For my older daughter, room service has become as much a part of family travel as TSA checkpoints, incessant picture-taking and the white-noise app on my Smartphone. I don't think I'd want it any other way.

My family has been home nearly a week from our epic New Year’s vacation in the hills above the Northern California coast. For my 3.5-year-old daughter, however, the lessons continue every day.

My wife, daughters and I spent the New Year’s holiday holed up in a remote part of coastal Mendocino County, California. Along the way we learned a bunch of things about vacationing with other families.

Bill Richards and E. Ashley Steel have visited more than 40 countries with their two daughters. And they've written one heck of a book about their experiences on the road.