Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, June 19, 1995                   TAG: 9506210005
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MIKE HUDSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

KEY TO AVOIDING MISERY WITH THE KIDS IS DOING RESEARCH BEFORE YOU LEAVE

Her new son was in agony, and Meyers and her husband found the only thing that helped was to plunk him in the car and drive.

"So," she says, "we set off on our very first family vacation in search of peace and quiet - without research or reservations." Big mistake.

They spent a lousy night in a hotel with thin walls and a thin-skinned management that had no pity for two new parents or their screaming baby.

That trip more than two decades ago prompted her to write about travel. Meyers doesn't write from the perspective of a jet-setting journalist visiting balmy vistas. She writes through the eyes of a harried parent groping for practical ways to make vacations tolerable and, yes, even fun.

She is editor and co-author of a new book from Carousel Press, "The Family Travel Guide: An Inspiring Collection of Family-Friendly Vacations."

Meyers, who lives in California, says traveling with children is a challenge, "but it needn't be a disaster." The key to avoiding misery is doing research before you leave, making sure you pick family-friendly lodgings and following a checklist of things to take.

Some of her general tips:

Let your children help pick your destination and plan the trip. Look at maps together.

Write or call the chamber of commerce or visitors bureau in the place you plan to visit. Ask for specific recommendations and information for families.

Keep your travel schedule flexible and allow enough time between destinations to explore stops along the way on the spur of the moment.

Set up rules ahead of time on spending money, snacks, bedtime, TV.

She also suggests hanging a map of the world and your home state on a wall at home. Then you can stick colored pushpins or flags to mark the places you've visited. Children love this.

A few tips for in the car:

Pack one pillow per child for napping along the way.

Consider packing only water for drinks. If it spills, there's no harm - and no sticky stains.

Don't eat meals in the car. It saves time, but it's messy and there's no chance to stretch.

For big, two-parent families, adults should take turns driving, and the adult who's not driving should sit in the back with one or more of the children. It gives that parent a chance to spend more time with the children, splits up bickering brothers and sisters and allows the children (in turns, of course) the prized privilege of sitting in the front.

Give each child a bag of nickels or dimes. When one acts up, make him or her give up one of the coins. That's a fun way to encourage children to behave. They'll especially like it if they get to spend whatever money they have.

To help little children deal with distances, thread some Cheerios or Fruit Loops onto a string. At certain intervals (say 5 miles, 10 miles, 50 miles), let them take one off and eat it. Plan it so that when they eat the last one, you're there.