Travel with kids can be a joy, but getting there can be a nightmare. Now, a company called Little Jet Set has a solution to the problem. Check out these reasonably priced, fun and educational travel toys:

Are We There Yet? Travel Game - Take to the streets with this travel version of the ever popular "Eye Spy" game. Each player receives 5 cards which describe something or someone in one of the following categories: Objects, People & Animals, Signs, Vehicles, Safety and Shortcut. The player to accumulate the most travel cards by sighting the most items on the cards wins. Are We There Yet? keeps fidgety travelers of all ages occupied and amused. And for a change, your kids might actually see something other than the screen of their portable DVD player or handheld video game during their travels. The game comes with 216 double sided cards in three languages for 2 or more players. It's great for kids ages 6 and up or even ages 3 and up, with reading assistance of an older child or parent. Suggested retail $7.65

Map of the USA Sticker Play Set Scene - Children can take their characters and travel across the country, take a canoe ride up a river or simply match the state name stickers with the corresponding state shape on the board. Play scene is not only portable fun for children, it's educational too! There are over 50 reusable vinyl stickers to choose from and it includes a sticker board with handle. Perfect for ages 3 and up. Suggested retail: $12.00.

These toys allow your kids to have fun, and you to maintain your sanity!

As airlines begin to make costly changes to checked baggage policies, one Florida destination is offering travelers some welcome relief. Amelia Island, located off the northeastern-most coast of Florida, has created a new "Pack Your Bags for Amelia Island" program that includes a room credit up to $80 for checked baggage fees* charged to guests by the airlines. The "Pack Your Bags" program is being offered at several of the island's hotels, resorts and bed-and-breakfast inns, and is available through September 30, 2008 on stays of three or more nights at the participating hotels.

Hotels participating in the "Pack Your Bags" program include:

1875 Florida House Inn (800) 258-3301
The oldest surviving hotel in the state, the Florida House Inn opened in 1857 as a hotel. With 22 rooms, the historic bed and breakfast is located in the heart of downtown Fernandina Beach. Offering scooter rentals and an on-site restaurant, the Florida House Inn provides a relaxing setting for guests to experience the Island.

Amelia Hotel at the Beach (877) 263-5428
The 90-room Amelia Hotel at the Beach is just minutes from the historic downtown Fernandina area and across the street from the island's famous beaches. Guest amenities include complimentary continental breakfast, free wireless internet, microwave, and mini-fridge.

Ash Street Inn (800) 277-6660
The Ash Street Inn is a contemporary, sophisticated bed and breakfast located in the historic district of downtown Fernandina Beach, with fresh-baked cookies and lemonade daily, in-room hot tubs, wireless internet, and in-house massages, plus complimentary bicycles, movies, and much more.

Amelia Island Williams House (800) 414-9258
With its crystal chandeliers and beautiful antiques, the 10-room Amelia Island Williams House bed and breakfast treats guests to the historical and elegant ambiance of an Old Florida era. Guests can enjoy a Victorian Tea on the second Wednesday of each month.

Hampton Inn & Suites (904) 491-4911
Within walking distance of the Historic downtown Fernandina Beach area, 25 restaurants and 60 specialty shops, the 122-room boutique Hampton Inn & Suites offers guests an upscale experience in beautifully decorated guest rooms and suites. With a second story pool and concierge desk, guests receive dazzling service at a value rate.

For more information, visit the Amelia Island Website.

During the winter, I work as a skier surveyor for Copper Mountain. There's a question on my survey that asks you to agree or disagree with the following statement: "I insist on planning every single detail of my vacation!" The question always makes me laugh. Quite often, I can actually predict what the person's answer will be.

The thing is, sometimes the most exciting things happen by accident! Dave Fox, author of Getting Lost, Mishaps of an Accidental Nomad
would be inclined to agree. Here's a blurb from the back cover:

When you travel, things go wrong." That might not sound like uplifting advice, but in this hilarious collection of stories about mishaps in faraway places, award winning humorist Dave Fox proves otherwise.

At age eight, Dave moves to England and nearly starts a riot in Northern Africa. As a nerdy teenager, he smuggles illegal radio equipment into Finland on his way to spending a year in Norway. In his college days, he discovers it is not wise to seek inner peace inside an Icelandic volcano, narrowly misses being stripped, gassed, and robbed (at least in his own head) on an overnight train through Italy, and finds himself surrounded by machine-gun-toting cops in Greece. A few years later, he does something exceptionally reckless. He becomes a professional tour guide.

Getting Lost: Mishaps of an Accidental Nomad spans 30 years of adventures and misadventures overseas, from Dave's year as a British school boy, to his teenage days as a foreign exchange student, to his so-called "adult life" as a professional traveler. He weaves together tales both poignant and amusing in this memoir of a travel-obsessed geek.

If you're an aspiring travel scribe, you might be interested in taking Dave Fox's Travel Journaling Cruise in March of 2009. You'll visit Brazil. Morocco and other exciting destinations while you learn the secrets of effective travel writing. Prices start at under $3,000, and include round trip airfare to Rio and home from Barcelona, Brazilian visa (which costs $100) some meals and the writing course. If you are traveling with someone who is not taking the course, they can receive a $200 discount.

You review every trip you've ever made on TripAdvisor. When you read travel article, you always think, "Heck, I'm better!" Here's your chance to show your stuff and gain notoriety outside of Cyberspace! Facebook has created a new interactive travel site, which might eventually get you published in hard copy. Both professional and amateur writers are invited to submit travel stories that will be published in a hard copy book.

Here's how it works. If you don't have a Facebook account, set one up.
Then, go to www.igoiwrite.com It will bring you to the writer application on your Facebook page. Add the application, and then start writing travel stories for any of these categories:

Beach Lowdown: Stories related to your favorite sandy spots around the world. For e.g.
* Hidden hotspots
* Personal adventures and humorous characters met along the way
* Best bartender, local eats, or hole-in-the-wall restaurants
* Best off-the-beaten-path destinations

- European Adventure: Stories from your latest Europe trip. For e.g.
* Backpacking and hostelling info, tips, and tidbits
* Ideas for student and budget travelers
* Personal adventures and humorous characters met along the way
* Places to lay your head

- Road Trip: Can include personal stories, out of the way locations, and humorous characters that you met along the way. The stories can take place anywhere in the world, they simply involve a means of transportation and the motivation to explore what's around the next turn. For e.g.
* You wouldn't believe what happened on my trip
* I found this hidden place; you have to check it out
* Notes from the road, a play-by-play
* Road warrior tips

Do your best! Other members will be voting on your submissions. Those with the highest rating will be published in the travel book! Good luck, and let us know about your submissions.

In the heat of the summer, many people fantasize about spending a few days on the shore. The fantasy usually comes to an abrupt halt when one considers the price of gas. Now, the owners of the 12 Historic Inns of Spring Lake New Jersey are making you an offer you can't refuse. From July 15 to December 15, book a three-night midweek stay, and receive a $50 credit towards
either New Jersey Transit Train or Academy Bus from Port Authority.

AS SEEN IN - CRAIN'S NEW YORK BUSINESS

October 2007 - by Louise Kramer

"Low key by the sea...is the vibe at Spring Lake, NJ. Take in the fresh salt air along this quaint spot's two-mile boardwalk, which is remarkably free of the taffy shops and souvenir emporiums that are so common in other towns "down the shore". Getting there on New Jersey Transit takes just an hour and 15 minutes from Penn Station .Filled with Victorian-era inns and bed and breakfasts, Spring Lake provides a cozy spot for quiet pleasures like cycling - most hotels offer bikes gratis - or reading a book in a wicker rocker on the porch. The leaves will soon be turning on the tree-lined streets, and if the ocean isn't enough, there is indeed a lake in the center of town complete with foot bridges and edged with weeping willows".

For Reservations and Inn Rates: (732)859-1465

In case you haven't noticed, I'm a strong advocate of frequent hotel and frequent flyer programs. How else could I afford to hop the globe so frequently? That said, many people find it difficult to adhere to a frequent hotel program. Either the rates of the given hotels are too expensive, or the hotel chain lacks a sufficient number of properties in the desired destination.

Now, Hotels.com has an ideal solution. It's called the Welcome Rewards Program. All you need to do is book a hotel on hotels.com ten times a year. After your 10th stay, you get one night free! There are no restrictions or blackout dates. The only caveat: Your room must be more than $40 a night, which in this economy, is no challenge.

Go for it!