Yolanda Edwards | Travel & Lifestyle Editor

At Going Places, we don't allow the word 'stay-cation'...an overused word that we see in way too many travel press releases.  But even though we can't stand this word, it does exist for a reason--we might be traveling a little (or a lot) less...and staying home a lot more.  A great way to expose your kids to travel that is far and away -- and also involves little expense and no jet-lag -- is to get these travel DVDs.

My family's favorites:

Walker and Ping Ping: This is an animated DVD about a boy named Walker who moves with his family to Hong Kong, and makes friends with Ping Ping, a local Chinese girl. At first I was completely skeptical because I wasn't sure watching a DVD about China, in animation.  But it's really great -- my daughter and I have watched it around five times, have learned some Chinese, and I feel like we (that's actually just me) understand more about the
geography of China...(I could never remember where the Gobi Desert was!). Note: January 26 is Chinese New Year!

The Little Travelers: We only have the Bali and Japan DVDs, and we love them.  They are produced by a mom who takes her two girls to a new country every summer. They rent an apartment and really set up shop, so you get to see where they play, buy groceries, and explore the countries with them. The only problem is now my daughter wants to go to Bali and Japan, right now.