Great travel is the holy grail of family time: To see the world, expand our horizons, and experience unforgettable adventures together is everything we want our family time to be, all wrapped into one. That’s the dream anyway. The reality is that planning a big trip can be so daunting you want to throw up your hands and just stay at home. It’s no wonder all-inclusive resorts are so popular, just show up and your hardest decisions concern the buffet.

But there’s no substitute for amazing travel with your kids. If you’re like me you want to pack lots of stuff into your days, but not at the expense of having crabby, exhausted kids. There’s no reason to give up hope of doing the things you want or just sticking to vacations at Disneyland. Finding the perfect balance and knowing a few tricks to planning itineraries that optimize your days will help you have better, more adventurous vacations.

It‘s taken me years of practice to figure out how to plan itineraries that keep everyone happy, expose us to new experiences, and still feel enough like a vacation that I don’t need another one once we get home. The heart of my travel planning comes down to knowing how to balance cultural experiences with kid-friendly fun, while making the logistics as seamless as possible. I’ve boiled my technique down to 10 simple steps that anyone can do to have amazing vacations. If I can turn my grumpy kids into world travelers, you can too.

It can be hard for someone who lived in Soho as a kid to see the neighborhood clearly now. Mostly we see what it’s not anymore as we think back to the days of abandoned streets, five-floor walk-ups to unfinished lofts, and the artists and art galleries that occupied the area. Today, the heart of Soho has become NYC’s biggest outdoor shopping mall and, especially with the closing of the Scholastic Store, it doesn’t seem like the most kid-friendly corner of the city. However, just as we can look past the shiny new storefronts to see the beautiful old cast-iron facades that sit above them, there are some wonderful experiences for families in this historic neighborhood—if you know where to look.

Throughout March, we'll be writing about the best places for families to visit, shop and eat in Soho and adjacent neighborhoods Little Italy and Hudson Square. For the purposes of our posts, our geographical boundaries are Houston to Canal Streets between the Bowery and the Hudson River. We kick off our coverage with the top 35 things to do in Soho and its surrounding environs.

When the IDNYC cards debuted last month, there was a lot of excitement. In fact, so many people wanted the FREE municipal identification cards, the city couldn’t handle the demand. A website was launched for booking application appointments online, but it had glitches, and soon slots through the summer were all filled up. But this week, the city opened new enrollment centers, which means suddenly appointments are available—but don’t hesitate! I was just able to snag a slot for the end of March, but these new appointments will likely book up fast. Click over to nyc.gov to make an appointment now, and then come back and read our tips and answers to frequently asked questions about IDNYC.