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My experience suggests that kids under the age of 8 just don’t travel well. They have short attention spans, get restless, squirm, and act out. And that holds even for things like short bus rides and commuter rail trips, never mind long haul train and bus and flying trips. You don’t do them or your fellow travelers any favors by having them travel this way.
Just drive when you take them, so they can be occupied and belted in and well fed — and nobody else has to suffer their behavior. Or leave them home with a sitter.
I think this varies based on what the child has been exposed to already. By the time my kids were 8, they were pretty seasoned travelers, having flown a couple times per year their whole lives and even having managed their first international flight by then. Their first flights took place when they were babies, and their first intercontinental flight was when they were 6 and 4. That long flight back to the USA was a bit dicey with the 4-year-old, who got sick of being on the plane about six hours into an 8-hour flight, but both did perfectly fine on the way to Germany and my 6-year-old was a peach on the way back. I have seen 3-5 year old kids misbehaving on short flights, but I assume it's probably only their first or second flight or they might have a cold or something, which makes flying miserable.
I personally think that you ARE doing your kids a favor by traveling often and early, because it sets them up with the "travel bug." My son turns 18 next month and has three international trips planned within the first few months of being an adult. He's going to Mexico, Australia, and Germany. He recently took a trip to Virginia, both kids are in California right now visiting their grandparents, and my son is going to Texas with friends the weekend after his birthday. I love it that he is so interested in traveling and I think it is because we took them all over the place when they were little. (My daughter is a few years younger and isn't a huge fan of flying after having a couple of experience with hurting ears, so I don't know if she will be as adventurous in that way.)
Bern's Steak House is a great place for wine lovers but the food is extremely overrated. You will always find Bern's listed as a top wine list restaurant but you will never find Bern's on any list of top places for its food. This is why it's always winning awards for its wine list but never for its food.
If you can find great Thai, Japanese, Mexican, African, Indian, New American, Farm to Table, cuisine etc. in Tampa/St. Pete, your standards are way WAY too low. I don't live in Tampa for the restaurants. I live here for the winters and the cheaper housing (and other) costs. But a "foodie paradise" it most certainly is not. People here love chain restaurant food, and most independent restaurants go out of business quickly.
The last time I went to a new, highly-rated-on-Yelp, "Austin-style" taco joint in Tampa, they were dunking the tortillas in water and putting Old Bay seasoning on them (which of course were from a bag).
That should explain everything about the Tampa/St. Pete food scene right there.
We host exchange students and our Thai student confirmed that it is real Thai food.
But yes, I agree that the food in Southwest Florida generally sucks and does not even begin to compare to what you can find in other parts of the country (I'm from New England).
But yes, I agree that the food in Southwest Florida generally sucks and does not even begin to compare to what you can find in other parts of the country (I'm from New England).
True enough in my experience, though I did have an excellent experience the one time I went to Bern's Steak House. I'm not a wine drinker, either. Maybe it was a lucky fluke or something.
I think this varies based on what the child has been exposed to already. By the time my kids were 8, they were pretty seasoned travelers, having flown a couple times per year their whole lives and even having managed their first international flight by then. Their first flights took place when they were babies, and their first intercontinental flight was when they were 6 and 4. That long flight back to the USA was a bit dicey with the 4-year-old, who got sick of being on the plane about six hours into an 8-hour flight, but both did perfectly fine on the way to Germany and my 6-year-old was a peach on the way back. I have seen 3-5 year old kids misbehaving on short flights, but I assume it's probably only their first or second flight or they might have a cold or something, which makes flying miserable.
I personally think that you ARE doing your kids a favor by traveling often and early, because it sets them up with the "travel bug." My son turns 18 next month and has three international trips planned within the first few months of being an adult. He's going to Mexico, Australia, and Germany. He recently took a trip to Virginia, both kids are in California right now visiting their grandparents, and my son is going to Texas with friends the weekend after his birthday. I love it that he is so interested in traveling and I think it is because we took them all over the place when they were little. (My daughter is a few years younger and isn't a huge fan of flying after having a couple of experience with hurting ears, so I don't know if she will be as adventurous in that way.)
Good for you! I have nothing against kids who are well behaved when they travel, actually. It’s just that my experience too often has been otherwise. If all kids were like that, I’d have no issue at all.
We host exchange students and our Thai student confirmed that it is real Thai food.
That sounds great! Often in Thai restaurants in USA the flavor is pretty similar to Thailand (there is no "right way" to make a curry everyone has their grandma's) but the meat/veggies are different. Like it'll taste like good green chicken curry but the chicken is dry white breast meat and instead of Thai eggplants they have crap like carrots and broccoli, or the tom yum will have shelled headless shrimp and button mushrooms.
Wheelie bags are the fastest path to looking like an idiot.
I'm yet to see someone pull it the whole way down an airplane aisle without smacking one chair.
Don't even get me started on people running through and airport with one.
Do people try to pull a wheelie down an airplane aisle? LOL! I always carry mine when I'm actually on the plane. I think most people do? I will have to pay attention next time I fly! I actually prefer to travel with a backpack, but since I don't check luggage if there's any way around it, I sometimes take a wheelie because it holds more and doesn't give me a backache if it's heavy. I went to London for a week in the winter with just a backpack, but my back wasn't too happy about it. Very convenient on the Tube, though!
That very much depends on the airport and the city. Airports that are operating at less than full capacity can be pretty easy experiences.
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