Balitang America Travels: Family Adventures
Planning a trip to an exotic locale like Turkey or Tanzania may seem intimidating when you are traveling with children. Not only are safety and comfort a huge concern, but parents also worry that their kids won’t like the local food or be bored with the cultural tourist sights. If your children are not having a fun time, then you probably won’t enjoy the trip either.
Luckily, there are tour companies that specialize in family vacations, so you can still fulfill your travel dreams and have fun taking the kids with you. In my April 20th "Travels" segment on Balitang America, I highlighted Thomson Family Adventures, voted by National Geographic Adventure magazine as the #1 family adventure tour operator for the last two years.
Thomson Family Adventures has been arranging tours for parents and their children since 1998. At the Bay Area Travel Show, I talked to General Manager Jim Kackley about what the company’s tours are like.
On a Thomson Family Adventures tour, all of the logistics are planned out for you, a staff member will travel with you to make sure everything goes smoothly, and local guides will be on hand to give an authentic, inside look at the destination. In addition to covering the “must see” attractions like the Great Wall of China and Peru’s Machu Picchu, the tours include activities designed for kids of all ages. For example, you can go white-water rafting in Panama, try river kayaking in Portugal, zipline through a rainforest in Costa Rica and, of course, go on safari in Eastern Africa.
Special effort is put into providing a unique experience for children, starting before you even leave for the trip. “We line them up with a pen-pal in the country and that allows them to have a cultural immersion experience,” explained Mr. Kackley. “They meet the pen-pal when they go down there and it adds a new dimension.”
Thomson’s staff are also prepared if your child is a finicky eater. “That’s one of the hardest things for parents when they travel overseas,” said Mr. Kackley. “My kid is not going to eat anything and we know that. We find out that information ahead of time and we pass it on and say make sure you have some chicken or make sure you have this.”
Right now, the company’s most popular tours are to China, Turkey, Tanzania, Costa Rica and the Galapagos. So if you are looking for a new and exciting experience for your family, check out the experts at Thomson Family Adventures to see if they have a tour that’s right for you.
Travels is a weekly TV segment written and produced by Christi Morales. It airs every Monday during Balitang America's (News in America) 5:30pm PST newcast on ABS-CBN Global's The Filipino Channel (TFC). Balitang America can also be seen on KTSF Channel 26 at 6:45pm PST in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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