Where do lower to middle class families go on vacation for the summer?

[Anonymous]

Every lower middle class and middle class family I know and knew growing up uses their tax refund money to go to Disney. Also knew several families on welfare who went to Disney every time they got any kind of money whatsoever. Granted they were/are not staying in the resorts and are often staying 15-20 minutes off property in crap hotels/motels but they were still going to Disney. And they never flew there.

[Anonymous]

Our middle class friends go camping, visit family, visit friends and do staycations. They may rent a condo in a place like OC for a weekend.

I was LMC growing up. I went to VBS and the field trip the church took us on. Also went to maybe the poconos for a church retreat. We went to Disney once (drove) and went to magic kingdom only. We recently took my parents with grandchildren and my mom recalled how it was hard for them to pay the 1 day admission.

Good thing about growing up poor is you don’t really know any better.

[Anonymous]

I go into debt, but that's because I have to. My whole family lives abroad, and I need my children to develop relationships with them. The good news is, I just worry about the tickets, we stay with my parents and they cover literally everything else. On the years I cannot afford to put the tickets on a CC, we don't go anywhere. It sucks, but it is what it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our middle class friends go camping, visit family, visit friends and do staycations. They may rent a condo in a place like OC for a weekend.

I was LMC growing up. I went to VBS and the field trip the church took us on. Also went to maybe the poconos for a church retreat. We went to Disney once (drove) and went to magic kingdom only. We recently took my parents with grandchildren and my mom recalled how it was hard for them to pay the 1 day admission.

Good thing about growing up poor is you don’t really know any better.

After a certain age, I think kids know especially with social media.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up believing that we traveled a lot. I didn't realize there were bigger and longer trips to take, and I loved our little trips. We were in NY, and they were all road trips for 3-4 days, staying in motels with a pool and bringing most of our food in a cooler. Boston, Mystic CT, DC, Philly, Lancaster, Poconos, Upstate NY lakes...

We bought 25 cent postcards for souvenirs, ate at places like Denny's, and used whatever coupons and teachers discounts we're available.

This was my childhood summer too! Always drove to local places -- the Poconos, Niagara Falls -- and stayed at motels along the way, where my sister and I enjoyed the simple pleasure of getting a vending machine soda over ice from the ice machine. I still fondly remember the motel pool lifeguard who taught 8-year old me how to do a backwards dive off the diving board! I kind of miss the creativity we had in finding the joy in little adventures.

We're looking at a European vacation this summer, but after reading these posts I want to take my kids by car to Niagara Falls!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up believing that we traveled a lot. I didn't realize there were bigger and longer trips to take, and I loved our little trips. We were in NY, and they were all road trips for 3-4 days, staying in motels with a pool and bringing most of our food in a cooler. Boston, Mystic CT, DC, Philly, Lancaster, Poconos, Upstate NY lakes...

We bought 25 cent postcards for souvenirs, ate at places like Denny's, and used whatever coupons and teachers discounts we're available.

This was my childhood summer too! Always drove to local places -- the Poconos, Niagara Falls -- and stayed at motels along the way, where my sister and I enjoyed the simple pleasure of getting a vending machine soda over ice from the ice machine. I still fondly remember the motel pool lifeguard who taught 8-year old me how to do a backwards dive off the diving board! I kind of miss the creativity we had in finding the joy in little adventures.

We're looking at a European vacation this summer, but after reading these posts I want to take my kids by car to Niagara Falls!

Amen. Well said.

[Anonymous]

Poconos

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up believing that we traveled a lot. I didn't realize there were bigger and longer trips to take, and I loved our little trips. We were in NY, and they were all road trips for 3-4 days, staying in motels with a pool and bringing most of our food in a cooler. Boston, Mystic CT, DC, Philly, Lancaster, Poconos, Upstate NY lakes...

We bought 25 cent postcards for souvenirs, ate at places like Denny's, and used whatever coupons and teachers discounts we're available.

This was my childhood summer too! Always drove to local places -- the Poconos, Niagara Falls -- and stayed at motels along the way, where my sister and I enjoyed the simple pleasure of getting a vending machine soda over ice from the ice machine. I still fondly remember the motel pool lifeguard who taught 8-year old me how to do a backwards dive off the diving board! I kind of miss the creativity we had in finding the joy in little adventures.

We're looking at a European vacation this summer, but after reading these posts I want to take my kids by car to Niagara Falls!

I love this post PP and other PP!

We had the same vacations growing up but always had fun!

[Anonymous]

Driving vacations where we could camp or stay with relatives. I do remember one trip to Virginia Beach where we got to stay in a motel AND eat out at a sit-down restaurant. Good times.

[Anonymous]

The thing about Europe is, if you know how to travel, you can do it fairly inexpensively. We go to Germany every year. We rent a house, or part of one, in the areas we are going to. We eat lunch out, and usually go to the bakery for breakfast (coffee and a pretzel)l and get light stuff from the bakery, butcher, and grocer for dinner that we can eat at the house. Depending on where you are, you can drive and take mass transit into places like Strasbourg, Paris, Austria, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up believing that we traveled a lot. I didn't realize there were bigger and longer trips to take, and I loved our little trips. We were in NY, and they were all road trips for 3-4 days, staying in motels with a pool and bringing most of our food in a cooler. Boston, Mystic CT, DC, Philly, Lancaster, Poconos, Upstate NY lakes...

We bought 25 cent postcards for souvenirs, ate at places like Denny's, and used whatever coupons and teachers discounts we're available.

This was my childhood summer too! Always drove to local places -- the Poconos, Niagara Falls -- and stayed at motels along the way, where my sister and I enjoyed the simple pleasure of getting a vending machine soda over ice from the ice machine. I still fondly remember the motel pool lifeguard who taught 8-year old me how to do a backwards dive off the diving board! I kind of miss the creativity we had in finding the joy in little adventures.

We're looking at a European vacation this summer, but after reading these posts I want to take my kids by car to Niagara Falls!

This is how I grew up. We couldn't go somewhere every year, but on the years we did, we loved these trips!

[Anonymous]

I know some middle to not quite lower income people who get season passes to Six Flags, go during the week regularly and then go up to NJ for a couple of days and do the park up there. And they combine it with a trip to one of the Jersey beaches by staying maybe 20 minutes or so away or maybe they stay closer to the beach in a rundown rental. The 6 flags part is cheap because it comes with free parking and a dining plan. And the beach part, if planned during the week can be done inexpensively.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The thing about Europe is, if you know how to travel, you can do it fairly inexpensively. We go to Germany every year. We rent a house, or part of one, in the areas we are going to. We eat lunch out, and usually go to the bakery for breakfast (coffee and a pretzel)l and get light stuff from the bakery, butcher, and grocer for dinner that we can eat at the house. Depending on where you are, you can drive and take mass transit into places like Strasbourg, Paris, Austria, etc.

This is true- smaller towns often have pretty cheap rentals, and are honestly just nicer than most smaller towns in the US. That said, in the summer you are looking at $1,000/person to fly roundtrip to Europe. For a family of say 4, that makes it prohibitive if money is tight.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in Pittsburgh. We had an annual family vacation to OC (paid for by my grandparents). We saved change up for an entire year to go to Sea World (when it was in Ohio). We drove to TN to visit friends twice in my childhood... I think that's about it. I loved my childhood, most of my friends didn't travel much either, so we didn't know any better.

DC has already been to several states and out of the country twice. DH and I always wanted to travel, we didn't before having DC so now we just bring them with us!

[Anonymous]

We stack every possible expense on a chase Sapphire card and it works as a savings account for travel points. Eventually we can either buy the trip outright or only spend minimally out of pocket. Stay somewhere with a kitchenette and that keeps costs down.