Planning a big trip? Nancy shares the tips she learned while planning and taking her big trip.  You don’t have to go out of the country to learn from her experience.
Some of the tips covered include:

* Rent a Flat/Apartment/House–It is cheaper and helps a family have space and comfort
* Get Groceries to save money and to understand the local food culture
* Meet Locals–go out of your way to talk to people and learn about the place you are visitng.
* Get a City Pass or Tour Bus to orient yourself and see a lot of the city quickly and easily. In London, we used Big Bus Tour and River Cruise and the London Pass which gave us entrance to almost major sites.  In Copenhagen, we used Stromma Hop On which included a River Cruise
* Prep the kids for what they are going to see before, then explain during the visit to the site, and take time to review things seen after.  This helps create hooks that the kids can hang their experience on.
* Plan your trip and create a written plan.  You can enter this plan in your cell phone with appointments that contain the  details to keep on track.
* Make sure to plan flexibility in the schedule.
* Plan times for relaxation in your sight seeing (River Cruise in the middle of a lot of walking; time in the park)
* Make sure to do things each person wants to do.
* Make a master folder with the itinerary and all the tickets, etc you need to get into the venues.
* Use Google Maps to plan your path. Google Street view let me see all the way to the door of the flat.  But it failed me because we only had 3G in London.
* Check your cell phone coverage. Does it work where you are going?
* Figure out a money strategy ahead of time: Will your debit or credit card work? No longer need to use a money exchange
* Plan your souvenirs ahead of time—think about who you want to buy something for and what might be unique. Tell each kid they can pick one thing for themselves.
* Give the kids money they can use as they want. If they have a finite amount, they think about what they want to get.
* Look for local shops instead of the tourist places to shop for memorable items.
* Leave a slush fund for those times when you just need a treat or something unexpected happens because it will
* Plan food that is kid-friendly.
* Forget about fashion—go comfortable and take less (Walking shoes/Backpack/ Scarves, money belt, layering)
* Find the Bathrooms and use them even if you think you don’t need to