Over spring break my children and I hope to take our annual family vacation. Planning the trip won’t be difficult at all since I have done this several times over the past few years. I have even been able to save money for these family trips.
Choosing a destination
When choosing our destination for this family vacation, I always ask for input from my two children. After all, this is for them, too. We usually try to pick a place where I can drive it in a day because we don’t want to spend all our time driving. Once we have decided on a destination, I begin the search of finding a hotel that takes pets using www.petfriendly.com and www.tripadvisor.com. Our dog is a family member, too, and loves to travel just as much as we do.
Getting there
For cost efficiency, we will drive to our destination. While I realize flying gets you there much quicker, I can’t justify paying that kind of money for plane tickets and luggage fees plus the transportation for the dog. Besides, my children have never flown, and I prefer to keep my feet on the ground, save money and have less hassle finding our luggage and dog.
Saving money
For some people, money is no object, but for a single mom like me, I would rather spend my money on souvenirs and a unique restaurant we don’t have back home, not a hotel room where we only sleep or restaurants we can find at home. As a way to save money, I always look for a hotel room that has either a kitchen or at least a microwave and small refrigerator. I take a few groceries to last us a day, and upon arrival we shop for breakfast and lunch items. If we have a kitchen, we even eat some dinners in the room as well. Planning a family vacation in the off-peak season is a great way to save money. For instance, the hotel I have looked at for our spring break trip is cheaper by $200 over the summer season. While the weather may not be as great during the spring, you can make up for it by saving money.
Planning a family vacation isn’t difficult, and using the two money saving tips will help us save money. Now all we have to do is have fun once we reach our destination.