At the start of the year my husband and I were caught up in a Great Recession-fueled tornado. I think we’re just starting to feel like our feet are back on solid ground now as New Year 2010 approaches. During that time, I managed to keep up Photo Friday posts and not much more. But, since we had to plan for a trip to the UK (for a family wedding) in March, I also looked into public transport options from Heathrow airport to central London since the Heathrow Express maybe fantastically convenient but it’s also ridiculously expensive, especially for traveling families.
In March we spent a fun few days with family in Cornwall and Bedford (although we nearly didn’t make it when our flight with British Airways was cancelled at the last minute), but the utterly crazy happenings with the economy were obviously on my mind as I wrote 5 Budgeting Tips for Family Travel in Difficult Economic Times.
In April I finally got around to writing about the time we spent in Venice in June 2008. At the end of the month our planned relaxing long weekend at Lake Ajijic, Mexico (to welcome a new family member), went more than a little sideways when the fears about the Swine Flu pandemic infected media of all kinds worldwide. Since I really enjoy visiting Mexico, and think that it’s a great family travel destination, I spent a lot of May writing about our travels there just to do my little bit to counteract the “if you go to Mexico you’ll die of Swine Flu” theme which seemed to be circulating at the time.
My book, Traveling With Kids – in the Wanderlust And Lipstick series of guidebooks written by women for women – came out in April. That kept me a little busy too. Thanks to all my blogger friends who wrote a review of the book.
I had two of my most popular posts of the year in June. What to expect when you travel with children written in answer to questions from my friend Jordan and the much-tweeted Summer Family Fun In Seattle which I wrote in anticipation of my sister-in-law’s visit with her three little ones.
As a mom of two school-age boys, July and August are my silly season. When the schools are closed, out the windows goes any hope of a sane, normal day and blog post frequency drops. That said, I was very happy with the discussion in the comments on my post on Handheld Video Games, Kids and Travel.
In September, with budgeting still on my mind, I suggested that September was the time for planning family travel in 2010 – and get the best value for your money. If you missed that window, January is also a great time to think about your travel plans for the year and start watching out for special offers, reduced fares and other extend-your-dollar goodies.
After a low-cost but very fun weekend in Walla Walla, and with the winter fast approaching, I penned even more travel cost-saving ideas in October: Three tips On Choosing Budget Family Accommodation and Family Skiing: Three Cost-Saving Ideas – seems like I’ve got a theme going on here!
I was lucky enough to be able to take my boys to visit their new cousin in Sydney, Australia in November – mainly because I’d been watching airfares to Australia since January and was able to take advantage of a Qantas sale in June. Then, as you know, the rest of the year was all about Passports with Purpose. Thanks again to any readers of this blog who contributed to that effort.
Happy New Year to you and your loved ones and many happy travels – whether actual or armchair – in 2010.
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