They let us know that the tour guides and staff at each place they stayed and each safari they went on were so incredibly genuine.  They couldn’t get enough of watching animals in the wild.  The Bermans also fell in love with the culture and learned everything they could about the beauty found in nature! In addition, they continue to be in contact with so many other wonderful travelers and honeymooners they met along the way. 

Travel Tip: Healthy Travels

Most countries outside the US have some version of a health form that you are required to fill in before travel. When you fill in these forms varies (generally 2-3 days before travel even though some allow you to enter some or all of the data earlier). Some of these forms also require you to upload your vaccine certificates and test results as needed to enter your destination. At the end of the process, you will receive a confirmation or authorization oftentimes with a QR code. We highly recommend that you review these websites and the forms well in advance to allow yourselves to feel comfortable when the time comes to complete them.  By creating accounts, watching any instructional videos, and reviewing the requirements in advance will help make your last-minute trip preparations a breeze. We can all get a bit stressed just before taking a trip and waiting to start the health form process just before travel doesn’t allow much time to reach out to the proper authorities if there are issues.  We are happy to walk you through the websites and the process, but ultimately you will be filling in the forms and required data.

Travel Tip: Safe Travels

Worrying about the germs you’ll pick up when you travel? Safe Travels Kits are a patent-pending setup that includes an antimicrobial, hypoallergenic seat cover and pillowcase. With a super soft feel, they’re comfortable to use and keep you clean while you travel. They also work to resist bed bugs! Microbes can’t bind to the fabric, so you don’t have to wash after use. Simple to use on any airline seat, this clean traveling gear also works on cars and trains. The pillowcase measures 20 inches by 15 inches, and you can even use it to cover your tray table if you wish. Additionally, your set includes a surgical face mask and 10 antibacterial alcohol wipes.

Trip Review: A Florida Getaway

The Myers family of 5 from Lower Gwynedd, PA (two adults and three boys, ages 12, 16, and 18) traveled to the all-inclusive Club Med Sandpiper Bay in Port St. Lucie, Florida in August for a family getaway before their oldest left for college.  They wanted an easy-to-reach location in the U.S. that offered numerous on-site activities that didn’t require a lot of advanced planning to enjoy. To get to the resort, they flew into the Palm Beach airport and took the Club Med transfers that take about one hour.  The family stayed in a Connecting Family Superior Room with bay views.  This category offers guaranteed connecting rooms. With over 1,000 sq. ft. there was plenty of space for them all to spread out. They noted that the riverside resort had so many activities that they could all enjoy including water sports such as paddle boarding, exercise classes, bocci, and miniature golf.  The resort also showcases golf, tennis, pickleball, spa, circus program, several pools, supervised programs for infants through teens, and more. The family especially enjoyed the casino night where dad won a Texas Hold‘Em tournament!  The food at this French-owned all-inclusive got especially good reviews as well as the super nice and helpful staff.  Their only complaint was that it was evident that the resort was short-staffed as their rooms were cleaned late in the afternoon when they wanted to just shower and relax after a day in the sun. Mom mentioned that it wasn’t the fanciest resort they have ever stayed in but were appreciative of The Family Traveler’s advance notice.  Overall they all had a great time and it was just the getaway they needed.  They would definitely recommend this resort to other families.  

Trip Review: A Sadness Tour

We have booked our families on unique tours all over the world…in search of new experiences, exposure to new cultures, family histories, and more. A Sadness Tour is a new one for us, albeit very relevant during the times of COVID. Ilyse Shapiro of Wynnewood, PA found a need for such a trip which she satisfied with a visit to Chernobyl, Ukraine, and a World War II-themed group tour highlighting concentration camps throughout Germany and Poland. Ever since seeing a story on 60 Minutes over 30 years ago, Ilyse always had a vision of seeing Chernobyl.  She was intrigued by the eerie music the workers listened to and how they could only work for 90 seconds before getting contaminated with radiation. Her self-titled Sadness Tour began with a privately guided tour we arranged of this nuclear disaster site.  She learned that there is still so much radiation coming from the reactor that workers constructed an arch around it then sealed it up.  Afterward, she visited the town of Pripyat, where 45,000+ of Chernobyl’s workers lived.  Today, it is an entire town ensconced by a forest.  She visited the supermarket, movie theatre, school, amusement park, and more to get a sense of how folks lived and used a Geiger counter to test radioactivity.  In some spots, it would be low, but over sewage grates, it was quite high.  A waterfront cafe is expected to reopen in 2022 for the 70,000+ guests who visit the site every year thanks in part to the popularity of the television show of the same name.  Ilyse said that this was an amazing start to her trip – a once-in-a-lifetime experience!  Next up on her tour was a group tour with Globus.  Ilyse had previously been to Terezin outside of Prague and was eager to experience and learn more about the atrocities of the Holocaust.  Fortunately, there were only eight people on this tour (bus tours generally go out with up to 44) with a lot of free time included to explore.  Before the tour started, we arranged a private tour for Ilyse of the Warsaw Ghetto and the Treblinka concentration camp.  The tour group then visited the Auschwitz/Birkenau camps.  It was one of the worst experiences of Ilyse’s life – going from building to building where she saw a display that included two tons of women’s braids and buns, a display of walkers, crutches, and arms, and one with combs and brushes by the thousands.  Afterward were a few days of beauty to balance out the emotional toll.  The tour visited Wroclaw and Krakow in Poland and then onto the war-torn towns of Dresden, Torgau, and Berlin in Germany. Ilyse took advantage of another private tour we arranged in Berlin that examined the city’s Jewish heritage and history.  The group tour continued south to Weimar and Nuremberg.  Each town was quaint with busy squares filled with cafes where the horrors of the past were obscured.  They also visited the Buchenwald camp on a misty gray day which fit the somber mood. Next on to Munich and the Dachau camp where Ilyse learned the difference between a concentration camp and an extermination camp and how the nazis used crystal meth to stay focused and on task.  After a few days of beauty and tranquility in Munich,  it was time to go home.  Ilyse, who has traveled around the world on her own and with her family, is thankful to The Family Traveler for making this unique trip a reality.

Travel Tip: Food Allergy Cards

Traveling abroad can raise anxiety levels for people who suffer from food allergies because language barriers can make it challenging to express dietary restrictions. Equal Eats solves this problem with its handy dietary translation cards. Choose from a plastic card or a digital version. The cards provide details in more than 50 languages about food allergies and other dietary restrictions, such as adhering to vegan, halal, or kosher diets. The cards are growing in popularity in the U.S. as well, as diners discover that handing a server a card that clearly lists food allergies can be easier than trying to explain every detail. Equal Eats is also working more with the foodservice industry and plans to offer ways to help restaurants better address dietary restrictions for their customers.

Trip Review: Alaska Charter

Two generations of the Silverstein family of Parkland, FL and Raleigh, NC (parents and six young adults) chartered a boat to sail through the Inside Passage of Alaska in June.  They love the all-inclusive aspect of this style of travel and being able to customize their vacation experience.  Their rate included all meals and beverages, excursions, fishing gear, land transfers, and hotel stays before and after the sailing.  Plus a captain, crew, chef, and guide.  Their home for 6 nights was the Alaskan Story, a 90 ft. yacht that sleeps 10 with all en-suite cabins.  The ship is fully stocked with salt-water fishing gear for catching both salmon and halibut, crab and shrimp pots, a 17’ Boston Whaler, and three double kayaks for a nice variety of adventures.  They also found a tranquil area for stand-up paddleboarding.  The ship sailed from Juneau to Sitka through the Tongass National Forest in scenic Southeast Alaska and anchored in calm areas each night.  The family spent a few nights at the end of the trip in Sitka where they hiked to the Fortress of the Bear and explored the Raptor Center.  They also enjoyed a beer brewery, shopped for souvenirs, and found the best breakfast at the Mean Queen where they ended up eating most of their Sikta meals.  Highlights of the trip were putting down and raising the crab and shrimp traps which were both so delicious and thoroughly enjoyed for the next two days.  They mentioned that the shrimp they caught was the biggest they have ever seen!  Wildlife abounded. Some special experiences they had were seeing a mother bear and her two cubs while hiking and a mother seal and her baby pups while the ship was sailing.  They also took a variety of hikes and saw many glaciers.  Overall this delayed trip to celebrate one of their special birthdays was well worth the wait and the extensive travel to get to and from Southern Alaska.

Travel Tip: SkySquad Expands

SkySquad is expanding to the Philadelphia airport if you need an extra set of hands while traveling through the airport. Their concierge-style services are also available at all three Washington DC airports, Cincinnati, and Ft. Lauderdale.  Their helpful staff offers your family extra support for your departing, arriving, and layover flights. Four different service options start at $49. Their departure assistance begins at your car, to ticketing, through security, and right to your plane door! On arrival from your domestic plane gate, they will assist you all the way back to your car.  For international arrivals, they can help you after clearing customs.  SkySquad also assists during your layovers such as getting from your domestic to international gate along with providing food delivery. Their service is also ideal for seniors. Services need to be booked at least 24 hours prior.

Trip Review: Bay State Adventure

The Chow/Mansfield family of 3 from Los Angeles (two adults and a teenage girl, age 14) traveled across the country to Massachusetts last month for a trip to Cape Cod and Boston. The family flew into the Boston airport, rented a car, and drove to the Red Jacket Beach Resort in South Yarmouth on Cape Cod for a three-night stay. The property was a little too moderate for their taste, but they did appreciate its location for exploring and were able to get a room with two large beds. They had a fun time visiting Hyannis Port, Sandwich, and Provincetown which they liked the best. Lobster rolls, clam chowder, and homemade ice cream made the food line-up and the daughter especially loved the stuffed quahogs. They then drove to Boston and dropped their rental car. The Eliot Hotel, located right on Newbury Street in the Back Bay, was home for the next three nights. Mom described the hotel as “nicely decorated, spacious, updated, glamorous and had the wow factor that dad needs to be happy!”. The family was happy to stretch out in a one-bedroom suite.  They packed in a visit to Harvard, took a harbor cruise, the Nighttime Ghost and Cemetery Tour, a Black Heritage Walking Tour, had Boston Cream Pie at the Parker House Hotel, had dinner at the Union Oyster House, toured the Black History Museum, and more. They also had fun walking, shopping, and eating along Newbury Street and so much more. Overall, the family described the trip as a blast. Not as relaxing as planned with so much to see, do, and explore…they needed a vacation after their vacation!

Travel Tip: Uncovered by Insurance

Did you know that travel insurance does not cover certain risky activities in most of their plans, but can provide added coverage for many of these activities? It’s very important to let us know your recreational plans; so we can properly insure you. The list varies slightly by insurance provider, but you are generally not covered for any loss resulting directly or indirectly from activities including — but not limited to — the following:

• Skydiving, BASE jumping, hang gliding, or parachuting
• Bungee jumping
• Caving, rappelling, or spelunking
• Skiing or snowboarding outside marked trails or in an area accessed by helicopter
• Climbing sports, mountain climbing or free climbing
• Any high-altitude activity such as hot air balloons
• Personal combat or fighting sports
• Racing or practicing to race any motorized vehicle or watercraft (other can go-karts)
• Free diving
• Scuba diving at a depth greater than 60 feet or without a dive master
• Multi-sport endurance competitions
• Professional athletic events
• Rafting/kayaking above Class V rapids or canoeing above Class III rapids
• Running of the Bulls, or rodeo activities

We recommend reading your plan documents carefully to find out what’s excluded from coverage and understand that an activity may be excluded even if it’s not specifically named in your plan or addendum.