The family vacation is a time-honored tradition, but many parents find themselves even more tired and worn out after the vacation than before it started. Traveling with kids can be very demanding. But it doesn’t have to be so tough. When you plan your next family vacation, use these tips to help make vacationing with kids a roaring success.

1. Choose your destination carefully.

Of course, you want to choose a place everyone will enjoy, but also think about the implications of your destination. If you’re going to the beach and you live in New Hampshire that would be quite different from going to the beach from Missouri. You have different options on where you go and how you get there. Keep those needs in mind as you choose a destination.If you’re considering Disney World or another theme park, but your children are of widely differing ages, consult a guidebook to decide which park provides the best options for all your children.2. Use the best transportation for your kids.

Traveling on a plane with a child can be a little challenging, but if your destination is more than a few hours away by car, flying may be the best option. Think through the various ways you can reach your destination, including renting a minivan for a more pleasant drive, or buying a DVD player for the back seat of your current car.

3. Pack carefully.

Traveling with kids sometimes means improvising, but try to keep that to a minimum by making sure everyone has appropriate clothing, shoes, books, toys, and medication. This last is absolutely critical, as a sick child can ruin even the best vacation.

4. Keep them occupied.

This may sound obvious, but the best way to keep kids happy on a trip is just to give them something to do. Pack activities and toys to keep them busy. If your kids are old enough, let them pick their favorite things, but make sure you check to insure that there are enough activities and enough different things to do.

5. Keep them fed and hydrated.

Tired, cranky kids are often hungry and thirsty kids. Whether you’re traveling by plane, car or train, carry along plenty of snacks and make sure the kids have enough to drink. Sugary soft drinks and even juice can increase thirst rather than really quench it, so make sure your kids get plenty of water, as well.Traveling successfully with kids is really no different than traveling successfully without kids. You have to make sure everyone’s needs are met. Kids just have slightly different needs that may include that special blanket or a copy of their favorite comic book.

The main problem many parents have in taking a family vacation is not that their kids are misbehaving, but just that the trip and the kids are not compatible, either because the kids are bored, or because they’re tired, hungry, or thirsty. Taking care of all those contingencies makes for a fabulous trip.

So what is a parent to do? Traveling with kids doesn’t have to be a bad experience. Instead of deciding to leave the kids home for the next “family” vacation, relax! You can make traveling with the kids an enjoyable and stress-free experience by following these simple tips:

1. When possible, travel at night and let the kids sleep. But be cautious, because it’s easy to get tired. If you find yourself getting sleepy, roll down the windows, play music, or better yet, find a safe place to pull over and take a 20 minute nap.

2. Plan your trip during the day with stops about every 90 minutes. By planning ahead, and using travel planning software, online trip planning sites or travel associations, you can find — and stop at — kid-friendly places such as parks with playgrounds, historic monuments or view areas where everyone can get out and walk around for a few minutes. Giving the kids even a 15 minute break will give them a chance to “get the wiggles out” and work off some energy.

3. Bring along some sing-along music. Although your kids may groan at first when you start singing, they’ll soon join in, especially if the songs are either well-known, absurd or “gross.” Think of your own childhood favorites, or camp songs. Singing can really help to pass the time, and creates happy memories later on. To help cut costs, you can even record your own CDs? If the kids don’t know the words, create sing-along books for everyone by typing them in your Word processing program and printing them out.

4. Create a goodie-bag. Good ideas are travel toys and games, bubbles, inexpensive art books and pencils, even the latest in collectible cards or action figures. (To save money, look for seasonal sales or buy something every payday.) To cut down on arguments about sharing, you can set a time limit for playing with each game, before everyone has to switch. Individual presents can be wrapped or not, and given out at whatever schedule fits your needs and your kids’ boredom levels. You can even choose particular games for particular stops, such as bubbles, Frisbees or small balls, which will encourage running off energy.

5. Bring along individual “quiet time” activities. These could include an art box (keep the supplies inside an inexpensive plastic shoe box), postcards or writing paper, or even a journal given to each child at the beginning of the trip. Encourage them to write letters, or record their thoughts and feelings. You can also bring along hand-held games, or inexpensive CD players and earphones, so that everyone can listen to the music or books of their choice. Depending on the space you’ve got and the length of time you’ll be gone, each child could have their own box or backpack, to keep their things organized and accessible.

6. If your trip is going to include a lot of sightseeing, pack a backpack with sweaters, hats, swimsuits (if in season), extra socks and even towels, in case anyone gets wet — accidentally or on purpose. Keep the backpack in your trunk, so you can just grab it and go. Most kids, if given the chance when near water, will really enjoy getting wet, and it saves on the wear and tear of your vehicle if you plan ahead. Also be sure to pack extra water and travel snacks such as energy bars, nuts or travel mix. You can add to your child’s enjoyment if you also include things such as a magnifying glass, binoculars, a disposable camera and their own travel map.

7. Include a “kid’s activity” at least once every day. This may be something as simple as going for ice cream after visiting a museum, or going to a water or amusement park. There are often lots of great free or inexpensive activities in most places in the States. To find them, you can check ahead of time with local Chambers of Commerce, on city Websites, or with your travel agent. To help keep the expenses down, don’t forget to check for “two for one” coupons, or discount tickets that are often available at local fast food restaurants or in local papers. Also, many family style restaurants offer a “kids eat free” night, which could be a special treat.

8. Don’t forget about the travel games you probably played as a child. There is “Letter Bingo” where you look at road signs and billboard ads to find the letters of the alphabet, or “License Plate Alphabet” where you go through the alphabet in order. You can also create easy bingo sheets that you print out with clip art of common sites you’ll see on your trip. Your kids will be more inclined to play along if they know that your parents used to play the exact games with you. (Grandparents are SO much cooler than parents are…)

9. Let your kids help to navigate, narrate and create information about your trip. There are so many great resources online these days that can help you make your trip even better. Letting your kids get involved helps to make it more enjoyable for them. For example, let one child be the “trip navigator” each day. They have the responsibility of looking at the map, and making sure that the right exits are taken, or how much farther to each destination point. (If you really want to get creative, the navigator could wear a special hat or badge; the narrator could have a “press badge” or carry a reporter’s notebook, etc.) Older children can create written entries into a journal or even in a Blog, talking about the daily activities and sights. Another option is to bring along an inexpensive tape recorder, and let each child record their impressions of the different places you see or things you do. Younger children can draw pictures, or use a disposable camera.

10. Start collecting postcards. Postcards are inexpensive, and your kids will enjoy getting to send them to their friends or other family members. Postcards are also a great addition to your family photo album after the trip. You can cut them up, or even write about specific experiences on the backs of them, to help everyone remember what you did and where you went.

11. Create a scrap book at the end of each trip, using the postcards and pictures the kids took. Letting them help to decorate and put the journal together is a fun after-the-trip activity.

12. Above all, give yourself a break. There is no such thing as a “perfect” family vacation. Inevitably there will be things forgotten, things broken or other “unexpected” problems.

By planning ahead, and making every effort to get your kids involved in the trip, and giving the things to do to keep them occupied and interested, there will be less stress and everyone will have a better time. Have a great trip!

A GROUP of local travel agencies on Wednesday offered help to the Department of Tourism in developing and propping up tourism in Mindanao after this industry was identified as a possible key to peace and progress in the country’s second biggest island.

In the same light, President Arroyo enjoined some 175 municipal mayors from Mindanao to invest in solid-waste management facilities, using their internal revenue allotments (IRA).

Naitas chairman emeritus Robert Lim Joseph said this offer of assistance is a gesture of support to Sen. and former tourism secretary Richard Gordon, who proposed tourism as a possible solution to Mindanao’s problems.

Joseph said Mindanao has a rich history and culture in addition to the many scenic places like lakes and waterfalls in the central part and beautiful beaches in the southern portion.

These places in Mindanao also offer opportunities for extreme and nature adventures and aquatic sports, which have not been spoiled by crass commercialism.

“Add the hospitable people, only ruined by image of war and kidnapping, and tourists can have a high-value vacation at very low rates,” Joseph said.

At the Mindanao leg of the Zero Basura Caravan in Davao City, about 175 municipal mayors from Regions 11, 12 and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao made a commitment to close down all existing open dumps in their area as part of compliance with Republic Act (RA) 9003, otherwise known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

The caravan, a joint project of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC), is part of the Green Movement Agenda: Strategies for Local Action which aims to accelerate the provisions of RA 9003.

The President exhorted the local government units (LGUs) to invest in material-recovery facilities or MRFs in their barangays, urging them to use their IRA to fund these facilities; the program aims to reduce waste generation by as much as 50 percent.

Right now, tourism in Mindanao is a chicken-and-egg situation because of the peace-and-order problem, but the vicious cycle can be broken if tourism can be used to drag its residents out of hunger and poverty by providing them jobs and livelihood in tourism, Joseph said.

“This will make the Moros stakeholders in the industry, which they will now serve to protect and promote by safeguarding tourists and travelers,” he added.

The tourism-industry leader said that trade and commerce will be promoted by tourism because the growth of transportation will be hastened and sale of local goods, especially souvenirs, will be boosted. He said the first most likely step is to cultivate a culture of tourism among communities in Mindanao, where residents can be involved in promoting and protecting their respective tourist areas.

Joseph said Naitas can provide seminars promoting the culture of tourism in key areas in Mindanao as the group has been doing this in many places in the country for several years already.

The national government can provide the necessary infrastructure to make the tourist spots accessible and convenient to travelers, he said.

Joseph said the recently enacted Tourism Act of 2009 can be used as an instrument for the development of tourism by providing incentives to investors to set up shop in Mindanao.

NSWMC executive director Gerardo Calderon, who has been leading the caravan from day one, said  the mayors in attendance also drew a plan which includes the immediate phaseout of open dumpsites and converting them to sanitary landfills and then to ecological parks. As of the second quarter of 2009, there are 901 open dumpsites across the country as compared to 936 dumpsites in the fourth quarter of 2008.

He added that many LGUs are investing in modern landfills and converting some of them into ecoparks. Davao City, for one, has invested in a P216-million modern sanitary landfill, which is the first in Mindanao. It has a 3.8-hectare, 46-meter pit with high-density polypropylene liners that will prevent leachates from seeping underground.

Calderon, who is also a DENR assistant secretary, explained that the facility also has retention ponds for leachates, plus drainage canals and ponds which will prevent seepage of waste materials to adjoining waterways. The landfill is designed to handle residual waste or trash that can no longer be recycled or reused.

Calderon also cited Santo Tomas municipality in Davao del Norte, which has established its own ecopark. The eco-park was formerly a controlled dumpsite turned into a processing center where trash is recycled and converted into compost or other reusable materials. The former dumpsite is now a lush green picnic ground frequented by tourists and visitors.

The need to minimize garbage is borne out of the growing concern on climate change as methane, which is the byproduct of decomposing garbage, is a greenhouse gas which has a warming potential 20 times greater than carbon dioxide.