Travel Tips

Our family has been able to travel extensively during spring, summer, and winter break using these ideas.

Affordability

The number one biggest tip to be able to travel with a family is to NOT choose a place for a vacation as the main factor. Do not say, “This summer, we will go to Hawaii.” Instead, choose time as the main factor.

What I mean is look at the time you can travel with your family, either during spring break, early summer, late summer, or post-Christmas, and then look at airfares around the world for that time period using Google flights explore feature, one of the best airline price search engines. The best part of this search engine is the Explore feature, where you can choose a time period and a starting airport, and it will give you flight prices worldwide.

I use this as a first pass at where we can go during the time we have. This provides us with places where it is affordable for a family of four to travel to.

If we had our hearts set on Hawaii during August, the prices might be high, but during the same time period, going to Puerto Rico maybe half the cost. Puerto Rico still has the sun, beach, and tropical drinks vibe but at half the cost.


Years ago, our family did just that. We saw the high airfares to Hawaii and found a really great airfare to Puerto Rico and had one of our best vacations at a great resort, did snorkeling, visited caves and a radio telescope, and ate amazing food. It was actually better than Hawaii because we could afford to live the high life on a normal budget with better food and exciting things to see. And all still in the U.S.

Next, I check the hotel and Airbnb costs at the locations I’m considering to see if they are affordable. I have seen great airfares to Hawaii but extremely high hotel prices. This is a no-go for our family. Some locations may be on the shoulder season, the travel season between when there is a lot of tourists and when there are no tourists or even low season when most of the tourists go away because of the weather or it is not a school vacation time.

NOT being set on a location for a specific time period or trip can save you thousands.

Flexibility

Creating this flexibility requires the whole family to believe in this type of travel. No set destination, but seeing where the lowest airfares can take you.

One way to get the family on board is to have each of the family members list off 10 places they want to go in the world. Then review each list and see where there are commonalities. These are the list where you will be looking at on Google Flights for your vacation time periods.

Tell them you may not visit Paris this summer, but we will go eventually. This flexibility allows your family to do your bucket list and not spend a fortune nor have to “save up” a lot for that once-in-a-lifetime trip. Would you rather have multiple trips in a lifetime?

And be ready to look at locations that you never heard of or are not on anyone’s list. You would be surprised how wonderful the place is or how your children will enjoy the experience.

We once found an amazing “mistake fare” to Santiago, Chile during our spring break. Fares from San Franciso to Santiago, Chile run about $1200 or more for that time period, but we snagged the airfare with a carry-on, one checked bag, and seat selection for $277 round trip!!!. We actually could of spent $177 for no seat selection, carry-on or checked back, but we were able to splurge due to this low low fare. Was Chile on anyone’s list? Nope.

We had the most amazing time in Chile and loved the country and the people. Spring for us in North America was Fall to them in Chile, so it was shoulder season. The Airbnb prices were low, and there were not very many travelers so eating a great restaurants and going to visit places was a breeze, no lines or waiting.

We were looking to go to New York or Washington D.C. during that spring break, but the fares were $600+/per person. Be open to new places as you search for vacation locations.

Another tip, look at the Google airfare pricing tool to see if the airfare you are looking at is low, average, or high.

This type of travel and vacation flexibility allows your family to see more places in the world and show your children how you can travel the world on a fixed budget without giving up any of your luxuries.

Places to stay

I’m a big proponent of Airbnb and VBRO for families because you can have your own place, more room for the kids to run around, and maybe a private or shared pool and a kitchen.

For us a kitchen is key. We can buy some local breakfast food and maybe lunch food from the local store and then have breakfast at the Airbnb without spending much and wasting time going to a restaurant. We also have a refrigerator, microwave, and coffee maker, normally at Airbnb Superhost places, so we can have multiple cups of coffee, and the kids can eat and watch foreign TV until the adults are ready.

This arrangement allows us to leave our Airbnb earlier to see the sights and maybe allows us to pack a picnic lunch for the day, another way to not waste time at a restaurant. And for those late-night munchies or water runs, we have food and drinks in the fridge.

For our family, Airbnbs or VBROs are the way to go. We used Airbnbs to travel throughout France and Italy, staying 2-3 days in Paris, Verona, Cinque Terra, Florance, and Rome. All the places were in-town and close to everything, except for a beautiful mountain condo overlooking the sea in Cinque Terra with a pool!!

Recommended Travel Sites

  • Google flights
  • Going (This is where we found that Chile mistake fare)
  • Airbnb (Always choose Superhosts)
  • Costco Travel (Great deals on packages and especially rental cars)
  • Tripadvisor (Good for recommended restaurants around the world)
  • Yelp (Good mostly for US restaurants and some cities around the world)