Tips & Tricks {Hotel Rewards Programs}

You may read this and think,"Duh." But if you haven't already signed up for hotel rewards programs, do it today.

The offers available include having a full-night paid by points or having a night reduced by points with a much lower out-of-pocket rate. Sometimes there will not be a reduced rate offered, and the only way to get a discount is to pay for the night in full with points.

You do have to book through the hotel's website to use your points towards a night's stay.

Wondering which one to pick? You don't have to choose just one. 

I use Wyndham and Choice Hotels. Depending on where you plan to stay for the night, one chain may not have any hotels in a town and the other might. 

If you travel for work, you should get a rewards card for the hotel chain your company uses most often.

A friend of mine travels throughout the year for work. She has saved up her flight miles and hotel points to take a round-the-world trip each year for the past 8 years. Sometimes twice a year.

While that sounds exciting, I'm hoping to accumulate enough points for a discount on my family vacation.

On our most recent trip, I was able to get 3 nights at reduced cost due to points accumulated from previous stays. 


What are you waiting for? Start banking those points today!

Tips & Tricks {Efficient Packing}

Pinspiration strikes again!

For our trip in December, I needed to get a lot of clothes in a couple of suitcases. I followed my previous tip of packing different suitcases for different places, but I needed a better way to keep up with matching outfits. This time I decided to try rolling shirts and pants together for one neat bundle.

First, I folded the pants in half and laid them on the table. Then I folded the shirts in half and placed them on top of the pants.

Then start rolling the clothes. For our upcoming trip I added socks before starting the roll. I considered adding underwear, but my boys shower at night. Unrolling their clothes each night just to get out clean underwear would make more of a mess.

Last, add rolled clothes to the suitcase. I was able to put 2 rows of clothing, one row for each child. There was still plenty of room for my clothes on top.

When Good Trips Go Bad {Car Sickness}

My 7-year-old was asleep as we drove the twisty road to the top of the mountain where Caesar's Head State Park is located. His older brother chatted with me as we climbed higher and the fog got thicker.

After arriving at the top, my youngest awoke and we all completed a fairly easy 2-mile hike before getting back in the car to head to our next stop. On our way down the mountain, we stopped to check out Bald Rock. Then we were on our way to Poinsett's Bridge.

The roads to Poinsett's Bridge were hilly but not that curvy. Apparently, it was all too much for my 7-year-old. 

As we passed the bridge and I was trying to figure out how to turn around to get back to the parking, I heard this sound that is recognizable to mothers everywhere...a dry heave. And then it happened. Everything a little boy had eaten that day came back up. His brother in the backseat next to him hollers as he throws up again. The second time cleared out what was left of his stomach contents.

So here I am in the middle of no where (there is a gravel parking area but not restroom facilities) in the December cold with a sick child covered all down the front of his coat, pants, and car seat. It took me a minute to gather my thoughts and figure out what to do first.

Thankfully, this was not a tourist hot spot swarming with people. We did see one other family as I was cleaning up the mess. The wife offered me a look of sympathy but I'm not sure she fully understood what I was dealing with. I wouldn't have expected anyone to offer to help me clean up the mess anyways.

The first step was to get a boy out and changed. I dug another outfit out of the suitcase in the back and had his brother stand with his coat open to block the view of anyone who might pull up. I found a plastic bag in the trunk to put the dirty clothes in. 

It was winter and the temps were in the 30s and 40s most days of our trip. We only had one winter coat, so I had to find another jacket.

He still needed to be able to ride in his car seat to get to our hotel 30 minutes away. My dad's pack rat habits paid off that day because in the trunk was a gigantic trash bag ( I call them body bags). It was big enough to wrap the whole car seat so my son could sit in it without getting dirty again.

When we checked into the hotel, I asked the clerk for directions to a car wash and laundromat. She gave excellent directions to both.

At the car wash, I used the power sprayer on the clothes and car seat to get rid of the caked on layers. Then we grabbed supper and spent our night at the laundromat washing clothes.

I was so proud that I survived! But I will pass on having that experience ever again.

Tips & Tricks {Entertainment on Long Car Rides}

We are preparing for our upcoming trip for Spring Break which means planning for a long car ride. Getting flights for 3 people is not really in the budget, so driving is the best option for us.

My boys love their tablets. But I'm not going to let them stare at a screen for 10 hours straight. So what's a mom to do to entertain her kids on a long drive?

Here are some of my favorite ideas from Pinterest I have used before:

1. Activity sheets

You can find lots of free printables on a variety of subjects. I like to print a map of the states we are going to drive through and highlight the route we will take. This is a way for my boys to follow along and see where we are and how far we have left to go.

I also like to print activity sheets related to where we are going. You can find word searches and puzzles for states, seasons, Disney, and many more. There are also travel bingo and scavenger hunts you can do from the car.

2. Surprise packages

This ties in with the map. I wrapped each package in brown paper (I found it for $2 at Dollar General) with a note on the outside that says, "Do not open until (fill in the name of a town)." This way my boys could follow along the map and have something to look forward to.

3. Stops along the way

Depending on how far we need to drive in a day, this can be challenging. We always need to stop for gas, restroom breaks, or food. I try to pick a unique place to stop along the way which is how I usually find hidden gems. If our stop is limited to getting food, I try to let the kids pick where we eat.

Tips & Tricks {Different Suitcases for Different Places}

Our last trip included spending the night in four different locations: two nights at Stop A, two nights at Stop B, three nights at Stop C, and one night at Stop D.

I knew from our experience the year before that everyone dragging out a suitcase at every stop was a big pain. This year I decided to pack one suitcase for each of the first three stops. Another suitcase was carried into every stop and contained pajamas, toothbrushes, and a spare change of clothes for everyone.

A pic of my packing set-up (please pardon the mess!)

When we reached Stop C at a cabin, I was able to wash some laundry. This gave me a head start on the dirty clothes that would be waiting once we returned home. Doing laundry also gave us something to wear for the last leg of our journey, which I repacked in the suitcase from our first stop. 

With only two suitcases for stops A, B, and D, it was much easier getting in and out of the hotel. Each of my boys could pull a suitcase while I carried the bag of food, bag of activities, and cooler.

Hidden Gems {Finding a Hidden Gem}

We all plan vacations that hit the hot spots in a certain town. If you visit New York City, you have to see the Statue of Liberty. In St. Louis, it's the Gateway Arch. In San Francisco, it's the Golden Gate Bridge. Lots of large cities have those go-to sites that everyone should try to see once in their life.

Then there are the hidden gems. It might be a site in a city, a pretty main street, or an entire town. You may stumble across them while stopping for a break in your long drive. Maybe they were discovered and recommended to you by a friend.

There's something about finding a hidden gem. You almost want to keep it to yourself so that it doesn't become overrun with tourists. At the same time, you want to share so other people can enjoy it.

I will be sharing a couple of hidden gems I've found and hope you'll recommend some as well.

When Good Trips Go Bad {Pack a First Aid Kit}

On our last trip, most of the time it was just me and my two boys. Things were going well! Maybe too well. 

We'd survived the first leg of our journey. I had jostled my memory and managed to navigate the streets of Atlanta safely and successfully. Now we were off for adventures in uncharted lands. 

OK, I had a Google map printout with directions to where we were heading and GPS on my phone, but it was new to us.

We had stopped to see the scenic view at Bald Rock as we were leaving Casear's Head State Park in South Carolina. The rock was damp from fog and mist. Surprisingly, my boys' still had energy to burn and were running around. 

I had warned them to stay away from the edge, so they went running back up the hill while ignoring my request to stop running. 

Then it happened.

My youngest fell down. He didn't tear a hole in his pants, but the fall hurt enough that he felt he needed to show me his knee. So, scraping a knee isn't earth-shattering but it is a reminder that it's a good idea to pack a first aid kit.

When we returned to the car 5 minutes later, he showed me his knee. It had started to bleed a little. I tossed our first aid kit in the back seat and told him to put on some Neosporin and a band-aid.

The first aid kit had been a project for 4-H for the State Fair. It taught my boys about being prepared and came in handy on our trip. 

What should you include in your first aid kit? Ours was a small one, so we were limited to essentials. Here are some suggestions:

• Band-aids
• 1-inch-wide roll of medical tape
• 4" x 4" medical bandages
• Tum or Rolaids
• Pepto Bismal
• Small bottle or sample-size ibuprofen and acetamenophin
• Neosporin
• Anti-itch cream
• Plastic gloves 

If there is something specific that your family needs, then be sure to include it. What additions would you make?

Welcome Aboard!

Join me on my travels as Mom Solo (my boys are big Star Wars fans, so I told them I was better than Hans)! 

I'm a single mom raising two boys, working full-time, and going to grad school. I'll share my best tips and tricks for traveling solo on adventures across the United States. Traveling as the only parent isn't easy, but my boys are worth it!