Please visit Traci Suppa’s new family travel blog, “Go BIG or Go Home.” This infrequent, yet frequently-humorous blog chronicles what happens when her small-town family visits the “world’s largest”…whatever! We hit the road to seek out the world’s largest bowling pin, kaleidoscope, or light bulb, then rate the attraction so you can decide whether to Go BIG, or stay home!
On Facebook, visit the Go BIG or Go Home Travel Blog page
On Twitter, follow @GoBIG_GoHome

Westchester Family Magazine - June 2010
An article written by Traci was recently published in the June 2010 issue of Westchester Family Magazine.
If you’re like me, you believe skiing is a sport best left to Olympic athletes and the Swiss. However, you risk overlooking some great summer vacation destinations in New England, thinking they don’t have much to offer when it’s not snowing. Vermont, as my family found out, has a lot going for it when the mountains of the “Green Mountain State” are still actually green.
Read The Article
More information: http://westchesterfamily.com
This Connecticut Town On Long Island Sound Has Getaway Appeal For All Seasons

Hudson Valley Life
By Traci L Suppa
Hudson Valley Life
March 2010
Just two hours away from the Hudson Valley, Mystic is a quintessential New England shore town. Though the beaches along Long Island Sound don’t open until Memorial Day, there are plenty of attractions and activities to make Mystic worth your while any month of the year. If time allows, set aside a few days to explore the greater “Mystic Country” region, which includes New London, Norwich, Storrs, Putnam and Woodstock.
Read more:
Part 1: Tall ships and beluga whales
Part 2: Bogart & Bacall slept here; Fish & Mystic Pizza
Part 3: One of a kind shops; Let it roll; Top public golf courses; and Plan your escape.

Universal Orlando
Top options for intergenerational, group and reunion travel
By Traci L. Suppa
AAA Home & Away Magazine, January/February 2010
Pleasing a family of four when planning a vacation can be challenging. Getting it right when the group also includes Grandma, Uncle George and George Jr. is a bit trickier. But intergenerational travel, also known as “togethering,” is a growing trend, and many destinations cater to the specific needs of family groups.
Whether families are planning a long weekend for just the kids and parents or a large annual family reunion, the main considerations should be: Will there be a variety of activities to please everyone? Are there opportunities for everyone to spend time all together? Will someone on staff be there to help iron out details?
Here are three different options that meet these requirements, with the convenience of unpacking only once. Plus, these are trips the generations can take any time of year.
Read the full story on:

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Write an annual family update that people will want to read
By Traci L. Suppa – Posted December 07, 2009 on WomansDay.com

7 Steps to a Superior Christmas Newsletter
Just before our first winter together as newlyweds, my husband and I became victims of the dreaded Christmas newsletter. You know the type—long, boastful, boring missives. I vowed to create a humorous and appealing version for us to send out. Now, 13 years and two kids later, the “Suppa Family’s Official Christmas Newsletter” is an eagerly anticipated publication that gets rave reviews. If you don’t believe me, ask my cousin-in-law, who has saved every single one. We get complaints if they arrive late or get lost in the mail. Plus, pseudo-friends have actually asked to be added to our Christmas card list so they can get one.
Which leads me to my mission: to rid the world of bad holiday newsletters. Whether you create yours using the newest social media and online tools or still “snail mail” it, the bottom line is, you should keep yours lighthearted and memorable; think not only about what you say, but how you say it. Here are seven things to keep in mind if you want your readers coming back for more.
Read the full story on Woman’s Day.


Top 10 Jack O'Lantern Festivals
Haunted houses are a dime a dozen. Not to mention, they’re too scary for pre-schoolers, if you own some. That’s where “Jack” comes in. Refreshingly light on fright, spellbinding displays of Jack O’Lanterns have sprung up all over the country, offering a more artistic, interactive, and engaging Halloween event the whole family can enjoy. Each year, they get bigger, with bragging rights going to the Keene Pumpkin Festival in New Hampshire, which now features over 22,000 carved creations.
Jack O’Lanterns weren’t even associated with Halloween until the mid 1800’s. The practice of carving lanterns from gourds and other vegetables had a long history in the United Kingdom before that. Now of course, it has elevated to craft, limited only by the carver’s imagination.
Here are ten of this year’s largest Jack O’Lantern festivals, each showcasing at least 1,000 or more glowing gourds.
Find out which festival you’d like to go to this year by reading the full story on either:

DivineCaroline.com

TravelSavvyMom.com
Title: Top Ten Jack O’Lantern Festivals
Author: Traci L. Suppa
Publications/Websites: DivineCaroline and Travel Savvy Mom
Permalink: http://wordscapesny.com/article/222

Disney Magic, West Coast Style
Traci LaRosa Suppa’s article “Disney Magic, West Coast Style” was published The Parent Paper in northern New Jersey.
Title: Disney Magic, West Coast Style
Author: Traci L. Suppa
Publication: The Parent Paper (northern New Jersey)
Issue: September 9, 2009
Pages: 62-64
Permalink: http://wordscapesny.com/article/198