As a community of traveling families, please join us in kicking off 2012 by reaffirming our commitment to show “Troo Compassion” as we continue to explore and travel with our kids.  In that spirit, we start the year with our 5 for $25 fundraising opportunity.

When we started Trekaroo 3 years ago, we had a dream.  A dream to inspire and enable families to explore the world. We see travel as a vehicle for building family bonds, developing a broader world view and developing a heart of compassion for people in need.  Our family had the opportunity to do just that a few weeks ago as we explored Cambodia.

Cambodia is a beautiful country with a grand history told through the magnificent temple ruins of Angkor Wat. However, it is also a country that in recent history was ravaged by civil war.  During our travels, we met a wonderful traveling family – Brandon and Andrea Ross.  The Ross family moved half-way across the world, drawn to Cambodia for it’s beauty to start a travel tour company called Journey’s Within.  However, as travel often does, it opened their eyes.  When they saw the harsh realities facing their Cambodian friends, they realized that they could do something to help.  That’s the story of how they came to start the non-profit arm of their work in Southeast Asia called Journey’s Within Our Community (JWOC).  Our family was fortunate enough to spend a few hours befriending some of the children who benefit from the great work that JWOC is doing.

5 for $25

Help Trekaroo give away $2000 to worthy causes

Here’s how it works.

Step 1: Write 5 reviews

Write 5 reviews of kid-friendly attractions, activities, hotels, or restaurants.  By doing so, you’ll be helping inspire and equip families to keep exploring.  Join/Sign in and start writing reviews

Step 2:  Designate a non-profit  to receive $25

Pick a non-profit or school for Trekaroo to donate $25 to in your honor. Must be a qualified 501(c)(3) organization. Designate a non-profit >

Step 3:

Invite your friends who care about the same cause to join in too and raise even more for your non-profit or school.  Send your friends an email or post it on your non-profit’s Facebook page or group.

Official Rules:

• Your reviews must be authentic and based on your real experience
• Only reviews written after Jan 5, 2011 qualify
• Qualified reviews must be of kid-friendly places and include helpful opinions and tips for parents
• We will donate a max of $25 per member, but there is no limit on the number of friends you can invite to participate in 5 for $25 to benefit your cause.
• We will keep donating until we’ve given away all $2000
• Your school or non-profit must be a qualified 501(c)(3) organization.

If you’re inspired to help make a difference, but don’t have any special non-profit in mind, here are some of our favorites:

World Vision

World Vision is Christian humanitarian organization that is dedicated to working with children, families and their communities in the US and Worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.  They work in some of the most war-torn and poverty-stricken communities around the world.  They also run a highly effective child sponsorship program if your family is interested in sponsoring a child.  World Vision is often one of the first NGO’s to respond to disasters around the world alongside the Red Cross and UN.

International Justice Mission

International Justice Mission (IJM) is a human rights agency that brings rescue to victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local officials to secure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to prosecute perpetrators and to ensure that public justice systems – police, courts and laws – effectively protect the poor.  More children, women and men are held in slavery right now than over the course of the entire trans-Atlantic slave trade.  IJM rescues victims, seeks to bring perpetrators to justice, provide aftercare for victims, and works to strengthen community factors and local judicial systems that will deter potential oppressors.

Journey’s Within our Community

Journey’s Within our Community (JWOC) is a small hands on non-profit.  JWOC runs five projects promoting improved living conditions for people in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. They work to promote economic and educational opportunities while also improving health. Their work includes a scholarship program to help students complete university education, free English classes, clean water projects, and a small microfinance intiative.

Big City Mountaineers

Big City Mountaineers transforms the lives of under-served urban youth through wilderness mentoring expeditions that instill critical life skills. Their curriculum improves integrity, self- esteem, responsibility, decision-making abilities and communication skills in close to 1,000 youth annually.

Almost a year ago, an uber ambitious group of Superoos were selected to become the first ever Destination Guroos.  These busy Trekaroo contributors continue to help grow Trekaroo by making it relevant to locals, wherever you call home.  As volunteers, they have worked hard adding new content to the site, securing lots of fun activities for Superoos (and for their own families), and have helped write numerous submissions for this blog that highlight seasonal, local, and perfectly awesome activities to do with your family around the country.

And Trekaroo is continuing to grow…

In addition to the Guroos selected in early 2011, five new Guroos have been added to the pack.  The following  nine ladies are the go-tos in their particular region.  Let’s get to know them a bit better.

Southern & Central California

Sharlene Earnshaw (doubletheadventure) joined Trekaroo in 2009; she has five-year-old twins.

Sharlene does double duty here at Trekaroo as both a co-SoCal destination Guroo with Michelle McCoy (below), and also as the Blog Editor in Chief.  She spends countless hours adding site content, writing posts, setting up Superoo visits across the country, editing blogs and still somehow manages to be super mom to five-year-old twins!  She travels extensively and shares her advice with the masses here on Trekaroo.  I am tired just thinking about all she has to do!

Favorite traveling tip:  “Travel with your kids while they are young and travel often. The more often you get your kids out there, the easier it will become. The first five years of a child’s life are when they are making all those important brain cells and every educational travel experience is worth months of time stuck behind a desk in school.”

Dream vacation destination:  “Any National Park. I love being outside with my family and enjoying the beauty of America”

Best thing about being a guroo: “I love California with a passion and being able to grow Trekaroo’s Southern California coverage is a total blast! It has led me to vacation in my own neck of the woods more often, something I might not have otherwise thought to do.”

 Sharlene’s contributions to the Trekaroo blog are too many to mention here.  A few blog highlights include 15 National Park adventures, the helpful Best CA Tidepools for kids ,and Best Zoos in the West.  Check out Sharlene’s passport to see where she’s been.

Michelle McCoy (mcfam) joined Trekaroo in 2010; she has four kids between two and ten.

 Michelle stays extremely busy with Sharlene filling out the dense and active Southern & Central California destination on Trekaroo.  She is in charge of tons of major tourist attractions, yet prides herself on working to get every single activity, restaurant and hotel on the Trekaroo map.  She has reviewed over 300 activities on Trekaroo to date– really!

Favorite traveling tip:  “Take baby powder to the beach: sand falls off wet skin when covered in baby powder!  Yes, I have very white kids afterwards, but the sand is mostly gone.”

Dream vacation destination:  “A quiet beach in Hawaii under a gentle sun.  Quiet is key!”

Best thing about being a guroo: “Being a Guroo has put me in situations that I never dreamed I’d be in, such as attending a LA blog event dressed in 60s clothes while chatting up with other bloggers… or competing in a challenging race in San Antonio with Sharlene while meeting fabulous tour guides and staff in that beautiful city.”

See where Michelle & family have been and get her inside scoop.  Read her blog articles as they are packed full of awesome SoCal fun including the top ten holiday events, and great summer packages for SoCal beach destinations.  Michelle has a slew of fabulously helpful lists, notably the free & fun activities in LA & Orange County that I have personally used over and over!

Have a question about traveling in SoCal?? Ask the guroos!!

Texas

Heather Reed (slofamilylife) joined Trekaroo in 2009; she has four children under the age of seven.

Heather’s contributions to Trekaroo are honest and full of practical tips and information.  A mom to four kids, one of whom is special needs, Heather provides a unique and helpful voice for families traveling with specific challenges and concerns.

Why you should love Texas:  “As a newbie to Texas myself, it’s like an entire region opened up to us.  I love that Texas is rich in culture and art, has an amazing array of family activities, and some of the best resorts in the nation!”

Dream vacation destination:  “An around the world trip stopping specifically in Thailand, Barcelona, Switzerland, Rome, Venice, and Italy.  Oh, and I would absolutely LOVE to walk in Jesus’ footsteps in the middle east!”

Heather’s blog contributions are all incredibly helpful:  Check out her post on traveling with special needs children, the best river rafting trips with kids, and how to pack for a road trip. View Heather’s passport to see the latest spots she has reviewed.

Have a question about traveling in Texas?? Ask the guroo!!

Florida

Lisa Marie Leihy (cavalletta) joined Trekaroo in 2008; she has one six-year old daughter.

Lisa Marie was one of the original Superoos and has continued to provide excellent content, reviews and tips over the past few years.   Her excellent writing and enthusiasm shines in Sunny Florida as she works hard to uncover all of the awesome attractions in her home state.

Favorite Vacation Destination: “Springtime in Florida cannot be beat!  The dogwoods and azaleas are in bloom and the fresh fruits and vegetables are at their peak!  Chefs across the state create amazing dishes featuring these goodies, sand sculpting contests can be found along the beautiful coastline and art festivals are ideal places to see the world from another perspective.”

Favorite tip for traveling with kids: “Make a list, check it twice and remember that vacations are about having fun together as a family. Let the little things go and just have fun!”

Lisa Marie’s passport is full  of helpful reviews and lists including fun spots for animal lovers and Kid Friendly Museum exhibits in Tampa Bay.   An article on visiting the Everglades with Kids, or an all-inclusive Cancun trip are just two great samples of her great blog contributions.

Have a question about traveling in Florida?? Ask the guroo!

New England

Michelle Brennan (meb123) joined Trekaroo in 2009; she has three kids ages 6-9.

 Michelle is one of the brand new Guroos and is full of excitement.  She covers the great New England states that are rich in history, culture and fun family activities.  She was picked to be the Guroo for this destination because of her excellent writing, committment to the site and love of travel.   

Why you should love New England: “New England is diverse and encompassing. There is everything from mountains to shore.”

Travel Philosophy: “Take [kids] places where they can get out and explore. The world is full of things to learn about. “

Fun Fact: While RVing at Glacier and Yellowstone, Michelle “found out something about our youngest that we would not have expected. She loves to track animals by their footprints and poop. Who would have guessed we had a budding animal scientist on our hands??”

Michelle’s blog submissions have just begun, but she has already shared a few gems: Read about her family vacation in New Hampshire, or find out the behind the scenes details of a performance of the Nutcracker.  Read her permanent reviews on Trekaroo for her coverage of New England.

Have a question about traveling in New England??  Ask the guroo!!

Pennsylvania, New Jersey & Delaware

Beth Keklak (BAT) joined Trekaroo in 2009; she has three kids ages 7-10.

Beth describes her family as energetic, adventurous and easy-going and it is evident in her contributions that she and her family rarely take a breath from travel & fun opportunities.  Beth was chosen this year as a Guroo because of her great dedication and professional involvement with the site, and has already began the fun and intense work of adding content and activities in her three Eastern states. 

What you should know about New Jersey (Beth’s home state): “We aren’t what you see in all those reality TV shows!”

Favorite tip for traveling with kids: “Pack plenty of patience and plan for the unexpected.”

Dream vacation: “Australia”

Travel Philosophy: “We have never taken a “relaxing” vacation at an all inclusive resort that includes a lot of down time.  When we travel, we like to explore areas to the fullest extent we can in the time we have!”

Explore with Beth’s family by heading to her reviews on Trekaroo.  If you are  headed to Atlantic City, be sure to check out her list on the top destinations for kids, and while you have New Jersey on your mind, be sure to read her blog about the best holiday activities in the area.

Have a question about traveling in PA, NJ or DE??  Ask the guroo!!

Utah

Ann Anderson (akeisel) joined Trekaroo in 2011; she has three children.

Ann started off with Trekaroo this year and was immediately noticed as a great writer, passionate traveler and go getter!  In her short time with Trekaroo she already has over 140 reviews under her belt.  She was a natural choice for the new Utah Guroo because of her wit, enthusiasum and dedication to the families on Trekaroo. 

Favorite tip for traveling with kids: “Start travelling with your babies early; by the time they’re 3, they’ll know the drill.”

Best thing about being a guroo: The name of course. I often request that my kiddos refer to me as Mommy Guroo – it’s so empowering!

Funny travel story: Ann’s personal drive to experience everything any family would enjoy while on assignment was tested while riding the huge canyon swing 1000 feet above the Colorado River in Glenwood Springs, CO.  She says that she “climbed aboard the ride with my 10 year old, buckled up, shut my eyes and immediately starting screaming when the ride operator pushed “go”!  I screamed so loud that the poor operator shut the ride off after only 2 swings out across the river. I’m sure I still hold the prize for biggest wimp on that canyon swing.”

Check out Ann’s passport full of helpful reviews.  She has a fantastic list covering Utah’s National Parks  and recently shared a helpful and inviting post on visiting National Parks in the off season.

Have a question about traveling in Utah??  Ask the guroo!

Northern California

Tina Buell (imsnow) joined Trekaroo in 2011; she has one three year old son.

Tina and Kristine (below) share the Northern California region.  Tina is a single mom to an adorable little boy and loves that writing and adding content for Trekaroo gives her the opportunity to not sacrifice her desire to travel with her son.  She was an obvious choice for the NorCal co-guroo spot as she has shown nothing but enthusiasm and committment to be as involved as she possibly can at any given moment; Trekaroo appreciates her efforts.

Favorite vacation destination: “Vienna, Austria”

 Why Northern California rocks:  “Northern California is a very diverse terrain with activities ranging from ski level to sea level.”

Favorite tip for traveling with kids: Just “don’t be scared to do it. It’s always worth it.”

Tina loves sharing reviews on Trekaroo.  A great year round resource she has written is the Top Berkley Activities for Kids, and the holiday list for the top Christmas activities in NorCal.

Kristine Dworkin (kristined) joined Trekaroo in 2009 ; she has two children.

Kristine is another new addition to the Guroo team and brings with her a great sense of fun mixed in with some incredibly practical and helpful tips.  She is also the mom to a special needs child and writes from a perspective encouraging to so many Americans whose children’s needs are diverse and unique.  She and Tina stay busy filling out the Northern California section of Trekaroo.

Favorite vacation destination:  “The Big Island, Hawaii”

Favorite tip for traveling with kids: “Pack snacks and always have something to do on hand!  When all else fails, whip out your iPhone!”

Funny travel story:  “I took my kids to the Wicked Plants Exhibit in Golden Gate Park… My daughter, who was 9 at the time, read things like choking and rash on the plants signs and loudly exclaimed, ‘Oh my god, Mommy, are you trying to kill us?’”

Kristine’s family travels & reviews are helpful and full of tips.   She has already written a few blog posts, including a helpful and poignant look at explaining Veteran’s Day to kids. 

Have a question about traveling in NorCal??  Ask the guroos!!

A year ago, I had never heard of Trekaroo.  A stay at home mom to three sweet little girls, I stumbled across the website one night, read a few reviews and decided to write a couple of my own.

I. was. hooked.

As a person always willing to share an opinion, story, or slew of details on any given subject; I loved the chance to have my thoughts be heard.  As a mom of three busy girls, and wife to an incredibly busy teacher and student, there were many days that I had not met that statistical quota of words a woman needs to share each day, unless of course you count the succession of “Nooo!!!”s hollered at small children in one given setting.  Adding reviews on Trekaroo was the perfect outlet for me to share both my passion for traveling with my kids, learn about great places to take my family, and also satisfy my desperate need to be heard!!

Not long after joining Trekaroo, I was selected as a Superoo.  If you aren’t familiar with the name, a Superoo is a parent who is recognized for contributing to the site with wit, enthusiasm, savvy, and gusto–and are then rewarded with some amazing perks for their time and efforts.  Being a Superoo is completely awesome.  Don’t take my word for it, here’s what a few of the 2011 Superoos have to say:

imsnow shares her passion for travel with Trekaroo families.

Find out all the fun places beebs1970 & family have gone with Trekaroo.

BAT‘s family loves sharing on Trekaroo.  See what they’ve been up to.

akeisel and family love the outdoors & love to share their scoop.

OCPlayParks knows her stuff in SoCal.  Check out what she’s reviewed.

Less than one year after joining Trekaroo, I enjoyed fabulous perks, fun and travel as a Superoo.  Just a few short months after that, I have dusted off the old college textbooks and am thrilled and excited to now serve as the Assistant Editor here at Trekaroo.  It has been such a privilege getting to know you all already and I look forward to an another awesome year full of kids, trips, and tips.

Want to join the fun??

You could be our next Superoo!  Check out the perks and learn how to become a Superoo.

Stay tuned, next week we’ll introduce you to yet another breed of Trekaroo family: the Destination Guru!!

Also, thanks for listening, Trekaroo community.  I believe my daily word quota is just about up!

Travel with kids to: CA |CO | DC | FL | HI | IL |MA | NC | NY | OR| PA | TN | TX | VA | WA

Day 3 of the Race to the Alamo was a whirlwind! We had so much fun competing and running all over San Antonio. We are sad to see the race rounds come to an end but excited because 40% of the total score depends on your votes and we know you will vote for Team Trekaroo because the Trekaroo community is built on families supporting one another.

We are exhausted from three days of competition in the scorching Texas heat so this recap is going to be a quick rundown of the days events.

Challenge 1: We headed to Mission San Jose, part of the National Park Service, and made this 1 minute video about highlighting a few tidbits and encouraging families to visit.

Watch Team Trekaroo’s Mission San Jose Video

Then we asked our readers to watch the video (and you asked your friends, family, and neighbors to watch the video) because whichever team had the most Youtube views for their video by 3:30 CST would win the challenge.  Your votes helped us tie for first on this challenge. The Youtube robots froze both Trekaroo and the green team’s votes at 300 because you wonderful people were voting so much that the robot was concerned you might be spammers!

Challenge 2: This one definitely was not expected- we had a bonsai competition!  We were given a short demonstration at Bonsai Arbor by artist Sherry Disdier on how to shape a bonsai tree and then we had 15 minutes to shape our own trees. It felt a bit odd racing when bonsai is traditionally a very slow and spiritual process, but we did our best with the trees we were given. My tree seemed to be particularly bushy and could have used more trimming than the 15 minutes allowed.  The bad news was that we came in third according to the official bonsai judging. The orange team won the challenge and really did do a great job with their trees. The good news was that we got to take home our trees which live for decades if properly taken care of.  I am thrilled that Michelle and I will each having a living reminder of the crazy experience in San Antonio that we had together.

Challenge 3: This challenge brought us to the Buckhorn, a quirky eatery that features hundreds of mounted animals on the walls and a museum with more difffernt mounted creatures and oddities upstairs. We were given a two page list of questions and had to find the answers in scavenger hunt fashion. Michelle and I broke up the list and ran around finding answers. This was my kind of challenge! We ended up doing a great job and finished well ahead of the other two teams. It felt great to win the challenge and enjoy our lunch at Mi Tierra.

Challenge 4: The final challenge of the day was a two part challenge filled with excitement, stress, and fun. We rode up the elevator to the observation deck of the 750-foot Tower of the Americas. As soon as the doors opened, we all ran and scattered in search of the three clues which were hidden in different locations on the deck. The orange team found their envelope quickly and raced back to the elevator to get back on their bus and head to the Alamo. As the orange team waited for the elevator, the green team found their envelope and from what we are told, an epic foot race occurred on the ground floor as the two teams raced to the buses. Meanwhile, a very panicked Team Trekaroo ran around desperately wondering where the third envelope could possibly be hidden. Luckily, Michelle found our envelope and we made the next elevator down to the ground level. We ran to the bus and discovered the details of part two.

Part two of the final challenge was epic. We had 17 1/2 minutes to gather as many people as possible to join our conga line in front of the the Alamo while samba musicians played a great beat and women danced in traditional samba costumes, adding color to our line. We decided to have Michelle lead our line, crazy headdress and all, while I ran around and recruited participants. The other two teams had the advantage of already finding the most willing participants in the crowd to join their line so I had to do quite a bit of begging and pleading to convince folks to head out into the 100 degree sun and dance. The most important part of this challenge was deciding at what point to take a picture. We  were only allowed to snap one picture and it would serve as our final dancer count. After recruiting some teenage boys to reluctantly join our line, I knew we needed to just quickly snap the picture before some of our first dancers got too tired in the heat and abandoned the line. Amazingly, we ended up with 29 wonderful dancers, who helped us come from behind and end up in second place for the challenge! It was the perfect way to finish our Race to the Alamo and a blast to dance around to the samba music and celebrate such a wonderful experience in San Antonio. As nice as it would have been to stick around and go inside the Alamo, we were all suffering from heat and decided to head back to our air conditioned hotel rooms and wait for dinner and the results.

I am thrilled to announce that Team Trekaroo tied for 1st for day three!!!! It was a great way to end the racing portion of the competition and has set us up perfectly for the voting portion of the Race to the Alamo. We appear to currently be leading in the vote so please continue to vote daily for Team Trekaroo to help win the title and give yourself a shot at winning the grand prize trip to San Antonio.

Disclosure: All travel, lodging, meals, activities, and an iPad are being provided by the San Antonio Visitors Bureau so that Michelle and I can compete in the Race to the Alamo. No monetary compensation is being provided and Visit San Antonio did not ask that any specific opinions about their destination be mentioned. All opinions about San Antonio and the Race to the Alamo are those of Michelle and I and reflect our honest opinion of both the destination and the experience.

Sharlene Earnshaw (aka doubleadventure) is Blogger-in-chief for Trekaroo and the blogger behind Double the Adventure.

Travel with kids to: CA |CO | DC | FL | HI | IL |MA | NC | NY | OR | PA | TN | TX | VA | WA

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Sharlene and Michelle and off for Day 3 of the Race to the Alamo.  Today’s challenge is one you can help with right now.  They just made this video of what’s kid-friendly at Mission San Jose in San Antonio and need to get as many people as possible to watch it before 3:30 CST today.  So, please watch and share it with our friends on Facebook and Twiiter to ask them to help.  You can even refresh and watch it again and again.

And don’t forget to Vote for Team Trekaroo today.