Family Travel

Instagram Inspiration: Star Wars Celebration Europe

August 1, 2013 by Ann

Last weekend we went to Star Wars Celebration Europe in Germany. Fans from all over the world come and get their Jedi on. I’ll be honest – I’m not a huge Star Wars fan. My husband, however, is. Many of the past SW Celebrations have been in our hometown in Orlando. Our friends have told us it’s always a great time. Since it was so close to home this year, we decided to go.

I’m glad we did. I love being around people who are doing things they are passionate about, and people are definitely passionate about Star Wars. There were replica sets throughout the convention center, people walking up dressed up in costume, autograph signings, a blocked off area dedicated to young kids, shops selling all kinds of memorabilia, and even an area for officially licensed Star Wars tattoo artists to tattoo on the spot. There were different panels, talks, shows, and discussions throughout.

We managed to make it to one panel discussion. As part of the collectors series, we went to the European Food Collectables panel. It was about collecting trinkets in things like cereal boxes, but specific to brands and promotion in Europe. The extent to which people will save original Star Wars branded items is fascinating. What they do with them later is equally fascinating. Apparently several years ago, at one of the SW Celebrations, they held a cereal eating contest. The cereal was C-3PO cereal from 20-30 years ago. And if our crowd was any indication, I’m sure the contestants were just happy to have the chance to eat original Star Wars promotional items.

Enough talk, let’s look at some photos.

Tips for Star Wars Celebration for families

The next one will be in Anaheim, CA in April 2015, mark your calendars!
Although we didn’t buy our tickets in advance, I suggest you do. The line is a lot shorter for ticket holders.
This is a child-friendly event. A lot of the costumed characters walking around are more than happy to pose with your little one. (Click here to see some of the costumed characters.)
But to make it even better, dress your kids in costume. There are plenty of other people who will be doing the same.
Just prepare for the other attendees who will want to take their photo with your child.
It can be a long day, plan ahead. The website will provide a schedule of events and many events you want to attend will overlap. Again, plan ahead.
Many attractions have long lines. Don’t hesitate to leave a long line and come back later when the line has shortened.
However, if you’re shopping and want to wait to come back later to purchase something, don’t. Unless you happen to be there on the first day, chances are the item you want will sell-out. Get it while you can.
Catch up on the series before you go so that your kids can be somewhat familiar with the characters they’ll see.
Have your camera ready for some funny costumes and interpretations.
Have fun and may the force be with you!

This post is part of the new Instagram Travel Thursday linky hosted by Skimbaco Lifestyle, Destination Unknown, Child Mode, Hines Sight Blog, Live.Do.Grow., House of Anaïs, Luxury Travel Mom. Click on any of those links to access all Instagram travel posts.apple smart case mini retina 24option review scam

Filed Under: Family Travel, Local Fun Tagged With: familytravel, Star Wars Celebration

Travel Journal Prompts for Kids (And Adults!)

July 29, 2013 by Ann

Travel Journal Writing Prompts for kids – Free Download!

This is my 49th post!

In celebration, I want to share 49 travel journal prompts for kids to use on your vacations.

Before leaving:

What do you think the place will be like?
What do you think the people will be like?
What are you looking forward to the most?
What do you know about where we’ll be visiting? (It’s history, climate, language)
What’s your itinerary?
How do you say:
- Hello
- Good-bye
- Thank you
- Please
- Excuse me
- Do you speak English?

First Impressions:

What are the popular sites that you keep hearing about?
What is the landscape like?
How is this different from home?
How is it the same as home?
What is the history of this place? Is it older or younger? How does the architecture give you the feeling of that history?
Is it crowded?

Thoughts about a specific attractions/events/sites:

Were there a lot of lines, what were they like?
What do you think makes this place special?
If your best friend was going to visit this city, would you recommend this attraction, event, site… why?
Do you have something similar to this where you live? If not, what do you think is the closest thing to this site?
What did you learn about this site?
Draw it.

Everyday things:

What was the weather like? What did you have to do to prepare for the weather?
Have you tried speaking the local language? What have you said? How do people respond?
What kind of money is used here? What’s the exchange rate?
Have you watched any television? What types of things have you seen on the commercials?
What songs do you hear a lot (whether out and about or on your own mix that you brought with you)?
Did you go to a playground? What equipment was different from back home?
What did you wear today?
Did you get any blisters?

Food:

What did you eat for breakfast?
What did you eat for lunch? How much did it cost?
What is something on the menu that you’ve never seen before?
What is something on the menu that is similar to back home?
Have you visited a grocery store or farmer’s market? What did you think about the food selections? What was in season?

Public Transportation

How do you use the public transportation here? (Where do you buy the tickets, where do you validate the tickets, do you like to look up timetables?)
Do you like the public transportation here?

Things to do while out and about:

Draw what’s in front of you right now.
Draw something you saw earlier today.
Write down street signs.
Keep a list of words you think are funny.
Count the number of people who walk past you while you are sitting at this spot for exactly one minute and write it down.
Borrow a camera for a few minutes, take a picture of: what’s above you, what’s below you, what’s in front of you, what’s behind you, what’s to the left, what’s to the right, and a self-portrait. Write down what you saw.
Circle all the places on the map that you have visited.
Send yourself a postcard.
Write a haiku about something you’re doing right – now!
Find a sticker or a small brochure and put it in your journal.

Last Impressions:

How was this place like what you expected it to be?
What things surprised you here?
What do you want to do if you return?

Questions for the whole family: (I like to do these after a trip to get everyone’s feelings and keep a record of it in my travel journal.)

What was your favorite meal and drink?
What was one of the funniest moments on the trip?
What was your favorite thing to do?

Download the list of prompts here.

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Filed Under: Family Travel, Memory Keeping, Printables, Thoughts Tagged With: familytravel

Düsseldorf and Gehry: Views from above

July 25, 2013 by Ann

I recently went up Düsseldorf’s Rhein Tower. It’s a bargain at only 4 EUR per person. My son loved it. The elevator ride was long, but fast. Once the doors opened he ran right to the angled floor to ceiling windows and stared at the city below. Then he ate a bunch of cake. It was definitely a nice break in our day. I recommend travelers cap off trips to cities by finding out a way to view it from above. It’s the best way to see everything you did while you were there, and start pointing out locations you might want to do next time.

My favorite view from the Rhein Tower

Pictured above is the Medien Hafen. It is Düsseldorf’s media and design hub. It is also home to the city’s trendiest restaurants and bars. When this area was developed, seven different designers were given free reign to do what they want with their section without knowing what the other designers had planned. This led to seven very distinct sections. The most popular: the three buildings designed by Frank Gehry. They are known as the Neuer Zollhof. You can find it right away in the photo – it starts with the big white structure (plaster) at the middle on the bottom. Behind that is the mirrored building (stainless steel), and the last of the three is the brown building (brick).

Gehry’s buildings can be found in many cities around the world. Their unique shapes have made them tourist destinations in themselves. To get a sampling of other traveler’s experiences with Gehry’s architecture, go to Instagram and use the hashtag #Gehry.

Have you been to any of Gehry’s buildings? Do you have pictures in your Instagram account? Let me know!

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Filed Under: Family Travel, Germany, Thoughts Tagged With: familytravel, Germany, instagram

Using Project Life Products for Travel Albums (and FREE Download)

July 15, 2013 by Ann

I’m always on the lookout for ways to keep my little kids interested in traveling. I know they’re so young right now, but I want to make certain things just a natural part of their childhood. This includes creating photo-albums just for them. My kids enjoy flipping through their albums, and my son loves pointing out pictures of himself.

My son also likes looking through our regular photo album, too. I document our everyday lives using the Project Life system. For those of you unfamiliar with Project Life (PL), it takes the idea of Project 365 (a photo a day) and adds a journaling and album aspect to it. One photo and one journaling card a day in one album for a year.

So as I was thinking of ways to document our travels, Project Life seemed like a good option. Not for a photo and journaling card a day, but to use the idea of a photo with a journaling card. The PL mini album (see disclaimer at the end of this post) holds 80 4×6 photos and 80 3×4 journaling cards. Perfect for a few short trips or one long one.

Other ways to use a Project Life Album for Vacation Memories

Aside from using the albums for their intended purpose (photos and words), you can:

Give your kids the album and see how they choose to fill it up.
Include ephemera you pick up on your trip: brochures, room keys, stationary, labels from different candy bars, anything and fill the pockets with those items.
Bring your blank journaling cards with you to Disney World and have each character sign their own card. Then keep the signed card with the picture.
Use the smaller pockets for instagram photos and the larger pockets to tell more story.
Film a video on your phone, upload it to YouTube and create a QR code. Print out that code, stick it in the album, and whenever you look through your album you can scan the code with your phone and watch your video. (Confused? Watch this short video by Mercy Tiera… It’s REALLY cool and kind of makes me feel like my photo albums are in Harry Potter.)

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Project Life Free Printable Journal Cards: Kid Travel Prompts

A few weeks ago I made a one page travel journal available for download.

I’ve recently taken that format and made it Project Life-friendly. Each “prompt” will now fit in either a 4×6 or 3×4 pocket.

Free Download – Kids Travel Project Life Journal Cards

The download comes with the 6 cards pictured above and 2 4×6 cards. If you’d like to download your FREE Project Life-friendly kids travel journal cards, you can do that here.

Do you think the Project Life system could work for your travel memories? Do you use any other system?

If you like to talk about travel AND different ways to preserve your family’s vacation memories, come join the brand new Google Community I created and let’s chat!

***Disclaimer: I’ve used Project Life since 2011 and am not affiliated with the company, just a fan. However, the PL Mini album link above is an affiliate link with Amazon. I make a small commission from any purchases made after clicking on that link.les vibrimasseurs acheter a bon prixweather in tanzania Ritmix RT-100

Filed Under: Family Travel, Memory Keeping, Printables Tagged With: familytravel, project life printables

Instagram and Food: Travel Inspiration

July 11, 2013 by Ann

Photos inspire travel.

Follow enough people on instagram and you’ll soon discover the “everyday” all over the world. Whether at home or on vacation instagram does exactly what it promises; it provides an instant image easily shared to anyone with an account (privacy settings aside).

Before instagram, I could “control” my inspiration. I could look at books or websites specific to places I knew I wanted to visit. Since I started using instagram a few months ago, I’ve noticed a shift in my own travel desires. I want to go everywhere. Yes, I’ve always wanted to do that, I know. But, now I REALLY want to go everywhere. Some places I never even knew existed have jumped on to my want to-do list. I’ve reaffirmed the reasons many places were already on the list. And, oddly enough, I’m growing nostalgic for places I’ve already been.

By the way, these photos are also pretty educational. Because it’s so easy to share images people upload a lot. And you can’t help but learn more about a place after viewing a lot of everyday photos taken there.

Food inspires travel.

A common theme in instagram is definitely food. I’ve learned a lot about food all over the world by watching what the people I follow eat and instagram. And I’m not to0 embarrassed to admit that it’s because of these food photos that my “to see” list has shifted so much. (Really, it should be called a “to eat” list.)

When I was looking through my own photos, I noticed that I also take a lot of photos of food. Here are instagram food photos I’ve taken in Germany. In just these few photos I feel that I’ve already started to give a good representation of food in Germany – and that’s just one instagrammer!

(You will find the originals on my instagram account.)

This typical German festival food: french fries with mayo! Would I have taken this photo if I didn’t have my phone on me? Probably not.

Anywhere in Germany, you will find Currywurst (sliced sausage covered in a curry ketchup) with french fries. There’s even a currywurst museum in Berlin! Pizza is also a popular meal (of course), so why not combine the two? I wouldn’t have taken this picture without my phone because I was in such a hurry. And I had to upload it to IG because the box is a square. (By the way, I didn’t really like the pizza.)

In high school our family went out for ice cream a lot. One of our favorites, spaghetti ice. It’s vanilla ice cream “spaghetti” and strawberry sauce with white chocolate “cheese”. In high school this was the only variety I ever saw, but these days you can get any combination of ice cream and topping for Spaghetti Eis.

And the reason I do it all. My favorite thing about using instagram is that it's so easy to capture my kids. As I mentioned when I uploaded this photo, I took this picture because in this moment my son looked so grown up to me. He sat there patiently with this cake in front of him. Before I had a chance to really think about it, I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and snapped a photo. My thought was that I would talk about the popular cake and coffee culture in Germany. However, within about 10 seconds of this photo, my son grabbed a fistful of cake and shoved it in his mouth.

And the reason I do it all. My favorite thing about using instagram is that it’s so easy to capture my kids. As I mentioned when I uploaded it, I took this picture because in this moment my son looked so grown up to me. He sat there patiently with this cake in front of him. I thought that he’s really embraced the coffee and cake culture in Germany. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and snapped a photo. However, within about 10 seconds of this photo, my son grabbed a fistful of cake and shoved it in his mouth.

Popular Food Hashtags

If you want to find food photos on instagram, check out Food Hashtags Explained.

Filed Under: Family Travel Tagged With: familytravel, food, Germany, instagram