My last post was about WHY travel is so important and special. We made it a priority when our kids were young, and we continue to do so, BUT… it’s SO expensive! Here’s how we are able to afford to travel often. (We didn’t get an RV until we retired. When our kids were young, we stayed in hotels. These tips will work for both types of travel.)
- Prioritize travel in your spending. If you make travel a priority, you can choose to save money whenever you can and put it in your travel fund. “Feel like going out to dinner? Let’s cook at home instead and put the money in our travel account.” We try to buy clothes, electronics, and furniture at garage sales, Goodwill, or on Marketplace. We stay away from purchasing things new whenever possible, stay away from Starbucks by making coffee at home, and cook at home a lot — all so we can travel! All of these things save you money that you can then spend on travel. If you want to travel a lot, you can’t be a person who always wants designer purses and new shoes – unless you’re super rich 😆.
2. Think quantity over quality. We love to travel AND love to travel often. We prefer to spend less on hotels, air fare, etc. and travel more often. We try to save as much as we can every time we travel so we can do it more often. This means we don’t stay in the fanciest of hotels, visit the fanciest of places, pay for luggage when we fly, or eat out a lot while we travel – in other words, we don’t go all out on any one trip. We save money whenever we can so we can keep traveling as much as possible. We focus on quantity of travel over the quality. We don’t see travel as a once in awhile treat, but a way of life.
3. Save money on hotels. We use Priceline most – especially their Express Deals. If you don’t have a specific hotel you want, just pick an area and choose a price you like to save money. We use express deals on road trips too. We only stay at hotels that have an 8 out of 10 guest rating or higher but aren’t as concerned about the number of stars (amenities). As I mentioned above, the hotels don’t need to be fancy or ritzy – just clean. Shop around though – check Expedia, Trivago, Trip Advisor, Booking.com, and Airbnb too.
4. Save money on food. We pack lunchmeat, bread, bananas, chips, and cans of pop for road trips. We don’t stop for food if we can avoid it, but make sandwiches as needed. We eat the free breakfasts at hotels and try to use microwaves in hotels to make soups or other quick snacks. If you can get a hotel with a kitchenette – that’s even better. Otherwise, if we want to eat out, we try to eat out for lunch because a lot of restaurants have lunch specials, and then we try to “eat in” or grab something at a grocery store for dinners. Obviously, cooking was much easier on our big RV trip, but you can also save money on food in hotels too.
5. Plan trips around free entertainment. If you go to Disney World, your trip WILL be expensive – there’s no doubt about that, BUT… there are MANY places to visit that are FREE or very low cost to see. If you plan your trips around these places, you will save a LOT of money. Washington, DC; Hocking Hills in Logan, Ohio; all of the US National Parks; beaches, and State Parks are all great places to explore and visit that provide free or low-cost entertainment. Parks also provide nice places to have picnics that also help save money on food.
6. Invest in memberships and season passes. We used to buy Cedar Point Amusement Park passes when the kids were young. For $100 a person, we could go for the day and have MANY mini-vacations all summer long. Besides the rides, there were shows, a petting zoo, and a water park too, so it can be a “new” vacation every time you go. Also, zoo and museum memberships work across the country, so we would use zoos and museums as entertainment wherever we went in the US. They were new places, but no new expense. The reciprocity of memberships varies, so be sure to see which zoos and museums are included in your passes. Sometimes, you only get a 50% discount. It’s a great savings though in touristy areas. For example, in St. Augustine, Florida, they have an amazing Alligator Farm attraction. We were able to buy out tickets at 50% off by using our Toledo, Ohio Zoo membership.
7. Use Goodwill and secondhand stores to buy souvenirs for wherever you visit. It’s easy to Google these locations, and it’s fun to hunt for unique items. Or – skip the souvenirs all together. Since we travel a lot, we have decided souvenirs cost too much, and we only buy things on rare occasions. When our kids were little, we gave them a small purchasing limit, and they had to carefully decide when and how to spend it.
8. Download Apps. Be sure to download gas station apps, grocery store apps, and fast-food apps for whatever businesses are around you on your travels. It helps to research these before you travel as sometimes Wi-Fi is scarce for downloads. You can save a lot of money using these apps for purchases on trips.
9. Look for travel brochures and coupon books. Always gather the literature and booklets at local rest stops, gas stations, and other businesses. The brochures often have coupons and discount codes. If you can’t find any, do a google search for discounts on attractions or restaurants you plan on going to. You’ll also find special discounts at restaurants or attractions for certain days of the week, and you can plan your trip around those deals.
10. Create a detailed budget that includes travel. If you really want to travel a lot, you need to have your household budget in order, and then stick to it. Include travel in your budget. Plan a trip, create a detailed plan of how much it will realistically cost, then see how long it will take you to save that amount. Keep in mind that the money that you usually spend on groceries and gas during a week will be freed up while you’re on vacation, so you can add that in to your vacation fund.
11. Don’t be afraid to do day trips! Travel is travel. You can plan trips that only take a day or even over night. Google search places within a few hours of your house that you can explore. Travel is about being with family and having adventures together. It doesn’t have to be far away. If a big vacation isn’t in the budget right now, find 12 new places to visit and plan a day trip once a month to see them. Your family will always have something to look forward to, and it won’t break the bank. Or string all 12 together for a 2 week trip. Again — see #5 above!
12. Tent camp! Growing up, we always took a 2 week vacation each year to a different region of the country. We only ever stayed in our tent. We even camped in New York City! National parks are only around $26-$37 a night to stay. Be sure to plan well in advance as they fill up fast. Camping can a very inexpensive way to travel!
13. Do your math. Do research. Sometimes it’s actually cheaper to fly than drive depending on the deals. We have flown the family to Florida (on Spirit with no extra luggage) for cheaper than we could drive after the price of a hotel there and back (from Michigan) and gas. Check different dates and times. Try short trips avoiding weekends. Flights are usually cheapest leaving on a Tuesday. Check all your options. The time you spend in this will pay off.
In short, if you want to travel, then make plans, get creative, and make it happen. Start small if you need to. You won’t regret it!😁
Leap of Faith: Our Retirement Adventure 
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