Press Release

#1 New York Times Best Selling Author, Dan Santat, Speaks About How Traveling Abroad Changed His Life

Dan gets real about the importance of traveling abroad

Plainfield, IL, January 19, 2023 — Erika Bud, host of the fast-growing travel podcast, Planes, Trains, & Kids Abroad, was honored to speak with Dan Santat, best-selling author, Caldecott winner, author/illustrator of over 100 titles, and the creator of the Disney animated hit The Replacements. The podcast, published by Big World Publishing, LLC, is available now. During the episode, Dan speaks about the middle school trip to Europe that changed his life and led to his latest memoir, A First time for Everything. Any parents considering traveling abroad with their children or who love traveling abroad as a family will absolutely love this episode. Families who moved to another country or just fans of Dan will also find this episode interesting and engaging.

Erika Bud says, “What fascinated me about Dan was just how real he was. He was so refreshingly honest about his experience and his feelings. He opened up about his personal life and struggles and why he thinks traveling abroad is so important.”

The Planes, Trains, & Kids Abroad travel podcast was created to inspire families to have overseas travel adventures and learn about cultures. From single parents to families of eight, listen as parents and children talk about what it was like to travel around the world on their international family vacations. Learn about countries, international travel tips, best international trips for families, affordable international vacations, how travel abroad facilitates quality family time, and so much more.  Laugh with us, dream with us, and be inspired by us to travel with your kids abroad.

Fans of the podcast can contact Erika via the website to provide feedback and ideas for the podcast, or to become a guest on the show.

To listen to the podcast, visit Planes, Trains, & Kids Abroad, or search for the podcast on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Google, and most podcast platforms.

###

BIG WORLD PUBLISHING ANNOUNCES THE FIRST CHILDREN’S BOOK TO INCLUDE AUGMENTED REALITY TECHNOLOGY BY ARTSCAPES

Travel Rangers Mission to Australia - cover of book about Australia with augmented reality on cover page

 

Plainfield, IL – March 28, 2022 Self-published children’s book author, Erika Bud, partners with New Orleans based ARtscapes to provide augmented reality (AR) technology in her first book, Travel Rangers: Mission to Australia. Readers will be the first to enjoy this amazing experience as ARtscapes has never provided this technology in a children’s book.

Created to ignite a passion for travel in both children and adults, the Travel Rangers book series makes it fun to learn about the fascinating countries and cultures throughout the world. The first book of the series, Travel Rangers: Mission to Australia takes adventurous readers on a mission through Australia where they will swim in the Great Barrier Reef, climb the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge, meet some new animals, and even learn some fun Australian words and phrases. Diverse characters were intentionally created for the book, demonstrating habits that real kids have, like biting their nails, so as many children as possible could picture themselves on the adventure.

“In 2019 (pre-Covid), less than 14% of the American population traveled overseas. I want to do what I can to increase that number. When children travel to other countries, they learn about diverse cultures and perspectives. They also learn to be more accepting and welcoming of each other’s differences,” states Erika.

AR technology was added to the book to help engage children and get them excited about traveling to Australia. To use, simply download a free app. and scan the QR code on the marked pages. Kids won’t want to miss this adventure!

Erika Bud, the author of the Travel Rangers series, has traveled to over thirty countries, living in both Spain and Australia. She started traveling overseas when she was 18 years old, working as an au pair. She loves embracing new cultures—eating new foods, learning about the history of the country, seeing remarkable architecture and sites, and meeting interesting people.

Erika left the business world in 2022 to focus on being a children’s book author. She is self-publishing her book series under her company, Big World Publishing, as opposed to trying to find a traditional publisher, because of her son, Hayden. Erika didn’t want to lose the many elements that her son contributed to the book.

“Everything from why they are called Rangers to why they wear camouflage vests is because of Hayden. He even picked their mode of transportation and made sure I knew if the propellers were not the correct size. I didn’t want to lose this if I found a traditional publisher, so I decided to become a self-publisher and work as hard as I could to get my book into as many children’s hands as possible,” stated Erika.

Travel Rangers: Mission to Australia is perfect for children ages 4-8 years old and even includes lesson plans for teachers. The book is expected to be published in June 2022. To help cover some of the upfront costs to publish the book, Erika is launching a Kickstarter campaign from 4/1-4/27/22. During this campaign, supporters can pre-order the book and receive exclusive rewards and deals. Support this great mission and pre-order your book at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/erikabud/travel-rangers-mission-to-australia

###

Contact

Erika Bud, Author

Email: erika(at) bigworldpub.com

Website: www.bigworldpub.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorerikabud

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorerikabud/

High-Resolution Photos: https://bigworldpub.com/media-kit/