A few weeks ago I was on my friend Diana’s (www.PantryOverFlow.com) radio show. It was so much fun! You can visit her site and listen to her radio show daily. She asked me to share some travel tips here is some of what I shared.
My husband
and I make an effort to go away every quarter, just the two of us. Early in our marriage we came to know the
need for this in our relationship.
Everyone enjoys getting away, my husband especially needs this quality
time we spend together. Quality time is
his love language (I will share a post soon about the 5 Love Languages by Gary
Chapman) . Since having children we try
and go away at least once a year as a family.
I know it
costs money to travel and get away and a lot of people live paycheck to
paycheck and don’t see any way they can take a family vacation or couple
getaway. It amazes me how many couples I
meet who have never been away just the two of them or haven’t been away since
they have had kids. With a little planning
and preparation you can have getaways with any size budget. Here are some tips to help you.
Rewards Programs
Sign up for
rewards programs through hotels, airlines and any other travel sources you
use. Many times hotel chains as well as
airlines will run specials with extra bonus points for signing up. If you or your spouse travels for work, many
times you can sign up for these programs and use your work related travel to
gain points for your family vacations or weekend getaways.
Travel Search Engines
Utilize
travel search engines, such as Travelocity, Orbitz, Priceline, Hotwire, Kayak,
Trip Advisor. Research prices on a variety
of sites before choosing, and sometimes, when you find what you think is a
great deal for airline tickets through one of these sites, if you call the
airline directly or visit their site directly you can even still find a better
deal. If you have a flexible schedule,
there is usually a box to click on these sites to check prices a couple weeks
before or after your desired dates to find the best value.
Timing of Travel
When
possible travel off season, or right after the peak season of where you are
traveling. Not only will you save money, you’ll avoid the crowds. In regards to timing plan out your vacations
well in advance, this gives you time to save for your vacations and not go into
debt. Sometimes you can book last minute
cruises and trips at half the price when travel sites are trying to offload
inventory. If you have money saved and
budgeted for travel and have a flexible schedule, you can find some great
deals. The key though is to have the
money saved ahead of time, budget in vacation money. Say it takes you eighteen months or two years
to save for a vacation, its better than not saving and letting five years go by
since your last vacation or going into debt for vacation. Who wants to getaway only to return to the
stress and burden of the debt you incurred, does not help with fond memories.
Visitor Bureau
Check with
the Visitor Bureau of the city you are visiting and check local on-line sites
before you arrive. Many times you will
find discounts for tourist locations, transit, and other savings. Check out the Calendar of Events, you might
be in town when a great event is taking place.
Consider driving!
Gas prices are down, and this can come in handy when traveling with a
family in avoiding rental car expenses and you will already have the necessary
car seats. I know road tripping with
children can be difficult between the frequent potty stops and the “don’t touch
me”, “don’t look at me” bickering amongst siblings. Depending on how far you have to travel plan
pit stops with the kids in mind.
Research things like parks, family tourist spots that you can let your
little ones out of the car to run and stretch their legs. If it works you could even stay one night at
the halfway point in your road trip adventure.
Transportation
Learn more
about transportation options, car rental, shuttles, buses, public
transportation options, etc. My husband
has had to travel for work in a couple of his occupations and one time for
example, he was not paying for the cab or rental car for his company trip, but
he did a little research to where he was traveling and saved his company money
by taking the airport shuttle to the public light rail station that took him
directly in front of his hotel room.
Don’t only utilize saving tips for your personal budget but also for the
company you work for, as a business owner I know they will appreciate you being
frugal with their money.
I am not
talking about being cheap, but frugal and wise with your finances. Sometimes saving money on a rental car or
other way can give you more money to enjoy a tourist attraction, or fancier
meal out. When you are traveling, think about
quality with frugality in mind.
Meals/Eating out
Whenever
possible book with a hotel that provides free breakfast, this will save you
money and time searching for somewhere to eat.
Also something to keep in mind is if you will eat a large breakfast and
a big lunch, you can eat lighter for dinner, which is typically pricier when
eating out. Many restaurants offer some
type of happy hour, where appetizers are half price.
When booking
a hotel try to book one with a refrigerator or small kitchen. This enables you to have some snacks, drinks
and food in your room. You can plan a
picnic lunch or dinner when you have this option available.
Vacation Rental Home or Condo
If you are
traveling with a large family or group consider renting a vacation house or
condo. One time when traveling to
Disneyland with my husband’s family, just the adults no kids, we rented a 4
bedroom vacation home; it was less costly than booking multiple hotel rooms.
Find out if
you can offset some travel expenses by staying with family or friends for part
of your trip. Not only have I stayed at
families homes or vacation timeshares, but I also have opened my home for
family members to stay or even stop by on their way to where they are going for
a home cooked meal and time spent together.
Just don’t drop in though, give them ample time to prepare for your
visit.
Cruising
I think
cruising is a very economical way to travel especially if you live near a
cruise port. Many times you can find
cruises for the same amount per night that you would spend on a hotel room per
night and it includes all meals and entertainment for each night. Everything is right on the ship, no need to
drive around and find things to do, there is plenty to do. Although you can explore as much as you like
off shore.
All inclusive Packages &
Excursions
Research
before you commit to an all-inclusive package or resort and cruise
excursions. They are convenient, but
remember most times you are paying for that convenience. One time when cruising in Hawaii, I wanted to
sign up for the snorkeling excursion which cost well over $100 per person. My husband recommended that we book
snorkeling on our own once on shore. We
saved well over 75% by taking a short
walk from the cruise boat and reserving our own snorkeling adventure, we were
provided the equipment, transportation to and from the ship and we had a great
time, the location was beautiful and ended up being the exact same spot if we
would have booked in on the ship.
Souvenirs/Shopping
When
shopping for souvenirs, shop around.
Many times you can find the same souvenir you saw right on the beach
shops around the corner or down the street a little bit for half the
price. This also comes in handy when
traveling with your family. If your kids
are like mine, they love stuffed animals, and any other type of souvenir that
is at their eye level. When we visited
the San Diego Zoo one time, we found the same type and size stuffed Polar Bear
that was $40 at the Zoo at a local store for $10 outside the park. You can plan ahead when you plan to visit
places like a Zoo, or Amusement Park (Disneyland, Sea World, Lego Land, Six
Flags Discovery Kingdom, etc.) Pack and
prepare souvenirs that you have purchased ahead of time and even throughout the
year if you know you are planning a trip.
You can
surprise your kids each morning at the hotel room with a stuffed animal, Lego
set, T-shirt of their favorite character, coloring books, autograph journals,
etc. at a much lower cost than what you will spend at the amusement park. This not only saves you money but saves you
time, you can spend more time riding the rides, swimming in the pool then
overspending by souvenir shopping.
If you know
shopping is important to the people you are traveling with, plan for that,
again it’s not only about being cheap and saving money. Vacations are supposed to be fun, with three
boys I can get away with a lot of this because they really show no interest in
shopping, they would rather be exploring, swimming, and actively participating
in something. If you have girls or a wife
that likes to shop, budget for that. Even
if your budget allows for them to shop for and pick only one item, if that is
important to them, make it happen.
Stay-cation
And last but
not least have you heard of a Stay-cation?
It’s a vacation in your own hometown.
Depending on your budget you can work this idea a variety of ways. At bare bone minimum costs you can stay at
your own home, plan picnics in the park, tour the tourist spots right in your
city or nearby. You can eat most meals
at home. If you have some budget to work
with, you can rent a hotel in your home town for all of the days or some of the
days of your vacation time. You save on
the expense of renting a car, and airlines, but are still able to order room
service and get out of your home. My
husband and I have done this a few times.
We stayed in town at a nearby hotel, sometimes for different reasons,
sometimes due to not having a lot of time to take off work, sometimes due to
our children’s school events, that we wanted to be at, but also wanted to get a
way for the weekend but not too far.
Sometimes because we did not have a huge budget to work with but we knew
the importance of just the two of us getting away together. Many times
people live in their hometown never experiencing the local tourist spots. Stay-cations are great opportunities to
experience what your city has to offer.
Thank you for reading if you’ve enjoyed the content you’ve
read above please share with your friends.
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