Vacationing On A Budget
July 6, 2009 by Victoria Cathey
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Summer time is here, cabin fever has set in and the entire family is ready to take a vacation. However, if you are one of many families who cannot splurge on a fancy family vacation, don’t get discouraged. In this article, I will list several budget-friendly vacation ideas that are great for all families.
If you are like me, you are the lucky one who gets stuck with planning the family vacation. You will probably spend hours on the internet trying to figure out where to go, what to do and how to do it for less. If you have a smaller family, this task might be a little easier because it seems like the whole world is based on having a family of four. But if you are a larger family, the standard hotel room with 2 double beds will not provide enough room if you are staying for more than a couple days. Airfare does not fit into our budget and the cost of food at a sit-down restaurant is staggering leaving us with very little money for fun and activities. So how can a family still take a great vacation for less??
Choose the theme of your vacation: adventure, relaxation, beaches and sun, theme parks, or history and culture.
Adventure vacations and sandy beach vacations are absolutely the most affordable vacations.
Adventure vacations include low-cost outdoor activities such as fishing, hiking, bike riding, and camping. This type of vacation is ideal for older children.
Top Adventurous Destinations Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee Park City, Utah Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona Yosemite National Park, California Moab, Utah Glacier National Park, Montana Olympic National Park, Washington, Acadia National Park, Maine
Sandy beach vacations are also economical and include surfable waves, sandcastle building, great dining, and mile long boardwalks. This type of vacation is ideal for all ages especially babies and toddlers.
Family Beaches Locations Coronado Beach, Calif. Nantucket Island, Mass. Newport Beach, Calif. Santa Barbara, Calif. Siesta Key, Fla. Duck, N.C. Hilton Head, S.C. Myrtle Beach, S.C. South Padre Island, Texas
* However, if you have your heart set on taking a theme park vacation, check to see if your your bank or employer provides discounted tickets. Try not to purchase tickets on EBay or Craig’s List, unless it is from a seller or broker that you trust because you run the risk of purchasing invalid tickets. Also, many theme parks now offer child swap. With child swap, one adult can go through the long lines with the older child or children while the other adult goes up the exit ramp with the younger children who cannot get on the ride. When the other adult gets off the ride, you get on. without waiting in line again.
Decide how you will get there: fly, train, bus or car.
Your most affordable option would be to drive. Even if you find a great deal on air fare, chances are you will still need to rent a car once you land, so cut out the middle man and drive. However, if you do decide the fly and rent a car, rent your car or purchase your airfare from www.priceline.com where you can ‘Name your Price’ and save money, many times more than the regular price.
Decide when to travel: peak or off peak.
You should be able to find deep discount when searching during the off season. This season depends on the location. Orlando’s busy season begins around May/June and ends August 10th; you can use that as a guide to plan theme park or summery vacations. Try to avoid holiday weekends; take the day off the following week and save yourself some money.
Accommodations: vacation home, hotel, or condo.
Vacation homes are great when traveling with a big group of people. You live a large home for a week and you also have the company of other adults and hopefully other children to keep your children busy. If you are considering a vacation homes, you will need to book your home several months in advance and you have to tidy up after yourselves everyday.
Standard hotel rooms are more readily available and perfect for smaller families. However, parents don’t have any privacy and you have to eat out every night, which can quickly total up to over $500 just for food. If you are looking for a standard room, Hotwire or Priceline (Name your Price) are your best options. Some people are leery of using these sites because you don’t know where you will stay until you have purchased the room. I have used Priceline many, many times and have never been disappointed.
My absolute favorite accommodation is a condo because it encompasses the best of all worlds. Parents and children have their own living and sleeping areas, housekeeping is available and they are equipped with full kitchens. You can save hundreds of dollars using the kitchen to prepare easy meals for breakfast and dinner. Most condos will also have a washer and dryer in your room. You can use the washer and dryer to wash all your clothes before returning home making it so much easier to unpack.
Another option is to take a time share tour; I know it sucks spending 2-3 hours of your day on the tour because it never only takes 90 minutes. But you can get a great 1 or 2 bedroom condo at an unbelievable rate.
You are now ready to plan a fun and exciting vacation. I think it is best to decide what is most important to you and family be it location, transportation, entertainment or accommodations and spend the most money on that and scale back on everything else. Happy Travels!
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