Gutsy Mamas: Travel Tips and Wisdom for Mothers on the Road (Travelers' Tales Guides) [Paperback]

Marybeth Bond (Author)

Book Description

Series: Travelers' Tales Guides | Publication Date: January 4, 2000

Offers advice on traveling with and without children, including the creation of meaningful memories, staying healthy on the road, mothering in other cultures, and traveling while pregnant.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

In only three months, Travelers' Tales Gutsy Women has gone to its second printing. Its popularity has inspired award-winning editor/author Marybeth Bond, mother of two, to make her next book Travelers' Tales Gutsy Mamas, a book of tips and wisdom for mothers traveling with their children. Look for Gutsy Mamas this summer.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Travelers' Tales (January 4, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885211201
• ISBN-13: 978-1885211200
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,135,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Tiny book, stating the obvious, February 10, 2007

By 

noname (Ann Arbor, MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gutsy Mamas: Travel Tips and Wisdom for Mothers on the Road (Travelers' Tales Guides) (Paperback)

This book's cover features a camel caravan, an African woman with a child on her head, people white water rafting -- pictures that suggest this book is about adventure travel, consistent with the name of the book. But inside, it offers such obvious advice as, "when travelling with an infant or toddler, pack enough diapers, the child's favorite toy, and a pacifier." Or, "involve older children in the planning." Or, "on a car trip, pack tapes of children's songs." Really, what mother hasn't thought of all these things already? And these examples aren't just the most extremely banal. They're representative of the whole tone of the book.

The chapter at the end suggesting family vacations suggests road trips with an RV, Club Med family vacations, resorts, water vacations, camping, theme parks (and it actually gives advice like "if you can, avoid visits on weekends or school holidays" -- well, duh!), family camps, dude ranches, family cruises, eco-travel and nature trips (this suggestion includes no advice at all, in contrast to visiting a theme park which contains a list of five tips), river rafting, bike trips (again, no advice), and international travel (and here the author recommends using a full-blown tour package). If the travel industry marketing association were to write a book, this would be it. There is almost no advice on how to really travel with children that a parent who had ventured beyond a visit to Grandma's wouldn't already have thought of. Really, what mother needs to be told to bring diapers for her infant?

This book might be useful for someone who has, truly, never traveled at all. Ever. But for people with any travel experience, it's utterly useless. This might help those who are complete novices and want a tame vacation. And that's fine. These people deserve a good book. I have no problem with providing such a service. But the title and the cover are completely misleading, and the tone of the book makes it sound as if this advice will get you and your family happily through a six-week overland trek through India. It's just not going to happen. Being told (in the infant and toddler chapter no less) to bring baby wipes because they're handy for cleaning up spills just isn't enough.

If you want a good book on traveling with children, I suggest "Adventuring With Children: An Inspirational Guide to World Travel and the Outdoors" by Nan Jeffrey. Nan, her husband, their twin sons, and daughter have really traveled, and their advice goes well beyond the obvious. It's an excellent book for Mamas who really are Gutsy. But the "Gutsy Mamas" book is appropriate for those seeking a cruise or a trip to Disneyland or to sit passively in an RV in a four-mile long line of RVs snaking slowly through the Grand Canyon. Obviously millions of people choose that route. But I don't think it's at all gutsy, and even for those people, I can't imagine that this book will teach them much that they don't already know.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great resource for your pack list, August 25, 2003

By 

Kimberly Jackson (whls, California USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gutsy Mamas: Travel Tips and Wisdom for Mothers on the Road (Travelers' Tales Guides) (Paperback)

I used two books this one and lonely planets traveling with kids guide. Between the two and the Lonley Planet India guidebook I feel very prepared. I really love the quoted ideas from all kinds of other -traveled with kids- experienced moms. Very helpful and supportive. I leave next week for a month. So we'll see how valuable the 50 things I never would have thought of are. But I can tell you that I feel prepared now and I have gotten from the book what I had hoped for: a comprehensive list of ideas and experiences which enables me to feel prepared to go to India with my 3 and 5 yr old.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lacking in Practical Advice, February 22, 2007

By 

Lisa (St. Paul, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gutsy Mamas: Travel Tips and Wisdom for Mothers on the Road (Travelers' Tales Guides) (Paperback)

If you are looking for inspiration or motivation to travel with your child(ren) (or maybe just encouragement that it can be done), then this is the book for you. If you are looking for practical advice, as I was, this is definitely NOT the book for you. I flipped through the entire book in 10 minutes, turned to my husband and said, "Well, that was a waste of $8."