You've got the car all packed - and are raring to go venture across the country (or continent). Still, in the back of your mind, you're a bit worried about how much this all will cost. You've budgeted for your vacation, but saving money is always a good thing - you can then travel more!

Flying somewhere this summer? Taking the kids? Flying with a family can be rough if you don't plan ahead - and prepare. Here are our Top Ten Travel Tips for Flying Families - you'll find that these can make your journey less challenging - and more enjoyable!

You know how talent often runs in families? This month's artist feature, with painter Lawrence Dyer, is part of that tradition. I first met his daughter, Madeline Dyer, when I discovered her beautiful and powerfully written first book, Untamed (read our author interview here). Imagine my NOT surprise when I saw her father's artwork in one of her facebook posts.

Norway - the home of frankfurters and fiords, aurora borealis, and enough scenic views to last a lifetime. It is the dream destination for many, but it seems that only the very wealthy are able to experience its glory. 

Growing up in Connecticut, eight year old Alison Brown was learning to play guitar when she heard a recording by bluegrass musicians Flatt and Scruggs. She fell in love with the banjo. "I knew I wanted to make *that* sound," she recalls.

Courtney Quirin is a wildlife biologist turned environmental journalist and documentary filmmaker. She has reported for Al Jazeera America in San Francisco and for The Associated Press in Johannesburg, South Africa. Courtney's first documentary, which was her thesis at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, won the 2015 CINE Golden Eagle Award for Best Student Documentary and the Margaret & William Hearst Award for Excellence in Documentary Film.

All Walt Disney World fans will understand the excitement of a new opening in the parks. While projects are still underway in Hollywood Studios and the Animal Kingdom, one new location, at least, is open for business. The Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen is as much an attraction as a dining experience. This new eatery will be a nostalgia-fest for all Disney park fans who remember the S.E.A., or Society of Explorers and Adventurers, at the Adventurers Club.

Nature and the arts - they go hand in hand. I love outdoor theatre (especially Shakespeare) and concerts, for they combine the best of both worlds - being outside, AND the luxury of watching and listening to the arts in a special environment. And, of course, when you attend a concert outside, you bring a picnic - snacks, beverages, meals - and munch the whole time. It's glorious, and a way of life that attracts everyone. So when Gina Hyams published her latest book, The Tanglewood Picnic: Music and Outdoor Feasts in the Berkshires, I WAS IN.

Chicago artist Adam Siegel is nationally recognized for the breadth of his work as an abstract painter and photographer. Known for his large-scale works, Siegel presents a soulful refinement to the contemporary category. Influenced deeply by his time in Japan, the artist merges two distinct sensibilities—East and West—with compositions that showcase an elusive and elegant balance of both.

Schools in the US are mostly stationary. Students, staff, and teachers enter the building in the morning and leave at the end of the day. If we’re lucky, we may grab some much needed outdoor air and vitamin D at lunchtime or recess, but for the majority of minutes of each day, we’re inside in the same place. Travel changes this. Travel lends that added element of the unknown to the constant of the classroom. For many of us, that unknown becomes a dreaded, scary place.