Tips for Children Traveling alone for the Holidays

It is common for custody agreements to require children to travel over the holidays to be with the other parent. If parents live in close proximity, they can easily drive children. Otherwise, they must choose alternative methods of travel.

By Li Ming Wong

Due to the number of non-traditional families in our society, it is common for custody agreements to require children to travel over the holidays to be with the other parent. Parents have to deal with this in the best way possible. If they live in close proximity, they can easily drive children to the agreed upon destination. If the divorce is amicable, it may even be possible for each parent to drive half way for the exchange of the children.

However, it is not always possible for parents to be able to do this for one reason or another, and that means that children will end up traveling alone for the holidays. Make sure you talk to your children about the process, so they know exactly what will be taking place. It is important that you talk to them about not going with strangers for any reason.

Make sure you pack your child plenty of activities for entertainment during the flight. It is a good idea to pack drinks and snacks too. Never leave your child until he or she has boarded. If there is a layover or a cancellation, your child will be alone.

If possible, send your child with a cell phone for use in case of emergencies. You should also pack a list of contact phone numbers, and any medical information that could be useful in the event of an accident. Avoid placing children who are flying alone for the holidays on flights with layovers. In the event that it is necessary, make sure a flight attendant will be escorting them.

The safest mode of transportation for your child if he or she is traveling alone to visit the other parent for the holidays is to travel by air. It may be more expensive, but you will be more confident about travel safety. If possible, do not send your children alone on a flight if they have never been on an airplane before. The stress may be too much for them to handle.

Let the airline know at the time of booking that your child will be traveling alone. They will keep a close eye on the child during the flight, and find out to whom they must be delivered at the airport. This person will need to have photo ID, even if the child knows him or her, in order to follow safety procedures. Most airlines consider a child between 5 and 15 years of age as a minor. Younger children are not allowed to travel alone.

It is against the rules for children under 8 years of age to travel alone on Amtrak. Those between the ages of 8 and 15 may travel alone as long as it is not an overnight trip. They must reach their destination no later than 9 p.m. A child is not allowed to transfer trains or to get off at any locations other than the one printed on the ticket.

The child will be interviewed by a staff member when brought to the train station. If the child does not appear to be mature enough to travel alone, he or she will not be allowed on the train, and the ticket price will be refunded. If a child is permitted to board, the parent must sign a waiver releasing Amtrak from all liability. The child will be issued a wristband so that all staff members will know he or she is traveling alone.

Greyhound does not allow children under 8 years of age to travel alone either. A bus ride is limited to a maximum of 250 miles for older children. To get off for any reason at a rest area or bus stop, children must be accompanied by the bus driver. They are also required to sit in the seat immediately behind the bus driver.

Travel guides

Travel literature is not to be confused with travel guides, usually a series put out by a publisher, each dealing with a particular country, city or region. These are useful for travelers, as they provide a wealth of information on hotels, restaurants, major sights, travel tips etc. The writers are often specialists who travel and write these books for a living.

Types of travelogues

Some travel writers are people who travel and make their livings by writing about it. The Americans William Least Heat-Moon (b. 1940) and Paul Theroux (b. 1941), the Welsh author Jan Morris (b. 1926), and the Englishman Eric Newby (1919–2006), come to mind, although Morris is also known as an historian and Theroux as a novelist.
There is a point, too, in which travel literature intersects with essay writing, as in V. S. Naipaul's India: A Wounded Civilization (1977), where a trip becomes the occasion for extended observations on a nation and people. Rebecca West's (1892–1983) work on Yugoslavia, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (1941) is another example.
Travel and nature writing merge in many of the works of Sally Carrighar (1895–1985), Ivan T. Sanderson (1911–1973), and Gerald Durrell (1925–1995). These authors are naturalists who write to support their great passion. Both Durrell and Sanderson can be quite funny. Charles Darwin (1809–1882) wrote his famous account of the journey of HMS Beagle at the intersection of science, natural history and travel.
Literary travel writing also occurs when an author, famous in another field, travels and writes about his or her experiences. Examples of such writers are Samuel Johnson (1709–1784), Charles Dickens (1812–1870), Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894), Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953), D.H. Lawrence (1885–1930), Rebecca West (1892–1983), John Steinbeck (1902–1968), and Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966).
Travel literature may be cross-cultural or transnational in focus, or it may involve travel to different regions within the same country. Accounts of spaceflight may also be considered as travel literature.
Fictional travelogues make up a large proportion of travel literature. Although it may be desirable in some contexts to distinguish fictional from non-fictional works, such distinctions have proved notoriously difficult to make in practice, as in the famous instance of the travel writings of Marco Polo or John Mandeville. Many "fictional" works of travel literature are based on factual journeys -- Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness), presumably Homer's Odyssey (c. 8th cent. BCE) -- while other works, though based on imaginary and even highly fantastic journeys -- Dante's Divine Comedy (1321), Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (1726), or Voltaire's Candide (1759), Samuel Johnson's Rasselas (1759) -- nevertheless contain factual elements.

Notable travel writers and travel literature

See outdoor literature for adventure/exploration/nature literature.
Pausanias (Second century CE)
Description of Greece
Abu ad-Din al-Husayn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Jubayr (1145–1214)
Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Batutta (1304–c. 1377)
Richard Hakluyt (c. 1552–1616):
The Principall Navigations, Voiages and Discoveries of the English Nation (1589) — A foundational text of the travel literature genre
François de La Boullaye-Le Gouz (1623–1668):
Les voyages et observations du sieur de La Boullaye Le gouz (1653 & 1657) — One of the very first true travel books.
Matsuo Basho (1644–1694)
The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784):
A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (1775) — The lexicographer and his friend James Boswell (1740–1795) visit Scotland in 1773.
Laurence Sterne (1713–1768):
A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy (1768).
Jippensha Ikku (1765–1831)
Hizakurige (The Shank's Mare) - one of the most famous of the Edo period michiyuki (journey) novels
Heinrich Heine (1797–1856)
Karl Baedeker (1801–1859)
Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)
Charles Dickens (1812–1870):
American Notes (1842).
Pictures of Italy (1844–1845).
Herman Melville (1819–1891):
Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life (1846).
Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas (1847) — Chronicles of Melville's experiences as a sailor in Polynesia.
Fran Levstik (1831–1887):
Popotovanje od Litije do Čateža (1858) — A journey from Litija to Čatež that includes a very influential Slovenian literary programme.
Mark Twain (1835–1910)
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894):
Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes (1879).
The Silverado Squatters (1883).
Norman Douglas (1868–1962):
Old Calabria (1915).
Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953):
The Path To Rome (1902) — A ramble by foot from central France to Rome in 1901.
Yone Noguchi (1875-1947)
The American Diary of a Japanese Girl (1903)
W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965):
On a Chinese Screen (1922) — Vignettes of China in the '30s from the master of the short story.
D.H. Lawrence (1885–1930):
Sea and Sardinia (1921).
Henry Vollam Morton (1892–1979)
Rebecca West (1892–1983):
Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (1941) — A 1,181-page look at Yugoslavia in 1937 by the pro-Serb West and a fascinating, if less than objective, account of this land before the tragedies of World War II and the 1990s wars.
Thomas Raucat (1894–1976)
L'honorable partie de campagne ("The honorable picnic", 1924)
De Shang-Haï à Canton ("From Shanghai to Canton", 1927)
J. Slauerhoff (1898–1936)
Alleen de havens zijn ons trouw ("Only the Ports Are Loyal to Us", 1992 [1927–1932])
Gordon Sinclair (1900–1984):
Khyber Caravan: Through Kashmir, Waziristan, Afghanistan, Baluchistan and Northern India (1936) — A somewhat curmudgeonly account of 1934 travels in British India by a later famous Canadian journalist and television personality.
John Steinbeck (1902–1968):
Travels With Charley: In Search of America (1962) — A classic American road book describing Steinbeck's journeys with his poodle, Charley.
Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966):
Waugh Abroad: Collected Travel Writing — A classic account of the English novelist's restless wanderings around the world in the 1930s and later.
Robert Byron (1905–1941):
The Road to Oxiana (1937) — travels in Persia and Afghanistan
Laurens van der Post (1906–1996):
The Lost World of the Kalahari (1958) — Auberon Waugh (1939–2001) described van der Post as the person in whose company he'd most like to spend an evening. This book by the South African soldier/explorer/writer suggests why.
Wilfred Thesiger (1910–2003)
Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990):
Prospero's Cell: A Guide to the Landscape and Manners of the Island of Corcyra (1945) — This text describes Durrell's time in Corfu. It should be read in tandem with his brother Gerald's My Family and Other Animals.
Reflections on a Marine Venus (1953) — Durrell's experiences in Rhodes.
Bitter Lemons (1957) — Durrell in Cyprus.
Heinrich Harrer (1912–2006)
Gavin Maxwell (1914–1969)
Patrick Leigh Fermor (b. 1915):
A Time Of Gifts (1977) — A journey by an 18 year old in 1933/4 overland from the Hook of Holland to Hungary, rewritten in old age from long lost notes.
Eric Newby (1919–2006):
A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush (1958) — Popular English travel writer.
Lucjan Wolanowski (1920–2006):
Post to Never-Never Land (Poland, 1968); reports from Australia;
Heat and fever (Poland, 1970); reports from the work in World Health Organization Information department in Geneva, travels in New Delhi, Bangkok and Manila 1967-1968.
Richard Halliburton, one of the most famous explorers and adventure writers of his generation
The Royal Road to Romance, The Flying Carpet, New Worlds to Conquer, The Glorious Adventure, Seven League Boots
Jack Kerouac (1922–1969):
On the Road (1957).
Gerald Durrell (1925–1995):
My Family and Other Animals (1956) — A description of an idyllic childhood on Corfu in the 1930s by the brother of Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990). This text combines natural observations, humour, storytelling, and travel.
Fillets of Plaice (1971).
Jan Morris (b. 1926):
Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere (2001) — Author of many works, especially about cities.
Juan Goytisolo (b. 1931)
Ryszard Kapuściński (1932–2007)
Another Day of Life (1976)
The Soccer War (1978)
The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat (1978)
Shah of Shahs (1982)
Imperium (1993)
The Shadow of the Sun (2001)
Cees Nooteboom (b. 1933)
Berlijnse Notities (1990)
Roads to Santiago (1992)
Nootebooms Hotel (2002) — Dutch travel writer.
Barbara Grizzuti Harrison (1934–2002)
Venedikt Erofeev (1938–1990):
Moskva–Pеtushki (1973) — A Russian tale of alcohol, love, and a train ride; translated into English as Moscow to the End of the Line.
Peter Mayle (b. 1939)
Colin Thubron (b. 1939)
Bruce Chatwin (1940–1989):
In Patagonia (1977).
The Songlines (1987) — One of the best English stylists of the 20th century.
William Least Heat-Moon (b. 1940):
Blue Highways: A Journey into America (1982) — An American Classic by an author well known for travel writing.
Frances Mayes (b. 1940):
Under the Tuscan Sun (1996) — A memoir of buying, renovating, and living in an abandoned villa in rural Tuscany in Italy.
Paul Theroux (b. 1941):
The Great Railway Bazaar (1975) — Perhaps Theroux's most popular travel work.
Jonathan Raban (b. 1942)
Michael Palin (b. 1943)
Julian Barnes (b. 1946)
Chris Stewart (b. 1950)
Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucia (1999)
A Parrot in the Pepper Tree (2002)
The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society (2007)
Bill Bryson (b. 1951):
The Palace Under the Alps (1985) — An early work that is more of a travel guide than a narrative.
Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe (1992)
Notes from a Small Island (1995) — Travels in the United Kingdom.
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (1999)
I'm A Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America after Twenty Years Away (2000)
In a Sunburned Country (2001)
Vikram Seth (b. 1952
From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet (1983)
Quim Monzó (b. 1952)
Pico Iyer (b. 1957):
Video Night in Kathmandu: And Other Reports from the Not-so-Far East (1988).
Tropical Classical: Essays from Several Directions (1997).
Global Soul: Jet Lag, Shopping Malls, and the Search for Home (2000) — Three excellent collections of essays on the postmodern experience of travel.
Karl Taro Greenfeld (b. 1964):
Standard Deviations: Growing Up and Coming Down in the New Asia — An exploration of the traveler/backpacker subcultures in the Far East during the 1990s by a writer who was there.
Alain de Botton (b. 1969):
The Art of Travel (2002).
J. Maarten Troost (b. 1969):
The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific (2004)
Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu (2006)
Cleo Paskal
Rantanen Päivi and Kannisto Santeri
Tom Bissell
William Dalrymple

Travel literature

Travel literature is travel writing considered to have value as literature. Travel literature typically records the people, events, sights and feelings of an author who is touring a foreign place for the pleasure of travel. An individual work is sometimes called a travelogue or itinerary.
To be called literature the work must have a coherent narrative, or insights and value, beyond a mere logging of dates and events, such as diary or ship's log. Literature that recounts adventure, exploration and conquest is often grouped under travel literature, but it also has its own genre outdoor literature; these genres will often overlap with no definite boundaries. This article focuses on literature that is more akin to tourism.

History

One of the earliest known records of taking pleasure in travel, of traveling for the sake of travel and writing about it, is Petrarch's (1304–1374) ascent of Mount Ventoux in 1336. He states that he went to the mountaintop for the pleasure of seeing the top of the famous height. His companions who stayed at the bottom he called frigida incuriositas ("a cold lack of curiosity"). He then wrote about his climb, making allegorical comparisons between climbing the mountain and his own moral progress in life.
Michault Taillement, a poet for the Duke of Burgundy, traveled through the Jura Mountains in 1430 and left us with his personal reflections, his horrified reaction to the sheer rock faces, and the terrifying thunderous cascades of mountain streams. Antoine de la Sale (c. 1388–c. 1462), author of Petit Jehan de Saintre, climbed to the crater of a volcano in the Lipari Islands in 1407, leaving us with his impressions. "Councils of mad youth" were his stated reasons for going. In the mid 15th century, Gilles le Bouvier, in his Livre de la description des pays, gave us the best reason to travel and write:
Because many people of diverse nations and countries delight and take pleasure, as I have done in times past, in seeing the world and things therein, and also because many wish to know without going there, and others wish to see, go, and travel, I have begun this little book.
In 1589, Richard Hakluyt (c. 1552–1616) published Voyages, a foundational text of the travel literature genre.
Other later examples of travel literature include accounts of the Grand Tour. Aristocrats, clergy, and others with money and leisure time travelled Europe to learn about the art and architecture of its past. One tourism literature pioneer was Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894).
Travel literature also became popular during the Song Dynasty (960-1279) of medieval China.[1] The genre was called 'travel record literature' (youji wenxue), and was often written in narrative, prose, essay, and diary style.[2] Travel literature authors such as Fan Chengda (1126-1193) and Xu Xiake (1587-1641) incorporated a wealth of geographical and topographical information into their writing, while the 'daytrip essay' Record of Stone Bell Mountain by the noted poet and statesman Su Shi (1037-1101) presented a philosophical and moral argument as its central purpose.[3]
In the 18th century, travel literature was commonly known as the book of travels which mainly consisted of maritime diaries.[4] In 18th century England, almost every famous writer worked in the travel literature form.[5] Captain James Cook's diaries (1784) were the equivalent of today's best sellers.

Miles & More

Miles & More is the frequent flyer program of 12 European airlines. It was launched by Lufthansa (LH) in 1993. The program enables its 13 million members[1] to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles on all of the fully integrated airlines as well as all the Star Alliance members. Furthermore, all customers are able to build status, which gives them access to certain privileges. Miles & More is free of charge and everybody can sign up.

Partnership History


1993 - Lufthansa introduces Miles & More on January 1, 1993
1997 - Star Alliance is founded by Air Canada, United Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways International[2]
2000 - Austrian Airlines (AUA) joined Miles & More
2003 - LOT Polish Airlines becomes a fully integrated partner
2006 - Swiss International Air Lines is bought by Lufthansa and its frequent flyer program, the Swiss TravelClub, is converted to Miles & More on April 1, 2006

Airline Partners of Miles & More

Fully Integrated Airline Partners
Lufthansa
Air Dolomiti (partner-airline of Lufthansa Regional)
Augsburg Airways (partner-airline of Lufthansa Regional)
Contact Air (partner-airline of Lufthansa Regional)
Eurowings (partner-airline of Lufthansa Regional)
Lufthansa CityLine (partner-airline of Lufthansa Regional)
Austrian Airlines (since 2000)
LOT Polish Airlines (since 2003)
Swiss International Air Lines (since 2006)
Air One
Adria Airways
Croatia Airlines
Luxair

Star Alliance Partner Airlines
Air Canada
Air New Zealand
All Nippon Airways (ANA)
Asiana Airlines
Bmi
Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS)
Singapore Airlines
South African Airways
Spanair
TAP Portugal
Thai Airways International
United Airlines
US Airways

Star Alliance Regional Partners
Blue1

Other Partners
Aegean Airlines
Air China
Air India
Air Malta
Cimber Air
Cirrus Airlines
Condor Airlines
Jat Airways
Jet Airways
Mexicana
Qatar Airways
Shanghai Airlines
Turkish Airlines

The Miles
On Miles & More there are 3 different sorts of miles that all have different applications within the program:

Award Miles
These are the miles that can be collected in the account of a member and later on be used to buy flights, upgrades, merchandise from the Lufthansa WorldShop and other Miles & More partners. For standard Miles & More members they retain validity for 36 months, after which they expire. For Miles & More Visa Credit Card holders issued in Germany, Frequent Travellers, Senators and Hon-Circle Card holders the miles have no expiration date. However, as soon as a customer does not hold any of these cards anymore, the expiration date of all miles is set to 36 months counting from loss of frequent flyer status or credit card expiration date.

Status Miles
Status miles can only be earned when flying on the fully integrated partner airlines or on Star Alliance members. There is no other way to earn these miles. In addition, status miles expire at the end of each calendar year. They are used to identify the frequent flyers and members are able to qualify for a higher status on the basis of the status miles that they have collected in one year.

HON Circle Miles
HON Circle miles can only be earned when flying on the fully integrated partner airlines and Air-Rail trains in Germany (up to a total of 100.000 Miles within 2 calendar years). They are necessary to attain the top-tier status on Miles & More - HON Circle. Until April 1, 2006 it was possible to also collect this type of miles on United Airlines. This option does no longer exist.[4] HON-miles are valid for 2 years. Furthermore, only Senators (with an account balance of more than 300.000 status miles over 2 years) and existing HON Circle members can see these miles on their account statement.

Earning Miles
Award miles can be earned in various ways. Status miles can only be earned when flying on either the fully integrated partner airlines of Miles & More or the Star Alliance partners. The number of status miles earned is always equivalent to the number of award miles earned on these flights (excluding promotions).

ONLINE BOOKING SITES

Hotel booking engines include (but are not limited to) some of the following.
www.hotels.com international hotel booking.
www.expedia.com full travel booking site.
Bookassist Online Reservations booking partner and booking engine.
Central Reservations hotel booking engine.
www.bookings.com third party hotel booking engine.

Online hotel reservations

Online hotel reservation is becoming a very popular method for booking hotel rooms. Travelers can book rooms from home, using online security to protect their privacy and financial information, and using several online travel agents to compare prices and facilities at different hotels.
Prior to the Internet, travelers could write or telephone the hotel directly, or use a travel agent to make a reservation. Nowadays, online travel agents will have pictures of hotels and rooms, information on prices and deals, and even information on local resorts. Many also allow reviews of the traveler to be recorded with the online travel agent.
Online hotel reservations are also helpful for making last minute travel arrangements. Hotels may drop the price of a room if some rooms are still available. There are several websites that specialize in searches for deals on rooms.
Hotels face several challenges in selling online directly to consumers. There are numerous electronic distribution "channels", and connecting to them, then managing the room inventory and rates to be offered online is essential.
Large hotel chains typically have direct connections to the airline global distribution systems (GDS) (Sabre, Galileo, Amadeus and Worldspan) that in turn provides hotel information directly to the hundreds of thousands of travel agents that align themselves with one of these systems. Individual hotels and small hotel chains cannot afford the expense of these direct connections and turn to other companies to provide the connections.
Several large online travel sites are, in effect, travel agencies. They send the hotel's information and rates "downstream" to literally thousands of online travel sites, most of which act as travel agents so that they can receive commission payments from the hotels for any business booked on their websites.
Lastly (oddly enough), persons can book directly on an individual hotel's website. An increasing number of hotels are building their own websites to allow them to market their hotels directly on the web. Non-franchise chain hotels require a "booking engine" application to be attached to their website to permit persons to book rooms in real time.
To improve the likelihood of filling rooms, hotels tend to use several of the above systems. The content on many hotel reservation systems is becoming increasingly similar as all the hotels sign up to all the sites. Companies thus have to rely on specially negotiated rates with the hotels or hotel chains, or trust in the influence of search engine rankings to draw in customers.
The ultimate service provided by these companies to the hotels and the online consumer, is that they provide a single database from which all reservation sources draw immediate room availability and rates. It is very important that hotels integrate with all the supply channels so that their guests are able to make accurate online bookings.

Travel

Travel is the transport of people on a trip/journey or the process or time involved in a person or object moving from one location to another. Reasons for travel include:
Tourism—travel for recreation. This may apply to the travel itself, or the travel may just be the necessary investment to arrive at a desired location.
Visiting friends and family
Trade
Commuting–going to various routine activities, such as work or meetings.
Migration—travel to begin life somewhere else; nomadic people do this
Pilgrimages—travel for religious reasons
The word originates from the Middle English word travailen ("to toil"), which comes from the French word travailler ("travail").