BayAreaFamilyTravel.com launched in October under the supervision of Kathy Chin Leong, a writer by profession, and her husband Frank, who owns his own computing business, AGL Internet Solutions. "It came out of two things—my passion for travel and for writing, and our frustration," Leong said.

Leong, who used to work for tech publications such as PC Computing and Info World, began freelancing when her children were born. But when she would return from trips with her family, the only people interested in the articles she wrote about their experiences were her friends. Furthermore, Leong noticed that many travel publications and sites simply reprinted articles that had been written for other sources.

"The magazine seemed like a natural step," she said. While Leong references experiences traveling with her own children on the site, much of the content—which is all original—comes from her inner circle. "My friends and family write for me," she said. "A neighbor around the corner wrote about a trip to the caves, and I interviewed friends who did a road trip across the country with a baby. Every place is road-tested."

Leong also dug deep into her professional past for help. Former colleagues now work with publications such as Forbes and The New York Times, and she has recruited their journalistic expertise in writing travel pieces for the magazine.

While the site focuses on travel within California and around the world, Leong's inspiration isn't quite so earthly. "I'm a Christian, and I believe God has given us a beautiful world. I just want to magnify that beauty," she said. Features on her site follow those beliefs—fellow members of the Peninsula Bible Church in Cupertino wrote about a trip to Costa Rica, and special sections on the website focus separately on vacations that incorporate volunteerism and how to best travel with children who have special needs.

"It's not so easy with children who are autistic or who use wheelchairs," Leong said. "When you're talking about which theme parks are the best, some accommodate those kids better. Disneyland is actually very good."

For all the site's focus on children, Leong also makes sure that they have a voice as well—youngsters can write their own trip memoirs on the site. The first batch of children who contributed was from an after-school creative writing class that Leong teaches at Laurelwood Elementary School in Santa Clara. "It's an opportunity for those beginning writers to see themselves in print," she said.

Her own children—Gwen, 14, and 12-year-old Aaron—now attend the King's Academy in Sunnyvale after being home-schooled, though Leong still teaches creative writing to local home-schooled children.

But Leong's involvement with the website continues to grow. She said that her husband plans on listing the site with search engines such as Yahoo!, and she is actively looking for advertisers. The site's recent feature on Costa Rica got one reader itching to go, though many of the site's travel destinations stick to more reasonable distances.

This includes many locales within the Bay Area. Even though Leong's family loves to travel, they also love where they live. "My husband and I were looking around for a house when we got engaged," Leong said. "When we heard that there's a park within walking distance of every house in Sunnyvale, we knew this was it."