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Emily Kaufman, aka “The Travel Mom,” is the travel contributor for ABC’siGood Morning America./iIn addition to GMA, she has appeared oniThe View/i,iGood Day Live/i, and CNN and is a regular contributor toiWomen’s Day/imagazine. Emily spends most of her time traveling the world in search of terrific family vacations with her children, 13-year-old Gabby and 15-year-old Charlie, and her husband, Sid. She resides in Southern California, but basically lives on a plane.ONEbrbrbriPlanning Makes Perfect/ibrbrbrWe like to think that a good vacation is one that just happens, miraculously and serendipitously. We tend to imagine that planning might actually take away from the relaxing break from routine that vacation is supposed to represent. Nothing could be further from the truth.brbrTake this travel story. Trudy, Paul, and their two kids, Phoebe and Eric, wanted to take a break for a long weekend from their hectic, demanding lives in a busy suburb outside Chicago. It was late November; the warm months of summer were all but a distant memory and the cold midwestern winter was hunkering down for a long stay. Paul came home one evening from work and announced to Trudy and the kids that he had just bought four tickets on a discount airline to Florida.brbrTrudy said, "Where are we staying?" "I'm not sure yet," replied Paul. "We'll find something when we get there."brbrThe family of four packed lightly and jumped on a flight to Florida the next morning. They arrived in the Fort Lauderdale airport to discover it overflowing with people. Trudy looked at Paul and said, "It's not even spring break. What's going on?"brbrThey soon found out that there was an enormous convention taking place throughout the city. Not only were there no rental cars available, but there was barely a hotel room open. The dreamy long weekend of sun and fun that Paul had imagined had suddenly turned@RÁë...¸R ¾Û€