Family Travel : Always Pack a Needle

Madrid, November 2010

That might sound like a strange item to include on a packing list, but believe me, in our family it is a necessary one. Here's what happens. Almost as soon as we arrive at our destination, the search begins for a soccer ball. It's true. A soccer ball has also become a mandatory travel item and a fairly important one for several reasons. Not only is it good for keeping active feet happy, it also happens to be an excellent way to make friends of all ages throughout Europe. Soccer balls seem to have magnetic powers that overcome any and all language, age, and cultural barriers and they are fairly easy to find in any European town. 

Paris, November 2011

Now as wonderful as these balls are, I have to admit that they have also been the source for some grumbling on my part. On our first few trips in Europe, we happily purchased soccer balls...hard to beat a souvenir that is so versatile, so fun, and so social. But when it came time to pack up that new souvenir and board a plane with fully packed carry-on luggage, there weren't quite so many smiles. It turns out that finding a needle to deflate a soccer ball in an airport is an impossible task. Which explains why we now keep several ready to go at all times in the kids' suitcase.

The Cotswolds, July 2010

Modern Shadows

Camille dancing in the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern: one of my favorite moments in London.

Letterboxing in Dartmoor with Kids

Dartmoor National Park came to my attention several years ago with this article.At the time, I remember thinking it would be so cool to do some letterboxing in the area where it originated, but I didn't really think it would happen. And then when we started planning our trip to England, I dug out the article and started trying to figure out if it was possible. Turns out it is a little more challenging to get on-line information about letterboxes at Dartmoor than I had anticipated. Actually, searching for letterboxes in the rest of England was also challenging. I just assumed that the birth country of letterboxing would be easy and similar to the on-line searching that we do when we are in the States. I eventually became so frustrated that I returned to that original article and decided to contact the author, Carol Rifka, directly. Thanks to the power of google searching I was able to track her down and here's the advice she gave me. Since it was so helpful, I thought I would just go ahead and share it word for word:

Hi Lucia,
Nice to hear from you and glad you found the article a good reference! Yes, Dartmoor letterboxing is quite different than American letterboxing. Both easier and more difficult and, well, kind of strange. There are a lot of unofficial letterboxes on Dartmoor. Usually these are placed by kids or families. You can basically just let your kids look for these at the more popular places on Dartmoor--Hound Tor (highly recommended for kids, rock scrambling etc.), Haytor, Bonehill Rocks etc. These are all on the east side of the moor. There are lots of boulders and big rock piles with nooks and crannies where people hide boxes. You'll see what I mean when you get there. You don't need clues and it's ideal for younger kids because in the course of normal exploring and peeking around they're bound to find a box or two or more. The downside is that as those boxes are unofficial and not particularly well hidden they can often be wet or missing the stamp. It's luck of the draw, but ideal for younger kids.

If you want to get more serious and get out the compass and maps (you'll want/need the Ordnance Survey map OL 28) you'll have to contact the Letterboxing 100 club in writing and buy a copy of their Catalogue of Dartmoor Letterboxes. It's all a bit weird and very "secret society", and I have to say, we've only really done a few of those official boxes. They're nicer boxes than the ones you just stumble across and there is an actual feeling of accomplishment when you find them, so worth doing I'd say. The clues aren't as "fun" as I think the American clues are. They're just compass and map directions with maybe reference to a land feature. The Ordnance Survey maps are very very detailed, so you can find even the smallest landmark on there.

Here's a couple links that you mind find useful...
***Dartmoor National Park letterboxing info: http://www.dartmoor-npa.gov.uk/index/visiting/vi-enjoyingdartmoor/vi-letterboxing.htm
***Letterbox 100 club: http://www.userfriendly-devon.co.uk/100club/

Keep your fingers crossed for good weather. The last couple summers here have been abysmal. Oddly enough we're going to be in Italy for most of August. Tuscany, just outside Florence. I know Sicily is quite a ways from Tuscany, but any general Italy tips would be much appreciated!
All the best,
Carol

And Carol's advice was "spot-on" (Thank you, Carol and hope you are having fun in Tuscany!). We went the kid friendly route of just showing up and searching. Our first stop was the Haytor visitor center where the park ranger recommended some hiking areas surrounding Haytor and Bonehill Rocks. We didn't find any boxes on Haytor, but our first letterbox was actually at the ice cream truck at the base of Haytor Rock. While waiting for our Devon cream cones, we just happened to mention to the driver that we were hoping to find some letterboxes. He got a big grin on his face and pulled out a box from under the counter. After that fun and suprising discovery, we headed to Bonehill Rocks where we hit the jackpot. Box after box crammed into nooks and crannies. We were giddy with excitement. As Carol mentioned some were in better shape than others and sadly most of them were store bought and not hand carved, but we have never experienced anything quite like this. We found over twenty boxes in less than half an hour!
It would be fun to return in the future when the kids are a bit older to try searching for the boxes via the more official clues (it sounds like you have to write ahead for coordinates). Very glad we made the effort to experience letterboxing in Dartmoor. It was a fun afternoon for all of us.

Exploring: Dartmoor National Park

The moors, the wild ponies, lots of ponies, the heather, the tors, the sweeping views, the rock climbing, and the home of letterboxing ...just a few of the reasons we loved Dartmoor National Park and wish we had more time to explore and wander. Our crazy wind-blown family portrait was taken after we all climbed to the top of the one of rock formations surrounding Haytor. More on letterboxing at Dartmoor soon.

California Dreamin' in England: Vacation in a VW Van

We are back! We packed a lot into our trip which means I am still sorting through photos, laundry, and stories. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have someone waiting at your house when you return from a trip...a house elf who does the unpacking AND organizes all of your photos into an amazing photobook of your trip? I have such good intentions of making photobooks from each of our trips but somehow that just hasn't happened yet...


The trip was great. Our first week was spent living and exploring southern England in a fabulous VW California Camper Van, a seriously well-designed vehicle. I wish I could say we had beautiful weather the whole week, but we didn't, which actually made me appreciate the van even more. We rented the van from One Life. I had a hunch they would be good folks to work with because their e-mails were prompt, helpful, and full of good suggestions, but I have to admit I was still a bit nervous about this whole part of the trip. I shouldn't have worried. When David and Kate met us at the train station with the van, we were blown away by their attention to details. The van was fully stocked with every kitchen item we could possibly need including a few breakfast basics to get us started, very nice bed linens (down comforters which made the whole camping thing feel so luxourious!), and they even bought towels before our arrival because we had such limited space in our suitcases. My favorite items in the van were the complete set of VW van dishes.

The van itself was perfect for our family of four. Easy to drive and set up each night. It was great to have access to a kitchen any time of the day (I am now thinking all cars should have coolers/refrigerators!). When everyone was hungry, we would find a nice stopping place, pull over, turn the seats around and have lunch...very convenient and left us dreaming about owning one of our own. Sleeping was also pretty comfortable, except for the last night when we had extreme winds and driving rains. We started the evening just as every night before but when the weather continued to worsen and rain started to blow in through the tent walls, we decided to put down the upper compartment. That wasn't too much fun at midnight. It meant we had to turn the car on (which was against campground rules), wake up and transfer two sleeping children and then spend the rest of night with four people sleeping on a bed intended for two. I am very glad that happened on our last night and not our first...but I was even happier to be in a camper van that night and not in a tent like some of our camping neighbors.

We hit three different campsites during our week:

Home Farm: This was the smallest campground we stayed in during the week and it was also my favorite with it's beautiful views of the Chilterns, the amazing Red Kites, fresh eggs, walking paths, kids playing cricket, the delicious and friendly pub down the road, and access to lots of walking trails.

River Dart: This was the kids' favorite campsite. It really is a kid's wonderland and we could easily have spent our whole week there (Noah is begging us to go back next summer). Fabulous adventure playgrounds with huge slides, tree houses, zip lines, woods and creeks for exploring. Lots of kids and lots of spontaneous soccer games (and a very emotional place to watch the final World Cup game since many of our camping neighbors were Dutch). It is a very well maintained site with beautiful grounds. Great for a family vacation with easy access to Dartmoor National Park.Green Hills Leisure Farm: This campsite is actually on the grounds of a working farm with lots of interesting animals and chickens laying eggs right outside the van. Adam's favorite part of this campsite was the soccer field right behind our pitch. Close to Oxford, the Cotswolds and Blenheim Palace. Clean facilities, including a game room and a fishing pond.

So that's the report on our first experience with a VW camper van. Stay tuned for lots more travel pics and British posts. Hope you are all having some amazing summer adventures.

British Bound

We're taking off for the land of Peter Pan, Paddington, Mary Poppins, Harry Potter, Peter Cottontail, Alice, Merlin and so many more. Thank you for all of the great suggestions. If you are planning a trip to England any time soon, be sure to read the comments in both of the recent British planning posts. See you in a couple of weeks! Cheerio!