Subscribe: Holiday Travel Survival Guide
Traveling to see family and friends for the holidays? Dealing with holiday traffic or delayed flights can stress out even the most zen-like Mama. But whether you are an experienced traveler or terrified of taking a flight or roadtrip with your tot, we have tips for you. Check out Mamanista’s Guide to the Best Gear for Traveling with Babies and Kids.
And here are a few of our favorite new products for traveling with kids:
For the Little Ones: What’s A Dragon Art and Activity Backpack by the Piggy Story ($39.95 at LittleJetSet.com) is a perfect first backpack for your little one. Keep your child (ages 3+) occupied in the airport and on the plane. This lightweight backpack wipes clean and easily fits in the seat pocket. The slotted market compartment, see-through inner pocket and removable pencil case pouch makes it easy for your little one to find art supplies while confined to a cramped airplane seat. All Piggy Story packs come with 10 washable double-sided markers, a mini story book, themed activity book with stickers and doodle pad. My favorite is the Dragon-themed backpack, but the doggie, piggy and princess themed bags are adorable too.
For the Older Child: Where’s Waldo? The Complete Collection ($29.70) at Amazon Get all six of the original Where’s Waldo books from the 1990s in their original paperback format and save big. (My local bookstore was selling this set for $45, and individual Waldo books are selling for at least $7.50 each on Amazon.) The Waldo books are nice and easy to slip into your carryon bags. While the first Waldo book in the series is fairly easy for the younger kids, each book gets more challenging. Some of the searches are super hard (even for adults!)
For Mom: 
Peek Mobile Email Device ($99.95) at Amazon Want to check email on the road without the expensive cellphone contract? I did, so I bought the Peek after reading about it in Wired Magazine. The Peek is a mobile email device without any bells and whistles. It’s compatible with most email accounts including Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail and AOL. Setup is simple. All you have to do is enter your email address and password! Best of all…there’s no contract or activation fee. Pay just twenty dollars a month for unlimited email and cancel whenever you want with no termination fee. 
Travel Deals:
Holiday Kickback: Book travel on Expedia by 1/3/09, get a $200 coupon for later.
Commenting on the Waldo books — it really is a family affair. I babysit for kids of all ages and I was tickled watching the 13 year old sister with her 8 year old sister and 4 year old brother engaged for several hours going through my Waldo books. So much more inspiring than playing the same video game — and your success at finding Waldo is not age-dependent. They are great books!