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ITA Matrix – Favorite Way to Find Cheap Airline Tickets

Airfare is one of the biggest expenses for travel. However there’s a powerful tool for finding cheap airline tickets. It’s called Matrix, and today I’m going to show you how to use it to find the best airfares.Use ITA Matrix to find cheap airline tickets

Background

ITA Matrix is owned by Google and serves as the software behind Google’s Flight Search engine. It also powers the app OnTheFly, which has been discontinued. There’s more to its history if you’re interested, but that will serve for our purposes.

Find Cheap Airline Tickets

ITA Matrix is fairly intuitive. You can select one-way, round trip, or multi-city itineraries. Enter the city or airport code, dates, and number of passengers and ITA Matrix will generate a list of available flights.

ITA Matrix search results

You can filter results by departure time, arrival time, flight duration, number of stops, and a host of other factors. You can also filter by airline.

Taking it to the next level – advanced routing codes

One of the most powerful features of ITA Matrix is the ability to use advanced routing codes. You can find the full list here. These routing codes allow you to:

  • Include only flights operated by specific airlines
  • Include only a particular alliance (Star Alliance, One World, Sky Team)
  • Search for flights with a layover in a specific airport
  • Avoid a specific airport

For example, using the code “F ~AA” (without the quotation marks) will search for routes with exactly two flights and exclude routes where the second flight is on American Airlines.

One caution, you cannot purchase airline tickets directly from ITA Matrix. It will give you a booking code, however, that you can give to a travel agent to book your tickets.

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Snow Days in Minnesota

Temperature is relative. As our plane descended into through the morning sky into Minneapolis, the pilot announced that the local temperature was a “brisk” 28° Fahrenheit. Actually, he didn’t even say the word Fahrenheit. In the United States, it’s assumed that of course you don’t mean Celsius. Why? Because ‘Merica, that’s why.

I was not focused on the Americentric selection of a particular temperature scale (invented by a European, incidentally). I was more focused on the absolute difference from the temperatures to which I have grown accustomed over the last two years. “Brisk” in Singapore might mean as low as 68° F. Stepping outside the Minneapolis airport felt like being trapped in a meat freezer.

Why was I enduring such a thermal shock? To spend the holidays with family. My sons missed the snow so we decided to come home for the holidays. We

Temperature wasn’t the only adjustment. Catching up with my wife’s old friends, I heard references like “a little town outside of Albert Lea.” Bear in mind that  Albert Lea’s population is a whopping 18,000. Everything outside of the Twin Cities is a small town in Minnesota (residents of Duluth, spare me the corrections). Another difference coming from Singapore, where there are over 20,000 Americans alone. Put another way, more Americans live in Singapore than in Albert Lea.

Despite the temperatures, it was great to spend time with family and one son had a great time playing in the snow and helping to shovel out the driveway. The other son decided that winter is not for him and vowed never to live in snowy climates. Attaboy, son.

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Teenagers and Turtles

Combining a demographic that thrives on distraction with an animal that moves like a snail seems like a recipe for disaster. Teenagers and turtles, without the benefit of a ninja rat? Yet our visit to the Live Turtle and Tortoise Museum in Singapore one rainy afternoon turned out to be a great success.

World record holders

The museum was started in 2001 by Mr. Danny Tan to house his collection of live tortoises and turtles. If you’re wondering how many turtles there are, it’s hard to say. Every source that I’ve consulted had a different total. The simplest answer is – the most in the world. Don’t believe me? They hold the Guinness world record for the largest collection of tortoises and turtles. The museum lies inside the Chinese Garden, a scenic park in the middle of Jurong Lake in Singapore. I read about the museum in Kelvin Ang’s great book, Got Kids, Go Where? and it seemed like a good choice for an outdoor activity with the kids. The weather was overcast but we didn’t let that stop us as we strolled south from the MRT stop and across the bridge.

Entrance to the Chinese Garden is free. Entrance to the museum costs S$5 for adults and S$3 for kids under the age of 6. My youngest was thrilled to be considered an adult for once.  There is the obligatory gift shop co-located with the entrance.

Singapore's turtle museum

Turtle feeding frenzy

This small museum can easily be toured in an hour. You could spend longer, but I would guess the extra time would be spent feeding turtles on the wooden bridge that spans the small pond inside the museum. This is where hundreds of turtles await you. They know that visitors sometimes buy bundles of veggies to feed them (S$2 at the front counter) and they rush the bridge to greet you. Some would say rush is not the right word, but turtles are surprisingly fast in the water. Especially when there’s food to be had. Be careful doling out the veggies though, they won’t distinguish between a leaf and a finger until it’s too late. A few turtles will even amble onto the bridge to get to the front of the line for treats. Although you can feed other turtles and tortoises in the museum, most of the action takes place on the bridge.

Many other species of turtles are housed in individual aquariums along the wall of the compound, such as the funny looking pig-nosed turtle of Australia and the American alligator snapping turtle. Although they’re all reptiles, there are differences between turtles, terrapins, and tortoises.Turtles have webbed feet and spend most of their lives in water. Terrapins split their time between water and land. Tortoises live on land, usually in hot, dry climates, and do not have webbed feet.

Up close with a tortoise

One of the most interesting things to me was how quiet the museum is. Turtles aren’t known for being noisy (except of course the teenage mutant ninja variant). If you weren’t watching your step, you’d trip over a few of the larger tortoises making their way along the path.

Turtles are associated with long life in Chinese culture, which explains why they’re considered lucky. We were lucky to find this little chelonian sanctuary in Singapore. The boys enjoyed feeding them, and I enjoyed getting an up close look at these gentle guys.

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Top Things to do in Chiang Mai

Founded in the 13th century, Chiang Mai was once the capital of the Lan Na Kingdom. It’s the second largest city in Thailand and an obligatory stop on the SE Asia backpacker trail. It’s not hard to see why. Chiang Mai is laid-back, friendly, and easy to fall in love with. It’s often the gateway to the rest of northern Thailand as well. Come for the temples, stay for the food. Below some things to do that are the best in Chiang Mai.

Visit Chiang Mai’s temples

There are hundreds of Buddhist temples in Chiang Mai. If you are passionate about the intricacies of these temples, you could spend days or even weeks wandering through them all. On the other hand, if you are prone to temple burn-out, I suggest picking two or three and then exploring the rest of the city. The most famous temple, Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, is actually outside the city on top of Mount Suthep. Other top picks include Wat Chiang Man, Chiang Mai’s oldest temple, and Wat Chedi Luang.

Chiang Mai

Go rock climbing

Get outside and have a little fun! We went rock climbing with Chiang Mai Rock Climbing Adventures (CMRCA) on Crazy Horse. It was terrific. The guides were great, very patient and knowledgable. Our sons wore themselves out rappelling down into a cave and then climbing up one of the faces of Crazy Horse. The lunch provided by CMRCA was delicious too. I can’t recommend them enough.

Feeding time

See the elephants

The elephant is one of Thailand’s most famous symbols. When you go to Chiang Mai, you’ll undoubtedly be given lots of opportunities to visit an elephant park. Be warned though – some of these parks have a reputation for cruelty. I wrote about our visit to the Elephant Nature Park in November (see here). This park is a sanctuary for wounded and injured elephants. You won’t find any circus performances or riding here. You will find a staff that is dedicated to taking care of their large residents, and a mischievous young elephant or two.

Visit the night markets

I’m of two minds on night markets. If you’ve never experienced the exotic sights and smells of a Southeast Asian night market, don’t miss it for the world. If this scene is very familiar to you, however, you may decide to pass. If you do go, I recommend the Sunday night market within the city walls over the nightly bazaar between the eastern wall and the river.

Eat the food

The food is delicious and cheap. If someone knows only one thing about Chiang Mai, it’s probably that. Northern Thai food differs greatly from the southern regions and Chiang Mai is the perfect place to try some. Khao Soi, a rich and spicy dish of noodles in coconut milk curry, is one of the region’s signature specialties. Larb Kua, a spicy mix of pan-fried meat, innards, and spices, is another favorite.

Travel further

Chiang Mai is the gateway to northern Thailand so don’t just stop at the gate. Journey to Chiang Rai, a quieter town that will make Chiang Mai seem crowded by comparison. Or even further, to the border with Laos. You’ll encounter hill tribes, good food, and a welcome that lives up to Thailand’s nickname, the Land of Smiles.

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Top Museums for Kids

Museums that cater to children are full of interactive displays and manipulatives. There are museums of play, science museums, and children’s museums. But what about museums for the rest of us who happen to be traveling with children? Today’s post gives you 4 options for museums that you will enjoy too. These top museums for kids are destinations in their own right but you’ll want to take an extra day or two and explore the rest of the city as well. There’s plenty to keep kids occupied, plenty for adults to see, and enough history to impress.

Smithsonian – Washington, D.C.

The Smithsonian isn’t one museum but 19, all with free admission. Ranging from the National Zoo to the Air and Space Museum, this complex is known as “the nation’s attic” and holds more than 130 million items in its halls.

Top museums for kids

Terra-cotta warriors in Xi’an

Terra-cotta Warriors – Xi’an, China

Thousands and thousands of stone statues standing in perfect formation, a silent army entombed with their leader. The first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, ruled during the 2nd century B.C. His burial complex near Xi’an is at least a square mile in size, all underground. Artisans crafted an army of terra-cotta warriors for him to lead in the afterlife. This is one sight that doesn’t disappoint.

Edo-Tokyo Museum – Koganei, Japan

The Edo-Tokyo Museum traces the history of Japan from the 16th century to the modern era. There are two portions of the museum. The metropolitan portion in Tokyo houses displays and models depicting life in Japan for the last 400 years. The outdoor portion in Koganei has full-size buildings that you can wander through from each of these periods. Gain a sense of the rich history of this island nation.

Vatican Museums – The Vatican

It’s hard to describe how ancient Rome feels. The name itself denotes centuries of history. There’s a lot to see in the second smallest sovereign state in the world. Saint Peter is buried under the Basilica. A tour of the Vatican museums includes masterpieces from the Renaissance and antiquity. It ends in the Sistine Chapel, famously painted by Michelangelo.

What are your top museums for kids? Share in the comments below.

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Family Travel Prep Tips

Family Travel Prep

Besides buying plane tickets, what do you need to do to prepare your kids for their first trip overseas? In this post, I discuss ways to

  • get them excited about the trip
  • prepare for culture shock
  • catch a sneak preview of your destination

Get excited

Are you excited about the trip? Talk it up with your kids. They can tell if you’re dreading it. If you approach this adventure with the same enthusiasm that you have for a root canal, they will sense it. If that’s your perspective, it’s better not to go. On the other hand, if you’re excited, talk about it. When do you talk about it? Anytime. In the car. At dinner. Shopping for clothes. The key is to weave it into the conversation with open-ended questions. If you’re at dinner, ask, “What do you think we’ll eat when we go to . . .?”

Ask what they’re looking forward to about the trip. Ask what they are concerned about. Find out the answers to their questions. Even better, help them to find the answers themselves.

Culture shock

Culture shock is the disconnect between what you expect and what you experience when entering another culture. We all bring pre-conceived notions into situations. These pre-conceived notions serve as mental shortcuts to help us navigate social interactions and other experiences.

When dealing with another culture, these shortcuts don’t work. It can be as simple as having to look right instead of left before crossing the street because the country has left hand traffic. It can be more complex, like signs and menus in an alphabet that you can’t read. Your brain stares at the sign, expecting it to make sense but it doesn’t. Then frustration sets in.

Culture shock is going to happen. The important thing to realize and to share with your kids is that this is normal. With older kids and teenagers, this can start with a discussion of culture shock like the one above. With younger kids, you’ll have to simplify it a lot.

The gut reaction of a lot of people when they encounter these difficulties is, “why can’t they just do it like we do it at home?” If this comes up, it’s good to remind your family that you are visitors in the foreign country. They do things this way because it works for them. It’s not that one way or the other is correct – they’re just different.

Catch a sneak preview

Want to give everyone a sneak preview of your destination? Most travel guides have suggestions for books to read before your trip for adults. Some have recommendations for kids as well. Incorporate those books into their normal reading so it doesn’t seem like extra work.

Watch a movie about the destination, or a TV show about the place or the local food. There are even a few shows that chronicle family travel adventures, such as Big Crazy Family Adventure. These shows give a sense of the place and usually give a sense of some of the culture shock issues that you’ll encounter as well. This won’t eliminate the disorientation, but it will help set expectations and it will reinforce that it is a normal reaction.

Visit an Ethnic Enclave

In sociology, an ethnic enclave is an area with a high concentration of a particular ethnicity. You’re probably more familiar with the terms Little Italy, Chinatown, or Little India. If you have one of these neighborhoods nearby, take time to visit on a weekend and roam around. You’ll get a small exposure to the sights, sounds, and smells that you’ll encounter on your journey. Depending on the size of the neighborhood, it might be a large exposure. There’s a non-comprehensive list of ethnic enclaves in North American cities on Wikipedia.

Do you have a tip for family travel prep? Share it in the comments below.

Family Travel

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Making the Most of Re-entry with Kids

What is Reverse Culture Shock?

Culture shock is the disorientation you feel when you first experience a new country or place. Similarly, re-entry refers to the period of adjustment that you will experience when you come home. Sometimes this is referred to as reverse culture shock, but I prefer the term re-entry. If you were only gone for a weekend, re-entry probably won’t take much. There will be some jet lag, but your kids will bounce back pretty quickly.

If you’re gone longer, re-entry might be more involved. The longer you’ve been traveling or the more exotic the location, the more they will have changed. They’ve had new experiences and seen new things. Their worldview has expanded. That’s ok – that was part of the point of traveling, right? You should expect a period of adjustment as they move back into their old routines. Disorientation is common. Here are some ways to reinforce what they learned and to help them to re-adjust to home.

Paris

Get back to routine

Routines are important. Your routine was disrupted while you were traveling. Chores weren’t done, bedtimes were adjusted, homework didn’t happen. Now that you’re back home, it’s time to start all of those routines again.

There will be resistance. After all, who wants to go back to chores and homework? This is normal and will subside with a little patience on your part and a little effort on theirs. It helps to set the tone by getting back to your own routines. This will probably happen naturally since you have to go back to work.

Talk about your trip

So what do you do with all the experiences that you had? Talk about them. Discussing it helps to reinforce their memories of the trip. It helps them to make connections from their daily lives to the lives of people that they met on the trip.

You have to be a little sneaky here. Kids won’t respond well to this if it seems formalized. Instead, suggest connections when they occur naturally. Eating dinner with chopsticks might remind everyone of the trip to Tokyo. Seeing an article in the paper might remind you of Spain. Their schoolwork probably includes a session on geography or social studies that will tie in with your trip. When that happens, don’t say, “Remember when . . . ?” That leads to a yes or no answer. Instead, ask, “What do you remember about when we were in . . . ?”

Younger children can bring something to Show and Tell at school like a souvenir that they bought. Older children may choose to write about their experience in an essay for school,  or an article for the school newspaper.

Be ready for random connections

Kids make connections in their brains that adults sometimes don’t. When that happens, ask them to explain. Watching Ferris Bueller’s Day Off recently, my son noticed the painting that Cameron stares at in the Art Institute of Chicago. The painting is A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by George Seurat. It’s a good example of pointillism, a technique that developed from Impressionism. My son exclaimed, “We saw that painting in Paris!”

We haven’t seen that painting because we haven’t been to the Art Institute of Chicago. We have, on the other hand, been to the Museum d’Orsay in Paris, which houses impressionist works by artists like Monet, Manet, and Degas. This connection that he made allowed us to discuss a whole range of topics, like how artists draw inspiration from one another and why some art is in one museum versus another museum.

This conversation only happened because we didn’t default to saying, “no, you’re wrong. We’ve never seen that painting.” Instead we asked, “Why do you say that?” and the conversation got rolling from there.

Temper their expectations

It’s often said that the only thing worse that looking at your old vacation photos is looking at someone else’s. Not everyone wants to hear about your awesome, life-changing travel experience. You probably realize that. Your kids may not. This is another teachable moment. You can help them to not become insufferable travel snobs. Yes, they’ve had a tremendous privilege in being able to travel. Not everyone has that, and not everyone wants that. Every sentence shouldn’t start with, “well, when I was in Argentina this summer . . . ”

How have you handled reverse culture shock or re-entry? Share in the comments below.

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Should You Use a Travel Agent?

In the age of AirBnB and Kayak, some people think travel agents are long gone. Not according to the American Society of Travel Agents, which notes that there are almost 10,000 travel agency firms operating in the U.S. Travel agents still book 85% of cruises and 50% of airline tickets. So should you use a travel agent for your trip? That depends on the type of person you are and the type of trip you’re taking. Here are some factors to consider that might lead you to work with an agent instead of going it alone.

safari lion

Package Deals

Are you booking a travel package? In addition to cruises, travel agents book 70% of all tours and travel packages. They often know about special deals and have access to pricing information that the general public does not. Package deals usually include airfare, lodging, transfers from the airport to the hotel, admission to attractions and museums, and some meals.

The main advantage of a package is that most or all of the expenses are included. There are two downsides. First, you can’t deviate from the package. This isn’t Burger King; you don’t get it your way. The second is that you’re not going to venture off the beaten path. Most package tours hit the top tourist highlights in a destination and that’s it.

Complex Itinerary

If you’re flying round-trip from Boston to Dublin and you have a hotel in mind, you probably don’t need an agent to book your travel. On the other hand, if you’re flying to London, taking a train to Paris and Rome, and flying home from there, you might want to consider it.

I used a travel agent for a one week trip to Ireland. We drove along the southern coast from Galway to Dublin and I had specific requests for different types of lodging – 1 night in a castle, 1 night  in a 5-star hotel, 2 bed and breakfasts, etc. The agent handled the flights, the rental car, and all the accommodations. This is basically designing your own package tour. If you’re trying to do that, a travel agent’s expertise can be invaluable.

Roussillon

Specialized Trip

You’re not just going to France, you’re doing a tour of significant battlefields from World War II. Or you’re doing a kid-friendly African safari for the first time. Contacting a travel agent who specializes in the type of travel that you’re interested in can save you time and money. Sure, you can try to research on your own to figure out who the best safari operators are in Botswana or how to see penguins in Antarctica. Or you can work with someone who exclusively handles that type of travel and has contacts with all the major companies in that country or region.

Terms and Conditions

Fine print. Airline tickets have it. Hotel reservations have it. There are terms and conditions attached to every part of your trip. You might know what all those terms means. You might have questions about when travel insurance applies and what happens to your hotel reservation if your flight is delayed by a day. A good travel agent can answer your questions.

penguins

Comfort Factor

Some people are fine to walk out of the airport in Muscat and figure out how to flag down a taxi to a nearby hotel. Others want to have a car waiting for them; a driver holding a sign with your name on it. If you are comfortable traveling abroad, you probably don’t need an agent. If you’re reasonably sure that you can figure it out, you might not need an agent. But if fear of the unknown is the thing keeping you from taking the family overseas then book a trip through an agent and go.

As it often does, this decision comes down to preference, price, and time. You can design the perfect trip all by yourself if you are willing to spend the time to research it. Or you can hire someone to do it for you. If you decide to hire a travel agent, you can visit the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) website.

Have you used a travel agent? Tell us about your experience in the comments.

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6 Pro Tips for Packing with Kids

Fear of packing. It’s a real thing. Packing with kids is worse. Faced with the thought of packing a whole family for a trip, some folks just give up and stay home. You don’t have to be one of them. With the help of the tips below, you and your kids will be ready to go on your next trip with no fuss and no stress.

1. Kids pack their own bags

Obviously you wouldn’t have a toddler pack her own steamer trunk. But once a child is seven or eight years old, she is capable of packing her own suitcase. Encourage your kids to do so. Make a list and have them check each item off as they put it in the bag. This makes them feel like they’re contributing, eliminates stress for you, and teaches responsibility. Feel free to check it afterwards, but resist the urge to re-pack it.

carryon

2. Don’t check luggage

You can travel for a week with what’s in a carry-on. You can travel for a month with what’s in a carry-on. Add a stroller and diaper bag if necessary. Overpacking is one of the biggest mistakes people make. That causes inconvenience to one person but it causes paralysis when applied to a family trip. Take out half the clothes that you plan to bring and leave them home. You won’t miss them.

girl with suitcase

3. Make them carry their own weight

Now that you’ve all packed your own bags, it’s time for everyone to carry their own weight. This is very manageable with a carry-on and a backpack. Carry-ons with wheels are helpful. I’m a fan of Tortuga backpacks as well.

passport

4. Unless it’s REALLY important

I make exceptions for things that will end the trip prematurely. This includes passports, plane tickets, and that’s about it.

5. Cross load

If you haven’t heeded the advice about checking luggage, then you’re adding one more source of stress – lost luggage. To reduce the impact of a lost suitcase, distribute everyone’s clothes evenly in each bag. Now if a bag is lost, everyone still has clothes to wear. If there’s something that you can’t live without, leave it home. If you can’t leave it home, don’t put it in a checked bag.

blue backpack

6. Do without

You’re going on a trip, not emigrating. People wear clothes and eat food all over the world. That means you can get clothes and food wherever you’re going. You don’t need to haul your closet on vacation.

Do you have a tip from your travels? Leave it in the comments.

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Texas Barbecue in Singapore

Having too many restaurants to choose from for is admittedly a first world problem. So for last week’s date night, we went back to our roots – Texas barbecue.

Neither of us is from Texas but we have fond memories of our time there. Especially the barbecue. We’ve been missing that wood-smoked, juicy goodness since we left. Our favorite spot in Texas was Schoepf’s in Belton. But where to find good barbecue in Singapore?

neon sign

Fortunately we heard about Decker Barbecue on Robertson Quay. Walking up to Quayside, we saw the stacks of wood outside which was a reassuring sign. When we got to the counter, we saw the meat being dished out on butcher paper instead of plates. Another good sign. The customer in front of us was from Texas. We were starting to feel right at home.

Co-owner Elliott Decker was slicing up the meats personally. We opted for a three-meat plate for two people ($75), which comes with two sides. Brisket, ribs, and pulled pork. Delicious. The mac-n-cheese and cornbread made it even better.

Texas bbq

With U.S. beers on hand and delicious desserts as well, this meal hit the spot. Go check it out.

Decker Barbecue, 60 Robertson Quay, +65 6635 8565