I love giveaways...so when I heard that Diana Waring was celebrating her brand new musical method of experiencing American history through folk songs and stories by hosting a giveaway, I knew that many of you who educate your children at home or choose to supplement your children's education would be interested in this one!  ♥

    While my family hasn't used Diana Waring's full history program over the years, we have enjoyed her audio CDs to accompany different eras of history. 

    Diana has a brand new series of books with accompanying CDs that include folk songs and true retellings of America's westward expansion, the Old West, and even a book on Laura Ingalls Wilder - wow! 

    I'm excited to be participating in the launch of the upcoming release of Experience History Through Music by Diana Waring! 

    In a couple of weeks, I'll be sharing my family's review of these new history products, but for now, I'm joining members of the Diana Waring Launch Team for an amazing giveaway. Friends of Diana have joined in and as you can see, someone’s familyl is going to be greatly blessed!

    Our family has used a number of these items in our own home and have found them to greatly enhance our children's education, including Diana Waring's products, Map Trek (one of the best map products I've found yet), and Philosophy Adventure.


    Here’s what you have an opportunity to win, should you enter and win one of the giveaway items:

    To enter the giveaway, all you'll need to do is to use the Rafflecopter form, below, and fill out or click on the specific parts you'd like to use to enter this giveaway.

    This giveaway is only for residents of the U.S., age 18 and older only. Other terms and conditions can be found in the Rafflecopter form.

    Also notice that you can earn up to 95 entries into this specific giveaway, so while it looks like thousands of people have already entered it, it is a lot fewer people than that.  Do the math!  ☺

Read all of my helpful articles on planning a family vacation to Washington, D.C.!

    You've been planning a trip to Washington, D.C. (or somewhere else!) and want to pack as carefully and frugally as possible, but you need some helpful tips for your student or family? 

    Well, you've come to the right place!  Keep on reading for some great packing and safety tips, as well as a FREE printable packing list.

    I'm going to show you how to frugally pack your luggage so that you avoid baggage fees, bring the right items along with you (with my free printable DC packing list), and don't overpack.

    Our family planned our trip so that we'd be in Washington, D.C. for 7 full days.  We were told we could pack everything into carry-on luggage.  My thoughts at first were, "Yeah, right!"  But we did it, easily!  I'll show you how.

    Some of these tips aren't as frugal as they could be; for example, I didn't buy $12 el-cheapo shoes in which to walk.  That's because I would have been in misery walking 5-10 miles per day in them!  However, I wanted to show you some of the ways to help your trip be as comfortable as possible at the best price I could find for durable, long-lasting items.

    The weather can vary greatly in the Washington, D.C. area.  Read more about how to choose the right time of year to visit Washington, D.C. for your family.

    You'll want to check with your airline to see what their exact requirements are regarding carry-on luggage.  We chose to fly with Alaska Airlines, so we were each allowed one carry-on bag, which - including wheels and handles (very important to know this!) - could measure up to but not more than 10" H x 17" W x 24" L (25 x 43 x 61 cm), plus one personal item, such as a purse, briefcase, backpack, or laptop computer. 

    My smart husband found the carry-on luggage that most closely matched those size requirements so we would meet the limit but still be able to pack as much as possible.  By the way, the Kirkland carry-on luggage from Costco is just a tad too large for many airlines' overhead storage.  You'll want to avoid that brand for your carry-on bag.

    We each were able to bring one carry-on piece of luggage plus a decent sized backpack...and we tied our lightweight hooded coats around our waists until we were allowed to move around in the plane after take-off.

    Our family saved $200 just from not bringing any checked baggage with us.  Woot!

You'll want to bring clothing that reflects the kinds of activities in which you plan to participate and the weather that you expect.

Pack comfortable walking shoes for travel to Washington, D.C.

    I'll admit it.  Even after watching this video, I was skeptical.  This guy owns a Packing Light store, so you could probably guess that the clothing he is selling is very thin, durable, easily washable in a sink, and is for those who are truly "going light" as they travel. 

    But after I laid out all of my clothes in the same manner that he did, I found that my clothes, shoes, and more fit easily into my small carry-on luggage!

    Wow.  I was really surprised.  My girls didn't think it could be done, so our whole family watched the video together.  My husband packed his own carry-on, and I worked individually with each of the girls to help them pack theirs. 

    Bottom line?  This totally worked!  ☺  It's a free 8-minute video that saved us $200 in luggage fees. 

    You can purchase a less expensive backpack if you'd like.  All of the cheaper ones I found were much smaller, though, and not as well built.  It's up to you.  Our daughters use their larger sized Jansport backpacks for overnight trips to friends' houses, and as book bags, so they use them regularly, and will use them for years.

    Security is taken very seriously in D.C.  I would recommend not taking big bags or backpacks while sightseeing.  Leave them at the hotel and make certain smaller bags and pockets don't contain anything that can be considered dangerous, even nail clippers.  If you go to the Capitol Building or the White House, they won't allow your backpack to enter the building - or water bottles or food - so leave them in the hotel that day.

    For our trip to Washington, D.C., I knew that our bags would be searched in many locations, and I wanted everything to be easily accessible.  I knew I wouldn't be carrying a water bottle around with me most days, so I selected a crossbody purse from Baggallini, the Paris version.  Unfortunately, Paris is out of stock almost everywhere I've looked, even though I just bought it in October 2013, about 9 months ago. 

    I wanted something that was very durable, lightweight, weatherproof, and zipped/fastened well.  I also wanted a long shoulder strap.  In addition, I wanted to be able to carry my Kindle Fire with me, since I don't own a smart phone.  With the Paris purse dimensions being 10 1/2" wide x 8" high x 4" deep, this met my needs!  While I don't have much room left in the main interior pocket, I can still get my Kindle Fire (in a thicker zipped case) in the purse, and still carry my checkbook and several other things, plus a lot more in the outside zip pockets.

• Shoulder strap length: 50"
• Includes interior back wall zipper pocket and two interior multi-function pockets
• Small bag included
• Two small exterior pockets

    If you're looking for a durable purse that will hold a Kindle Fire in its case, plus quite a few other things, yet still be lightweight and not a "huge" purse, these dimensions should work for you.  The 4" depth is pretty important.  If a purse only has 1" or 2" depth, it will be tricky to get a Kindle Fire in there along with anything else.  You can try googling the Paris style of purse, or find something else on the Baggallini website that will meet your needs.  Also, PackingLight.com has an excellent selection of Baggallini crossbody purses (not an affiliate link). 

    Whichever style of purse or crossbody bag you decide to purchase, I recommend that it's made out of lightweight heavy duty nylon instead of heavy leather or alternative leather options.  Leave everything out of your purse that you truly won't need on your trip, to lighten the weight.

    I know, these are kind of oddball items to include for your trip, but they don't take up much room.  They could be very helpful to you on your trip, depending on what you encounter:

• Before you leave on your trip, digitally scan your passports, plane tickets, driver license, and other important papers and store them in an online email account (like Gmail or Google Docs, etc.). This allows you access to important information if it's lost or stolen.

• Also before you leave town, get travel insurance on your trip; this covers flights and lodging, among other pre-arranged expenses, in case you become ill.  Make sure your medical insurance will cover you in another country, and consider purchasing emergency travel medical insurance as well.
  
  
• Spread out your cash, credit cards, and debit cards into different pockets and bags in order to limit your losses in case you're a victim of robbery or you lose something.

• Each day, take a picture of your traveling companions in the clothing they are wearing that day.  This way, if someone is missing or lost, you will have a very current photo to show the police.
• Everyone in your group should carry emergency contact information on them, including I.D. and the name of the hotel where you will be staying, parents' names (for children), phone numbers to reach parents, etc. 
  

• Don't keep your wallet in your back pocket!
  
  
• Leave your jewelry and expensive cameras at home.  Don't say or do anything that would indicate you are wealthy or of affluence.  And remember, if traveling to a poor area or a third-world country, even the poorest Americans are usually wealthier than many of the residents of that area or country.
  
  
• When sitting in a restaurant or cafe, don't leave your purse or bag dangling from the back of your chair, or set it at your feet.  Instead, keep it on your lap or wrap the strap around your leg.   

Click on the packing list image, below, to download and print my FREE printable packing list!

    Share your packing and traveling experience with us all!  If you think I've left something important out of this information, let us know!  Thanks!

Disclosure: Some content includes links to sponsors or affiliates, which give me a small percentage of the sale. You are not obligated to use these links when you make a purchase, but when you do so it helps to support this site, so thank you!