Contestant's Case to Win

"There are two classes of travel: First class, and with children." - Robert Benchley

It is no myth that traveling with kids can be unbelievably challenging. Trekaroo families are here to help with real advice from parents who have been there and done that.

Why vote for Trekaroo?
1. It's about time. Except for Trekaroo, there is no other community-based resource for parents who are traveling with kids to easily connect with families who have been there.
2. Families need a voice so their $60 billion of travel expenditures are purchasing goods that cater to their needs.
3. Our community is growing quickly (600% since we launched two months ago) because moms and dads see the value and have fun on Trekaroo.
4. The founders are passionate about what they are building and have a breadth of skills that enable them to build a successful company.

About Trekaroo:
Trekaroo is a large community of travel-savvy parents sharing the inside scoop on traveling with kids. Parents who are going somewhere, can get their questions answered by real parents who have been to the places they are heading to.

By combining the word of mouth of advice of hundreds of parents who have been to various travel destinations, Trekaroo brings you the power of collective knowledge. Families can now find lists of the best things to do with kids of various ages and family-friendly places to stay in all over the US and soon the world. To speed up trip planning, you can filter the lists of activities or lodging based on what parents care about - their budget, children's ages, and interests.

Trekaroo launched its Beta on Jan 21, 2009. Since then, traffic has grown 600% and continues to climb. Moms and dads everywhere are starting to catch onto the value of what they can build together and having fun with it. About sharing her reviews on Trekaroo, Rebecca Jolly says “I had fun doing them. That’s why I went back on to review a few more places I had forgotten about,” a mom of 2.

How Trekaroo Came To Be:
Many of the best products are born out of personal need. Trekaroo is no exception. Prior to having children, I would hop on a plane with few plans beyond where I would lay my head that first night. But after our first trip with a baby, we realized that traveling with kids is a totally different ballgame. We knew we were not alone. For most parents, the idea of lugging extra baby bags and an unruly toddler through the underground train system in Paris is a nightmare that could keep them leashed to their front door. However, getting the inside scoop from another family who has gone ahead of you can magically set many worries to rest. We saw an opportunity to create those connections for families online.

As our kids have gotten older, we still look to other parents for word of mouth advice about fun age appropriate activities that align with the interests of our children. Other parents continue to be be most valuable source of information about popular attractions and free activities that strike a home run with locals.

Shelly Rivoli of Travels with Baby Examiner totally gets it. "As more parents weigh in on their favorite (and not-so favorite) places they stay with their families, the user rating system will help loads of us make better informed decisions about where we spend our travel dollars on family vacations."

The Mission of Trekaroo:
In a nutshell, Trekaroo wants to be a place where families inspire and equip other families to travel and explore the world.

About Me:
Living betwixt two equally demanding, unpredictable, and exciting journeys of entrepreneurship and motherhood is quite a trip. It's not unusual that a day's work starts off with singing the potty song and sending emails to investors. The rest of the morning is filled with making a Chinese New Year dragon in my son's kindergarten class and heading to the office to design the next set of features for Trekaroo. I then fly home, cook dinner for the family, put the kid’s to bed and then head back on online to tweet and post on Facebook. What keeps me excited about this crazy life I now lead? It’s my underlying passion that marries together my different roles as mommy, travel expert, and entrepreneur.

"Ultimately, travel is central to our family life because we want our children to grow up having tasted, seen, smelled and cared for a world and its people who are as different as the colors of the rainbow. We want them to see that there is no one way people should live and no one way to express joy, sadness or love. We want to challenge their sense of entitlement and to instill a sense of compassion for those who have experienced grave injustices." - Me on our blog The Talking Trekaroo

Vote for Trekaroo - we're the voice of traveling families