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Quick Stop in Santa Cruz
After hiking at Big Basin Saturday, we needed to find another less winding route home since my son had gotten sick that morning. Looking at the map we realized it would only add about 25 minutes to our whole trip if we stopped in Santa Cruz. So we headed to the wharf, completely unprepared for…
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40 Children’s Books to Inspire a Love of Travel
To me a good book to inspire wanderlust or spark a love of travel should either paint pictures of far off places, fascinating cultures, or simply plant the seed that the world is a huge place and we can travel it with our imagination as well as our feet. My age ranges are approximate,…
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Hikes and Rambles: Big Basin Redwoods State Park
Saturday morning we woke up and decided we wanted to see waterfalls. Big Basin was only 1 hour 15 minutes away, but through such windy mountain roads that my son actually got sick. We paid $10 for the car and received trail advice from the ranger before setting off on the 4.5 mile loop that…
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10 Things to Expect from a Wedding in India
A few years ago Chris and I had the supreme honor of being invited to a friend’s wedding in India. The pictures I took are not great and they all look a little blurry, but it was an incredible experience and absolutely worth the long flight (while pregnant and super sick). Weddings will differ significantly by region,…
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Hearst Castle (San Simeon)
William Randolf Hearst is known as the newspaper tycoon who was one of the founders of sensational journalism that was the early predecessor of modern “click bait” titles. Hearst built on his father’s mining fortune with newspapers, films, a tour in Congress, and his corporation is still alive and well today (holdings include just about any…
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Camping with Kids: Morro Bay
Before children camping involved a lot of sitting around the camp fire, hiking through the woods, and generally relaxing and communing with nature. Sure we never slept particularly well in a tent outdoors, but we went to bed earlier then usual and that made up for it. After children camping involves a lot of chasing…
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Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery
This weekend we camped at Morro Bay, visited Hearst Castle, and decided at the last minute to take a short detour to see the elephant seal cubs in San Simeon right off highway 1. From Hearst Castle it was only 4.5 miles down the road to a large parking lot and observation deck overlooking the…
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Hikes and Rambles: Pearson-Arastradero Preserve (Palo Alto)
We are always on the look out for close, easy walking trails that I can walk with the kids during the week. The Pearson-Arastradero Preserve has over 10 miles of trails, but we just walked .4 of them up to the Arastradero Lake and then back. The trail we covered was a mixed use trail…
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Upcoming Cultural Celebrations in Silicon Valley
In yesterday’s post I wrote about ways to help encourage our children to be great travelers, even when we aren’t traveling ourselves. The one on the list that I’ve been least committed to was attending local cultural celebrations and I set myself the goal of making a list and marking my calendar for some upcoming…
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5 Ways to Raise Great Travelers, without leaving home!
This is something I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about. Of course, actually traveling with your children is the best way to raise little travelers, but money and vacation days are scarce, and we want to make sure we are properly preparing them for both the trips we take as a family and the…
Magnets From Everywhere
Dreaming, planning, inspiring family travel. Starting here, starting now.
Magnets From Everywhere 