Welcome to Stack the Miles!
Inspiring families to explore more, spend less, and see the world together.
Family Focus
Practical trips that work for real kids, real schedules, and real parents.
Smart Spending
Points, miles, and strategy to stretch your travel budget further.
Cultural Connection
Helping kids learn the world by experiencing it — not just seeing it.
Hi, I’m Mel — a mom, teacher, and family travel planner.
I help busy families travel farther, spend smarter, and plan trips that actually work with kids, without burning out or blowing the budget.
Here you’ll find real-life itineraries, honest destination guides, sports travel tips, and simple ways to use points and miles to make travel more affordable. Everything here is based on trips we’ve actually taken as a family.
Start Here: Plan Your Trip
Choose your travel style below to find guides, tips, and real-life experiences that make planning easier.
What to expect in Italy with kids, including Rome, Venice, and the little things that make the trip easier.
Planning a trip to France with kids, including what’s worth it and what to skip.
Easy day trips, castles, and what travel actually looks like in Germany and Austria with kids.
Planning your Disney World trip? Start here for hotels, park strategy, Lightning Lane tips, and ways to save money.
Where to eat and drink at Disney World, including restaurants by park, dining plan tips, and what’s actually worth it.
Complete gluten-free guide to Disney World, including park-by-park tips, snacks, and what actually feels easy (and what doesn’t).
Packing lists, weather survival, and real-life tips to make tournament weekends easier for sports parents.
What to expect, what to pack, and how to plan a Cooperstown tournament trip.
The tournaments, games, and sports travel experiences that have shaped our family trips.
What to do in Boston with kids and teens, plus easy ways to plan your days without overpacking your schedule.
Visiting NYC with kids, including what’s worth it, what to skip, and how to make the most of your time.
Family-friendly Philadelphia travel guides featuring museums, historic attractions, food spots, and things to do with kids, tweens, and teens.
Tips for choosing a family-friendly all-inclusive in the Caribbean or Mexico and what’s actually worth it.
Tips for visiting Universal with kids, including rides, planning strategies, and what to expect.
Family travel tips that make trips easier, including packing, travel days, and planning around busy schedules with kids.
What’s New? – Helpful Travel Tips
If you’re planning travel tournaments, Disney trips, or family vacations, these are the posts readers find most helpful.
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Best Credit Cards for Travel Sports Families
The best travel sports credit cards can help families offset some of the biggest tournament travel expenses, especially hotels, gas, and weekend trips during busy sports seasons. Most of our tournaments are still close enough to drive home after, but the weekends away definitely add up once you start paying for hotels, food, and all…
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Best Philadelphia Museums for Kids, Tweens & Teens
Finding the right Philadelphia museums for kids can honestly make or break a family day trip to the city. Philadelphia museums for kids can vary a lot depending on your child’s age, interests, and attention span. Some museums feel magical for preschoolers but lose their appeal by third grade, while others become more interesting as…
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Sports Parent Buying Guide: What We Actually Use at Tournaments
Tournament gear has a way of slowly taking over your car, garage, and weekends before you even realize it. Sports parent buying guide posts always make tournament life look a little more organized than it actually is. In reality, most of us build our sideline setup one random purchase at a time after realizing something…
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What Families Should Know Before Playing at Cooperstown All Star Village
Preparing for Cooperstown All Star Village feels very different from preparing for a normal travel baseball tournament. Pretty quickly, it became obvious that the biggest questions families have are usually not about baseball itself. Most parents are simply trying to figure out what to expect at Cooperstown All Star Village once the boys move onsite….
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What to Pack for Italy With Tweens & Teens
Packing for Italy with kids looks a little different when your trip includes August heat, long walking days, and older kids who can carry their own stuff but still get a little whiny when everyone’s hot and tired. We took our family of four to Italy in August with our 12- and 14-year-old, and like most…
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What Experienced Travel Tournament Parents Do Differently
Experienced travel tournament parents usually are not doing dramatically different things than newer sports families. They have just learned, after spending years on the road together as a sports family, which small habits actually make a difference. Things like knowing what to pack ahead of time, which hotel details matter most, what actually helps during long…
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DIsney | Disney Planning | USA
What We Actually Bring in Our Disney Park Bag (and What We Don’t Anymore)
What to pack in a Disney park bag can feel overwhelming at first, but for us it has gotten a lot simpler over time. When we had a stroller, I brought way more without really thinking about it. There was always somewhere to stash things, so it didn’t feel like a big deal to throw…
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Little Things That Make a Big Difference at Travel Tournaments
Small things for travel tournaments don’t always seem important ahead of time, but once you’re at the field all day, you realize how much they actually matter. We always showed up with all the basics and still somehow found ourselves saying, “I wish I had…” at least a few times every single weekend. It was…
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Getting Around Paris With Kids: Uber, Walking, and What Actually Worked for Us
Getting around Paris with kids can feel overwhelming at first, especially when you’re trying to balance jet lag, short travel days, and tired kids who just want to get from point A to point B without a complicated plan. Before our trip, I kept hearing how easy the metro is in Paris. And while I’m…
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Welcome to Stack the Miles
Hi, I’m Mel — a teacher, mom, and family travel planner helping families travel farther, spend smarter,
and make unforgettable memories using real-life tested advice from our own trips.
All content © Stack the Miles. Photography and imagery include original family travel photos and select licensed stock for visual storytelling.