Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
to pitch tents on rocks (where it's impossible to drive stakes), tent manufacturers de-
veloped a broad range of tents with self-supporting frames that can be erected virtu-
ally anywhere without ropes or stakes. Affordable and sturdy, many are as simple to
put up as opening an umbrella. So, if your child is too young for a room of his or
her own, or you can't afford a second hotel room, try pitching a small tent. Modern
tents are self-contained, with floors and an entrance that can be zipped up (or not) for
privacy but cannot be locked. Kids appreciate having their own space and enjoy the
adventure of being in a tent, even one set up in the corner of a hotel room. Sizes range
from children's play tents with a 2-to 3-foot base to models large enough to sleep two
or three husky teens. Light and compact when stored, a two-adult-size tent in its own
storage bag (called a stuff sack) will take up about one-tenth or less of a standard
overhead bin on a commercial airliner. Another option for infants and toddlers is to
drape a sheet over a portable crib or playpen to make a tent.
“THE BOX”
Bob again:
On one memorable Walt Disney World excursion when
my children were young, we started each morning with an immensely annoying, in-
voluntary scavenger hunt. Invariably, seconds before our scheduled departure to the
theme park, we discovered that some combination of shoes, billfolds, sunglasses, hip
packs, or other necessities were unaccountably missing. For the next 15 minutes we
would root through the room like pigs hunting truffles in an attempt to locate the
absent items. Now I don't know about your kids, but when my kids lost a shoe or
something, they always searched where it was easiest to look, as opposed to where
the lost article was most likely to be. I would be jammed under a bed feeling around,
while my children stood in the middle of the room intently inspecting the ceiling. As
my friends will tell you, I'm as open to a novel theory as the next guy, but we nev-
er did find any shoes on the ceiling. Not once. Anyway, here's what I finally did: I
swung by a liquor store and mooched a big empty box. From then on, every time we
returned to the room, I had the kids deposit shoes, hip packs, and other potentially
wayward items in the box. After that the box was off-limits until the next morning,
when I doled out the contents.
