The best travel deals happen after Labor Day--when our kids are back in school and we have to make the tough decisions about whether we can take them out of school for a family vacation.

We took our kids out of school all the time when they were little. We were lucky--our kids never struggled in school. If they had, I might have been less inclined to let them miss two or three days at a stretch so we could have a little family bonding time on the beach. Or even so we could visit a nice, educational spot like Colonial Williamsburg.

Now, with kids in high school, our family vacations are relegated to very short windows of time during school vacations, the brief summer weeks between summer school or summer job and the start of soccer/track/cross country/whatever in the weeks before school starts.

If you'd like to share some tips for continuing to travel once the kids are back in school, join TravelingMom Monday on Twitter at 8 p.m. Aug. 23. Follow the hashtag #TMOM to join the conversation. We talk about a different family travel topic every Monday at the same time on Twitter. And please follow me @CindyRichards for travel tips and more on Twitter.

Cindy Richards is the mom of two who gets her muse from traveling the world, usually with kids in tow. She also writes for TravelingMom.com, where she also serves as editor.

See more of Cindy's stories here.

Our picks

What's Up This Weekend

Recipes

Museums Free Days