Weekends away, school breaks or summer excursions abroad — traveling with kids takes planning.
The Family Travel Forum is a website that offers tips and first-hand examples of travel with children written by parents and kids.
The site encourages families to think ahead — like reviewing maps in weeks leading up to the trip.
By planning ahead to discover the sites and events that the destination has to offer, families can engage their older children in the research and encourage them to select some of the families’ excursions. This is one of the great tips on the Family Travel Forum website.
Some other tips include confirming — in advance — the travel budget, the distance you’re willing to travel, and the mode of transportation that will be used. On the day of your departure, be sure to pack plenty of snacks and quiet activities in a small bag or carry-on luggage to keep the children entertained during the travel to your destination.
Another great idea encouraged by the Family Travel Forum is to have children write and document their travel experiences in a journal or via a blog.
These activities will promote literacy and other artistic skills (i.e., photography, drawing, etc.), which will not only help with your child’s development and growth, but could also earn them scholarship money for their education or future travel.
Family Travel Forum, the Society of Travel Writers, the New York Travel Writers Association and New York State’s Tourism Board (through the effective “I LOVE NEW YORK” travel campaign) have partnered for the past eight years to award grants and travel gifts to teen writers and bloggers ages 13 to 18. Thus, by encouraging your budding travel writer or photojournalist during you next family trip, it is possible that they could fund their own excursions in the future.
To get more information about the scholarship, Family Travel Forum, and traveling with children, I interviewed Fran Falkin, an editor for the website:
Shnieka Johnson: Why is it important to encourage kids and teens to document and write about travel experiences?
Fran Falkin: At Family Travel Forum we feel that documenting travel experiences contributes to overall literacy, and that as kids and teens enjoy sharing their experiences, this is both a fun and educational activity.
SJ: Is there a way to introduce writing and documentation at a younger age?
FF: Absolutely. Little ones can draw pictures in a travel journal and also dictate some words for a parent or older sibling to add, or they can make a collage of images from travel brochures or pictures printed from the internet.
SJ: Can this be done for trips both big and small? Even in “stay-cations?”
FF: Sure. It’s great for kids to connect with their own backyard. Last year’s scholarship topic asked teens to write about why people should visit their hometowns, and we received a lot of great pieces.
SJ: What do you suggest to parents that want their kids and teens to write more?
FF: Kids really model their parents’ behavior, even when you think they’re ignoring you! Start your own family journal and give every child their own space to write on pages that you begin. You can start by noting that day’s activities, or your itinerary and hotel name if you’re on vacation. If kids only want to paste in their cut-out pictures, add postcards, ticket stubs, or other travel souvenirs, encourage them to add a caption explaining why that item is important to them. Soon you’ll have a big scrapbook that everyone will enjoy looking at. If your family is more comfortable typing, start an online blog together using a free service like blogger.com
SJ: Does technology play an important role? Or is a travel journal a sufficient start for young writers?
FF: Technology plays an important role in everything today. Teens love to tweet and share their pictures on Instagram, where they can write long captions. But, for story writing, the “travel journal” can be the old-fashioned bound notebook, or a tablet computer — whatever works for your teen.
SJ: Is there a larger number of teen travel writers and bloggers?
FF: Each year we receive several thousand applicants signing up for the scholarship from all 50 states, and most of them have never blogged before.
SJ: Tell me about the scholarship that you offer annually, how did it come to fruition?
FF: Family Travel Forum always encouraged kids to write about their family trips and at one time had a separate website called kidtravels.com. In 2007, we realized that kids, especially teens, would be more likely to participate if there was a chance to win a prize, and so the Family Travel Forum Teen Travel Writing Scholarship was born.
Shnieka Johnson is an education consultant and freelance writer. She is based in Manhattan where she resides with her husband and son. Contact her via her website: www.shniekajohnson.com.
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Now in its eighth year, Family Travel Forum’s merit-based contest is open to students ages 13 to 18 who are enrolled in junior high or high school or being home-schooled. Candidates submit a 600-word essay on any trip they have taken in the past five years along with a photo or video. Family Travel Forum rewards the best posts with scholarship grants or travel prizes.
The top three essays are rewarded with cash (with first place receiving $1,000; second place $500; and third place $250) and 25 honorable-mention winners receive travel gifts. Additionally, there is a prize for Best Video. These prizes are given by Family Travel Forum, along with the Society of American Travel Writers, our partner in this program.
This year, Family Travel Forum is offering two additional scholarships and more prize money with its new sponsors I Love New York and the New York Travel Writers Association, increasing teen travel writers’ chances to win.
Visit myfamilytravels.com/Teen_travel_writing to review the rules, requirements and prizes, and to find a link to the Scholarship Submission Form.
