Insider Travel

Navigating Airport Security With Children



Over the last several years, airport security measures have changed quite a bit. If you haven’t flown in a while, there are a few things you should know.

Strollers, car seats, toys and all other objects must go through the security X ray machine. Fold your stroller and make sure to remove small toys or other items from storage pockets before putting it on the conveyer belt. Put them in the plastic bins provided This way nothing gets lost. Make sure to warn your child about the process and reassure them you will get your items back.

Never put your car seat through the metal detector with your child still in it

When going through the walk through metal detector, you will probably need to remove your baby from sling or baby carrier so the baby carrier can be inspected.

Instruct your children to empty their pockets before going through the metal detector, also remind them that the security check point is not the place for games or loud, boisterous behavior.

Have your older child go through the metal detector in front of you so that you can keep visual contact with her/him. Carry younger children.

You are not allowed to pass your child to anyone else while you are going through the metal detector.

If the metal detector goes off and you are carrying your child, both you and the child will further examined by security. You will probably be asked to remove your shoes and they may scan you and your child with a wand.

Never hand your child to the security guard to hold.

If traveling with a baby or toddler, you are able to carry breast milk or formula in your carry on bag.

You can request a private security screening if you are traveling with more than one child, or if your child has a disability and requires special care.

Wolf Bluff Castle



If you are traveling in Canada near Vancouver, be sure to visit Cortes Island. The island boasts a number of attractions, but none is as unusual as Wolf Bluff Castle.

Wolf Bluff is not your average castle. It is new enough that its age is measured in years, not decades or centuries. It is not crumbling or falling down—probably because it is made of cinder blocks. You can even meet the man who built it.

Karl Triller, owner and builder of Wolf Bluff Castle (known locally as King Karl’s Kastle), grew up in Hungary dreaming of castles. When he moved to Cortes Island, he decided to make his dream a reality. When Karl was building the castle wolves were abundant on the island, hence the name.

Karl designed and built the five-story, triple-turreted, eight-bedroom castle from the ground up. He even made all 13,000 cement blocks used to construct the castle and spent 12 years completing it.

In the past, Wolf Bluff Castle was a bed and breakfast, but age has forced Karl, a former professional chef, to stop preparing and serving guest meals. The castle’s modern full-service kitchen is available for self-catering during longer stays. It is also a base of operations for caterers serving events in the dining hall, a room with space to seat up to one hundred people.

What castle is complete without a dungeon? Karl’s dungeon is also a torture chamber and features homemade dummies in various states of torment with placards announcing their sins.

Karl himself, who does not charge admission but does ask for a donation, leads castle tours. Do you want to relive that childhood fantasy of being lord of all you survey or a damsel in a tower? It can happen – talk to Karl about staying the night in Cortes Island’s Wolf Bluff Castle.

Ride the Rails



Travel in western Canada can be adventurous, romantic, and fun. All you have to do is take the train. VIA Rail, Canada’s federal Crown corporation railway system, offers several routes to travelers who want to see Canada without having to drive through it.

The Canadian is the western transcontinental train, a three-day journey from Toronto to Vancouver with stops along the way in Winnipeg, Jasper, and Edmonton, among others. Truly adventurous travelers who want to plan their own vacation can even request special stops anywhere between Sudbury Junction and Winnipeg, a service the rail line touts to outdoor enthusiasts.

The Skeena takes riders for a breathtaking trip along the Canadian Rockies and out to the Pacific, traveling from Jasper to Prince Rupert in British Columbia with an overnight stop in Prince George. Be warned, though, the Skeena does not have sleeping cars and passengers need to take care of their own accommodation needs in Prince George.

The Malahat is a four and half hour trip up or down Vancouver Island, from Victoria at the south end to Courtenay in the north central part of the island. Malahat only offers one class of rail travel, the comfort class, but this fare includes the unique privilege of getting on and off the train as many times as you want from one end of the line to the other. The train departs once daily from each end of the line and, at C$28 is a great bargain for the budget-minded traveler.

In 2007 VIA Rail added the winter-only Snow Train Express from Edmonton to Jasper, departing Friday and returning on Sunday—perfect for a weekend ski getaway. Since this is a new route, and a seasonal one, check in advance to see if this service is still available before making your plans.

Underneath It All



The weather is a harsh mistress in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The natives have fought back by establishing a modern wonder, Montreal’s Underground City. The underground, as the locals call it, is a remarkable pedestrian network of train stations, shops, hotels, restaurants, museums, and more, under downtown Montreal.

The underground city got its start in 1962 with the building of the Place Ville-Marie office tower and underground shopping mall. That first mall connected to Central Station (subway) and the Queen Elizabeth Hotel via tunnels. Since then the underground has grown to more than twenty-two miles of pedestrian walkways.

Residents of Montreal are extremely proud of their “inside city” (not all of it is underground), the largest underground complex in the world. There are more than 150 access points to the subterranean city and more than 60% of the businesses in downtown connect to the underground. Over 500,000 people traverse the belowground pedestrian walkways and subways of Montreal each day. Several residential towers connect to the underground as well, allowing some locals to go from home to work to play without ever going outside.

Some of the most stunning features of the underground complex are the subway stations. Each station is, literally, a work of art. When the subway was built 1% of the budget for each station was devoted to procuring and displaying art in the underground. A different architect designed each station in a different style and no two stations are the same.

A number of well-known tourist spots in Montreal are accessible from the underground city. Things to check out without going out include Olympic Park and the Olympic Centre (built for the 1976 Olympics); the Place des Artes, home to the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art (Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal); and Molson Centre, home of Montreal’s hockey team, the Canadiens.

Titanic & Halifax



The story of the doomed ocean liner Titanic has captured the imagination of people all over the world since the day it sank. Halifax, in Nova Scotia, Canada is a largely unknown part of Titanic history.

After the Titanic sank, the White Star Line chartered four ships from Canada to search for survivors. Two of them, the MacKay-Bennett and the Minia, were from Halifax.

Of the 328 bodies recovered from the disaster site, 119 were so badly damaged or deteriorated they were buried at sea. The remaining 209 were brought to Halifax for identification, where possible. 150 of those people were buried in one of three Halifax cemeteries, based on religion (Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish), giving Halifax one of the largest concentrations of Titanic passenger burials in the world.

The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax houses the largest collection of wooden Titanic artifacts in the world in their permanent exhibit, Titanic: The unsinkable ship and Halifax, which opened in 1998.

One of the centerpieces of the collection is a wooden deck chair, one of the only intact ones in the world known to match those in photos of the ship. A grandchild of Reverend Henry W. Cunningham gave the chair to the museum. Reverend Cunningham received the chair in recognition for his services in conducting many of the sea burials for Titanic victims.

One of the most moving items on display is the log of wireless operator Robert Hunston, from Cape Race, Newfoundland. It is a condensed log of all the distress calls from the ocean liner the night it sank. Reading the log brings home the reality of the disaster and the amazingly short time in which it occurred.

For more information on Halifax’s role in the Titanic aftermath, visit the city’s Titanic web page at http://www.halifax.ca/history/titanicmain.html.



Textbooks can only paint a static picture of the world, devoid of the beauty and emotions that accompany experience of the places most people only hear about. Adventure Alaska Canada travel allows adventurers to visit exotic arctic locales where few would even think about having their ideal vacation. From the herds of elk roaming great plains to kayaking among enormous glaciers, an adventure travel is the remedy for every life spent behind a desk.



You want to have some fun with your vacation but do you have any idea where you want to go? There are so many choices to consider – an adventure cruise, Europe luxury travel or even an African safari! When it comes to planning vacations, your best option would be to write down all of the places you have ever wanted to go first. Then, go back through that list and briefly write about why you want to vacation there. Once you have completed that brainstorming task, rank the places in the order of most importance. This little exercise should give you an idea of whether you want that adventure cruise, Europe luxury travel or any place else.

Let Budget Be Your Guide

While you can plan your dream vacation, it is your budget that will dictate the reality of your vacation situation. Unfortunately, money is at the root of all planning practical matters so you have to take that into consideration and decide if you can afford that adventure cruise, Europe luxury travel or any other place that is on your “dream” list.

Luckily, there are a plethora of options that await you whether you can only afford a domestic adventure cruise or an overseas European excursion. Keep in mind any travel to and from your destination, food expenses, souvenirs and unexpected costs such as a trip to the local doctor. Once your budget is set, it’s time for comparing price tags for the vacations on your list.

Vacation Options Galore!

The word adventure has never been open to so much interpretation! One person’s definition of adventure might be your definition of casual. There are all sorts of cruising adventures from kayaking along the Alaskan coast to riding the rapids to cruising down the Amazon River. Luxury also has some different connotations such as being waited on hand and foot, the best four star restaurants or even fancy accommodations. An adventure cruise, Europe luxury travel or any other type of travel is definitely a matter of perspective.

If you go with the adventure cruise vs. Europe luxury travel, you should be aware of the different cruise options there are available. For instance, you could choose an Egyptian cruise down the Nile with side trips to various pyramids or an eco-tour down the Amazon River with rain forest excursions might be more along the lines of what you are looking for. Adventure cruises vary wildly so deciding the type of adventure you have is part of the vacation planning process.

Europe luxury travel vs. adventure cruises on the other hand is a little clearer. Almost any European destination will have luxury options from the five star hotels to the mode of transportation. The hard part of planning any luxury travel to Europe is deciding your destinations.

Get Some Help

Planning your destinations for an adventure cruise, Europe luxury travel and beyond is the easy part. The hard part is executing that plan. For the more complicated scenarios, you might want to consider enlisting the help of a travel agent. If you are a travel club member, take advantage of their services or look to your local Chamber of Commerce or Better Business Bureau for reliable travel agents in your area.

Discover child-friendly venues and holidays



childfriendly.co.uk is one of the most useful websites for family holidays. Find information about thousands of family friendly holiday destinations, hotels, pubs, restaurants and places to go worldwide. There are plenty of tips about keeping your kids entertained, there’s even guide to taking your kids to the pub for the first time – make sure you find out what time their child friendly hours end.

Find out which hotels cater to familes and children. Many family hotels will have special family rooms and a number of facilities for your children such as childcare and baby sitters, gardens and play areas. Find out which hotels are close to zoos, beaches and other family fun destinations. Accommodation options range from top luxury hotels to self contained cottages.

You’ll find suggestions for a fun family days out – just search by type of activity, town or county and even holiday parks in Spain and child friendly restaurants can be found on this site so check it out and get out and create some memories this weekend.

From Sea to Shining Sea - Adventures in Alaska



With adventure Alaska Canada travel, adventurers can walk along both the shores of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The Rocky Mountains rise up in the middle, creating endless opportunities for rock climbing and hiking, and naturalists can experience the beauty of elk and polar bears. From the Acadian culture in the east to the Eskimos of the west, vacationers can experience a wealth of culture not found below the 49th parallel. Taste different foods, hear Acadian music, and participate in Eskimo festivals.

Adventure Alaska Canada travel presents plenty of fun and exciting opportunities for adventures. Bicyclists can view hundreds of miles of pristine, untouched lands. Canoes and kayaks can be used in the many rivers found throughout Canada and Alaska, and even camping can be new and exciting miles away from the nearest town. In adventure Alaska Canada travel, the adventures are as fun and varied as the people participating.

Accommodations

A myriad of accommodations exist for every traveler. For little to no money, hundreds of campgrounds dot the landscape for a truly outdoor adventure. For those that have a recreational vehicle and would rather not sleep on the ground, many RV parks are also available. Still, adventure Alaska Canada travel hosts a wide range of traditional lodging, such as bed and breakfast inns, hotels, and wilderness lodges, both running about $100 a night. Yet for a truly intimate adventure, many travelers find themselves renting a cabin all to themselves for a romantic weekend or longer. Even far away from civilization, these cabins generally have the amenities of a hotel, from plumbing and appliances to in some cases wireless Internet and satellite television. Even if the entire family’s along, these cabins are great for keeping everyone entertained.

Adventure Alaska Canada travel is perfect for the desk job worker who just wants a break from a normal day’s work. Still, these adventure vacations are also perfect for honeymoons, intimate affairs far from the hustle and bustle of urban centers, quieter than cruises or beaches, and far more exciting than the average vacation! When planning for a vacation, adventure Alaska Canada travel should be choice number one.



There is probably no other place on this planet that gets so many visitors as does Alaska. The reason is not hard to find given that here you will find grandeur, enough exciting places to see, wonderful inhabitants and the sheer beauty of the place makes wanting to go on adventure Alaska package travel a must for every adventure tourist. In Alaska, you will find everything that you can only imagine of in your dreams is it the awesome fjords, ocean coastlines, rain forests as well as imposing mountains coupled with picture perfect glaciers.

Sheer Size Will Instill A Sense Of Awe In You

Adventure Alaska package travel brings you to a part of America where the wilderness is pristine, wildlife is found aplenty and there is adventure of all kinds coupled with a history that will fascinate you. The cultural is full of multiple inputs and this is best seen in the diverse lifestyles. The mountains are spectacular and the glaciers as well as rivers will overwhelm you as nowhere else. Most of all, the sheer size of Alaska is enough to instill a sense of awe that is what makes taking adventure Alaska package travel tours so very exciting.

Alaska is as big as France, Spain, Italy and England put together and comprises one fifth of the United States, and in this state runs the third longest river in North America, and the peaks rise higher than most others and there are also over four thousand glaciers.

When you opt for an adventure Alaska package travel tour you will get to see the king crabs that are over two and half feet wide and there are even the Brown Bears standing well over twelve feet in height for you to ogle at. If that does not impress you, then how about the sixty pound cabbages grown in the state and the twenty-five pound turnips and the twenty hour daylight hours that are unique to Alaska.

Thus, with so much to offer it should not surprise you that there is great variety as far as different adventure Alaska package travel is concerned and you can choose to take a bear viewing safari, Alaska adventure cruise, go to Redoubt Bay Lodge, and even try out the Alaska & Yukon adventure, to name a few options open to you. With so much to choose from, you will certainly require taking more than one adventure Alaska package travel vacation and will need to come back for more over and over again to get your fill of adventure travel in the wonderful state of Alaska.