221: Chickasaw Country and Oklahoma City Road Trip Travel
Vacation Mavens
Tamara has finally made it to her 50th state...Oklahoma!! She took an Oklahoma road trip to visit both Oklahoma City and Chickasaw Country in south-central Oklahoma, in partnership with Chickasaw Country and the Chickasaw Nation. Oklahoma City has a lot to offer as a stand-alone destination including the First Americans Museum and the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. Tamara stayed at the aLoft hotel in Bricktown, which is the entertainment district with plenty of restaurants, bars, shops, and the minor league baseball stadium and water taxis. If you are interested in learning more...
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220: African Safaris
Vacation Mavens
Tamara is hosting an all-women small group trip to Portugal this fall and she would love for you to join her! . Did you know that Kim has been on safaris in four African countries? Today she shares some great tips that will help you decide where you might want to go, understand the differences between various safari experiences, and provide some advice for planning an African safari trip. You can read more about a few of Kim's safari experiences here:
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219: German Christmas Markets Trip
Vacation Mavens
Tamara is hosting an all-women small group trip to Portugal this fall and she would love for you to join her! . In this episode, Tamara talks about her two-week German Christmas Markets road trip! If you have this magical holiday trip on your radar, make sure to give this episode a close listen and check out the following articles:
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Barge and River Cruising Through France
Vacation Mavens
Before we say goodbye to summer and pull on our flannels and break out the pumpkin spice, Tamara and Kim are back with a recap of Tamara's European summer travels including a month spent exploring France by river and barge cruise! Tamara first spent two weeks in the United Kingdom, on a road trip through both Scotland and Wales with two other travel writers. She then took the Eurostar down to France and spent one week cruising through the Canal Nivernais on the Hotel Barge Elisabeth. Next, she went to Bordeaux and her husband joined her for a weeklong river cruise with AmaWaterways. Tamara...
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217: Scottsdale and Japan (Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka)
Vacation Mavens
Well it has been a minute since we had a chance to catch up and record a podcast but in this episode Tamara shares her insights and experience from her recent family trip to Japan. Kim and Tamara also share their love for Scottsdale, Arizona and some of the things they did on a girls' trip together. Read more at: Tamara also talked about her time in Paso Robles, California. You can read her to get inspired to visit this wine region. Kim attended conferences in Walt Disney World (read her tips for using DVC points to ), Disney Land, and San Antonio. She also took a family cruise to...
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216: Ireland and Northern Ireland
Vacation Mavens
Kim took a last minute spring break trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland with her younger daughter and this week on the podcast, she tells us all about it! She flew into Dublin and then stay at a country estate hotel in Northern Ireland before visiting Belfast, the Causeway Coast, Derry/Londonderry, and Galway before looping back to Dublin. See Kim's articles on: Ireland Trip Highlights: in Northern Ireland Belfast - Titanic Belfast and city architecture - Carrick-a-Rede bridge, Giant's Causeway, Dunluce Castle in Derry - walk the walls around the city Galway - Kim...
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215 Oceanside Disneyland California
Vacation Mavens
Spring break is almost here and on this episode Kim and Tamara share their experience on a girls' trip in Oceanside, California and then their mother-daughter trip to Disneyland with their girls. If you want some inspiration for a SoCal getaway, be sure to listen in!
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214 Northern Italy + Big Announcement
Vacation Mavens
Happy New Year! We are back and apologize for taking so long to release a new episode. Moving forward, we will strive to have one episode a month to share our travels and tips, as we continue to each put more time into our respective websites. But first, Tamara has a big announcement and that is that she is hosting a women-only small group trip to Iceland in September 2023! You can get all the information on and she really hopes that some listeners will be able to join! Note that there is a discount of 15,000 ISK if you register by January 15, 2023. Next Tamara tells us all about her...
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213: Glacier Country, Montana
Vacation Mavens
This episode is sponsored by Glacier Country Tourism. All opinions are our own. This week, Tamara shares what it is like to visit Glacier Country, Montana on a girls' trip and Kim shares her thoughts on this scenic part of Northwestern Montana. From Missoula to Whitefish, Kalispell to Glacier National Park -- if Montana is on your bucket list, give this episode a listen! Read more: Things to do in Glacier Country, Montana Glacier Country is a tourism region of Northwestern Montana that covers eight counties To get to Glacier Country you can fly into Missoula or Glacier Airport in Kalispell,...
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212: Summer Travel Catch Up
Vacation Mavens
We are back from our summer travel and packed a whole lot into a one episode recap! We apologize in advance for some audio difficulties on this one, especially after taking so long to get it live. Thanks for hanging in there with us! On this episode we cover Tamara's summer trips to: Nantucket (read her ) New Brunswick, Canada (, , and ) Prince Edward Island, Canada () Sailing on the And Kim shares about her adventures: Mediterranean cruise on Costa Cruise Lines () Gorilla trekking in Uganda Alaskan cruise on Holland America Graduation trip to Disney World and Universal Orlando ()
info_outlineMost visitors to New York City only explore Manhattan. But what do you do when you want to explore the other boroughs? Local mom Ranjana Armstrong shares what she recommends to do with kids in Brooklyn -- beyond just walking across the Brooklyn Bridge.
ON THE PODCAST
00:30 - Talking with Kim and Tamara
04:25 - Talking with Ranjana about Nugget
11:05 - Neighborhoods in Brooklyn
18:58 - What to do in Brooklyn
28:00 - Coney Island/Aquarium
29:20 - When to go
31:20 - Where to stay/getting round
34:40 - Eating out
38:55 - Favorite Travel Gear
40:00 - Coming up next for Ranjana
42:20 - Next Week’s Episode
ABOUT RANJANA ARMSTRONG
Ranjana Armstrong is the founder of Nugget, a global community for millennial parents to share and discover travel itineraries and ideas for unique family vacations. She's also the co-host and co-producer of two travel podcasts for families: Go With Nugget for Kids and Go With Nugget for Parents. She lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and 3 boys.
Follow Ranjana on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
TIPS FOR VISITING BROOKLYN, NEW YORK WITH KIDS
- Depending on how much time you have, you might want to stay in Manhattan and the go into Brooklyn for part of your trip.
- If you decide to stay in Brooklyn, most people stay in DUMBO.
- Brooklyn neighborhood breakdown:
- Dumbo is a neighborhood that is on the waterfront and is located right next to the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge. There are great cafes and creative places.
- Brooklyn Heights is another neighborhood that on the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge. This is a more residential area, but has some cute boutiques for shopping and a nice promenade to walk along the water.
- Williamsburg is a little further north and used to be more of the hipster area. It still has some art scenes, funky shops and people with tattoos. There is also the Domino park that is great for kids.
- Things to do with kids in Brooklyn:
- New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn that is a great place to take kids or even just go as adults if you are interested. It is a smaller Museum but still has a lot to offer. The museum is located in an old subway stop!
- Brooklyn Bridge Park is a great place to hang out. It is located just on the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge. So if you are staying in Manhattan and want to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge you will come off right at the park. Also there is the largest outdoor bouldering area in north America. If you have any interest at all in rock climbing you should definitely check out The Cliffs.
- Domino Park is another great area to spend the day with your kids. There is an area with great slides and a good Mexican taqueria right next to it that would be a great place to get lunch.
- Whether you like museums or not, you should really think about checking out The Brooklyn Children’s Museum. It is really well done and has a lot of interactive things to do with your kids.
- You are really into the old school amusement park rides you should check out Coney Island. Just keep in mind that it is quite a trek to get there, so depending on where you are staying, make sure it is something that you really want to do.
- You can also check out the New York Aquarium which is right next door to the amusement park.
- Depending on the time of year you plan on visiting you may want to look up what is going on in other areas including:
- Dyker Heights has a lot of Christmas lights that you can see all the different kinds of decorations during the holidays.
- In Park Slope there is a large Halloween parade where your kids can trick or treat and join the parade.
- There are also some parks that offer movies in the park and festivals.
FAVORITE TRAVEL GEAR
Ranjana loves to wear her Patagonia Nano Vest anywhere she goes. It’s lightwieght and can fold up really small.
MENTIONED ON THE PODCAST
What to do in NYC with kids Local Guide
Things to do in NYC kids ultimate vacation guide Podcast
FOLLOW US AND SPREAD THE WORD!
If you liked this show, please be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play and leave us a review! Have a question or comment? Send us an email at [email protected]. You can also follow our travels on Stuffed Suitcase and We3Travel, or follow the Vacation Mavens on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. Thanks for listening!