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here a few tips how to secure you and your family while you're on vacation together.
• Do not carry large amounts of cash. Use traveler’s checks that can usually be replaced within 24 hours.
• Use ATM's only during daylight hours. If you must use one after dark, try and find a well-lit, busy area such as a grocery store.
• Leave copies of trip information with a friend or family member at home. This includes credit card numbers, passport numbers, plane tickets and itinerary
information, and phone numbers for your credit card companies.
• Keep credit cards, cash, passport, and plane tickets separate in a safe purses.
• Wear a “money purse" underneath your clothes that contains passport, phone numbers for credit card companies, and a small amount of cash, should your wallet get stolen.
• Always carry a “dummy" wallet in your back pocket containing $20 which, if you were to be mugged, would satisfy the robber without draining all of your funds.
• Have your mail delivery stopped while on vacation. If you have a neighbour
retrieving mail and newspapers while you are away, ensure that they will be there
every day. Nothing says an empty house like a stack of mail or newspapers at the front door.
• Do not assume your personal documents are safe in your hotel room. Lock them in a safe while the room is unoccupied.
• Have separate ATM, debit and credit cards and make sure that you need a PIN for in-store use of a debit card, not only for the ATM.
• For women, do not hang purses on the back of bathroom stall doors. It is very easy for someone to reach over the door and grab it.
• Leave your regular checkbook at home. If your checks are stolen, it’s difficult to cancel them and track their use as you would a credit card. Plus, if someone reorders checks in your name, you won’t realize it until you receive your bank statement.
• Only carry credit cards that you will need on vacation. Leave cards for particular department stores or things like gas cards at home.
• Remember that your credit card number is on your plane tickets, so treat them as you would a credit card.
• Cover ATM key pads when entering your PIN. People could be watching over your shoulder, or even from a distance, and then later attempt to steal your wallet and use this information.
• Use common sense when traveling. Do not draw attention to yourself as a tourist. Avoid reading maps in a busy, high-traffic area, walking nude (except you're in a nudist beach)carry your camera in a tote bag rather than the carrying case, and do not flaunt large amounts of cash when removing money from your wallet or pocket.
Your homeowners, condo or renters insurance policy may cover loss or damage of your personal items while traveling, up to specified limits. Take time before you go on vacation to compile a personal property inventory, which helps determine replacement cost of lost items. Document each item’s year of purchase and original price. Items that may exceed policy limits, such as jewelry, cameras and golf equipment, need additional protection such as Travelers valuable items insurance. To ensure you have the coverage you need, contact your independent insurance agent.

A recent Travel Activities Research indicates that 60 per cent of people cited relaxing, recreation and recuperation as the top commonly sought out experiences while on a vacation.

But, because this is often the only period families are able to spend together, how can you take a summer vacation that allows you to relax and get the most out of your time alongside the kids?

With research and proper preparation, you can have a comfortable, pleasing vacation that won't keep you up at night stressing about making everyone pleased and broadening the budget.

First, make certain to involve the kids in the entire planning process. The more they feel like they have had a say about the trip and activities, the more co-operative they will be during the trip.

Next, check out the Internet for your trip destination possibilities. You will be able to find a lot of free planning materials to aid you and put together the perfect trip. The majority of provincial traveling departments maintain traveling kits complete with informational guides, brochures and maps that they will send you at liberty of impediment. Once you have compiled your information and packages, gather the family, research your options and decide where to go together.

Family vacations can be real budget-busters, thus, plan a trip you can afford so that there are not any frustrating or humiliating moments while on the trip. Know what is included in the vacation packet and what will cost you over and above so that you can budget wisely.

Booking beforehand and being flexible with traveling dates and times allows you to capitalize on various airlines and lodging specials, which can equal big savings. Also, look for hotels that cater to families. Nationwide hotel establishments, such as Comfort Inn Hotels and Resorts, help to ensure that you will find a comfortable stay anywhere during your trip. And, family hotels like Comfort Inn also provide specific value programs.

For instance, not only do kids 12 and under eat for free from the restaurant kid's menu when accompanied by an adult, many hotels can help you get the most out of your retreat with their meals program, where adults can also eat for free.

In terms of vacation activities, call ahead to avoid set backs. Make sure to book family attractions, recreation and fearless adventures agreeably in advance. And finally, let kids help create memories. Giving them throw-away cameras will not only empower them, but it will help capture more great moments from your family summer vacation.

Sometimes traveling with your parents can be a wonderful experience if you plan very well ahead. Here are five things you must do to ensure that you and your parents will have a great vacation.

1. Ensure that the itinerary is not too fast paced.
Old folks tend to get tired easily and thus it is not advisable to include activities that are too strenuous. It is also not advisable to pack too many activities in the itinerary such that you and your parents have to rush from one place to another.

2. Ensure that everyone has ample sleep
Plan to have at least six to eight hours of sleep for you and your parents for each day of your vacation. Try to avoid having any more activities after 11 p.m. Prepare some hot water for your parents to soak their legs before bed time if there is a fair amount of walking in the day.

3. Have ample supply of their medication
If your parents are suffering from diabetes, asthma, hypertension, high cholesterol or any other illness, make sure you obtain ample supply of medication from their doctors to last for the whole trip. To ensure that you remember to bring the medication, create a checklist of things to bring and put their medication among the top five items on that list. As a safety precaution, ask them to carry a medical record of their illness and contact details in case you are not around when they need medical attention.

4. Healthy diet
Most old people do not take heavy meals and thus you need to plan for multiple light and healthy meals that are low on salts, oil and sugars but high in fiber. Always have a sandwich or high fiber biscuits in your bag in case they get hungry and there isn't a snack bar in the vicinity. Also make sure that you and your parents drink a lot of water to prevent dehydration.

5. Bring along a first aid travel pack.
Your first aid travel pack should contain medication for fever and diarrhea, cold symptoms and giddiness. It should also include a thermometer, tweezers, sharp scissors, safety pins, adhesive bandages, sterile gauze, adhesive tape and antiseptic wipes. While this list is not exhaustive, the stocks in the travel pack should be enough to cater to most conditions that require general first aid assistance. Do check the expiry date for those medications that you bring along to ensure that they are safe for consumption.

Traveling with your parents need not be a hassle as long as you plan ahead and take care of their needs. Involve them in all the activities along the way and remember to have fun!

With the rising costs of airfares and the increasing time it takes to get through security at the airports; many families are deciding to travel by car for their vacation. Most of us with young children are returning to the days we grew up in where we traveled most places by car with our parents.

We started asking other friends for how they make the trip go easier and how they beat the "Are we there yets?", here's ten tips to help your car vacation go a lot easier:

1. Decide do your kids do better in the early morning or evening hours for traveling? Which ever it is plan your travel to match, for this us our kids don't travel well in the morning they do much better if we leave after 2:00pm and travel into the evening.

2. Stock your car with favorite pre-bagged snacks for everyone, even parents, a cooler with lots of mineral waters and favourite drinks, comics, colored pencils, crayons, a few coloring books, sticker books, travel games, and a travel journal for older kids.

3. Take along Gameboys & games, personal CD/cassette players (even for little kids), and you can get books on tape from the library.

4. Do consider a portable DVD player, this makes 5 or 6 hour a day seem like 2 hours. It also cuts a lot of the unnecessary stops as the kids are involved in the movie playing.

5. To avoid the difficulty of hauling in a suitcase for every person into a hotel for the 1 night stops. Pack a 3 day bag into which each person contributes 3 days worth of clothes. This way you take one suitcase of clothes in every three days.

6. Do pack a lightweight table cloth for outdoor lunch stops along the way.

7. Be sure to take the digital camera you'll create lifetime memories.

8. Do get postcards from every major destination along the way.

9. All kids are different but in general don't drive as far as the adults can go in one day, try to keep car travel to a 6 to 8 hour range of time.

10. Don't fill the inside of the car to the brim causing less space for the kids, instead consider a car topper for safe keeping of your belongings.

Have a great family vacation.

Your children are not so thrilled. In fact, the 13-year-old, a girl, has asked if she could stay with her best friend while you and her whiny younger brother go to Europe without her.

How do you turn the scenario around? How do you detoxify the inevitable, “Are we there yet?" Here are ten ways to go.

#1 Get them into the mood of the place in advance.
Watch movies or read books set in that particular country or city. This will involve them in the places on an emotional level, and they'll be really keen to actually go to “where it happened." Many of these media offerings are about kids, and that's always an interest builder. Some of these stories show the kids as the brave, the bold and adventurous ones, while the adults in charge need their help. Nothing like being more in control of a situation than the grownups to whet your appetite for travel.

#2 Find places that are intriguing.
Not-well-known and “kid-friendly" to visit. As a former kid, I'm sure you remember how PAINFUL “seeing" something can be. Plan to go to places where you will be “doing" something. Active places win hands down with kids. If you do go to a “seeing" place, plan an activity, such as a scavenger hunt, to transform it into a “doing" place. Imagine the fun you can have at spots such as the perfume museum in Paris, Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, or at the City of London museum sound and light show depicting the famous fire that destroyed London!

#3 Plan shopping trips that your kids will enjoy and have them save up for special stuff they like, or give them allowances. Allow equal time for each in the shop of his/her choice. Getting stuff is always a blast, and showing the stuff off to friends gives them bragging rights as well!

#4 Let the kids share in the planning. Set aside some days, blocks of time, evenings as you write out your itinerary and tell the kids that they decide what the whole crew does at those times. This gets them involved and excited about the things that THEY look forward to.

#5 Go heavy on the local entertainment. Kids love music, movies, sports events. Plan these kid-friendly events with your kids input, and you're sure to have a blast. They'll remember the joust, or football (a.k.a. Soccer) match. Go Beckham!

#6 Leave some time for relaxation. Stay at a hotel with a swimming pool, a tennis court or other game centers. Don't begrudge them that important video arcade time.

#7 Plan to meet local kids. Studies all show that kids love meeting other kids. If you have friends or people you can connect with in your destination who have kids, plan a visit. You can also connect by searching the internet for kids' interative sites.

#8 Put your kids in charge of the photography department, or at least their own photography department. Provide each with a good camera. You don’t have to bring a computer; there are plenty of internet cafes and some hotels have web access. If they are anxious to share photos with their friends back home and keep in touch, this is a good way to do it.

#9 This may be the only don’t in the list, but I feel strongly about it: Don’t insist they keep a journal or diary. This is a chore. Unless they themselves come up with the idea, mum’s the word.

#10 Have fun: this means you too. Taking your kids on a trip will provide experiences and closeness with them that will last until their own kids are ready to be launched. Nowadays even grandparents are traveling with their grandchildren.

Happy travels to you and your whole family!

Too many family vacations end in disaster because of unrealistic expectations or poor planning. Careful planning makes all the difference." Here are some recommendations.