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Family Resource Links: Genealogy and Travel
Remember-- your family is with you for such a short time. Do fun things together and enjoy every moment with them! |
There are many interesting sites with family-related resources, so this is only a smattering. You'll primarily find things that interest me here--genealogy and family history sites (learning about your own family is a wonderful way to make history come alive!), sites that have useful information for family travel (another educational experience), and more.
Genealogy
Family Search
Genealogy information and a free, downloadable, high-quality genealogy program. Sponsored by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but open to anyone.Cyndi's List
A huge site with over 200,000 genealogy-related links. An amazing resource.Treasure Maps
A homespun site with an excellent free e-newsletter, Pajama Genealogy course, and helpful information.Ancestry
A well-organized commercial site with thousands of searchable family trees.
Travel
If you don't know why there are travel links on an education site, then you haven't done enough traveling! Many of our best family memories have been made on trips we've taken not just the big trips, but even the short weekend jaunts. As homeschoolers, we have the flexibility to travel in off-peak times, taking advantage of lower rates, and often, cooler weather. Traveling offers time together, priceless memories of special places and funny events (we'll never forget our mad dash through Paris --running like rabbits to catch the night train to Italy!), and exposure to other customs and cultures (if you think the United States is a nation of one culture, just travel 500 miles!). You might want to start small, but whatever you do, don't miss the joy of family travel. |
Rick Steves
Our favorite guide for European travel. If you want to plan a practical trip, visit Rick's website, read Europe Through the Back Door and Best of Europe. We loved the small, relatively inexpensive hotels he recommends, as they were right in the heart of the areas we wanted to visit, and within walking or metro distance of everything else. His information on how to get around by train, how to interact with the 'natives,' and how to make the most of limited time in a museum (see his Mona Winks guide) were immensely helpful to us on our Europe trip.
Our Log
Our personal journal, in message board format, of our 2002 trip to Europe. Includes packing tips.
Literary Traveler
A unique site that offers photos, essays, literary tours, and a free newsletter, all themed around authors. You can read about Walden's Pond, Beatrix Potter's Lake District, or Stevenson's Samoa. The site is indexed by author or place, so you can use it to add visual context to an author's work, or to see what authors have written about a place you plan to travel.
Cultural Travels
Another interesting site for planning a themed trip. I would still rely on Rick Steves for the bulk of my planning, but this is interesting and useful. The travel stories are usually very informative.
Map Quest
If you need a map or driving directions, this is an excellent site. The driving directions are overly detailed (telling you how many feet to travel on a curving road before starting to bear right or left, for example), but if you cross off all the excess, the directions are basically sound. See also Google Maps.
AAA
Join AAA for maps, Tour Books, roadside assistance, and TripTiks for car travel in North America. They offer a lot of information, and if you drive old clunkers as we do, you'll be thankful for the free towing feature. This is not the place to go for cheap airfares, though!
Expedia http://www.expedia.com
Cheap Tickets http://www.cheaptickets.com
Orbitz http://www.orbitz.com/
Travelocity http://www.travelocity.com
Hotwire http://www.hotwire.com
Travel Hub http://www.travelhub.com
Great Travel Deals http://www.onetravel.com
Priceline http://www.priceline.com
All these are sites where you can shop for cheap airfare, hotel reservations, and car rentals. Frankly, I often get the best results from going to individual airline, hotel, or car rental sites and choosing the ?lowest available? rates.Vacation Rentals by Owner
If you?d like to rent a cabin in the mountains or a cottage by the beach, this is a useful site. Owners of short-term rental properties can list here, and there are listings from all over the U.S. as well as around the world.
Romantic Weekend Getaways
This site offers a searchable selection of romantic bed and breakfast inns across the U.S. There are some very nice listings here, many with photos and links to individual websites.
Untours
If you'd like to spend a couple of weeks in an apartment in a wonderful place like Paris, check out what Untours offers. We haven?t tried them, but they are mentioned very positively on many travel websites. Their free newsletter is well worth signing up for, as the photos and stories are perfect for armchair traveling.
Casa Tranquilla
Spend a week or two in the tranquil Umbrian region of Italy. This American-owned villa has three available apartments (the Lodge, the Lower Farmhouse, and the Studio), accommodating 2-6 people, and offers a pool and beautiful views. About 1-1/2 hours to Florence, 2-1/4 hours to Rome, and 1 hour to Assisi.