When you don’t travel a lot, how you do decide?

[Anonymous]

We don’t have the same travel budget as a lot of people here in dcum. And neither dh nor I work jobs that have us travel that would get us miles/hotel points. We go to the beach once a year with in laws and sometimes do another trip over spring break, but nothing lavish (ie Williamsburg, Va—not France).

We want to do more, but we get frozen with indecision. But we have two teens who will not have spring breaks that align for much longer.

If you’re on a budget, but want to travel—How do you decide where to go and how much to spend?

Any recommendations for this spring break with two teens?

[Anonymous]

For me first question is do I want to fly. I hate flying these days (for many reasons already covered on this forum!)

[Anonymous]

We prioritize travel by watching every penny and not spending frivolously. That helps.

We put all expenses on a CC that gives us points. It helps.

We search for cheap package deals. They are out there—even cheap flights/hotel packages to Europe. Search the airlines for vacation packages and google cheap vacation packages.

Food and activities on the ground can break a budget, but there are ways to keep costs low.

Drive to FL. Or SC. Or Canada.

Montreal and Old Quebec are fun.

[Anonymous]

I keep a running list of places I want to go, so if I think of something, or things come up in discussion with the kids, I add it to my list. It can be broad (like a country) or a specific hotel or activity that I read about. I crosswalk that with what I know about my kids--ie, one is a picky eater, one hates long hikes, one just wants to chill on the beach, etc so I can find things that will have something for everyone.

I plan as early as possible. As soon as the school calendar is approved I map out when we have extended weekends or other travel opportunities that aren't peak of peak. I keep Spring Break for visiting family (driving distance) because it's too expensive and crowded for me to deal with more exciting travel. I spend a good amount of time maximizing travel choices--but think carefully about the tradeoff between cost and convenience/time. So, for example, I will pay more for direct flights and I won't do red eyes; but I will spend a lot of time scouring flight options to find cheaper options. Same with lodging--and we often find airbnb or vrbo to be a better option (and can save on food, I actually like having some meals at home because a week of eating out makes me feel gross).

I have a "vacation" sub account on my high yield savings account. All my random "extra" money goes in there (tax refund, rebates, interest on savings accounts, credit card cash back, etc). I use that for guilt free vacation spending because it's completely outside of my regular budget. It adds up quicker than you'd think!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I keep a running list of places I want to go, so if I think of something, or things come up in discussion with the kids, I add it to my list. It can be broad (like a country) or a specific hotel or activity that I read about. I crosswalk that with what I know about my kids--ie, one is a picky eater, one hates long hikes, one just wants to chill on the beach, etc so I can find things that will have something for everyone.

I plan as early as possible. As soon as the school calendar is approved I map out when we have extended weekends or other travel opportunities that aren't peak of peak. I keep Spring Break for visiting family (driving distance) because it's too expensive and crowded for me to deal with more exciting travel. I spend a good amount of time maximizing travel choices--but think carefully about the tradeoff between cost and convenience/time. So, for example, I will pay more for direct flights and I won't do red eyes; but I will spend a lot of time scouring flight options to find cheaper options. Same with lodging--and we often find airbnb or vrbo to be a better option (and can save on food, I actually like having some meals at home because a week of eating out makes me feel gross).

I have a "vacation" sub account on my high yield savings account. All my random "extra" money goes in there (tax refund, rebates, interest on savings accounts, credit card cash back, etc). I use that for guilt free vacation spending because it's completely outside of my regular budget. It adds up quicker than you'd think!

Oh--and one thing with planning early, I go back and check on my reservations periodically to make sure they're still the cheapest option. We had a reservation in Palm Springs last year, and they started renovating the lobby after I initially booked and reduced their rates. I was able to cancel and rebook and save $100 a night.

[Anonymous]

I would stick with driving vacations since flight prices are usually very high over spring break. Three cheap vacations that our teens really enjoyed:
- Drive to Shenandoah and rent a cabin/house through shenrent.com or VRBO. (Make sure your cabin has a firepit for hot dogs and s'mores! A hot tub too!) Do lots of hiking, go see the caverns and do the maze/ropes, go to the car museum, try out the mountain ziplines, rent paddleboards and do a one-way trek down the river, etc
- Drive down to Sevierville/Gatlinburg area of TN. Do lots of hiking, go white water rafting, go to the Titanic Museum, watch a magic show and a comedy show, go to WonderWorks and the wax museum, go zorbing and mini-golfing, ride the mountain coasters, do all of the other fun stupid things in Pigeon Forge
- Drive up to Philly. Rent a cheap Sonder in the middle of downtown. Rent bikes from Fairmount Bikes for your entire stay and go all over the city. Museums, zoo, Schuylkill River trail, Magic Gardens, Chinatown, comedy/music shows, city hall, the terminal market. It is a very bike-friendly downtown. We stored our bikes in our 2-bedroom Sonder rental and just took them up and down the elevator as needed. (We stayed in Sonder the Heid and felt that it was in a perfect location for us. There is an $11 per day parking garage down the street, and we just left our car parked there for the entire 6 days we visited.)

[Anonymous]

You actually have a ton of perimeters in place to narrow this down quickly. You only have a couple trips before they go to college so top 2-3 places you want to see. Spring break is around April so the weather makes a difference. And only a week so distance and ease of getting there makes a difference. Most locations can be done on a range of budgets. For you I’d think a US trip like NYC or Sedona. Outside of US maybe Costa Rica or fill in the blank with whatever European city you’d most like (Rome? London?). I’d do 1 domestic and 1 international. Just pick your bucket list locations and start planning.

[Anonymous]

I know tons of families that basically opted to minimize spending on birthdays and Christmas so they can travel with their teens. I see FB pics of them in Europe over Christmas and the Caribbean in the spring.

[Anonymous]

I know people that spend $3-4k on a week at the beach and that is money that could easily be spent to go to a more interesting place. If you are the one paying for the week at the beach, I'd rethink it.

[Anonymous]

We alternate years for "real" vacations. Off years we spend a week with family in another city, so we don't spend much and then on the "on" years we can afford a nicer trip. We only have one kid, so choosing the location has been easier. The three of us sit down as a family and make suggestions and then talk through what to choose. Frankly, our DC's vote counts the most, because we also want vacations to be fun for them. A cranky kid is not great for a vacation, plus we know DC will get more out of the cultural aspects of the trip if in a location of interest.

[Anonymous]

Make a list of all of the places you realistically can go. Then either rank or start going down the list. Also agree on the CC. Get a travel card and put everything on it.

[Anonymous]

We travel because we have friends and relatives in FL and EU. While in Florida, we used to go to Disney for the kids and Key West for me.
In EU we just visit relatives on pick 1-2 countries to visit if we have time or there's a layover.
I'm actually lucky because my big family takes my kids traveling. River cruises may be next during 2025 Christmas season.
I want to stay at home.
As for you, pick an EU city, find a cheap flight, and have a 4-5 day quick trip.

[Anonymous]

Do you have a deep desire to travel?

It’s hard to be motivated to save, plan, etc when it’s just something you think you should do because others do it.

[Anonymous]

If you haven't taken them to NYC, that's a good Spring Break trip too. Hotels will be expensive, but you can take the train up and there are lots of free things to do. If you do Monday through Friday you'll avoid the highest hotel rates. If you book now, you can get train tickets for under $100pp (depends on the times you choose, and students get a discount). Central Park, Statue of Liberty, 9/11 Memorial, Highline, Rockefeller Center, 5th Avenue stores, St Patrick's, Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square, Roosevelt Island, Chelsea Market, just wandering different neighborhoods--all things you can do for free.

[Anonymous]

London. Nonstop easy flight. (Pay extra for exit row seats). Do Airbnb in Kensington or Notting hill or anywhere in city center near a tube station really. See a show n west end (much cheaper than Broadway). Take boat to Tower, watch changing of guard at buckingham palace, feed ducks in Hyde park, visit British museum.