Tag Archives: World Travel

You Can Still “Google It” When Traveling Out Of The Country: Otherwise I’d be lost half the time!

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It’s hard to imagine life before Google Maps. Wondering how long it will take between one location and the other? Google it. Wondering how bad the traffic is? Google it. But what about when we are traveling and have limited data plans? Can you use Google then? Yes!

How To Use Google Maps With Limited Data

The great news is Google Maps can be used by turning on your data plan briefly. Googling your location and where you wish to go. Once Google has located you and your desired location then you can turn off data. Yup, just turn it off. Your phone has a GPS built in and even with data turned off you can still use the Google Map function to find your way around. It is like magic!

This past summer we were in Paris. I don’t know my way around Paris. I also don’t really like to be pulling out my map a lot and looking like a silly tourist. Though map reading is an important skill that I like to teach my kids, when I’m in a big city on foot I really like to know where I am. Even with a very limited data plan on my iPhone I used it to navigate by foot all around the city using the Google Map strategy outlined above. I felt so much more comfortable knowing I had Google Maps when I needed to cheat and take a look at where I was or where I was heading.

On the other hand getting “lost” together can be a big learning experience and a fun adventure for the whole family if you have the time and no one is melting down. So, maybe turn off Google Maps at times and get lost. Don’t worry about exactly where you are as long as you are all together. This is one of my favorite parts of family travel time!

How to you navigate around foreign cities these days? Are there other apps we should know about? 

#Travel #FamilyTravel #Paris #France #Kids #Families

Want To Get Out Of Town? How To Find “Last Minute” Spring Break Flight Options

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If you just realized that in a bit over a month your kids will be off school for a whole week [Spring Break] and you are dreaming of getting out of town with your crew, then this post is for you! If you are considering a beach vacation or visiting family and you need to find a flight I suggest trying Google Flights – http://www.gooogle.com/flights.

Google Flights is one of my favorite ways to find good flight deals. You cannot purchase flights at this site – but this powerful search engine finds you great flight options you can compare from many, many, many airlines. Then you just head over to the airline site and book your tickets out of town.

My city of origin is Denver and I used the search to look at North American flight options for my kids’ Spring Break which is the week of March 21. This is what I found when I searched in a very general way. It gets my creative travel ideas going…

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When I added the option of searching by the same dates and origin, but saying I want to go to a beach in North America this is what comes up. Again it gives me some great options and gets me thinking…

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Here is how you search for flights on Google Flights:

  1. Go to www.google.com/flights
  2. Enter your city of origin
  3. Fixed Dates and Travel Destination: If you know where you want to go enter your destination city and your dates of travel
  4. Fixed Dates but Open to Many Destinations: If you do not know where you want to go enter your dates of travel and scroll down to the map feature. Click on the map feature and you can see what your cost for travel will be. This is my favorite as it gives you lots of options.
  5. You can get more specific by listing general “Places” you want to go and/or your “Interests” for travel. You can also not if you want to travel for a specific duration.
  6. Try it out! It’s really cool. And it gets you thinking about your options for travel where ever you want to go…
  7. Have any questions about using Google Flights or searching for reasonable family travel options? Give me a shout at info@boulderfamilies.com

Happy Family Traveling!