For the Toddler Jetset

We're not going to judge you if you've flown with a baby on your lap instead of in a carseat, but once kiddo reaches age two, you've got to ante up the dollars to get him his own ticket. We don't know about you, but the first time we put D in a seat by herself she didn't look the slightest bit safe - we had visions of her either slipping right under the belt or breaking her neck with whiplash.

Thankfully, we can now feel a little bit more secure when we head for the skies. CARES, an FAA-approved harness for children, is a recent entry on the market and a must-have for those too big for a car seat but too small to be truly protected by a mere seatbelt. According to their website, CARES (which stands for "child aviation restraint system") has been designed for children 1 and older, weighing between 22 and 44 pounds. It fits all economy and business-class seats, and should fit all but the biggest of first class seats as well.

You've probably seen similar devices on the market, but CARES is the first product that uses the five-point harness that defines safety in carseats. More importantly, it's the only product to be approved by the FAA for all aspects of flying. (Other devices are not approved for takeoff and landing.) It's probably a hell of a lot safer than us throwing our hands across D's chest whenever the plane hits a bump, and the $75 pricetag is a small price to pay for her safety and our peace of mind.


www.kidsflysafe.com
$74.95

New Look, Same Us

Okay, it's not like we've been out for years and years - but we still thought we needed to update our look. We were eager to get up and running so we plugged in what you originally saw and started typing away, but over time we started to feel strongly that a fresher look was needed. We wanted the site's look to convey cool and hip luxury, not stuffy and staid. After all, this is about including children, and how buttoned up can you possibly be with a two-year old climbing all over you while a twelve-year old hits you with a pillow?

We hope you like the look and that it's also a tad easier on the eyes. We look forward to building up a treasure trove of information that is relevant for the stylish traveler who, like us, insists that kids can be - and should be - a part of the luxury experience.

Caribbean Escapes

So we're in Montego Bay, lounging across the squeaky bed at the Ritz-Carlton (see more on that in our previous post), when we come across this massive tome tucked away in the nighttable. Too big to be the Bible and too pretty to be the yellow pages, we had to investigate further.

The book, roughly the weight of the stone tablets God gave to Moses, is a stunning journey through top luxury resorts throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. Culled from the ranking lists of Conde Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, Elite Traveler and other luxury travel publications, the resorts in here are the creme de la creme of the Caribbean, with a few select choices from Latin America. The writing comes from top travel writers in the industry, but we were really wowed by the large pages with impressive photos, which helped us to imagine ourselves on-site with particular vividness.

The great thing is that the company's website allows you to do more than just dream - they'll help you get there. Caribbean Escapes is a full-blown marketing company, with a website booking engine that helps you to stop dreaming and start packing. If you're not ready to go but still want to dream, you can order the book online. (We really wanted to steal ours from the Ritz but it was too damn heavy and big to fit into our already stuffed bags - bummer for us, good for the people at Caribbean Escapes, who would surely be replacing these at a higher rate if it was more portable).

In the spirit of full disclosure, we should point out that we know the publisher of the book and the owner of the company. However, we didn't realize that he was heading up this venture until well after we'd started pawing through the book and salivating. A former colleague from our days of corporate serfdom, he's gone on to create an impressive company, with the book as merely one facet of a multi-pronged marketing plan that focuses on giving you, the consumer, one definitive place to go for all your luxury travel research. Hie thee to the website and order a copy. While we can't promise that every resort in here is family-friendly, there are more than enough to keep you occupied for several trips to come.

www.caribbeanescapes.com
$45.00