• 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6

Stress-Free Travel is Right Under Your Nose

Air travel can be stressful nowadays with long lines, flight delays and cramped seating.  Add luggage, children, strollers and even pets to the mix and you have a veritable powder...

Best Advice for Planning Your Summer Vacation

Planning your family vacation can be overwhelming--where to go, what to do, how to get there, you name it. There are a lot of details to planning a summer vacation....

5 Summer Vacation Ideas for Teens

Teens sometimes get a bad rap. People think they’re hard to please and harder to travel with. But the key to traveling with teens—and keeping the whole family happy—is to...

Join In Our Instagram #TMOMphoto Meme

This month we are hosting our first Traveling Moms Instagram meme and we would love to have you join in the fun!

A Jersey Girl’s Ode to the Jersey Shore

“’Cause down the shore everything’s all right.” ---Tom Waits, JERSEY GIRL Some see the Jersey Shore as a travel destination, a place to take the family for a couple of...

Alaska and the NW Passage: Armchair or on-the-Water Journeys

Family travel when it might mean the demise of all is no figure of speech for two brothers and a sister who maneuvered their 57-foot boat through the Northwest Passage...

Search - TorTags
Search - Categories
Search - Contacts
Search - Content
Search - Newsfeeds
Search - Weblinks
Search - JComments
AskATMOM
FacebookTwitterYoutubeGoogleplusPinterestInstagramRss

Family Travel Experts

Family Travel Stories and Ideas

South Dakota: Where Imagination Guides a Family Vacation
World TravelingMomSouth Dakota: Where Imagination Guides a Family Vacation

Great summer vacations start with planning. Where are we going to go? Where are we going to stay? For my kids one of their all time favorite trips was a road trip through South Dakota.

Our first trip to South Dakota was going to be a quick drive through on our way to somewhere else. Fortunately, we  [ ... ]

Stay Aloft Before Going Aloft at the San Francisco Airport
Pets and Service Dog TravelingmomStay Aloft Before Going Aloft at the San Francisco Airport

It's always refreshing to see a new choice of hotel property near the San Francisco Airport and recently the options have gotten even better.Just a half mile from the airport, this hip and ultra modern new property is a great choice for a comfortable stay before or after flying or when visiting the  [ ... ]

Summer Vacation Ideas in Massachusetts
Finance TravelingMomSummer Vacation Ideas in Massachusetts

Although summer vacation in Massachusetts will start later than usual due to many snow days, it's time to start planning those summer family vacations in Massachusetts! For a small state, Massachusetts boasts some fabulous summer vacation spots - here are a few of the best, along with some insider t [ ... ]

The Chevy Volt: A Dashboard View
History Buff TravelingMomThe Chevy Volt: A Dashboard View

The thought of driving an electric car always seemed a little intimidating to me. Is there a learning curve? What happens when you are in the middle of the highway and the battery runs out? When it comes to the technology of electric cars I am a bit of an auto-techno peasant but I recently had a cha [ ... ]

5 Ideas for Summer Vacations for Christians
Christian TravelingMom5 Ideas for Summer Vacations for Christians

Christians travel for reasons that are almost as varied as the denominations that exist.  Here are a few reasons I love, and need, to travel, along with some ideas for where to go:

A Hidden Gem of a Natural History Museum
Discovery TravelingmomA Hidden Gem of a Natural History Museum

For fans of natural history museums, New York's American Museum of Natural History, DC’s ithsonian National Museum of History, and London’s tural Museum of History draw the masses when it comes to tourists and locals alike. But just past Boston’s Harvard Yard sits a hidden gem of a museum  [ ... ]

Hands-on Fun at the History Colorado Center
Western TravelingMomHands-on Fun at the History Colorado Center

The History Colorado Center is one of the newest museums in Downtown Denver.  Since its opening last year, the History Colorado Center has been teaching visitors about Colorado in a fun and interactive way.  The brightly colored displays draw visitors in and the hands-on activities will ke [ ... ]

Holiday Travel Double Take Giveaway Courtesy of Venture

Submit to DeliciousSubmit to DiggSubmit to FacebookSubmit to Google BookmarksSubmit to StumbleuponSubmit to TechnoratiSubmit to TwitterSubmit to LinkedIn
snowmass2capitalone-logoThere are two types of family holiday vacations that are unforgettable: the ones in which everything went right and the trip seemed perfectly magical and the ones in which everything went horribly wrong. Those perfect holiday vacations deserve a second act and those perfectly awful ones deserve a do-over. Which kind has your family had?  

Between November 28 and December 10, Traveling Mom is offering its readers the chance to re-do a memorable holiday travel experience with a free family holiday vacation, courtesy of Capital One Venture. Share your stories with us and you could win a family vacation for four. 

The winner will get plane tickets for four and five nights in a hotel anywhere in the continental United States – a prize worth up to $5,000, courtesy of Capital One Venture.

How It Works

Just share a travel story on the TravelingMom Holiday Travel Double Take Giveaway in the comment section below this post. You may enter one unique story each day of the contest.

Sharing a story is the only required entry, but you can get one additional entry each day by sharing a link to the Holiday Travel Double Take Giveaway on Twitter.  Here is a sample tweet:

Need a vacay do-over?  Share your story thru 12/10 on #TMOM & b entered to win 4 airline tix + hotel http://bit.ly/ssy9TR #DoubleTake 

Contest ends at noon EST, December 10. Entries submitted after that time will not be accepted. The winner will be selected in a random drawing at noon on Dec.10. They will be notified by email and have 48 hours to accept the prize. (For a full list of the rules, click here) The winner will be announced on the #TMOM Twitter party on 12/12 from 9-10pm EST. U.S. Residents only.

Party With Us On Twitter

As an added bonus, TravelingMom will host two #TMOM Monday Twitter parties – on Nov. 28 at 9 p.m. ET and on Dec. 5 at 9 p.m. ET. Travelers can share their story on the Holiday Travel Double Take Giveaway page on TravelingMom and who tweet at least once during the Nov. 28 or Dec. 5 Twitter party using the hashtags #TMOM and #DoubleTake will be eligible to win an iPad2 in a random drawing.

Here are some family vacation do-again stories to get you started. You can chat with them live on the 11/28 Twitter party.


PLEASE! READ ALL COMPANY RULES HERE!

  • About the Capital One Venture Card

With the Capital One Venture Card, cardholders earn double miles on every purchase, every day. This means you earn miles faster so the whole family can travel for free. You can redeem miles for any travel purchase on your choice of airline, at anytime without worrying about things like blackout dates and other restrictions. What’s more – your miles never expire and there is no limit on the number of miles you accumulate. With no foreign transaction fees, you can also save some money while traveling abroad. To learn more about Venture, visit www.capitaloneventure.com. For Capital One disclosures click here].

Submit to DeliciousSubmit to DiggSubmit to FacebookSubmit to Google BookmarksSubmit to StumbleuponSubmit to TechnoratiSubmit to TwitterSubmit to LinkedIn
Author Profile: TMom Web

Our TravelingMom Web Team works to bring you the freshest and most interesting content on the web.

Add comment

This is a family-friendly site. Keep it clean and always polite.


Comments   

 
#767 Deb Richardson 2012-12-04 11:47
In 2005 our family made a twelve day road trip from our home in Georgia to Yosemite National Park with a plan to visit as many National Parks as possible along the way. Long after a meal stop in California, and just as we entered Arizona, our daughter realized she had lost her retainer. The back-tracking cost us a day of our vacation, and a visit to Grand Canyon National Park. Although the memories of this trip remain among family favorites, we would love a do-over now that we’ve past the stage of orthodontics.
Quote
 
 
#766 megan 2012-06-27 16:15
on our honeymoon in jamaica we went ocean kayaking and on the first day I crushed my finger and had the nail removed. It was insanely painful the whole trip I kept getting salt water in it and it burned. I was allergic to the antiobiotic the sketchy doctor gave me and had a rash reaction. My finger got more action from a condom for protection than my husband on that trip! we are coming on our 5 yr anniversary and would love a redo please!
Quote
 
 
#765 diane 2012-05-24 09:02
We packed up our brand new mini cooper with one duffle and our (at the time), 14 and 8 yr old boys and headed straight to Niagara Falls. There was some resistance but once on the Canadian side of the falls they spent five days in wonder. Maid of the Mist, Behind the Falls, Journey to the Falls, evening fire works over the falls...all truly unforgettable. Since they have asked if we we ever return.
Quote
 
 
#764 Amy Herzog 2011-12-12 15:53
tweeted!
http://twitter.com/AmyPsiBands?iid=am-91760041513237225363496110&nid=23+recipient&uid=17914951&utm_content=profile
Quote
 
 
#763 nosogirl 2011-12-10 20:59
tweet

https://twitter.com/#!/nosogirl/status/145684033848872960
Quote
 
 
#762 nosogirl 2011-12-10 20:58
We attempted to vacation as a family in Gatlinburg, but they had one of the worst ice storms on record come through. I'd like to redo that vacation so we could actually enjoy going up and down the mountain safely!
Quote
 
 
#761 Heather Kassman 2011-12-10 19:34
My first camping trip with my then-boyfriend (now-husband).. .we over=packed, and packed ridiculous items that most intelligent backpackers would never use! This included makings for a full steak dinner with potatoes, veggies, etc. After several hours of lugging our too-heavy packs, we tried to make a fire out of wet wood, so we could cook our dinner (we were famished!) The fire never happened and we went to bed having eaten granola bars for dinner. We packed out the next day vowing to plan better next time...
Quote
 
 
#760 Jacqueline Griffin 2011-12-10 16:56
I've told all of my terrible travels stories and would just like to say "Happy Holidays" to you and your family!

Thank You so much!
Quote
 
 
#759 Jacqueline Griffin 2011-12-10 16:54
Tweet

Thank You!!
http://twitter.com/#!/jacqgrif/status/145501785187037184
Quote
 
 
#758 Christina 2011-12-10 16:39
We were at a Sundance ceremony held by a Native American community. It was so beautiful to witness but I did feel out of place. I witnessed my first sweat lodge and took part in sage-rubbing rituals. The head member's wife had this little dugout home that to me was like Alice in Wonderland. Everything was charmingly out of proportion and the ceiling was just a few inches over my head (I'm 5'2"). My favorite part was going outside to the garden and uprooting these tiny carrots. I'd never eaten carrots that fresh!
Quote
 
 
#757 Robert Decker 2011-12-10 15:17
I need a vacation,its been 5 years since I had one.
Quote
 
 
#756 Gina Sharp 2011-12-10 15:16
We loved playing in the snow at lake tahoe
Quote
 
 
#755 Scarlet Paolicchi 2011-12-10 14:52
I love traveling and so do my kids and husband. Our most recent adventure was to Houston, TX and we stopped at Gulf Shores on the way home.
Quote
 
 
#754 Karen Mowinski 2011-12-10 14:21
Would love to take my girls to Orlando/Disney before they are too old - or visit my brother in San Francisco - or good friends in San Diego? We've never gone so it would be fun to do any of these trips.
Quote
 
 
#753 al 2011-12-10 14:15
My other half tells me getting lost "is an adventure!"
Quote
 
 
#752 M Bauerly 2011-12-10 14:09
Disney here i come
Quote
 
 
#751 C Smith 2011-12-10 14:09
Wonderful prize
Quote
 
 
#750 Kimberly Crowe 2011-12-10 13:46
My husband and I just took our kids to NYC for their first-ever trip to the Big Apple. Let's just say our hotel accommodations left a little to be desire, but we made the best of it. Though we checked several things off our bucket list, we did not make it to Yankee Stadium because it rained the last day and we had to make an early dash for the airport. My 11-yr-old was quite disappointed and I'd sure like to make it up to him!
Quote
 
 
#749 Man 2011-12-10 13:08
My family is spread out in many countries. It was very memorable to have a partial family reunion in Houston where I reconnected with relatives I hadn't seen since my childhood. A full family reunion would be nearly impossible so this was the next best thing.
Quote
 
 
#748 Man 2011-12-10 13:04
My twitter post today:
https://twitter.com/#!/magiccomputer/status/145564021121228800
Thanks
Quote
 
 
#747 Dana Valle 2011-12-10 13:04
I remember our first trip to the Outer Banks with our son. He loved the Ferry ride over to the island . We also enjoyed looking at all the awesome huge kites that people were flying. It was fun.
Quote
 
 
#746 Dana Valle 2011-12-10 13:02
dt
https://twitter.com/#!/zebastyandylan/status/145563680917032962
Quote
 
 
#745 Yvonne Woodstock 2011-12-10 12:22
When my husband and I took our 5 kids to Mackinac Island (there are no cars on the island only bikes and horses or walking) you take a ferry to get there by the Mackinac Bridge... well once we got to the island it started to rain in a heavy downpour and there was thunder and lightning.

At first we followed the crowds of people under the awnings of the little fudge and novelty shops in the quaint little downtown area but it didn't look like it was going to let up anytime soon so we made a decision as a group to make the most of our ONE day there rain or not and we all stepped out in the downpour and walked thru town sightseeing and sampling fudges etc soaking wet as if it was a sunny day and we don't regret it either, we even took photos of us in the pouring rain at scenic sights lol We are glad we made the most of it and didn't let it ruin our vacation even if we looked far from our best in the pics lol
Quote
 
 
#744 Yvonne Woodstock 2011-12-10 12:19
I tweeted as @EARTHANGEL2B on Dec 10th at https://twitter.com/#!/EarthAngel2b/status/145552724912644096
Quote
 
 
#743 Lisa Lenoir 2011-12-10 12:07
I have numerous memorable family trips but I would say the trip to Washington, D.C. to visit my grandfather was pretty special. I was five and we took the Amtrak train from Indianapolis to D.C. I can remember the conductors having to fix the air conditioning with a coat hanger during one leg of the trip! Once in D.C., we went to the White House (I asked if President Nixon was home!) Also, I drank a lot of water on the trip and you know what happens when little people drink too much. My poor parents! But we had a ball on the trip between pit stops.
Quote
 
 
#742 Katie M 2011-12-10 12:03
My sister and family moved to Waco, TX 3 years ago (from Birmingham). We have never been able to go visit them and miss them terribly (our oldest boys are 5 mos apart and are more like brothers than cousins!). This Thanksgiving we loaded up the minivan (husband and myself, 2 kids, and my mother) and took a 2- day drive to Waco. The night we arrived my mother tripped and fell in the parking lot of the Baylor Arena. We spent the rest of the night in the ER, where my mother had lots of stiches to her face, CT scans, meds, etc. She suffered a severe concussion, and has memory loss of that week. The kids were all pretty traumatized since they saw their Gmthr fall. We are so thankful the injuries weren't worse, and had a nice thanksgiving at my sister's house in spite of it all, but it wasn't exactly the week we planned on! We'd love to have a do- over, with no hospital stays, head injuries, or pain meds!
Quote
 
 
#741 Eddie Gray 2011-12-10 11:59
My wife and I were camping and we had put our cooler underneath the picnic table where you could hardly open the lid and we put the bread products in our tent. While we were sleeping the racoons raided our cooler and ate right at the picnic table even put the bologna rings in a pile for us. The other thing they did is while we sleeping cut a hole in the tent and took all the bread items and brought them outside to eat too. Needless to say we woke up in the morning to no food and wondering were the bandits were that stole and ate all of our food.
Quote
 
 
#740 Sarah 2011-12-10 11:53
Would love a vacation, it has been years. Last vacation was a lakeside retreat in the Adirondacks. It was lovely, here is hoping for another great experience.
Quote
 
 
#739 Aimee 2011-12-10 11:48
My sister has always been my best friend but every since my. Mother and I moved to Florida I do not get to see her and my nieces and nephews as much as I would like! This thanksgiving I went up for only four days to north Carolina to see them! I would love to have a vacation do over and surprise my nieces and nephews!
Quote
 
 
#738 Jill Anderson 2011-12-10 11:46
At the time we had 6 kids all living at home and decided to take a trip and drive to Lake Tahoe and Reno. Before we even pulled out of the drive way we noticed that our baby was not in the car, we put her in the car seat but no one picked up the car seat to put her in the car so there she was inside the house sitting very patiently in her car seat waiting for us! Then about 3 hours into the trip our 3yr old said that she didn't feel well, while trying to find somewhere to pull over she ended up throwing up all over my stepson, who was not happy! About an hour after that my 7yr old started saying that he was getting car sick, once again we were trying to find a place to pull over and he too threw up inside the van! While there site seeing the wheels on the stroller broke off, so we ended up having to throw that away and carry the babies! 6 crabby kids and 2 cranky parents! So what started as a great idea for a vacation ended up being a royal disaster and we haven't taken a trip since!
Quote
 
 
#737 Lisa Gray 2011-12-10 11:45
I would love to do over my vacation with my kids to Disneyworld and this time have all 4 of my kids with and my grandkids and my husband of course. I would love to be able to make it a special time. I had one time with my oldest and youngest and my son in law and grandkids and the other time with my two boys their other half and my youngest. I would love to be able to have a vacation with all of us. We have not all been together in over 5 years that is a dream of mine to have all of us at Disneyworld together.
Quote
 
 
#736 Victoria 2011-12-10 11:41
We just took our first family vacation in 8 years, a week-endroad trip to the coast of Maine! It was for a family wedding but we got to see lots of relatives & even enjoyed a day at the beach & lighthouse! The kids were so well behaved & extremely patient on the long drive! We would love to take them on an airplane next time, maybe to warmer coast this time!
Quote
 
 
#735 kaye avrit 2011-12-10 11:37
We took a long weekend trip to Gatlinburg and our son preposed to the most amazing girl!
Quote
 
 
#734 Elizabeth 2011-12-10 11:36
went hang gliding off a cliff in Rio -- got to do it over because the first time, my instructor didn't have his camera ready. 2nd trip was GNARLY! Diving and climbing before landing on the beach.

Would do it over in a sec!
Quote
 
 
#733 Elizabeth 2011-12-10 11:34
https://twitter.com/#!/erodg/status/145541687295479809
Quote
 
 
#732 Tanya Leach 2011-12-10 11:30
Spent my last "vacation" pretending I was a B&B host at my own home when family came in for Thanksgiving. Worked harder on that vacation than any I have taken outside of the house! With a husband and two little ones all in school and a working mom dreaming of a getaway, we could all use a beach break about now!
Quote
 
 
#731 Shannon @Aries_Mommy 2011-12-10 11:22
tweet http://twitter.com/#!/Aries_Mommy/status/145538821088481281
Quote
 
 
#730 Shannon @Aries_Mommy 2011-12-10 11:21
Our last family vacation was four years ago. We spent two weeks in Florida, if I could redo any part of the trip it would be the 17 hour car rides and turn them into a much shorter flight. Traveling by car with four kids, one of which was only 5 months, is not fun.
Quote
 
 
#729 beth 2011-12-10 11:20
I spent one week with my family at the Jersey shore and then my immediate family flew to Aruba for a week! What a great way to spend three weeks with the family!
Quote
 
 
#728 Diana Rowe 2011-12-10 11:08
When my now grown children were 10 and 12, we drove to California for spring break. it was a miserable drive with spring snowstorms in a small car. But we were all looking forward to our first Disney experience. Our room was great, near Disneyland, but all the 3 days we visited Disneyland it rained! A lot. So we bought Mickey's raincoats and stomped through puddles and rode as many rides as were open. I'd love to do that again -- without the rain!
Traveling Grandmom
Quote
 
 
#727 Jamie 2011-12-10 11:05
I'd take my husband and girls to Puerto Rico. My husband and I went there, prekids, on a work conference and it was amazing but we never got to do a rainforest tour. Would love to go back for pleasure!
Quote
 
 
#726 jean carlisle 2011-12-10 11:03
I would redo my honeymoon. Just stayed a night at a hotel to go on a honeymoon 'later'. It took me 10 years to get a honeymoon!
Quote
 
 
#725 Nancy Berk 2011-12-10 10:38
Best vacation to do over? Mediterranean cruise through Italy, Greece, and Turkey. I could live forever in Santorini.
Quote
 
 
#724 Jamie Bartosch 2011-12-10 10:35
We spent five days in Anguilla, in the most luxurious home I've ever
But it rained HARD the whole time, and we were stuck indoors entertaining a 1 & 3 year old. It was torture! I wish we could go
we could go back there again when the weather was nice!
Quote
 
 
#723 Valerie 2011-12-10 10:31
I would love to redo Grand Cayman we went last year with our 8 month old, grandma, and aunt. Grandma and aunt were more work than the baby :(. Too much planned and too much running from activity to activity and no night out or time alone for us. Was still a fun vacation but this time we'd do it differently!
Quote
 
 
#722 Vegetarian TravelingMom 2011-12-10 10:30
@CindyRichards
Only 3 hours left to enter! #Win a $5000 #Family Vacation for 4 anywhere in Cont. US #TMOM ends 12/10 travelingmom.co m/home/capitalo n… #travel
1 hour ago Favorite Undo Retweet Reply
Retweeted by @judy511
Quote
 
 
#721 Vasily 2011-12-10 10:29
We took a trip to Chattanooga, TN to the Aquarium there a few years ago. It was great! We really enjoyed it. Also enjoyed walking around the downtown area. I now have two kids and would love to take them there. They would love it! vasily3 (at) gmail (dot) com
Quote
 
 
#720 Natalie J Vandenberg 2011-12-10 10:25
Tweet! https://twitter.com/#!/lexiquin/status/145524107625234432
Quote
 
 
#719 Kim 2011-12-10 10:20
We have always had wonderful family vacations. A redo? I would probably like a redo of our plane trip back home from Orlando. Just over 5 hours and our 10 month old screamed all the way home. I forgot to mention that I also have 2 other children. I never wanted to be "that" family on the airplane but we were. The worst part was that I was so overwhelmed that I was also silently sobbing along with her to add to the embarrassment. A memory to cherish I suppose!
Quote
 
 
#718 Beth 2011-12-10 10:20
I have had one exotic vacation as an adult. It was a Jamaica honeymoon from hell. I think it was a hint that the marriage was doomed. I divorced 5 years later. The plane broke down, I have vomiting and diarrhea from the water/food at the resort, I got a rash from being in the sun and our luggage got lost coming home.
Quote
 
 
#717 Anne Witkavitch 2011-12-10 10:15
http://twitter.com/#!/anneatcsuite/status/145521654401990656
today's tweet for the contest!
Quote
 
 
#716 Anne Witkavitch 2011-12-10 10:12
Redo a vacation? Usually I don't...but I'd like to redo London because I never got to venture outside of the city limits...and have always wanted to visit Canterbury (read Canterbury Tales in college and BIG fan of Pillars of the Earth and cathedrals in general). Of course, with kids in tow would HAVE to visit the Harry Potter studios...must, must, MUST!
Quote
 

Family Freebies

The Classic Road Trip with a Modern Twist!
The Classic Road Trip with a Modern Twist!

As the price to fly continues to rise, and the inconveniences rise, more and more people, and especially families, are turning back to the good, old-fashioned road trip.

My pa [ ... ]

Free in May: LEGOLAND Florida!
Free in May: LEGOLAND Florida!

Police, Fire and EMS Appreciation Days return in May. Police officers, fire fighters and EMS employees can receive a free single day admission to LEGOLAND Florida, along with  [ ... ]

The Players Championship - Free for Military
The Players Championship - Free for Military

When the PGA tour heads to Ponte Vedra Beach, in Northeast Florida this May for The Players Championship they will once again be hosting multiple events for military memb [ ... ]