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Why You Should Let Locals Plan your Next Family Trip

By U.S. News & World Report

Comb through any major travel guidebook, and you’ll find dozens of recommendations for any given destination. Scroll through travel and attraction review sites like TripAdvisor, and you’ll get a plethora of opinions, ranging drastically from peer to peer. So how do you know where you and your family should go and what you should do in a new destination? Enlist the aid of local experts to tailor your itinerary to what’s important to you and your travel companions. Here are reputable specialists to seek out, and why you should let them plan your next great family getaway.

How Family Trip-Planning Services Operate

Travel-planning services work by pairing traveling families with local parents who create customized day-to-day itineraries based on you and your travel companions’ needs, interests and ages. Many reputable operators start with an extensive questionnaire, which helps their experts know what’s most important to you while on vacation. For example: are you looking for unique dining experiences, or would you rather eat casually? Are you history buffs or adrenaline junkies? For approximately $50-$150, families can expect a written daily itinerary that includes dining and attraction recommendations, walking or public transit directions and useful information such as emergency numbers, locations of local parks and playgrounds or fun facts about the city. Most trip-planning services include only suggested schedules rather than a concierge service, making it easy to customize with your family’s preferences. Here are top trusted trip-planning operators to consult before your next vacation with the gang.

Momaboard

Momaboard’s Mombassadors are located in cities across the world, are parents themselves and live in the cities for which they create itineraries. Mombassadors start by asking for the address and location of your accommodations and create day-to-day itineraries from this convenient starting point. For example, if you’re traveling to Paris, and you already know which major attractions you would like to visit, but want to fill in gaps in your itinerary, a Mombassador can guide you to lesser-known, age-appropriate activities for you and your group’s needs with geo-targeted dining picks.

Travelove

Travelove focused on the vacation destination you select, then builds an itinerary that focuses on attractions and activities to see in that destination. Services at Travelove include a professionally printed and bound customized guidebook, which includes color maps tailored specifically to your itinerary. Let’s say, you’re interested in route recommendations between major attractions in Paris. Travelove would prove you with detailed walking tours filled with under-the-radar sights and historical facts, plus recommendations along each route for snacks, drinks and dinners. Like Momaboard, Travelove does not book tickets or reservations for you, but rather gives you all the information you need for DIY travel.

Stay in a Rental Home or Apartment

When you book a vacation rental or apartment, it comes with a resourceful local expert in the form of a homeowner. Whether you reserve your accommodations through HomeAway, AirBnB or another popular vacation rental site, read reviews carefully before selecting your home away from home. Not only do you want to choose a vacation home that meets your amenities, location and size requirements; you also want to select a home with a friendly, helpful homeowner. Reliable homeowners can tell you where the closest grocery store and laundromat are located, offer tips for navigating their city and even proved you with dining recommendations.

Stop at the Tourism Office

The men and women working in a city tourism office are not only tourism professionals but residents of their region or city. Use them as a knowledgeable, free resource. Ask tourism officials for the best value on city transportation (it might be a bus or metro pass usually only used by locals) and for their personal picks for entertainment and adventure. Also, ask for recommendations from local cab drivers, gas station attendants and wait staff.

Rely on Social Media

Before your trip is the ideal time to crowdsource for helpful information. Use appropriate hashtags on Twitter or Instagram or query your friend list on Facebook when seeking the best restaurants and attractions for kids of particular ages or interests in a new destination. Chances are, a friend knows a friend who knows something or someone, and people are always happy to share their knowledge and expertise.

So before your next trip, by all means, gather information from trusted websites and guidebooks, but also dig deeper, tapping into the resources of locals.

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Why You Should Let Locals Plan your Next Family Trip originally appeared on usnews.com

Don’t Settle for Student Loans to Pay for Online Education

By WTOP Staff
Online college programs are becoming a more popular choice for prospective students, with one study finding that more than 6 million students enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2015. The popularity of these courses can be attributed in part to their flexibility with working adults' schedules, students' ability to progress more quickly through online programs and, oftentimes, cheaper tuition. [See 10 low-cost online bachelor's programs for out-of-state students.]Online degrees can be beneficial to many college students, but some studies have shown online learners complete their programs at lower rates than students at traditional brick-and-mortar campuses. Individuals with student loans but no degree comprise two-thirds of defaulted borrowers. Though these numbers are not encouraging, just like for traditional programs, there are ways to reduce how much you'll need to borrow for an online program to ensure you won't become one of these statistics. Don't just settle on borrowing student loans to cover the whole cost of your program and living expenses. Instead, start thinking about how to cut costs and cover your balance in different ways, such as the following. -- Grants and scholarships: Even though you are taking an online course, you can still apply and receive grants and scholarships. But your first step should be to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly referred to as the FAFSA, which will allow you to receive a Pell Grant if your expected family contribution is low enough. The EFC criteria and award amounts are adjusted annually, but the 2017-2018 academic year awards range from $606 to $5,920, which could significantly lower the amount you borrow annually. Your next step is to apply for scholarships. You can start by checking online scholarship search engines, such as the Salt Scholarship Search, College Board's BigFuture and Peterson's. But don't forget to take advantage of local organizations and your school's financial aid office. Both may offer scholarships that you can't find with a national scholarship search. [Review these 10 sites to kick off your scholarship search.]For instance, organizations like the Elks Club, Knights of Columbus or the Rotary Club typically offer scholarships annually to local students. Just because you're going to school online doesn't mean you're ineligible. Visit your local library for scholarship listings, and ask around town. You might be surprised how many local organizations offer scholarships. While these scholarships typically aren't large, every little bit counts. Each dollar you receive in a scholarship is a dollar you don't have to borrow and pay interest on. -- Work-study: Another option for online students may be work-study awards. Not all students enrolled in online programs are eligible, but students at some schools -- including, for example, SUNY Empire State College and Liberty University -- are. Work-study awards are not given upfront like scholarships and grants. In most cases, they are an offer to earn up to the awarded amount if you secure an eligible work-study job. While there is a misconception that all work-study jobs must be on campus, students can work for off-campus, nonprofit or public employers as long as the work is in the public's interest. You may be able to work for a for-profit employer if the job is relevant to your course of study. No matter who the outside employer is, it will need to have an established agreement with your college for you to receive work-study funds. Remember, to be eligible for federal financial aid, you must be enrolled and pursuing a degree or certificate. If you're not working toward a credential, Pell Grants and work-study won't be option, but you may still be able to take advantage of private scholarships -- just be sure to read the eligibility criteria carefully. [Explore what to know about financial aid in online programs.]-- Pay as you go: One of the great benefits to enrolling online is the flexible schedule, which can allow you to complete your college coursework around your responsibilities. But prospective students often overlook using their part- or full-time job earnings as an option for paying for college. Almost 80 percent of college students in 2015 worked at least part time while attending classes, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. By budgeting and thinking strategically about your college costs, you can likely reduce your dependence on student loans by paying a portion out of pocket. Many -- but not all -- online programs are less expensive than traditional programs and often have shorter payment periods. Six, eight or 10 weeks are common course durations. Because of the frequency of payments in an online setting, you may be well-placed to pay as you go and possibly avoid borrowing altogether. Attending college online and avoiding student loans may be challenging, but if you are willing to put in the effort, you can limit the amount you need to borrow. More from U.S. News Q&A: Understanding Student Loan Discharge Eligibility Student Loan Refinancing Isn't Right for All Borrowers
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