A family vacation can sometimes present financial challenges. With a little imagination, a sense of adventure, and some planning however you too can save money on your next family vacation! Family vacations play an important role in keeping the family as a tight unit. You do not want to ruin your fun by worrying about going into debt from it. A vacation should:
- Provide time together away from the stress of work and school
- Enable opportunities for learning through new experiences
- Leave you with happy memories
With careful planning, you can achieve all of this while saving money.
Location, Location, Location
Even though exotic, famous, and faraway locations can be enticing, they are also often rather expensive to access. If you are on a tight budget, why not consider spending your vacation somewhere close to home?
Thousands of people travel thousands of miles and spend thousands of dollars, or frequent flyer points, to holiday amid the beautiful scenery for which many local places are renowned for. You may have it all, right at your front door! There is probably a national park, river, or coastal area within a few hours’ drive of your home that you and your family have yet to explore. Save money on airfares and excessive fuel costs by taking a family vacation locally.
Sleeping
These days, accommodation options are incredibly broad. Once you have your destination in mind, it is certainly worth doing some research. Obviously, camping springs to mind as the most affordable option and one that offers plenty of adventure and excitement. However, there are many other choices.
House or apartment swapping is becoming increasingly popular and can be arranged through various websites or agencies. Rather than paying for accommodations, you and your family exchange your residence with that of another family for a designated vacation period. You enjoy the luxury and comfort of staying in a house, without paying a cent!
Some property owners make their homes available for rental to vacationers. Again, many websites facilitate this. Private rental can often be more affordable than a hotel. You could even consider renting out your home while you are away.
Find out whether you have friends who can put you up in their house, in a spare room, or even in their yard, if you have a tent. Maybe you can return the favor when it’s their time for family vacation.
If you are considering staying in a hotel, many offer discounts and/or special deals for families when you book your accommodation in advance. It is definitely worthwhile to ask.
Eating
Shopping in your nearest supermarket before you leave home or in a large town close to your destination can ease the burden on the family bank account. Depending on your budget, you can plan to eat out some of the time, and to stay home and cook on some nights. During the hectic schedule of the regular workweek, families often don’t find many opportunities to cook together. It can be a lot of fun and can open up new ways of communicating and interacting.
Buying food and drinks in tourist attractions and popular destinations can be very expensive and can blow out your budget quickly. Before you leave your accommodation, consider packing your lunch and snacks, especially if there are small children in the family. They can become hungry quickly and are often susceptible to the advertising found around tourist attractions.
Activities
If major, or even minor, tourist attractions are not within your budget, brainstorm other ways to have fun! There are many free or affordable activities available in the great outdoors. You could consider taking your family on a hiking trip, a canoeing adventure, or a visit to a national park. Outdoor activities also offer the advantages of:
- Escaping busy, urban areas
- Improving physical fitness
- Engaging in new experiences and challenges
- Communicating in a previously unexplored environment
If your budget allows, you could go out to a movie or a show one night, and the spend the following night with your family playing board games and telling stories where you are staying.
Advance Tickets and Discounts
If it is within your budget to fly or take a train to a distant destination, then you might save money by booking tickets well in advance. Buying tickets over the Internet is often cheaper than buying them over the phone or through a travel agent. This is often true of purchasing tickets for tourist attractions as well. Keep an eye out for special deals and for coupons that offer discounts. These are available on various websites, in magazines, in newspapers and at visitors’ centers, among other places. Keep in mind that, during the off-season, many destinations are cheaper to access in terms of attractions, transportation, and accommodation.
Even though we are in the middle of an economic recession, making the time and finding the money to take a family vacation can be very rewarding. With the advent of the Internet and the growth of mass tourism, there are options to suit every budget, from camping to house swapping to booking cheap flights.
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