Frugal Family Travel Tips

    As someone who has never particularly enjoyed driving (or riding), I’ll admit to experiencing a good bit of trepidation this past summer as our family was initiated into the world of road trips. Thankfully, my fears were completely unfounded. As we journeyed from southeast Washington State to San Diego, California, we had a ton of fun, made some wonderful memories, and kept to a relatively low budget. In fact, we can’t wait to do it again! If you’ve been considering a family road trip, here are some tips to help you along the way.

It’s All in the Timing

While timing may not be everything, it is an enormous factor when making travel plans. Adjusting your schedule to book lodging and entertainment during the off season can easily translate into hundreds of dollars in savings. In our area, you can rent a luxury guesthouse for $115/night in January, but the same home runs $375/night in May! A quick look at the website of your intended destination will let you know when you can plan your visit to best take advantage of lower rates. While you may not want to visit the beach in December, you can usually find some time just before or after the peak season when the weather will still be accommodating.

Off-season travel is well worth considering, even if there are no monetary savings. For example, we took our trip in early May and were able to tour a famous Hollywood studio with literally no waiting in line, and our longest wait at the nearby popular theme park was about thirty minutes. I’m told this is unheard of at other times of the year. So, even though there was no admission discount, we were able to enjoy much more of the park, in a more relaxed atmosphere than we would have otherwise. Fortunately, homeschooling allows us the luxury of adjusting our vacation timing to our best advantage.

Deals and Discounts

If you’ll be visiting a well-known travel destination, a CityPass is a great deal! We purchased a Southern California CityPass that provided us with general admission to Universal® Studios Hollywood, Sea World®, our choice of the San Diego Zoo or San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park®, and a three-day Bonus Ticket to a popular theme park. A CityPass purchased at www.CityPass.com netted a savings of $106 per adult and $87 per child. Better yet, I was able to purchase our CityPasses online at www.Costco.com for even less, saving an additional $32 per adult and $27 per child. CityPasses are available for eleven different destinations and can be viewed at the CityPass website. A CityPass for Seattle, Washington, includes five attractions and is only $44 for adults and $29 for children—well worth the price.

Similar to the CityPass, the Entertainment® book offers discounts and freebies on dining, travel, entertainment, and attractions. Visit www.entertainment.com to find a book for the city you will be visiting. Entertainment® books run $15 to $30 dollars, and you can see exactly what is offered in each book before you buy.

Before setting out on our adventure I joined AAA (www.aaa.com) as a safety precaution. When visiting our local office I was pleasantly surprised to learn that they gladly provide free maps, TourBook Guides, and CampBook Guides. By using my AAA discount when reserving hotel rooms, I more than recouped the cost of membership on this one trip alone. I also used their online TripTik Travel Planner to find attractions of interest along the drive and discovered Lake Shasta Caverns (www.lakeshastacaverns.com), where we spent an enjoyable afternoon exploring the caves.

Where to Stay

As mentioned, AAA can help you save money when looking for hotel rooms, and most people know to check for deals at discount sites like www.priceline.com. Still, there are some additional factors to consider as you book your lodging. If your hotel includes a decent breakfast as part of your stay, it may be worth paying a bit more for the room. The same is true for a pool (if your children will be happy to swim for hours as their evening entertainment). When viewing hotel websites, be sure to look for package deals and specials. On one trip, we were able to get free admission to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) and the Oregon Zoo (www.oregonzoo.org) by staying at a certain hotel. They even let us pick up the passes early so that we could visit OMSI (www.omsi.edu) before coming back to check into our room.

Be flexible with your location, if possible. We were able to stay at a city just outside San Francisco for much less than we would have spent staying in the city. This is often the case with popular destinations.

While we didn’t have room to pack for traditional camping, we stayed three nights at the absolutely gorgeous San Diego Metro KOA® campground (www.koa.com) at a very good rate. We rented a two-room cabin with two sets of bunk beds, a full bed, and a porch complete with swing. Blankets, one pot, and one pan were the extent of our camping gear. The cabin had a heater, electricity, and Wi-Fi and was directly across from the camp kitchen, which was outfitted with sinks, grills, and stoves. A quick run to a nearby grocery store and we were set! Staying here was probably one of the best decisions of the trip. The children played at the playground and pool, we had plenty of space, and we were able to fellowship with two neat homeschooling families.

“Hey Mom, I’m Hungry!”

Food can quickly become one of the larger, often under-anticipated expenses of a road trip. This is an area that you will want to tailor to line up with your family’s priorities. Personally, eating out is something we appreciate and want to enjoy while on vacation. With a bit of forethought and planning, we can still do so and not blow the budget. Our compromise is to skimp on snacks and two meals and then enjoy one nicer meal per day. If we decide we want a “really” nice meal, we may skimp the entire day or two before.

So how do we skimp? First off, I prepare snacks ahead of time by packaging Ziploc bags of granola bars, crackers, chips, trail mix, pretzels, baby carrots, and such to hand out as needed. A case of inexpensive bottled water or refillable water bottles is a must. Breakfast is usually simple, inexpensive, and eaten on the road. A quick stop at the grocery store for some bagels, yogurt, and fruit and you’re set. If you’re staying at a hotel, you can use the coffee pot to heat water for instant oatmeal. While it may not be the healthiest option, we would allow everyone two items from the McDonald’s® dollar menu for lunch. For $10 we could all get full enough to make it through until dinner. Alternatively, you could stop roadside for PB & J sandwiches, hummus and pita bread, or tortilla wraps.

When planning for a nicer meal, you can save significantly by eating your dinner early and ordering off the lunch menu. Consider eating dinner at 4 p.m. and having a snack later in the evening. If you purchased an Entertainment® book, don’t forget to use those coupons! Local Visitor Centers also have coupon booklets for local restaurants and attractions, so check there as well.

Boredom Busters

While my children handled the hours on the road surprisingly well, there were a few things we did to make time pass more enjoyably. Each child had his or her own backpack of books, car games, small toys, and maps that they could use to see where we were en route. I purchased an adapter that converted the cigarette lighter into a regular household plug-in so that the kids could play and charge their video games and I could use my laptop in the van. I pre-filled my iPod® with audio stories from www.StoryNory.com for my youngest, and we all listened and laughed to downloads of Car Talk™. We brought along borrowed audio books from the library and rent-by-mail movies that I could pop in the nearest mailbox to return once we were finished with them. To replace pricey souvenirs, each child kept a brightly colored folder that he or she filled with brochures, ticket stubs, maps, and memorabilia gathered at each stop along the way.

While I peppered the ride down with well-calculated pit stops, we were all so exhausted by the end of our trip that the newly seasoned travelers were happy to drive straight home. Excited about their new memories, sights, and experiences, the kids reminisced as Mom mentally planned the next adventure. When it comes to road trips, I think we’re hooked!

Dena Wood is wife of John, mother of five, co-owner of www.TriggerMemorySystem.com, and Director of Operations for The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine. She works from her home in eastern Washington State, where she enjoys homeschooling and spending time with her three youngest children, who are still in the nest. Email Dena at wood7@charter.net.

Copyright 2009. Originally appeared in The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, Spring 2009.

Used with permission. Visit them at  www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com. For all your homeschool curriculum needs visit the Schoolhouse Store.