Family Travel

I realized today why parents need a Family Travel Expert. As the CEO of my own family travels, I am the one who does all the trip-planning. If I am the travel expert, where do I go for advice?

I found myself doing some expert research of my own trying to figure out where to go in January. It is really overwhelming to plan family travel. My business needs to help parents weed through all of the sites to find the best information in a one-stop shop! I hope http://www.FamilyTravelPlanet.com gives parents the direction they are looking for.

Surfing the internet takes me to so many places I forget where I began. I want people to feel they've found the right place for travel advice. I will give parents tips on What to Bring, Where to Go and what links I have found helpful along the way. I want to be a supermarket for family travelers.

This is the season to find a relaxing escape from everyday life. I'll get back to you on where we decide to take the kids this holiday vacation.

My Thanksgiving Blues

With so much VisitFlorida.com blogging to do in the coming months, I headed over to Universal Studios, Orlando for some research/entertainment for the kids while they are out of school. Our friends were staying at Universal's Royal Pacific Resort on property. We decided to join them. First of all, you get an Express Pass to skip the lines. On a holiday weekend, this is a MUST-have travel item for the parks. The hotel is our favorite. There is a water taxi that goes straight into the park and the boys just love the HULK ride. Brandon has been waiting for what seems like his whole life to make the height requirement for some of the "big boy" rides. He finally did it! He rode the MUMMY and loved it. They even conned me into riding it by telling me it was on a boat like "Small World" at Walt Disney World. What they forgot to tell me was that it's a rollercoaster!

We had tickets to Blue Man Group and the ICE! exhibit at the Gaylord Palms resort. Between the Blue Man Group, Blue parkas at the ICE show and our Blue LIPS from the 9 degree weather inside, we were truly having the Thanksgiving blues! It was awesome!

You can read all about it on my www.VisitFlorida.com blog when they launch, which should be any day now. I am crossing my fingers for Monday!

Jennifer Michaels debuts her Packing Video for VisitFlorida.com

Here is the video that I shot for VisitFlorida.com. We had just come back from swimming in the coral reef at the Aquarium, so excuse my messy house! This packing video gives great tips on How to Pack for Your Entire Family in One Hour in One Bag! Seriously. It can -- and will -- be demonstrated! Enjoy! (You can purchase all of these packing items through my website at http://www.familytravelplanet.com/.) I will link you to where to find everything. Trust me, this video was not staged, folks. We shot it on the fly. I can now pack with my eyes clothes. My friends with girls say boys are easier to pack for, but the Pack-It system by Eagle Creek really makes it easy. There are cosmetic organizers. Plus, the cubes are ideal for hair bows and come in pretty colors! I may not have to pack for girls, but believe me, I have to pack plenty of specialty items. We never leave home without baseball gloves and hundreds of baseball cards, which fit nicely into the cubes too!

Me and My Crew

Here's me and my crew! What better way to spend your working hours than with your kids. These are my two and my sister's three. The 5 cousins have become a team of traveling kiddie researchers. They tell me what they like -- and don't like. I learn from them daily. They are all strong in opinions and will try just about anything (except for broccoli!) They will ride any coaster and explore any shore. Here they were swimming in a coral reef at the Florida Aquarium. Coming face-to-face with a moray eel will humble just about any 6-year-old!

Our First Blog

www.FamilyTravelPlanet.com is officially in business! We are really making progress. Our goal is to simplify family travel and take the hassles out of traveling with kids. As every parent knows, family trips are made much easier with a little planning. But, that isn't always so easy when there are barely enough hours in each day.

Throughout my travels with my two boys, ages 6 and 9, I have found plenty of secrets to staying organized and keeping the kids happy. Travel days are actually our best days. I am so excited to share them with a global audience of moms and dads. Welcome to our world! I am looking forward to sharing this journey with you and yours.

My new Affiliate Relations Manager, Deb K., has been burning the midnight oil setting up some great links and programs that will make it really easy for you to navigate our site.

My kids know that since mommy has to document the family trips, they do too. They have become wonderful writers because I have taught them how to keep kids' travel journals. I am working with a wonderful Children's Travel Store, which you can easily access from www.FamilyTravelPlanet.com. Under the "What to Bring" section, you can find all of my recommendations to what to pack in your bag of tricks, including the journal, which I like to save as a souvenir keepsake. It's fun for the kids to go back later and read what they wrote about the trip. They will surprise you, as they scribble down the things that stuck out to them.

The reason I chose to work with this particular travel toy store is that we share a philosophy about what kids should do to fill their down-time. They shouldn't be tuned out with high-tech toys. Their motto: "It's not the Destination, It's the Journey!" really hit home with me. It's about writing stories and making crafts and finding useful ways to spend the hours spent on planes, trains, cars and cruise ships.

"My Favorite Things" section will give you useful travel links and really helpful things to get you organized for packing. I will show you how to get the maximum amount of clothes in the minimum amount of space. I am literally "hands-free" at the airport. You will be too after you see my article titled, "The Art of Packing Light." I hope it inspires you!

My friend visited me from Los Angeles with her family packed in the neatest packing system I have ever seen! It sparked my interest in challenging myself to be as organized as she was. Plus, friends are very competitive. Let's face it, I wasn't going to let my kids see that I wasn't as neat as another mom! (Just kidding!) I didn't think there was any way that I could be as organized. And, now I am an expert family packer....Who knew????

So, come along on this crazy adventure. The Michaels Family will be traveling the globe and sharing our travel tips. I will keep adding content the more places we go.

I am planning a trip to Orlando's Universal Studios for this month. My extended family is spending Thanksgiving out of town, so we figured we would hit the road ourselves and try to navigate Orlando during the holiday rush. I am sure I'll have lots of tips upon my return!

Like I've said in the past, our journey is just beginning....