By Renee Martinez
Organizing a trip with your family, whether it be for a day, a long weekend, or a couple of weeks, can be overwhelming. Add stress-points for every kid, or if one is a baby, and extra stress-points if there are diapers involved. There are so many things to remember. By the time I’m done packing for an overnight trip with the four boys, my car looks like a sherpa heading up the Himalayas.
I’ve decided to interview one of the stress-causing culprits, and his friend, to see what can be done to reduce some of the stress. Introducing Francisco, age 8 and his friend, Michael, age 9.
Question #1: When you are going on a trip, what helps to get you excited about the trip?
Michael: I like to know if I’ll see my friends and relatives, or if there’s a beach.
Francisco: Looking it up on the Internet so I know what I’m going to see.
Question #2: When you are going on a driving trip, what helps to keep you from getting bored?
Michael: Video games, really junkie snacks, and toys like chess or legos.
Francisco: Looking at hockey cards, legos, if I had a DS that would be good, or a movie on Mom’s computer.
Question #3: What are your favorite food items to take on a trip?
Michael: Sour patch kids, potato chips, popcorn and sprite.
Francisco: Minty things like little mint chocolates, fig newtons, popcorn, crackers with cheese or peanut butter, and some apple juice.
Question #5: What are the most annoying things about traveling by car?
Michael: My brother and sister screaming, me always getting sick and puking, and long hours in the car.
Francisco: My brothers annoying me, sometimes I get a headache when I’m in the car for 3 or 4 hours, the packing, when my youngest brother whines about something I have, and when my brother crumbles up papers that we haven’t even drawn on yet.
Question #6: What is the number 1 item that you cannot leave home without?
Michael: Video games and my brother and sister.
Francisco: My brothers, because I would miss them – and hockey cards.
Question #7: What type of trip do you prefer, a road trip or an airplane trip? Why?
Michael: Plane, because I don’t get as sick and I like the little table where I can play legos on.
Francisco: Plane, because if sit near the window, I can see all the site’s from above. There’s not as much noise – only the engine noise.
Question #8: What is your most memorable plane trip?
Michael: Germany and Florida.
Francisco: Chile and the Dominican Republic.
Question #9: What has been your most memorable road trip?
Michael: New York City, Ohio, and Buffalo.
Francisco: Washington, Cape Cod and New York City.
Question #10: Where would you most like to visit in the future?
Michael: Outer space, Antarctica or Australia.
Francisco: Hong Kong, outer space, and Russia.
About the Author / Interviewer: Renee Martinez consults and speaks professionally on social media marketing, integrated marketing communications, public relations and branding. She is the president of Ruby Marketing Communications (www.rubymarcom.com), a boutique marketing communications company that specializes in providing branding, social media strategy and integration, and creative services. Her blog (www.lisac95.sg-host.com), provides resources on everything marketing and social media for her active audience. Renee has contributed as a featured monthly columnist in the monthly jewelry industry publication, JCK, on matters related to internet marketing as well as in InStore Magazine as a featured blogger where she writes about developing effective marketing strategies for the jewelry industry using social media. She is the founder of: Social Media Biz Summit (www.socialmediabizsummit.com), the first large-scale SM conference to come to Buffalo, NY; #jewelrychat, a weekly twitter chat for the jewelry industry and www.RaisingBoysWorld.com. Renee teaches social marketing courses at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY for the business school as well as offers small group social media marketing training and educational seminars for businesses in Western New York and beyond. Renee has dabbled in the internet marketing arena since the early 90′s and is not ashamed to call herself a “marketing geek”. From chatting in AOL, “sharing” music on Napster, and teaching HTML classes before it was considered “cool” to developing comprehensive social media strategies, effective public relations campaigns and managing online communities (most recently Chevy Girls Buffalo). She enjoys being able to help people find their voice online and to create buzz about their product or service that will give them the results they desire. Renee can be found on Twitter (@reneemmartinez) and Facebook (http:/www.facebook.com/RubyMarCom).
Photo by pinprick on Flickr
