Pictured above: Laura Ashley Cressida Heart Basket and Tool Set, Hunters Original British Rain Boots and Burberry Belted Leather Rain Boots

Creating an Unforgettable Mother’s Day

Still looking for that perfect gift to show your mom how much she means to you? Here’s my winning tip for you: try to think what your mom is passionate about and go for that theme – and make it a truly a day of celebration, rather than just a present and flowers delivered via web or a quick lunch in a restaurant.

Her ideal present might not be anything tangible in terms of goods, but maybe an experience, or a surprise visit from you if you haven’t seen her for a long time – after all time is the most valuable asset we have – and once it’s gone we can’t get it back… The key is to give it from the heart, and not just by opening your wallet and picking up some fancy presents. Make it a day with loved ones, doing things that mom would love to do.

If you are now thinking that your mom has no passions or hobbies that you are aware of it gets a bit trickier. It is possible that your mom has no interests whatsoever, or it could be that she’s still at that stage where she’s dreaming about something, but hasn’t gotten the courage or time (or what ever the reason might be) to get started. Try to think about what she’s told you before, directly or just hinted subtly, and something’s got to come on top. Then just go for that idea even if it ends up being a spring clean of the garage together and a champagne picnic between the boxes. She’ll so pleasantly surprised and happy!

My English Garden Dream Mother’s Day

Personally I have been pining for an opportunity to work in a garden for the past four years when we didn’t really have one, and this is what my perfect day would be like (hint for the husband as I know he reads my articles). No, it’ now a few diamond bracelet or Jimmy Choos, although the latter will be included, sort of, as I’d love the Jimmy Choos of the gardening world – aka a really fancy pair of rain boots (or wellies as I call them) suitable even for trotting the puddled streets of London! If I ever had a lawn as perfect as the Queen has in front of Buckingham Palace I’d be really happy.

So my perfect mother’s day would have a few of these elements – and I would’t turn down all of them taking place in the very same time, but that just might be plain greedy:

• A lovely breakfast in bed (what can I say, just a family-long tradition and i have nothing against keeping up with traditions – especially when there is a home-made cake too)
• A little family project in garden (this year, my dear husband, I’d like a couple of raised beds so we could plant some herbs and lettuce – and strawberries for the kids)
• Family BBQ in the garden (ribs, English sausages, asparagus and potatoes, need I say more!)
• A lovely afternoon stroll in a nearby castle and it’s blooming gardens – great for the body and mind and also gives me some garden ideas. And since it’s likely to be an afternoon it would the perfect time for a proper cream tea in the castle
• A pair of fabulous wellies, or maybe even two: Classic Hunter’s boots for muddy school runs and forest walks (and music festivals, just think of Glastonbury) and Burberry ones for glamming up (and I keep my old butterfly boots for the garden). Wellies are the must-have item item of the year and they are like sandals last year – no shame of owning more than one pair for different occasions
• And finally: there is always a need yet for another garden tool – so a fancy clippers or cute bird feeder will do (and this year a moss-killing set for the lawn might be hot commodity too!)

Castles, gardens and cream teas is what I dream of!

All this would make me eternally grateful and feel so cherished, at least until next year when I’d hope to have a lovely day again. And yes, for next Father’s day I am planning to follow the same format for my great husband too!

The best Mother’s Day gift I have received was from my stepdaughters. A couple of years ago, they surprised me with an afternoon tea at home sophisticated enough to rival that of Ritz Carlton in San Francisco.

Tori, my youngest stepchild, planned my Mother’s Day tea for two weeks. She carefully selected the menu, shopped for all the necessary items, then enlisted her older sister, Kayla, to help with the preparations. They set a beautiful table with our antique wedding china that was my great grandparent’s, adorned the table and the house with fresh flowers, and used cloth table linens.

We had two different French teas, champagne to accompany two types of homemade scones, an arugula salad, cucumber and smoked salmon finger sandwiches, and crostinis with goat cheese. While we enjoyed our meal, we listened to French songstress, Edith Piaf.

For dessert, we indulged in Tori’s homemade banana, Nutella, Grand Marnier crêpes and Kayla’s chocolate covered strawberries.

With the beautiful table setting, carefully prepared food, and the added element of surprise, it was a Mother’s Day I will always remember and treasure.

If you’re wondering how you can make your mother, grandmother, stepmother or wife feel special, appreciated and honored this Mother’s Day, serve her an Afternoon Tea she will never forget!

Gifts that give twice

Mother’s Day this year is on May 12th in many countries, including USA. This year I collected 7 gift caring ideas that give twice. Many of these products support a charity, are made from recycled materials or are made with all natural ingredients. Great gift ideas for granola and fashionista moms alike!

1. Jonathan Adler Retro Floral On The Go Coffee Mug ($14)
The Jonathan Adler porcelain coffee mug with a coordinating silicone sleeve and lid isn’t just any pretty new coffee to-go-mug when you purchase it from Gifts that Give. $2.80 of the price goes to any cause of your choice, easily with a click of a button. Perfect for the soccer mom-on-the-go!

2. Patent Foundation Double Wrap Logo Stud Bracelet by Tory Burch ($95)
Patent Foundation Double Wrap Logo Stud Bracelet by Tory Burch is gorgeous and perfect for the trendy fashionista mom. All profits from the purchase of this item benefit the Tory Burch Foundation, committed to providing economic opportunities to women and their families in the United States

3. Smart Traveler Makeup Bag Set by Cuyana ($85)
Smart Traveler Set by Cuyana comes with two makeup bags, perfectly sized for traveling. The large one for toiletries and the smaller one to fit inside a carry-on or a purse for daily essentials. This set comes in several colors but the trendy emerald green is my favorite. The bags are Handmade in Argentina and Cuyana donates a percentage of profits to charity:water.

4. TOM’S Shoes ($53.95)
The ‘Classic – Circle’ Slip-On by TOMS shoes comes in cute new prints. And like for years now… With every pair of shoes purchased, TOMS gives a new pair of shoes to a child in need.

5. FEED India Bag in Flame Navy ($75)
This colorful block printed FEED India Bag is handmade by artisans working in India. Each FEED India Bag will provide 50 school meals for children in India, and in ADDITION 15.00 goes to any cause of your choice when you purchase it from Gifts that Give. The do-good bag also looks good and it’s perfect summer, for beach days or farmer’s market runs.

6. Mereset scarf from fashionABLE ($36)
The soft 100% cotton Mereset scarf from fashionABLE is handmade in Ethiopia and allows women in Ethiopia to have a way of living. This thin scarf is perfect even for summer.

7. Pure Natural Diva Botanicals Perfume ($100)
Pure Natural Diva Botanicals Perfumes are a perfect a gift for an eco savvy mom. Made with natural ingredients and scent from heaven. May we recommend? Try the Natural from the four different varieties. It is fresh and inviting, with notes including a hint of clary sage, exalting pink grapefruit, Moroccan rose, and soothing ylang ylang. Calming yet luxurious, just what mom wants. 1.69 oz bottle $100.

Parenting Without Borders

I love this picture of my girls – my middle daughter is saying “I was born in Germany” and my oldest one is teasing her “but you don’t speak any German, I do!” taken from our last trip to Germany after 10 years we moved from there to United States. Now my oldest studies German in Swedish – at her school in Sweden. Our multicultural parenting styles have mixed even more in our nomadic lifestyle of moving from a country to another.

Today I’m excited about teaming up with Culture Mom Media, and the author of Parenting Without Borders: Surprising Lessons Parents Around the World Can Teach Us by Christine Gross-Loh and many other great moms to co-host a Twitter party tomorrow about parenting in different cultures and promoting Christine’s new book.

Our three children were all born in different countries (in Finland, Germany and USA) and my husband and I were raised very differently affecting our parenting choices. He grew up in a conservative family in Texas, and I grew up in a liberal family in Finland, and I remember when we first started talking about having children, our ideas of what raising children together would be like were as far apart as the geographical locations we were from.

Our first discussion about raising children together happened in 1998 and we have come a long way since that. We have developed our own parenting practices that neither of our parents fully approve. I think my in-laws think our kids are being raised by weird Finnish traditions, and my parents think our kids are raised by weird American principles. Nevertheless I kind of think they are proud of us for by doing so many things “wrong” we have somehow managed to raise three very intelligent, creative, tolerant, well-behaved and above all, happy, children. You know what I think? I think there isn’t one best way of raising children in any particular culture, but you as a parent have to make your own choices what’s best for your own child. I also realized that many of the “liberal” ways of Scandinavian parenting were very traditional and “old school,” and oddly many of the “conservative” American ways were actually on the bottom of the list how I wanted to parent my children.

It has been very interesting now when we have moved back to Scandinavia. I loved the freedom I had as a child, but after being a mother in the USA it was not easy to move to Sweden and be a mother in this very different culture, where children are given much more freedom to do what they want to and much less supervision and structure. It was easier for me to be the more Scandinavian-style mother when our children were young; I breastfed them all, we co-slept in a family bed, and we started education at home early on with games and riddles but wanted to keep the kids playing as long as possible and after a few months of preschool experience in New York for our first one, none of our children went to preschool. Scandinavian children are taught to be very independent from very early on when it comes to taking care of themselves, and being unsupervised for example.

Yet after living in the American culture for years I also realized that maybe some of the basic parenting advice from my own culture wasn’t that good after all. Let’s take “Saturday, candy day” for example. Many Finnish and Swedish kids have a “candy day” on Saturdays and while it’s great: it limits the amount of sweets eaten by the kids and it’s meant for their better health, it also teaches bad eating habits = restraining yourself and then binging. Many Finnish children grow up and they tend to take another weekday habit, called “a Friday bottle” – where the Saturday sweets-eating has turned into binge alcohol-drinking on Fridays. It shocks people here that we don’t believe in a candy day, and let kids eat candy when they want. The real shocker is that they are educated enough and probably eat less candy each week than an average Finnish or Swedish kid on an average Saturday.

There are so many different ways of parenting, and I do believe that it benefits every parent to learn more from other cultures and from other perspectives to ultimately make the best decisions.

Join us for Twitter chat!

Please join us for a Twitter chat on today Thursday May 2nd 9PM EST.

Some of the questions covered:
How to build our own global village and answer the universal question: What is best for our children?
Do you ever compare your parenting skills to others?
Are you one of those people who pays close attention to how parents around the world are parenting differently?
Are you surprised to hear when different skills from across the globe can help or transform your own?

We’re thrilled to be teaming up with the author of Parenting Without Borders: Surprising Lessons Parents Around the World Can Teach Us by Christine Gross-Loh. In her book, she takes readers on a multicultural tour of the world’s best parenting practices – from Finland, Sweden and Germany to France, Japan, China, Italy and beyond to examine how international parents successfully foster creativity, discipline, independence, resilience and academic excellence in their children.

During this party, we’ll get right to the heart of and dissect the matters we care most about when it comes to raising children: life skills, eating habits, manners, expectations, mom guilt, sleeping and our obsessions with praise (too much? not enough?). We’ll learn what we’re doing right and what we’re possibly doing wrong, and we’ll all certainly come away with a new slate of practices and goals.

Three moderators guiding the discussion:
Carol Cain from Girl Gone Travel (@carolacain)
Mara Gorman from Mother of All Trips (@motherofalltrip)
Katja Presnal from Skimbaco Lifestyle (@skimbaco) (that’s me!)

Please RSVP here and talk to you on Twitter at 9pm EST on Thursday night at hashtag #ParentingWOB. Talk to you soon!

As millions of families plan their summer vacations this year, their focus is usually on their final destination. Many will travel by plane, but the majority will pack the family car and drive nonstop to their resort, only stopping for a bathroom break.

I say:

Don’t be in such a rush!

Take time on your route, get off the Interstate, explore a new town, and even spend the night in a new city.

OK. I admit that I don’t like being trapped in my car with my children for long periods of time, so I like to break up our drive if it is over four hours and spend a little time in places along my travel route. I may be unusual, but my way of traveling is creating new family memories. It gives us the opportunity to experience new cities or areas that we wouldn’t have experienced otherwise.

Last year, I spent some time in Roanoke, Virginia, before starting our resort vacation at the Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Virginia. Before that trip, I probably would have never thought about visiting that part of Virginia, but when I looked at the map and started planning out our drive to Hot Springs, a stopover in Roanoke made perfect sense. I’m so glad we took some time to explore Roanoke, and because of that, I’ve started embracing the family road trip even more. I don’t dread the ride, but rather look forward to that stopping-off point.

Over Spring Break I did it again. I broke up the six-hour drive to Highlands, North Carolina, and chose to stop in Asheville, North Carolina, for one night, which is about four hours from my home in Raleigh and two hours away from Highlands.

Asheville is a great city to explore as its own vacation destination, as I highlighted in my most recent posts about the Biltmore Estate. But for this trip, it also made a great “layover” city for us to spend some quality time visiting as a family. It provided the stop we needed without being crabby because we stayed “too long” in the car.

Biltmore Park Town Square in Asheville, NC

I chose to stay in a new area in Asheville called Biltmore Park Town Square. I felt it was the perfect stop for us because once we checked into the Asheville Hilton, we didn’t have to move our car. The area truly is like being in a small town within a “bigger city” equipped with a movie theatre, shopping, medical offices, and an assortment of restaurants in an upscale environment. Yet it’s easy access to anywhere you want to go in the city of Asheville, if you chose the area as a vacation base.

The Asheville Hilton

After dinner at a little pub called Hickory Tavern, we let the kids swim in the Hilton’s beautiful indoor pool. This environmentally friendly boutique hotel is sleek, modern, and a bang for your buck in terms of luxury versus price. It even impressed me with Peter Thomas Roth bath products. This was the first Hilton I’ve stayed in since 2003, and I was pleased.

Depending on the season, your room rate can include a buffet breakfast in the Hilton’s restaurant, “Roux,” for less than $200 a night. “Roux” prides itself with farm-fresh ingredients, and my children adored the chocolate chip pancakes made on order right in front of their eyes.

Breaking up our drive does cause us to spend less time at the main resort hotel on our vacation, but at the same time, it stretches the budget because these “layover” stops are not as expensive per night as the main vacation hotel, typically.

As you plan your next vacation, take out the map, pick a place along the route to stop and explore, even if it is just for a few hours. I promise you will be glad you did.

Visit Explore Asheville for more information on Asheville as a vacation destination, and hop over to my blog for an inside look at the Inn on Biltmore at the Biltmore Estate, a hotel inside the gates.

Disclosure: I was a guest of the Asheville Hilton at a special travel rate arranged by Biltmore Farms Hotels, and the rate included the buffet breakfast at Roux for my family. Dinner expenses while at Biltmore Park Town Square were our own.

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Photo by Legocontrol.

Repeat after me: there is no privacy online

I received an email from my daughter’s teacher urging us parents to take more notice what some of the children in my daughter’s class are posting on Instagram.
Last week a friend of mine was tagged in a very unflattering and inappropriate photo on Facebook and everyone was able to see it in her profile.
A few weeks ago I was chatting with my friend on Facebook in a language her husband doesn’t speak, yet he tried translating it with Google translate and greatly misunderstood our conversation and it resulted in family drama. The marriage drama had no cases for real drama expect the fact my friend didn’t have privacy to send private messages on Facebook.
A PR person from a respected company was featured in a major business website last week and a photo from his private Facebook page was featured and questioned for, and this may cause this person his job.

Rumors, published private information, poor judgement and bad behavior on social media result in lost jobs and ruined relationships and it has become part of our lives. A few years ago it was still front page news when people lost their jobs due tweets, Facebook photos or written blog posts, now it sadly has become part of today’s society.

Social media, internet and the way we are able to connect with people around the world has changed my life the past ten years, and I do publish personal stories, personal photos and information online, however, with a very strong filter to protect myself and my family. It might be easy to be mistaken that if you don’t have as many social media “followers” as I do that the filter isn’t as important. The filter is important for everyone.

Rules of engagement

My rule of thumb is that never publish anything that you don’t want your spouse (or future spouse) or your mother, your mother-in-law (or future mother-in-law) or your children (or future children) or your boss (or future boss) see.

Today’s Grandmothers are on Facebook, your children’s teachers are on Pinterest, your boss is on Twitter, and your children’s friends on Instagram, and every time you hit publish on any of these sites, think how these people will see you in all of these platforms.

Many argue for private profiles, private messages, and privacy settings and say that only a handful of friends are seeing what you are posting. Dear friends, there is no privacy online.

Sadly there is even no privacy when it comes to your emails nor text messages, or just read Damn You Autocorrect or other blogs where they publish screenshots of text messages, or embarrassing Facebook messages. There is always someone, or someone’s sister, friend or spouse with an access to your or your friend’s account, or Facebook has yet another privacy update removing all of our privacy all together. Always use caution when it comes to social media.

When it comes to my friend’s marriage drama and her husband’s misunderstanding, it would be easy to say that it was all of his fault for spying on her, and any marriage should base on trust. I agree on every marriage being based on trust. However, we all have to learn that there is no privacy online, however much we would like there to be. Even as close to home as in my own marriage, sure, I have seen my husband publishing things online that have made me angry and sad. And I am positive my husband has seen me to do the same regardless how much I try to be respectful in what I am posting.

Keep private things.. private and offline

It is a good reminder for all us to keep our private things private and keep them offline. What is put online has a funny way of always coming out, sometimes even weeks, months or years after the fact.

McAfee released findings from the company’s 2013 Love, Relationships, and Technology survey which examines the pitfalls of sharing personal data in relationships and discloses how breakups can lead to privacy leaks online. The study highlights the need for consumers to take steps to protect themselves from cyber-stalking and exposure of private information.

Nearly two-thirds of smartphone owners have personal and intimate information on their mobile devices, such as bank account information, passwords, credit card numbers and revealing photos, yet only 40% have password protection on their devices. This leaves a gap in personal data protection, which results in exposure.

We’re all aware of the cases involving celebrities, but you don’t have to be a celebrity to have your personal information exposed

said Michelle Dennedy, an online security expert for McAfee.

What about our kids?

What’s the most important thing about this is educating our children correctly about social media and being great examples. Online bullying didn’t exist when we went to school, and many parents might not have first hand experience or even know online bullying exists. We might also think that what we do online doesn’t concern our children, and your “online world” is separate from the “in real life parenting world.” You couldn’t be more wrong. Even if your child doesn’t have access to internet today, she/he will in the future and your online footprint can be found by your offspring (and for you younger single people – your online footprint can also be found by your prospective future spouse!).

As a parent you have responsibility not just learn about social media etiquette and best practices for yourself, but also so you can both educate and monitor what your child is doing online. If you are a parent and want to learn more, you might want to check out my friend Amy Lupold Bair’s new book Raising Digital Families For Dummies, out today.

I personally encourage my children for social networking and learning from day one how to do it correctly – before they are too old to make any big mistakes they might regret later in their lives. Our family’s favorite network is Instagram – and my son’s pictures are featured in the post.

Sometimes the line between everyday life and travel gets little muddled. Between me and my husband  our calendars fill up with dates of who’s where and when, and friends frequently re-check what address wedding invitations or thank you cards should be sent this time. However, these days “oh, you are still there?”, has been the typical response we get when we tell where we are, for the moment.

That’s right. We are still in Norway after two and half years. And even though we are kind of settled down, I would still claim that we continue traveling, as a lifestyle. Not in the hardcore way as some of our friends do with location independent lifestyles, where they keep changing locations according to the seasons or exciting job offers, and work for themselves from the road. Instead, our jobs in the travel industry take us traveling abroad and around our “new” home, Norway. And when it is not the job, it is the desire to see new places, or the need to visit the places and people where we used to live, or stay, for extended periods in the past. And all this in an extent that not a month goes by with us not having some kind of travel plans to a destination or two.

For us, this is everyday life. Mundane in a way, but exciting and satisfying at the same time albeit tiring at times too. Still, I understand that many consider travel as luxury, hence I often get asked how we can afford it all. Katja recently gave her 15 tips on how to travel more. And here is how we do it.

Affording traveling as a lifestyle

1. Career choices. When you work in the travel industry, traveling is part of your work tasks, simple as that. Of course business travel is not always all that exciting, but if and when you have the chance to extend your stay in the location or combine it with a holiday, business travel immediately gets a lot more interesting.

My husband checking his emails while having breakfast in the Italian Alps. 

2. Saving where needed. We own our own apartment. We have two cars. And we put away bit of money every month “just in case”. But we do not live in a mansion, nor have fancy new cars, nor do we shop in designer boutiques or have the latest and greatest of electronic appliances at our home. We live comfortably, but we rarely invest in possession that would just be on the way, if we ended up packing it all up again.

3. Traveling independently. Package holidays cost a lot of money. Cheap flights don’t. If you make smart travel choices you can stay extended periods in a location, or do few smaller trips for the same money you would spend for one package holiday.

4. Staying in apartments, friends and family. In the past year I have been converted to staying in apartments. As we have been traveling with our baby turned toddler, apartments have been easy, fun and practical way to travel with the whole family. And of course when possible, we stay with friends and family, go camping or sleep in our van. Needless to say, our place is always open for visitors too!

Enjoying a dinner with a view in Ericeira, Portugal, where we rented an apartment through Wimdu.co.uk. 

5. Looking for authentic experiences. There are so many things you can do in a foreign destination and they don’t all have to cost a lot of money. We often look for the outdoor experiences and these are largely free. But even if you are in a city, you could plan your visit so that you can hit the museums when they are open for free, look for local events that are affordable or don’t cost anything, or travel in the off-season when prices tend to be lower in general.

6. Do what the locals do. When in Italy, drink wine instead of beer. When in Paris, find out where the locals eat instead of having the overpriced lunch right next to Louvre. This of course takes bit of detective work, but is so worth it! Especially if you get to know locals who will show you around their favorite spots!

Anything you would add in this list? I would love to hear more tips and experiences on how to travel more or how to afford traveling as a lifestyle!

My family spent some time in Asheville, North Carolina, exploring the Biltmore Estate last month. My children did well exploring the 250-room mansion that was built by George Vanderbilt in 1895. I shared some inside tips on touring the estate with kids this month on Skimbaco.

It was a frigid 25 degrees on the day we visited, but that didn’t stop us from having a great time and getting the most out of our visit. After touring the house, we skipped the gardens and went straight for Antler Village, which is also included in your estate admission ticket.

Antler Hill Village

This charming village matches the architecture of the estate and houses the estate’s Outdoor Adventure Center, Antler Hill Farm, the Winery, the Biltmore Legacy Museum, and a few shops and restaurants. This is the place where children can be children and have a little fun.

So what if it was a chilly 25 degrees. My children went through the children’s maze not once, but twice, and would have done it again and again if their parents didn’t want to go to the winery to get warm. This free, fun-filled activity is made up of 500 trees and is patterned after a traditional boxwood maze. And it’s really not that easy to find your way out, either. We did, though, and went up the short hill to Antler Hill Farm.

Antler Hill Farm

This area on the Biltmore Estate will provide lots of entertainment for adults and children of all ages. After touring the mansion where our children had to be on their best behavior, it was a delight to see signs that said, “Please Climb on Me!”

Visitors here can immerse themselves into 19th-century farm life by stepping into the everyday life of families who lived on the estate raising livestock, tending crops, and working at Biltmore Dairy in the 1890s. The Barn in Antler Hill Village—once the social and work center for these families—is alive again with blacksmiths, woodworkers, and other craft demonstrations. There are crafts for the kids, educational videos, and a display of farm equipment through the years. A highlight of our visit was watching the blacksmith get ready to close shop for the day.

Kids will also enjoying getting to know some of the livestock on the farm. We stepped in right before the animals go in for the night, and they all were ready for dinner. The farm is open daily until 5 p.m.

The Biltmore Winery

Biltmore’s winery was originally a dairy barn, and guests who enter from the village take a walk through the cellar before getting into the complimentary tasting room. Now, many may think this is not a place for children, but they were very welcomed and even got complimentary grape juice. We only tasted a few of Biltmore’s wines because our two children can sit for only so long. I particularly enjoyed Biltmore’s Cardinal Crest, a red wine. This is an easy-to-drink wine with hints of blackberry, cherry, and oak. I think it’s great for sipping while cooking dinner.

I liked it so much that I had staff send some back to the room for me to take home. That is a perk of staying on property. Biltmore will pack up purchases from any of their shops and send them to your room at the Inn free of charge.

Biltmore wines are available in 21 states and online in the virtual wine shop.

The Biltmore Creamery and Cedric’s Tavern

When at Antler Hill Village, you must make room for ice cream or other sweets. It was too cold for me on this trip so I warmed up with a cappuccino, but Biltmore’s ice cream is an old-fashioned delight. The creamery is open daily from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. It also serves pastries and cupcakes.

Cedric’s Tavern is Biltmore’s newest restaurant. Named after the Vanderbilt’s beloved St. Bernard, this family-friendly restaurant serves up fresh pub fare with a field-to-table emphasis. On tap are Biltmore’s own brews, and I’m a big fan of Cedric’s Brown Ale now. The house specialty is fish and chips, which get four thumbs up from my husband and son. I chose the mountain trout, and it was exceptional. Dinner for my family ran just over $100, and in the evenings live entertainment abounds.

We did splurge on cocktails, after-dinner “Toffee Coffee” drinks, and a shared dessert for the kids. I have always been a fan of dining on the Biltmore Estate, and my experience at Cedric’s was delightful.

Also in the village is the farm-to-table restaurant, The Bistro, which highlights local ingredients in season. This restaurant is a little more formal in atmosphere and in cost, but it is also family-friendly with a children’s menu.

The Spring Biltmore Experience

With 8,000 acres, the Biltmore Estate is nature’s playground. The Outdoor Adventure Center, located in Antler Hill Village, can help your family plan hikes, biking trips, float trips down the French Broad River, and much more. Biltmore is truly a vacation destination, and the perfect time to get a start on your outdoor adventure is during the Estate’s Festival of Flowers season which is now  through May 31.

To plan your visit to Asheville, North Carolina visit Biltmore Estate.com and Explore Asheville.

For more on my N.C. travels and a look at the Inn at Biltmore, located on the Biltmore Estate, visit the Hines-Sight Blog  for more stories. Be sure to follow me on Instagram @Hinessightblog for more scenic photos of my travels.

Disclosure: I was a media guest of the Biltmore Estate, and received free Estate admission, and discounts to stay on property.  All food costs associated with this visit were my own.

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Thank goodness spring break is around the corner. My family is going to take a few days to explore the mountains of North Carolina. We’ll be stopping in Asheville for one night, then spending a few days in the mountain town of Highlands, where waterfalls are as abundant as the curvy roads. In addition to my children’s luvies, snacks, and spring coats for that cool mountain air, I’ll be taking our new Intel tablet on this trip. We didn’t have a tablet before owning the Lenovo ThinkPad 2, and after taking some time to get used to the new Windows 8 operating system, I cannot imagine not taking it on our spring break excursion.

7 Reasons Why I’m Traveling with My Intel Tablet

1. Travel Planning

I’ve done a lot of trip planning while watching TV on my tablet. I’ve mapped out the best routes. I’ve bookmarked things to see on my travels, too. I want to continue my research while on location. The tablet makes it easy for me to do so. I love my smartphone, but the larger size of the tablet makes it a lot easier to reserach destinations on the go or in the comfort of the couch.

2. Entertaining the Kids in our Room

My kids have basically taken the tablet away from me. They love it. With the built-in inking feature, the kids have so much fun drawing with the tablet. They write notes. They draw glasses on their dad. It’s provided hours of entertainment. We love the app Skitch. My daughter has also found some great preschool games, too. I firmly believe in seeing things when traveling, and I don’t allow electronics during our dinners, but the tablet will be great for some downtime in the hotel room.

3. Watching Movies or TV Programs

The picture on the Intel tablet is crisp. It’s been great for watching TV and Netflix. With free Wi-Fi, I don’t have to be limited to what is on cable while in a hotel room or rental house. My son has earphones, so if he doesn’t want to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse then he can watch something else while we get ready for our day’s adventure.

4. Easy Access to Email and Social Media

With the tablet, and the touch of the Windows email app, I have all my accounts right there at the touch of the screen. It truly makes it easier to stay in touch and on top of my email when traveling. My mobile phone is just too small for me to type well. Under the People app, I can view my social media updates and notifications. I can take a photo of us in our room at Old Edwards Inn and Spa with the tablet and share it with my friends immediately.

5. Easy Access to Restaurant Reviews while On-Location

The one thing that the Intel tablet truly masters is speed and easy transition from one thing to another. It’s so easy to go from one app to another, watch a movie, or surf the net. It’s going to be great to have while traveling to seek out restaurant reviews, search for things to do in a new area, or even to see what’s playing at the movies while I’m in town. If I feel like having a burger for dinner, I can find the best burger in town within seconds.

6. Recording Special Travel Moments

I truly need to do a better job of catching special moments on our travels. The built-in camera allows you to transition from video photography to still photography with ease. The camera quality is good. The dual-camera feature enables you to get the videographer in the shoot, too.

7. Catching Up with my Favorite Reads

The tablet is great for reading. I’ve not downloaded a book yet, but I love reading my favorite blogs on it. I despise reading blogs on my phone. In fact, I don’t do it. Now when I travel, I can keep up with what Katja is posting on Skimbaco while I’m away.

I’m looking forward to taking the Intel tablet on this trip. I’m sure I’ll discover even more great uses while on the go.

Be sure to follow @SkimbacoTravel, @SkimbacoFood, and @Hinessightblog on Instagram so that you can keep up with me on my travels. I will be staying at the beautiful Old Edwards Inn and Spa while in Highlands. This European boutique property recently received the honor of being one of TripAdvisor’s Top 25 hotels in the U.S.

Disclosure: We don’t do product reviews on Skimbaco, but I was given an Intel tablet to use on my travels. Opinions about the tablet are my own.

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From Dreams to Reality: how to travel more

So far this year our team members have been anywhere between Paris to Bali, experiencing Italian romance in North Carolina and in Rome, Italy. We have skied in Norway and in Aspen, Colorado, and sipped wine anywhere between the country clubs of English country side to vineyards of Sonoma county, California – and it’s only February. We are travel writers, and while we also do some press trips, traveling for us is a lifestyle and it didn’t start when we started writing about traveling. Most of us don’t have unlimited travel budgets, and our team members have various income levels and with different kind of marital statuses, some with kids, some with none.

The one thing we have all in common: we all like to live life to the fullest and we all like to travel and we have made traveling part of our lifestyle. Here are some of our secrets how we make traveling part of our lifestyle – and afford it too.

5 Money Saving Tips for Traveling

1. Simplify your daily life
Many people say money is the biggest obstacle for not traveling more, however most people could easily save money for dream vacations if truly wanted. What could you give up for a dream vacation? How about cable TV, gym membership, monthly hair appointments, manicures & pedicures, eating out, going to movies, having a second car (payment)? The list is endless when you start thinking where your money goes to. Start cutting off your regular spending, and you will most likely be able to start saving hundreds of dollars a month to your travel fund. Buying lunch of coffee out every day is inexpensive, but it really adds up and bringing your own from home can save you a few hundred each month. Saving $5 daily for one year saves you a total of $1,825.

2. Do staycations – local vacations
Instead of spending time and money traveling somewhere far, stay close by. Our hotel and resort expert Leigh is the master at staycations, and we have always traveled this way as well. Sometimes just a night in a nice hotel or renting a nice cottage can do the trick. Even if it’s less than 50 miles from your home.

3. House swap or couch surf
Do you have relatives or friends who live in locations you want to visit? House swap. Not just you will get a free place to stay but also a kitchen so you don’t have spend money on eating out. Couch surfing and staying with someone is OK to some extent, but I don’t recommend staying at anyone’s house for more than 3 nights if they are home. It doesn’t give you the same freedom to really travel on your own pace and it is kind of rude to ask to stay in someone’s home for weeks at the time.

4. Book cheaper travel
Learn how to collect travel points with airlines and credit card companies, and how to book travel for less by using discount sites and discount airlines. If you have specific locations where you would like to travel, sign up for airfare alerts to get notified when the prices are the cheapest for your wanted route. Many hotels give discounts when you stay 3 or more nights, and you can also get memberships to most hotel chains to collected points and get member discounts or perks.

Even if you want to experience the luxury for less, there are ways to book the luxury hotels and experiences for less, for example using flash sale sites like Jetsetter. When it comes to hotel chains and airlines, my favorites depend on the destinations and where I live. For example when we lived in New York, I only wanted to fly with Delta and collect SkyMiles and only flew out from a smaller more convenient airport instead of JFK or other NYC airports to save time on going to the airport and for expensive parking at the airport. So always also think if the money saving is worth of your time, and how much it will cost you to “save” money. You might save money on the flight but end up paying for airport transfers, parking, luggage or other fees and end up paying the same as for the more convenient option. Same with hotels, the cheap hotel might not give you free wifi or breakfast buffet and you end up paying as much for them as you would have when you had booked a nicer hotel with those included. The “cheapest” isn’t always the most cost effective or convenient.

5. Rent an apartment & minimize expensive eating out
I am a huge fan of renting vacation houses or ski lodges but they are often even more expensive than staying in hotels. However, this is only true when you book through luxury property management companies and from popular tourist locations. On our recent trip to Frankfurt am Main, we rented a house 20-minute train ride from the city and it was half the price double hotel rooms downtown would have been for our family of five. It added inconvenience but the small town in Taunus mountains was also a destination on its own, so we got two destinations for one. On our trip to Rome we saved money on renting an apartment close to Campo dei Fiori and saved money on eating in a few nights. I am now a huge fan of Airbnb.com for booking apartments.

The biggest money saving from renting apartments doesn’t just come from the daily rate – it comes from saving the money by eating in. If you are not planning on cooking in the kitchen – there is no point of paying for one, and you might as well stay in a hotel. But the eating cost savings can massive depending on your location if you opt in eating in. It might also make your trip more pleasant especially if you have small children and picky eaters.

5 Career & Work Trips – How to Travel More

6. Get a second job
Instead of spending money on your free time – get a second job to save up even more for your travels. Even better: get a part-time job in the travel industry. When we lived in Durango, Colorado, I worked part-time in a t-shirt shop in the ski resort and got a season pass to ski for free. There are several jobs that give you travel-related perks even if you only work for part-time or seasonally.

7. Do bizcations – mix business and vacation
When you go on a business related trip, take a day or two off before or after to visit the place too and get a short getaway. This is great for example young couples, and even for families with younger children – bring them along! If your spouse travels for work, see how you could tag along and maybe do sightseeing alone while your spouse works and stay in the company-paid hotel room with your spouse.

8. Create ways to travel with your job
If your job doesn’t require traveling, there still might be a few ways to travel within your current job. Are there industry related conferences or any training you could travel to? Does your company have several locations? Maybe you could transfer to a new location? Instead of looking at your job as the chain keeping you from traveling, start looking at it how it could provide you more traveling.

9. Get a telecommuting job
If you think you can… with a telecommuting job you can work and telecommute from almost anywhere from the world. This is also great for freelancers and self-employed. And one of the reasons I personally started an online business – so I could work from anywhere in the world (the picture is from my “office” at the moment). It takes a lot of discipline and guts to work from home, but it does give you the opportunity to do it virtually from anywhere.

10. Really love traveling? Make it a career.
If you really want to mix business and pleasure, make traveling your career. I know people who book travel for others and make a commission out it and get a travel discount as a travel agent, or I know several airline crew members who still enjoy the luxury of traveling around the world as a crew member, although they say the luxury of that industry is gone. I know even more people who have become travel writers and get paid to travel and write about it. Unfortunately many of the traveling jobs are not great for people with families and it is difficult to bring your family with you for many of this kind of jobs, so keep that in mind.

5 Creative Ways to Travel More

11. Volunteer
There are many organizations that offer volunteering opportunities. You volunteer your time and expertize in a specific location and they will pay your lodging and food, sometimes also your flights to get there.

12. Negotiate a leave or less pay for more vacation time
I do understand that the daily grind and your job is the main reason keeping you from traveling. Try negotiating a 2-3 month leave or take a pay cut for more vacation days to travel more. Of course these require planning, because at the same time you are cutting your income, but for example our writer Nina was able to get a several month long leave from her job and she moved to NYC for 3 months. It required years of planning, but it was an experience she will never forget. Teachers in Canada (and perhaps all government employees, unfortunately I don’t have details) can take 4 years of only 80% of their salary and then get the 5th entire year off and get paid the same 80% of their salary on the year they are not even working.

13. Study aboard
If you are young, take an advantage of exchange programs or go and study aboard. If you are older and already finished with your studies – don’t think this is completely out of your reach. You can continue your studies and look into graduate programs or even short term courses in Universities around the world. Studying in Europe is much less expensive than in the US, so you will not only be able to travel and experience the culture, but also educate yourself.

14. Win travel from sweepstakes
I know entering sweepstakes sounds like a long shot, but I do have several friends who have won trips, and I won a trip from New York to Finland to Singapore and back two years ago from a contest with an airline. There are several travel sweepstakes going on in any given moment, and there are sweepstakes websites where you can find them. Just start by googling “travel sweepstakes”. Dedicate 30 minutes a day for finding and entering travel sweepstakes and use every entry method you can to maximize your changes of winning.

15. Become a modern nomad
The word nomad comes from a Greek word that means one who wanders for pasture, but I don’t really mean that you move where there are better hunting possibilities nor that you join the gypsies, but that you move where there is work. My husband and I have been “modern nomads” for over 15 years together, and moved after his work. It has given us the opportunity to see the world and travel more than we ever could have otherwise. We have moved every two years or so and have lived in some beautiful areas like in Main-river valley in Germany, in the mountains of Colorado and just outside New York City and now in Sweden. With our moving address it has been very easy to see the world just by doing inexpensive 4-day weekend length staycations where ever we have lived.