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I had a chance to talk with John Kam, Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors, about one of Toronto’s greatest special events and tourist attractions: Caribana, the city’s hugely popular and internationally renowned festival of Caribbean culture which is scheduled this year for July 15 to August 1, 2005.

1. Please tell us about Caribana – what type of festival is it?

CARIBANA is a two-week festival of Caribbean culture that includes a great variety of events, here are just a selected few: from a media launch on June 23, to the popular Children’s Carnival on July 16, a Calypso-Soca Forum on July 16, an Interfaith Service on July 17 at the St. James Cathedral, the King & Queen Extravaganza on July 28, to the big CARIBANA parade on July 30 which is followed up by the Arts and Cultural Festival on Olympic Island on July 31 and August 1, 2005.

CARIBANA is a feast for the eyes and ears, and you will be able to enjoy a great Caribbean celebration, complete with fabulous music, exuberant dancing and delicious food.

CARIBANA is also the only surviving Arts Project launched as part of the 1967, Canada B1-centennial celebrations. It has gone on to become the cornerstone of Tourism in Southern Ontario.

2. Please tell us about the festival’s history, how has it evolved?

The Caribbean Cultural Committee (“the CCC”, registered trademark – CARIBANA) is a non-profit, community-based corporation created by a group of Pan-Caribbean academics, students and professionals in 1967, under the name Caribbean Committee for Cultural Advancement. The CCC was established in response to Canada’s centennial celebration commemorating its diversity and the contributions made to Canada from the various cultures that comprise the Canadian mosaic. What began as an expression of the goals and aspirations of the Caribbean community resident herethat the culture of the Caribbean had pride of place in Canadahas blossomed into the world-renowned festival of Carnival Arts, CARIBANA.

3. How about all the colourful costumes? Who creates them? What about the cost involved?

The masquerade costumes are designed by special artists after which people with special craft-making skills are employed to actually produce the costumes at what are called mas camps. The cost varies from band to band but generally stays within the range of $75 to $130 per costume.

4. Please tell us about the Caribana Marketplace.

The Caribbean Village is going to be set up on an elevated area overlooking the parade route, on Lakeshore Boulevard. From there patrons will be able to look down and see the spectacle of Caribana as it unfolds while having another party going on nonstop! There will be more than 50 top artistes from different islands of the Caribbean performing during the course of the day from 10:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. The artistes will come from Barbados, Grenada, Antigua/Barbuda, Trinidad & Tobago, St. Vincent & The Grenadines and much, much more. There will also be locally based Caribbean-bred performers appearing during the all-day extravaganza. This is to be staged on a cordoned off area knows as the Bandshell.

There will be Arts & Crafts booths from the different Caribbean islands set up around the area with tasty Caribbean food on sale throughout the day. All of is going to cost only $10.

The CARIBANA ‘Marketplace is where commerce meets culture, and everyone walks away with a tasteful memory. Dine on festival-style Caribbean cuisine, shop for an array of Arts & Crafts, and Festival souvenirs and relish a toast of the brewmaster’s craft and some of Niagara’s internationally acclaimed wines and spirits.

5. Please tell us about the musical entertainment offered during Caribana?

The musical entertainment generally comes from various top Caribbean artistes coming in from the Caribbean and of course locally based Caribbean-bred artistes.

6. What type of food services are available during Caribana?

There are various types of food available during the festival each year. On either side of the parade route on Caribana Day, authorized vendors sell different types of Caribbean cuisine including Pelau (Peas & Rice), Jerk Chicken, Bake & Shark (sandwiches) and traditional drinks including Sorrel and Mauby (a drink made from the bitter bark of a tree and sweetened with lots of sugar).

7. Please give us an idea of the sponsors who make this big event happen.

The sponsors vary from year to year. This year the list includes The City of Toronto, CTV News, The Toronto Star, Yorkgate Mall, British West Indian Airways (BWIA), The Caribbean Camera and Breyers.

8. Roughly how many people visit Caribana and what economic impact does it have on Toronto?

CARIBANA attracts according to research estimates from DECIMA (1990) nearly one million spectators to the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), generating, according to figures compiled and released by the City of Toronto, $400 million annually for the Toronto economy.

9. What is the cost of attending Caribana? What events require tickets, how much are they and where can I obtain tickets?

Some events require the purchase of tickets, while others don’t. For instance the CCC/Yorkgate Mall Children’s Parade which takes place on July 16, is FREE. So too is the Parade Day. However, if on Caribana Day (the parade day), you wish to sit in the stadium on the CNE Grounds that requires the purchase of a ticket. Different events carry different admission fees. You will be able to get specific information about the admission prices for the official Caribana events by visiting the website: www.caribana.ca.

Thank you for giving us a preview of this colourful, exciting festival and I look forward to a great party.

Susanne Pacher is the publisher of a website called Travel and Transitions (http://www.travelandtransitions.com). Travel and Transitions deals with unconventional travel and is chock full of advice, tips, real life travel experiences, interviews with travellers and travel experts, insights and reflections, cross-cultural issues, contests and many other features. You will also find stories about life and the transitions that we face as we go through our own personal life-long journeys.

Submit your own travel stories in our first travel story contest (http://www.travelandtransitions.com/contests.htm) and have a chance to win an amazing adventure cruise on the Amazon River.

“Life is a Journey Explore New Horizons”.

The interview with photos is published at Travel and Transitions – Interviews

Originally Broadcast Nov 2001

The fourth Thursday in November is called Thanksgiving Day in the USA. Whether you live here or not, are you going through a tough time this Thanksgiving? Aside from all the international unrest, are you finding it hard to find anything to be thankful about in the midst of your own life? If so, maybe this message will minister to you.

Did you know it wasn’t until the American Civil War (1861-1865) that Congress officially recognized Thanksgiving Day? Even though it all began over 200 years earlier in the Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts, 1621. The Separatists (it was much later when they became known as “Pilgrims”), who founded Plymouth Colony in 1620, ignored most holidays. In fact, they recognized only three: the weekly Sabbath, the Day of Humiliation and Fasting, and the Day of Thanksgiving and Praise. The latter two were not set on the calendar but were proclaimed in response to God’s perceived favor or disfavor. Colonial life was so tied to the harvest cycle that fasting days were most often called in the spring, when there wasn’t much to eat anyway. Feast days often accompanied the autumn harvest. Both observances occurred on weekdays, usually the day of special sermons (known as Lecture Day), which was on a Thursday in Plymouth Colony.

Their first dreadful winter in Massachusetts had killed about half the members of the colony. But new hope arose in the summer of 1621. The settlers expected a good corn harvest, despite poor crops of peas, wheat, and barley. Thus, in early autumn, governor William Bradford arranged a harvest festival to give thanks to God for the progress the colony had made.

The festival lasted three days. The surviving Separatists, numbering about 50, feasted with 90 members of the Wampanoag Indians who brought gifts of food as a goodwill gesture. It was not an “official” day of thanksgiving. In the only surviving firsthand account of the meal, Edward Winslow described it this way: “Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, among other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed upon our governor, and upon the captain, and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.”

The very first Thanksgiving observance in America, two years earlier, was entirely religious and didn’t involve anything remotely resembling a feast. Sorry, it wasn’t the Pilgrims either. On Dec. 4, 1619, a group of 38 English settlers arrived at Berkeley Plantation, on the James River near what is now Charles City, Virginia. The group’s charter required that the day of arrival be observed yearly as a day of thanksgiving to God. Captain John Woodleaf held the service of thanksgiving. Here is the section of the Charter of Berkley Plantation which specifies the thanksgiving service: “Wee ordained that the day of our ships arrival at the place assigned for plantacon on the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually keept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty god.” In accordance with this 1619 charter, the colonists most likely held service in 1620 and 1621. The colony was wiped out in 1622. Thanksgiving was a private event, limited to the Berkeley settlement.

For those who see Thanksgiving as being more of a religious holiday, where the Separatists, or Pilgrims, were concerned, it wasn’t intended to be such, though Separatist leader, William Bradford wrote in his diary that their voyage across the ocean was motivated by “a great hope for advancing the kingdom of Christ.” Hunting, contests of skill and strength, and entertainment generally have no place in religious observances. However, these were a part of the long tradition of pagan harvest festivals, with which the Separatists would have been very familiar. In their native England, days of feasting and leisure commonly followed the harvest. Earlier such harvest festivals include ancient Greek Thesmophoria, ancient Roman Cerealia, and the Jewish Sukkot.

Not to imply that the 1621 feast had more in common with pagan festivals than with their first Christian Thanksgiving, which they observed in 1623 to celebrate the now infamous crop-saving rainfall, after apparently skipping the occasion in 1622. From the Separatist perspective, everything fell within the bounds of faith. EVERYTHING. As Leland Ryken wrote in “Worldly Saints: The Puritans As They Really Were”: “Puritanism was impelled by the insight that all of life is God’s. The Puritans lived simultaneously in two worlds–the invisible spiritual world and the physical world of earthly existence. For the Puritans, both worlds were equally real, and there was no cleavage of life into sacred and secular. All of life was sacred.”

In simple English, whether you go to church on Thanksgiving or not, the day can be seasoned with what Puritan Richard Baxter called “a drop of glory.” For that matter, EVERY day can be seasoned in this way. As Paul and King David put it, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it” (Psalm 24:1, 1 Cor.10:26).

After their first few traditional celebrations of Thanksgiving, the custom of such a day soon spread to other colonies, becoming a time of celebrating the harvest. In 1777, the Continental Congress proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving after the American Revolution victory at the Battle of Saratoga, an important battle which proved to the world that America could stand toe-to-toe with England, who had the greatest army in the world at that time. Notice it was a holiday motivated by armed conflict. Twelve years later, George Washington proclaimed another national day of Thanksgiving in honor of the ratification of the Constitution and requested that the Congress finally establish it as an annual event. They declined. So, it would be another 100 years, after the nation’s bloody Civil War, before President Abraham Lincoln would proclaim that the last Thursday in November would become Thanksgiving Day. That was 1865, the year the Civil War ended. Surprisingly, it took another 40 years, the early 1900s, before the tradition really caught on. See, Lincoln’s official Thanksgiving was sanctioned in order to bolster the Union’s morale. Southerners boycotted the new holiday, seeing it as an attempt to impose Northern customs on their conquered land.

Today, Thanksgiving is an annual Rockwellian event filled with football, feasting, and family that causes over 35 million Americans to “head home” for their family feasts. But that’s not the historical picture of this idealistic holiday. From its inception, it has more often been associated with adversity, bloody, and difficult times. Before a day of Thanksgiving ever existed in a place called the United States, the Apostle Paul, writing from a prison cell and probably knowing that he would soon be killed, wrote to the Philippians, “I give thanks to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Out of great suffering have come many glorious expressions of gratitude such as Paul’s over the centuries. One wonders, what motivates Christians to give thanks at all when a more reasonable response would seem to be bitterness and murmuring? Well, does not a new baby enter the world only after a time of travail and transition? Does not an expectant couple prepare a baby’s room, and isn’t the infant showered with gifts, before he or she ever arrives? We celebrate the good things to come, in faith that the good things WILL come.

In the wake of the recent terrorist attacks, the Afghan war, the anthrax scare, the economic turmoil, and the flight 587 crash, in keeping with American tradition, we have all the more reason to celebrate Thanksgiving. Let’s give thanks, EXPECTING new life to come as a result of the turmoil that surrounds us today.

American or not, Thanksgiving – giving thanks – in the midst of dark and troubled times, if nothing else, is in keeping with the way of the cross …the CHRISTIAN tradition. Give thanks at ALL times – even in the midst of your own trying situation.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pastor Michael is founder of t.e.a.m. ministries (team1min@aol.com). His eMail broadcasts, known as “Your Town for Jesus” (SEARCH it!) are reaching tens of thousands WEEKLY. He ministers by way of email and Instant Message, too. Write him at team1min@aol.com if you’d like to SUBSCRIBE to receive his messages directly.

Michael’s mission is to bring Discipleship and Encouragement to the Body of Christ. Michael is the author of numerous booklets on a variey of subjects that will interest the thinking Christian. Since 1999, he has written and broadcast hundreds of inspirational articles and a dozen booklets, all designed to accelerate the process of spiritual development in God’s people.

Bar Mitzvah celebrations have grown exponentially in size and scope in the past
twenty years.

That’s great news for me; I derive much of the income I earn as a party entertainer
from working at these events. Nonetheless, I offer this advice to those planning Bar
Mitzvah celebrations:

Less is more.

Becoming a Bar Mitzvah is a major milestone in the life of a Jewish youngster. It is a
joyous occasion deserving of celebration.

While the Bar Mitzvah service is a religious ceremony, the reception that follows is a
thoroughly secular affair.

In a generation, the typical Bar Mitzvah reception has grown from a homegrown
simple affair to something rivaling many weddings in its elaborateness and cost.

And, like the over-commercialization of Christmas, what is intended to be a joyous
celebration of friends and family has gotten out of hand.

Don’t misunderstand. I share the joy of the Bar Mitzvah’s family.
I’ve felt much joy when members of my own family and friends’ families have
reached this threshold.

It’s just my observation that too much of the time the celebrants aren’t enjoying
themselves very much.

The outsize scope of many Bar Mitzvah celebrations seem to be a product of social
pressure more than anything else. And the excess seems to be most pronounced in
large American cities – travel to the Mid-west or to Israel, for that matter, and you’ll
generally find a more low key event.

Peer pressure is more intense for most people in their teen years then any other
time of their lives. Couple that with the social pressure Bar Mitzvah parents feel to
show their family in the best possible light in front of friends and relatives … and
the stage is set for excess.

And we, in the industry that has grown up around Bar Mitzvah celebrations, are only
too happy to indulge you.

Parents work very hard to plan and pay for elaborate By the time they rent a banquet
hall, hire a caterer and a DJ or band, perhaps a videographer and/or photographer,
the price tag can easily reach five figures. And that doesn’t include centerpieces,
balloons, favors and other add-ons.

For families of modest means facing college costs in just a few years, the cost of
these receptions is a sacrifice.

Meanwhile, Bar Mitzvah age children receive invitations to attend an endless round
of Bar Mitzvah celebrations of their friends and classmates. By the time they finish
many are bored and jaded.

I suggest that Bar Mitzvah families take back the Bar Mitzvah celebration and mold it
into something that is meaningful to them and their guests.

Here are six suggestions:

1. Remember, there is absolutely no religious component to the Bar Mitzvah
reception.

So keep the aspects you like, and throw out those you don’t. Or just modify them.

2. Some kids love the big party. If so, go for it.

But what if your kid doesn’t?

My niece loved the dancing, games and glitz at her cousin’s Bat Mitzvah. But my
nephew was bored to tears.

If your kid is like my nephew, save the aggravation and ditch the big party.
With the same budget, you can substitute a trip to Israel and have money left over.
Or plan something else that is equally awesome.

3. Is it necessary to invite your kid’s entire class?
While the answer is probably yes if the class is close-knit, most classes are not.

Anyway, does your daughter really have 70 best friends?

4. Most Bar Mitzvah receptions last at least 4-5 hours.That can be an eternity if you
are at a social function where you know very few people.

So, is it necessary to invite your Dad’s Great Uncle Sid who hasn’t seen your family
in the last 20 years?

5. Since the DJ community introduced the candle lighting ceremony in the 1980’s, it
has become a fixture at Bar Mitzvah celebrations.

The ceremony is a wonderful way for the newly minted Bar Mitzvah to honor friends
and family. Many truly appreciate the opportunity to pay tribute.

Too often, in practice, the resulting presentation is a tired, singsong
recitation of sappy prose written by the overworked Bar Mitzvah Mom.

In that case, it’s useful to note that no higher authority has decreed that the candle
lighting ceremony be made a mandatory feature at Bar and Bat Mitzvah receptions.

6. Jewish Law notwithstanding, unsupervised, sugar-crazed thirteen year-olds are
still kids.

So, make sure an adult wanders over to the children’s area once in a while …

Especially if your guest list includes 70 of your kid’s best friends.

About the Author

Ellen M. Zucker has drawn caricatures at Bar and Bat Mitzvahs for the past
10 years. Her company, Faces & Fortunes provides caricature entertainment at
parties and events throughout the Greater Philadelphia and surrounding
areas. For more information, go to http://www.facesandfortunes.com

For more party tips and suggestions from special events professionals, visit Ellen’s
sister site: http://www.faces-and-fortunes-partytips.com.

Seeking the most up-to-date assistance regarding cocoa beach.
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A great hint to follow when you’re presented with help and advice regarding a cocoa beach webpage is to ascertain who owns the site. This may show you who owns the site cocoa beach integrity The easiest way to work out who is at the back of the cocoa beach website is to look on the ‘contact’ page or ‘about this site’ information.

All reliable sites providing content on cocoa beach, will nearly always have a ‘contact’, or an ‘about’, page which will list the people behind the site. The details should tell you major points about the website owner’s expertise. This means you can conduct an appraisal about the site owner’s knowledge and skill, to offer recommendations concerning cocoa beach.

About the author:

Jim Bollen is the webmaster for http://www.cocoa-beach-review.info

While looking for cheap hotels in Los Angeles, it is best to search by area. Most budget hotels can be found in the Hollywood area.

Although the mention of Hollywood conjures up images of the glitz and glamour of tinsel town, the geographical confines of Hollywood is small and not that glamorous. The area was literally falling apart in the 80s and 90s until major renovations were undertaken in the new millennium. Though the regeneration project is still ongoing, most of the area has now gotten a facelift and the area is now the center of all tourist activities. The hotels are mid-priced and highlights such as the Universal Studios are easily accessible from Hollywood. Keep in mind that the Hollywood area will be full of tourists and if you don’t want to be part of the huge crowd of holidaymakers, find a hotel in another area.

You will find that hotels in Hollywood offer value for your money. Most hotels have car park facilities and offer free airport shuttles. Rooms come equipped with basic equipment like TV and phones. Here is a rough guide for rooms in the area:

Rooms on Twin Sharing basis with a private bathroom costs roughly between $45 and $55 per person per night

Double Rooms with a private bathroom costs roughly between $35 and $45 per person per night

Triple Rooms with a private bathroom costs roughly between $25 and $35 per person per night

(Note: These estimates are only approximate figures in 2005. Each hotel has a different tariff and charges an extra tax between 12% and 17% on every room.)

Want to save some money when booking your travel online? Here are some tips to help you do just that. You at home have access to thousands of travel deals with the click of a mouse.

1. Sign up for travel e-newsletters

Many airlines, tour operators, online travel agencies and travel sites have newsletters that they will send you via email; these usually include their latest travel deals.

2. Shop around

Check various travel sites and make sure you are comparing apples to apples, know what is included. That great cruise deal may not include airfare to the port! Also check in with a travel agent to compare prices. They may in fact have a better travel deal for you.

3. Consider all possible discounts

Do you have Air Miles or frequent flyer miles you can cash in? AAA/CAA membership or other affiliations? Ask about child or senior discounts. Do they have family rates or group rates? Don’t be afraid to ask.

4. Make the travel web sites do the work

Some of them will let you specify the dates of travel and vacation you are looking for and will send you an email when the price reaches your limit.

5. Travel in off-season.

Off-season will vary depending on where you are travelling so do your research and find out when that is. Off-season includes winter for Europe, summer and fall for the Caribbean, and when the kids are in school for theme parks like Disney and so on.

6. Traveling during the week can save you money

Saturday and flights during the week are less crowded and therfore more likely to have last minute discounting. Some companies charge a bit less for vacation package that leave mid-week. Many business hotels may also charge less on weekends.

7. Read your newspaper’s travel section

The Saturday travel sections in most newspapers are still a good source for travel news, tips and last minute travel deals, departing from your city. Read them religiously.

8. Do some negotiating of your own.

Just ask for a deal or a better price! This will usually work if you are dealing with a hotel or car rental company directly. It may also work with some travel agents.

9. Book last minute

When looking for a last minute travel deal, start shopping around about 6 weeks prior to your departure to get a good idea for prices and availability. Narrow down where you want to go and compare some prices. About 3 weeks prior to departure is probably your best time to book. When you notice packages begin to sell out, you want to book before you miss out on that travel deal. The prices only go so low and sometimes sell out before they really drop in price.

10. Book early

Some of the best deals may be had booking early. Most tour operators and cruise companies offer discounts for early booking. If there is a specific date you want to travel and or you have a specific resort or destination in mind, you are better off to book early and secure your vacation than to risk waiting for a last minute travel deal that may or may not happen.

Keep in mind the cheaper is not always better. If you save a few hundred dollars by adding lots of stops to your flight or staying in a hotel you are not happy with, it won’t be worth it. Save some money but don’t compromise too much with what you really want and need.

Jolana Klobouk is a former travel agent who has traveled extensively for work and vacations with her family. For more travel information, visit her travel websites: http://www.best-family-beach-vacations.com and http://www.FlyFromCanada.com

The Travel Mom’s Ultimate Book Of Family Travel

Thinking about planning a family vacation? Need a few suggestions? Look no further than Emily Kaufman’s book; The Travel Mom’s Ultimate Book Of Family Travel: Planning, Surviving, And Enjoying Your Vacation Together where you’ll find helpful tips and family-friendly destinations.

“Family vacations are the source of some of our most cherished family memories. From the first camping trip, to the first visit to Disney World, to a magical return to a favorite beach resort, vacations spent with our kids present us with special time together when our normal routines don’t hamper or distract us,” says Emily Kaufman, aka “The Travel Mom” and travel contributor for ABC-TV’s Good Morning America.

What makes a great family vacation?

Spending it without those you love. When thinking about our next family vacation a picture began developing in my head. Beautiful sandy beaches, the kids laughing in the background, everything was perfect, and then the ball dropped. Amy threw the sand bucket at Jimmy after he crushed her sand-castle. A moment later Dad calls for reinforcement. Frustrated and tired, the kids bicker all the way back to the hotel. Sound familiar? Once I shook off the chills I picked up Emily Kaufman’s new book; The Travel Mom’s Ultimate Book Of Family Travel: Planning, Surviving, And Enjoying Your Vacation Together. With just a little hope I found a quiet corner of the house and settled down with a cup of tea to read. While reading I noticed how time “The Travel Mom,” Kaufman dedicated to searching for fun, affordable destinations that make family vacation enjoyable. Within just a few pages I felt some of the dread slipping away as I read her fresh ideas and suggestions.

A Vacation Planning Work Sheet? Emily Kaufman makes a great suggestion in her new book The Travel Mom’s Ultimate Book Of Family Travel; create a vacation work sheet. I thought this would certainly be more fun than making boring list of chores and groceries. Here are a few of Emily’s suggestions to consider when making your list: 1. What is your travel mood: energetic, quiet, or a mix of the two? 2. Do you want to visit a warm or cold climate, or does it matter? 3. Do you and your family enjoy doing a lot of activities, such as sightseeing or touring? Or do you want to spend time primarily resting? 4. Do you and your family enjoy the outdoors, or do you prefer full amenities? 5. Do you already know your dates of travel? 6. How old are your kids, and do their ages preclude some trips? 7. Do you want to stay in a hotel, small inn, or bed-and-breakfast, or do you want to rent a condo or house? Reading through The Travel Mom’s Ultimate Book Of Family Travel you’ll find easy to understand steps to help you figure a budget, (Always helpful) select a destination, suggestions about accommodations, and decide on the best mode of transportation. The numerous lists of destinations (winter travel trips to beach vacations) and excursions (kayak adventures to hiking) are very helpful. They’re also great for coming up with new ideas for vacation one may not have considered before.

Kaufman emphasizing the importance of the planning, “we like to think that a good vacation is one that just happens, miraculously and serendipitously. We tend to imagine that planning might actually take away from the relaxing break from routine that vacation is supposed to represent. Nothing could be further from the truth.” With tips like packing a “boredom bag” with snacks and games for long car rides or bringing a carry-on with a change of clothes for you and your kids on a flight, Kaufman gives you invaluable advice and fresh ideas to ensure an enjoyable trip for the whole family.

The Travel Mom’s Twelve Golden Moment Rules

Sometimes we need a few rules to keep us on track. Here are Kaufman’s: Don’t Overschedule Leave Work at Home Take a Deep Breath! Give Your Kids Your Presence Slow Down Take a Hot Bath Take a Day Off Don’t Overindulge! Manage Your Expectations Respect Nature Picture This Veer Off the Beaten Path

Are You Ready To Start Planning?

The Travel Mom’s Ultimate Book of Family Travel: Planning, Surviving, and Enjoying Your Vacation Together is a welcome comprehensive guide which offers an abundance of fantastic destinations and excursions, plus the tools and resources needed to customize a vacation that suits your family’s interests and budget. As Emily says, “Let these destinations inspire you, excite you, and lead you to the vacation of your dreams. Now just do it! Choose it, plan it, and go for it!” is a welcome comprehensive guide which offers an abundance of fantastic destinations and excursions, plus the tools and resources needed to customize a vacation that suits your family’s interests and budget. As Emily says, “Let these destinations inspire you, excite you, and lead you to the vacation of your dreams. Now just do it! Choose it, plan it, and go for it!”

What are you waiting for? “Choose it, plan it, and go for it!” Visit the author’s web site: http://www.thetravelmom.com to learn more about the Travel Mom’s Ultimate Book of Family Travel: Planning, Surviving, and Enjoying Your Vacation Together. It is also available at http://www.doubleday.com and http://www.broadwaybooks.com.

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Read an excerpt from The Travel Mom Ultimate Book of Family Travel, By Emily Kaufman….

ONE

Getting Your Kids Involved

Should you get your kids involved in the decision-making process? That’s a matter of both their age (they need to be at least six to have a logical opinion) and you and your parenting style. Do you typically invite your children to influence family decisions? Do you often ask them for their input when choosing a movie, deciding on dinner, or selecting their room color? If so, then it makes sense that you would ask your kids for their input on the type of vacation or its destination. On the other hand, if you and your partner make all family decisions, then your kids might be a bit perplexed if you suddenly ask them where they want to spend their spring vacation.

For those of you who want to include your kids in the decision, I will make one suggestion: Present your children with two or three possible options. There’s very good reason behind this idea: Consider the havoc each morning at the breakfast table if you said, “Okay, kids, what do you want to have for breakfast?” Sally would say oatmeal, John would say pancakes, Hillary would say eggs, and Patricia would say waffles. You not only open the door to having to prepare four separate dishes, but you also create chaos that is certainly avoidable. Get the picture? Just as at mealtimes, you’re in charge.

Incorporating the kids into the vacation-planning process is a surefire way to get them excited about where they will be going. Even more important, it may be a way to help improve their self-esteem. Kids have little control over what happens in their world on a day-to-day basis. So if you give them a chance to feel as though they have some investment in family decision-making, they come away with a greater sense of worth and the belief that their opinion matters.

Once the location has been determined, get the kids involved in the planning. The Internet is the perfect resource. Have your kids visit Web sites on the destination and take a look to see what interests them. Running a search through an engine like Google or Yahoo using the keywords of the place you are visiting can direct them to loads of great Web sites for fact-finding. And they can ask friends and relatives about the destination, too. You might want to give the kids a say about which amenities they would like when you are determining your accommodations, such as an arcade or a pool with a waterslide.

Consider allowing each of your kids to select one special activity that the family will participate in. Make sure that they understand that even if a specific activity that a sibling selects is not their favorite, they must participate with a good attitude, and everyone will do the same for them. If kids are given a little input into the vacation plans, they will feel a great sense of ownership.

You can also teach your kids some valuable lessons about budgets when planning a vacation. Many children have no idea how much it costs to visit a theme park or participate in other activities when they travel. I recommend setting a daily limit on your kids’ spending and making sure they stick to it, with a firm cap on what they can spend. Some people I know encourage their children to earn money toward things they want to buy on vacation, but I prefer to give them a set amount and let them decide how to spend it. Souvenirs are included in this limit; you may want to discuss the idea of souvenirs before the trip begins, so you both clarify the kids’ expectations (and spending) and prepare them for these limits.

Excerpted from The Travel Mom’s Ultimate Book of Family Travel by Emily Kaufman Copyright © 2006 by Emily Kaufman. Excerpted by permission of Broadway, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

THE TRAVEL MOM’S ULTIMATE BOOK OF FAMILY TRAVEL, Planning, Surviving, and Enjoying Your Vacation Together, By Emily Kaufman, Published by Broadway Books, February 2006; Trade Paperback Original; $14.95, ISBN 0-7679-2063-5

1. Introduction

There are literally hundreds of vacation rental sites that you can use to advertise your vacation rental property, varying from large, well established sites, to smaller sites that focus on a particular geography or niche market. However, with so many sites to choose from, which vacation rental web sites will bring enquiries and bookings for your particular vacation rental property?

Compare Owner Holiday Rentals (http://www.compareownerholidayrentals.com) recently developed a method for comparing the visitor traffic to different vacation rental web sites.

Although there are lots of other factors that will influence the number of enquiries and bookings your vacation rental listing generates, attracting large numbers of visitors to the site is absolutely key. If the vacation rental web site on which you are listed does not attract visitors in sufficient numbers, then no matter how good a job you have done creating your vacation rental listing, this will not translate into bookings. Hence, comparing the level of visitor traffic on vacation rental web sites is a good first step in assessing their relative attractiveness.

2. Measuring Visitor Traffic to Vacation Rental Web Sites

It seems logical that the larger sites should attract the most traffic, but it would be nice to have some objective way to compare the number of visitors to the various vacation rental web sites.

Measuring visitor traffic on the internet is an approximate science at best, but there are a number of ways getting an indication of the number of visitors to a particular vacation rental web site:

a. Published Statistics from the Vacation Rental Web Site: Most sites don’t publish statistics on the number of visitors. Understandably, sites are careful about protecting this information as it may be considered sensitive. An exception is VRBO, which claims “over 20 million visitors annually”. However, even if we did have information from all the vacation rentals web sites, it would be hard to ensure that each site was measuring in exactly the same way ( for example, do you only count unique visitors or do you count the same visitor who returns more than once ? do you include visits by search engine “spiders” or not ? ). Hence, statistics published by the vacation rental web sites are not a very reliable way to compare visitor traffic to their sites.

b. Alexa Rankings: Many people are familiar with Alexa, which is part of Amazon.com. Alexa publish traffic rankings for all web sites, and ranks sites from the highest traffic ranking ( ranked number 1 ) downwards to lower traffic sites that rank in the millions. Alexa’s rankings are based upon a statistical sample of internet users: specifically, they are based on users of the Alexa tool bar. Although there are some important “health warnings” with the use of the Alexa traffic rankings (see www.alexa.com for details) , they are widely regarded as being reasonably reliable, particularly for sites with a traffic ranking of less than 100,000. (Note : if a Vacation Rental web site has an Alexa rating above 200,000, unless it is a site that is focused on a particular niche and has only a small number of listings, it is unlikely that it will generate a lot of visitors to your vacation rental listing.)

Recent Alexa rankings for some of the leading US vacation rental web sites are given below. However, it’s still hard to know how these rankings translate into visitors per month.

Rank Using Alexa Ranking

1. VRBO 3093

2. Greatrentals 6359

3. Cyberrentals 6643

4. Vacationrentals 9457

5. A1Vacations 9858

6. VacationHomes 26915

7. VacationRentals411 28937

8. Findvacationrentals 33021

9. Perfectplaces 38340

10. VacationHomeRentals 42825

c.Traffic Estimate.com: Another site, www.trafficestimate.com, turns these traffic rankings into specific estimates of visitor numbers. It provides an estimate of the number of visitors in the last 30 days to a given web site. Although it does not publish details on the methodology used, it appears to be based upon using a sample of web traffic to make estimates for each site. You can see from the table below that Traffic Estimate’s results seem to correlate pretty closely with Alexa. For the same US vacation rental web sites, traffic varies from almost 1.3 million on VRBO, to 201,000 on VacationHomeRentals for the selected 30 days period. Of course, we would expect more traffic on the bigger sites, but how does this translate into visitors per vacation rental listing?

Rank Using Traffic Estimate Visitors/month

1. VRBO 1,284,000

2. Greatrentals 811,000

3. Cyberrentals 732,000

4. A1Vacations 648,000

5. Vacationrentals 533,000

6. VacationRentals411 256,000

7. VacationHomes 240,000

8. Findvacationrentals 225,000

9. Perfectplaces 225,000

10. VacationHomeRentals 201,000

3. Traffic Per Vacation Rental Property Listing We can use the estimate of the visitor traffic for a vacation rental web site from Traffic Estimator, together with the number of properties listed on each site, to generate the average number of visitors per listing for each site. Of course, not every property on a particular vacation rental web site will receive the same number of visitors ( we will come back to this point later), but this at least gives a means to compare vacation rental web sites on a more normalized basis. As you can see below, this significantly changes the ranking order of the vacation rental web sites we are comparing. For example, by this measure, a listing on a1vacations should receive on average 116 visitors per month, compared with only 27 visitors per month on either VRBO or VacationRentals.

Rank Using Average Visitors per Listing

1. A1Vacations 116

2. Findvacationrentals 113

3. Greatrentals 81

4. VacationHomeRentals 80

5. Perfectplaces 56

6. Cyberrentals 52

7. VacationHomes 40

8. Vacation Rentals 411 28

9. VRBO 27

10. Vacationrentals 27

Of course, there are a large number of factors that influence whether visitors to a particular vacation rental web site will view YOUR vacation rental, then make an enquiry and finally confirm a booking. These include factors that the vacation rental web site controls, (such as the type of visitors it attracts and how easy it is to generate multiple enquiries without a lot of re-keying), factors that you the vacation rental owner control (such as the pricing and attractiveness of your listing), and some shared factors (such as the number of similar “competing” properties and their placing in the vacation rental site searches). However, all else being equal, vacation rental web sites with higher average visitors per listing are likely to generate more enquiries than those with lower average visitor numbers. This is certainly a factor you should consider when evaluating a particular vacation rental web site.

4. Conclusions

There are many factors which influence the number of bookings that a vacation rental owner will get from a particular vacation rental web site. However, making an assessment of the average number of visitors per listing on a particular vacation rental web site, using the techniques outlined in this article, will give an indication of the level of traffic you can expect from that site. When combined with other information, this can help you determine whether you should pay for a listing on that site.

Earlier this week I was looking for some t-shirts to take away with me on holiday, I wanted something different with original designs, not the usual boring stuff. After looking around for a while I found a shop displaying a great selection of t-shirts, sporting some truly unique designs – they looked ideal, that was until I noticed the price tags.

“These are all limited edition designs,” said the assistant “so they cost a bit more,” a bit more? I thought – it would be cheaper to wear a painting from the Tate!

That night I remembered a article in a computer magazine about printing your own t-shirt at home. It said all I needed was a t-shirt, an Inkjet printer, an iron, a sheet of ordinary white copier paper and a pack of inkjet transfer paper. So all I needed to pick up was a t-shirt and the transfer paper. According to this article all I had to do was print out my design or photo onto the transfer paper and then iron it onto the t-shirt, peel off the backing paper and voila you have your own very unique t-shirt, sounds easy enough I thought.

I ended up with a pack of three plain t-shirts for £12 and a pack of ten t-shirt transfers for £8. I discovered there were two types of t-shirt transfers, one for dark t-shirts and one for light or white t-shirts, I chose the dark t-shirt transfers as my new t-shirts were black.

As soon as I got back home, I got on the case straight away and set about knocking up a few designs. To get some inspiration I flicked through my collection of fonts and photos, drew up some outlines and before I knew it I had several designs I liked ready for print.

Wasting no time, I printed out my design on to the transfer paper, cut it out and furiously began ironing my transfer on to my new t-shirt, ensuring I had covered the entire area of the transfer paper with the iron. A couple of minutes later I was peeling the transfer from my t-shirt with baited breath. And there it was, my design emblazoned across the chest of my new t-shirt, it looked great, except for the fact that it was back to front! I had forgotten to create a “mirror image” of the design before printing it to the transfer paper, as it clearly states in the instructions. Curses…one t-shirt wasted, just as well I got the 3 pack.

I managed to get the other t-shirts printed up to my satisfaction, looking good this time, they were the right way round!

Whilst reading the instructions again I discovered that it is possible to get a different finish on the t-shirt design by ironing over it with different types of paper. You can get a matte finish on your t-shirt by ironing over it with a sheet of ordinary white copier paper for 10 seconds, this, I thought gave the transferred design a less shiney, more professional look. The transfers also work on many different items of clothing such as shorts, baseball caps and even on some mouse matt’s. I was really surprised to find that the printed t-shirts were fully machine washable.

Although I wasted one t-shirt, a sheet of transfer paper and managed to burn myself with the iron in my excitement, it was well worth it. I am doing the shirts for our under tens football team just for fun. It is very easy to do, but I would say to read the instructions carefully before you start and try on a sample first before using real clothes!

KNOW THYSELF

The first key to creating a peaceful holiday season is identifying those holiday traditions that you ENJOY and those that you don’t. When you spend your precious time and energy on activities that you don’t find rewarding, you are destined to become FRUSTRATED and cranky. So go ahead and be honest with yourself before the season even starts. Make a list of every possible holiday “obligation” that you can think of. Your list might contain (but not be limited to) the following:

- send greeting cards

- bake holiday goodies

- decorate the house

- shop for gifts

- wrap gifts

- make the holiday meal

- attend church services

- go caroling

- volunteer

- visit extended family

- visit friends

- spend time with spouse

- plan family get-together

- spend time with kids

- decorate the tree

- clean house

- shop for food

- attend a concert/play

- watch holiday TV

- visit Santa

- look at lights

- host a party

- attend a party

- take a walk in nature

Now, here’s the real trick — circle those items that you absolutely enjoy doing and don’t want to miss out on this holiday season. And cross out those that you hate, despise, and dread. Be HONEST here! If you loathe baking, don’t try to convince yourself that this year you will turn into Donna Reed with a batch of homemade gingerbread. And you can get very specific if you need to. You might love visiting with your parents, but can’t stand seeing your critical Aunt Louise. That’s fine — make visiting your parents one activity and seeing Aunt Louise another. It might be a good idea to have everyone in your family make their own lists — everyone has different ideas about what activities are joyous and which ones are miserable.

FITTING IN THE JOY

Take a look at your list — which items did you circle? Did you feel so strongly about some activities that you double-circled them or put a star by the side? Those are your true priorities — and no matter what you do this season, you need to MAKE time to fit them in. Notice I didn’t say “find” time — the best way to assure that you will never get around to doing something is to say, “I’ll do it when I find a few free minutes.” If you want to do it, SCHEDULE it into your calendar. If walking around your neighborhood with your family singing carols and looking at holiday lights is a priority, sit down together and pick an evening and have everyone block it off. It’s as simple as that.

So at the start of the season, decide ahead of time which activities on everyone’s lists are the most important. Of course, you’ll have to be realistic about what you have time for — you may only have enough room in your schedule for each person to pick three priorities instead of eight. And you may need to do a little TRADING with your loved ones — “I’ll go to Christmas Eve services with you, and in return I’d like for you to go for a nature walk on Saturday with me.” Creating harmony in any situation is about COMPROMISING — just don’t allow yourself to bend so far that you give up all of your priorities for someone else’s. Everyone should feel that his or her needs are being met.

LET GO OF THE “HAVE TO’S”

So the big question now is “how do I fit in all of these priorities when I’ve got other chores to do?” It can seem hard to make time for caroling and roasting chestnuts and all of the good stuff when you have so many OBLIGATIONS. Those “I have to’s” will absolutely kill you! Well let me start by asking WHY you “have to”? Are you being graded on how much you accomplish during the holidays? Are you going to be judged harshly by your family, friends, and co-workers if you skip out on the cards or parties or baking this year? If they do judge you harshly, I guess you need to ask yourself why you would want to have that kind of people in your life in the first place! If you don’t want to do it, a simple NO should be sufficient – especially if you find an activity that everyone in your household has crossed off of their lists. Remember, the only things that you “have to” do in this life are pay taxes and die — putting up a Christmas tree isn’t required!

Let me share a story to illustrate. A few years ago, my husband and I had a really rough year and decided to SKIP OUT on the traditional family Christmas get-together for the first time in our lives. We chose to go on a trip by ourselves — cross-country skiing in the middle of nowhere in Colorado — instead of spending the holidays with our family. And since we were going out of town so early in December, we only put up minimal decorations and didn’t send any holiday cards. We worried and worried that we were going to OFFEND someone with our crass insensitivity — but do you know what happened? Everyone we talked to (family included) said, “Boy, I wish I had the courage to do that!” It turned out that 90% of the people we knew had considered doing the same thing at one point in time, but had never been able to walk away from the pressure of the “have to’s.” Well, we had a marvelous time (one of our best Christmases ever), everyone loved hearing about our trip, and we now take a holiday vacation every other year.

FIND SOMEONE ELSE TO DO IT

But just because you don’t want to do it, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have to get done at all. And, just because it needs to be done, doesn’t mean that you have to do it (that’s the reverse corollary!) Start by sitting down with your family and compare everyone’s “wants” and “don’t wants” for the season. This is the time for a little BARGAINING. If you love baking and shopping for presents but really don’t enjoy decorating the house, see if your spouse or kids have decorating marked as a priority on their lists. At the very least, you might find someone else who feels neutral about a chore that you completely despise! The holidays are an excellent time to learn the fine art of NEGOTIATING!

And if you decide as a group that you really do want something done but no one wants to do it, consider HIRING someone else to do it for you. If you like having the house decorated but hate putting up lights and garland, find a florist or interior designer that can take on that particular chore. The same is true of many holiday “obligations.” If you don’t like cooking, have your holiday meal catered or buy a pre-cooked meal from the local deli or eat out. If you love giving goodies to friends but don’t have time to bake, buy “homemade” cookies from the local bakery. Have a housekeeper give your home a good cleaning before your out-of-town guests arrive. In this age of convenience and SERVICE-ORIENTED businesses, I guarantee that you can find someone who is willing to do almost anything for a fee!

DON’T MAKE IT A CHORE

Unfortunately, many of us have turned the holiday season into just one more chore to be tackled. It’s as though the holidays have been transformed into an intensified “to-do list” — baking, shopping, wrapping, visiting – no wonder the holidays stress people out so badly! But it doesn’t have to be that way — it’s all about PERSPECTIVE. Do you remember when you were a kid and one of your parents introduced you to the “clean up your room” game? Maybe you rushed around trying to see how quickly you could get everything put away — or perhaps you sang and danced while you straightened up. Cleaning up was fun, until you learned to look at it as a CHORE — something to be tolerated, something that “had” to be done but wasn’t in any way enjoyable.

Holiday tasks are the same way. At our house, we turn every holiday “chore” into a PARTY. We have a house decorating party, where we invite our friends to help out, put on some Christmas music, and give everyone spiked eggnog. We take our holiday cards to the local Starbucks and spend a very pleasant afternoon listening to carols, drinking hot cocoa, and chatting as we write out our holiday greetings. We even make gift-wrapping fun (my husband and I compete to see who can get their gifts wrapped the fastest — just like when we were 6 years old!) The point is, you can make anything FUN, if you create the right mood and the right frame of mind. So think about how you can put a cheery spin on at least one “chore” this year — you might be surprised what a good time you have!

LOWER THE BAR

In a world where we seem to think that perfection can be attained if we just work hard enough, we often feel a tremendous pressure to outdo ourselves during the holidays. Each year, we want to buy more gifts (or more expensive gifts) than last year, to host the most elaborate party of the season, to make the house look more festive than any other on the block. And in the process of trying to OUTDO everyone else in the world, we end up missing out on the real meaning of the holidays. We no longer have time to spend with our loved ones, because we are on an insane quest to create the PERFECT holiday.

This year, why not be a little bit REALISTIC about your holiday? Accept right from the start that things may not go perfectly — and the harder you try to mold your holidays exactly as you had planned, the less likely they are to cooperate. And quite frankly, sometimes less is more. Instead of attending a different party full of strangers every night, why not pick two or three gatherings where you will be surrounded by people you love? Rather than planning a seven-course meal serving 75 people, wouldn’t a small potluck dinner with your 10 best friends mean more to you? Do you really need to buy dozens of gifts for your kids, or would they be happy with just a few things they really wanted? Maybe this year, it’s time to focus on the QUALITY of your experiences instead of the QUANTITY.

Ramona Creel is a Professional Organizer and the founder of http://www.OnlineOrganizing.com — a web-based one-stop shop offering everything that you need to get organized at home or at work. At OnlineOrganizing.com, you may get a referral to an organizer near you, shop for the latest organizing products, get tons of free tips, and even learn how to become a professional organizer or build your existing organizing business. And if you would like to read more articles about organizing your life or building your business, get a free subscription to the “Get Organized” and “Organized For A Living” newsletters. Please visit her website or contact Ramona directly at ramona@onlineorganizing.com for more information.