When my wife and I began traveling with our two boys many years ago, the biggest concern for us was money. We weren’t sure if we’d be able to afford yearly family trips on the incomes of two teachers. Over the years, we’ve “gotten better” at traveling and learned some things that have made traveling as a family of four much more affordable.
- Timeshare Ownership
- There’s plenty of web articles out there that weigh the pro’s and con’s of timeshare ownership, but as owners ourselves, we definitely think they’re worth it! We purchased one way back in the beginning (around 2007) and it literally gave us a reason to travel each Summer! We figured, “Hey, we’re paying a little money for this thing each month, so let’s be sure to use it!” Our timeshare group (Diamond Resorts) has dozens of locations around the country where we can use our points. The cost of our timeshare was a fraction of the cost of staying at a resort/hotel (and much cheaper than renting a house) for a week. Once it’s paid off, all that’s left are the yearly maintenance fees, and that’s when we really began seeing the financial benefit! Also with our timeshare, they always have a nice kitchen setup, so we would make a point to go to a nearby grocery store and stock up on food upon our arrival. That way we could eat breakfast and even dinner at “home” on days when we’d be out all day doing this or that. The more you don’t have to eat out, the better (in terms of saving money), because even a cheap meal out for a family of four could cost over $100 when you consider everyone getting a meal plus tipping your server! You could throw together a nice pasta dinner for the whole family pretty quickly for less than $20 at “home”!
- Get that car tuned up!
- Now we understand that as teachers with Summer’s off, we probably have more time on our hands to make our trips than most people. However, the majority of our trips have taken place in the 7-10 day time frame, so hopefully this will work for you. That being said, we save money by driving as much as possible (as opposed to flying places). Airfare for 4 people can cost an arm and a leg, so if time is on your side, driving is a much more cost-effective mode of travel for families. Having a comfortable SUV that gets good gas mileage is ideal. We currently travel in a Kia Telluride (mid-size SUV) and it gives us plenty of space to ride comfortably and transport all of our things in the back with the third row seat folded down.
- Hotel Rewards
- Join a hotel rewards program… It doesn’t cost anything! We joined the Hilton Honors program and not only do they have great deals on rooms, but they also include all-you-can-eat breakfast at most of their locations. This was a game changer for us because feeding four people 3 meals per day by eating out at restaurants can not only be very very costly, but it also takes time to load everyone up into the car and go through the whole process of going out to get a meal. You also earn points each time you stay at a hotel, and over time, those points can earn you a free stay! We would also only book one room (usually with 2 queen beds) for our family of four on our en-route trips just to get to and from our main location. This has saved us a ton of money because paying just $120-$200 for a single room for a night essentially broke down to just $30-$50 per person WITH BREAKFAST INCLUDED! Since we’d typically break the drive from New York to Florida into 3 drives (2 nights in hotels), the entire cost of travel (hotels, meals & gas) would amount to significantly less than flying the four of us down there!
- Pack Lunches
- Along the same train of thought as saving money on breakfasts, we learned to pack our lunches as much as possible. A major goal for our trips was to only “eat out” for 1 meal each day when we’re on the road. We began packing a cooler with lunch foods & snacks that we’d buy at the grocery store (i.e. lunch meat, cheese, mayo, mustard, pepperoni, crackers, bagels, peanut butter, etc. etc.) and whether we were on the road driving, at the beach, at a National Park, or somewhere else on our journey, it was always pretty easy to throw a few wraps together and have a healthy lunch instead of going to a restaurant. We would also freeze a bunch of our bottles of water before hitting the road and use those to keep our food cold for some of our drives. Once the water bottles thawed out, we’d be able to drink them!
- National Parks
- Back in 2013 we visited our first National Park (Mammoth Cave in Kentucky) upon the suggestion of an athlete that I used to coach who attended the University of Kentucky. This specific adventure opened our eyes to a totally different level of appreciation of the outdoors (even though we were inside of a giant cave)! Our visit to Mammoth Cave National Park was unbelievable! Our boys were 11 and 9 years old at the time and most of our trips involved visiting amusement/water parks up to that point. After our Mammoth Cave visit, it left us wanting to see more of our country’s National Parks. So we did! For just $80 you can buy the America the Beautiful National Parks Pass… and with that you have unlimited access to any of our National Parks for a year! Now, when you realize that the typical cost to visit one National Park is $30 per vehicle, it pays for itself by just visiting 3 parks in that year. In the 10 years since we began purchasing the pass, we have visited 26 out of our 63 National Parks! Each park is distinctly different and offers a cost-effective way to see some of the most breathtaking sites not just in our country, but in the entire world! From the Grand Canyon, to The Narrows (Zion National Park), to The Hoodoo’s (Bryce Canyon), our National Parks are otherworldly escapes that cost a fraction of what any theme park would set you back!
Quest for 50 states 