Now that families are getting ready for their spring breaks, here’s a 8mm Disney World promotional video from the 1970s. The place looks a little lonely floating in undeveloped Orlando without its theme park relatives. Which attractions are no longer there?

A reader contacted us with concerns about her 15-year-old daughter’s upcoming school trip to Amsterdam, Austria and the Czech Republic. She wanted to know if it is safe to drink the tap water and to eat foods such as fruit and salads.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website, it’s generally safe to drink the water and eat raw foods in Northern and Western Europe, which includes Amsterdam and Austria. They do recommend, however, sticking to bottled or boiled water in the Czech Republic and to avoid food from street vendors in that country. (As someone who has lived in Austria, I would implore people to not skip the street food in that fastidiously sanitary part of the world; the Kaesekrainer — or cheese dog — kicks the skin off anything Oscar Mayer could muster.)

That said, it’s not uncommon for travelers, particularly children and teens, to have some tummy troubles when they are introduced to new foods. Travelers should bring diarrhea medicine (Pepto-Bismol, Imodium AD) to treat themselves for mild cases.

If you have a travel question, post it here or e-mail it to travel@startribune.com.

Despite the economic crisis, tomorrow promises to be the biggest travel day of the year in the United States. By car and by air, we go home, wherever that is, to be with our families. The popular idea of travel is signified by palm trees and exotic shores; but by far, the biggest reason Americans travel is to be with families. More than 80 percent of leisure travel in the U.S. consists of car trips to relatives’ homes, according to multiple surveys.

My trips home usually consist of a seven-hour drive to Lincoln, Neb., to visit my mother and sisters, followed by a two-hour drive to the tiny town of Dannebrog, Neb., to visit my grandmother, father and stepmother. That means, like a lot of Americans, I usually get two Thanksgivings. This year, I have a new grand nephew to greet (born yesterday afternoon), along with a lot of other things to be grateful for. Where are you going this Thanksgiving, and what are you grateful for?

Like many kids, my 6-year-old son, Henrik, doesn’t like to travel. If I had to boil it down to one single reason, I’d say the constant transitions — new scenery, new bed, different food in unfamiliar restaurants — overwhelm him.

My husband and I have tried a variety of approaches to help Henrik adjust more easily to his new surroundings. We’ve shown him online photos of our upcoming destinations, drawn flow charts of each day’s events and created incentives in the hope that they would motivate him to hold it together. What we never did was ask Henrik what he thought would help him enjoy our family vacations.

Then on a trip to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, Henrik asked to use my camera and I discovered that taking photographs helped him relax and enjoy himself. As I watched him peer through the lens, I realized that he was framing the experience for himself. For a kid, traveling often means that your parents call all the shots. Henrik clearly needed a way to control even a tiny slice of the experience. I’m just happy it helped him enjoy himself.

Does your child have a hard time traveling? Share your experiences and tips.

Below: Here’s one of my favorite photos from that trip. I love the colors and the way the sharp angles of the pool steps contrast with the circular patterns of the raindrops.

Then again, I’m not exactly objective.

You can fry an egg on a sidewalk out there. But why would you do that when you could be floating on your back in a clear, calm lake, listening to the baking-hot breeze tickle the pine boughs?

My favorite close-by place for a dip is Lake Alice in William O’Brien State Park, just north of Stillwater on the St. Croix River. It’s packed on weekends, but during the week, the swimming beach can be pretty quiet. There are plenty of trees for shade, and the bluffs all around shelter it from the morning and evening sun. That’s my theory as to why such a small lake stays so nice and cool, even in the dog days of summer.

O’Brien is also one of my favorite nearby spots for a hike. I like to walk the Upper Prairie trail to the high point there that gives a great vantage on the St. Croix Valley. Afterward, Lake Alice is very inviting.

Who else has a good place for a swim within an hour of the Cities?