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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just ran an income calculator and my income still falls within the middle class in my area, though a little more upper middle than lower middle with 127k for a family of 4 (not dc area).

I travel to lots of places as I've shared and they aren't luxurious at all but we find moments that feel luxurious and special to US. It often involves a very simple, outdated airbnb that has a nice VIEW that i've booked 6+ months in advance with the kids in a little loft with a little room for us.

Scott's cheap flights is awesome to follow, booking.com, airbnb, getting a travel credit card such as a chase sapphire preferred card (I have put my childcare, gas & groceries on it and earned tons of points!!) and then becoming very familiar with camping and camping gear! I'm not doing ultra low-budget this year, it's more mid-range so I'm happy to share if those want it but I will hold off for now.

I'm not sure this will be helpful for this summer but here my favorite ULTRA LOW budget vacations which are all camping or camping cabins.

1) Maine. Skip Portland (super expensive) but drive up to Mount Desert Island and either tent camp or rent a little camping cottage for about $700 a week at Bass Harbor Campground. Has a pool, next to the beautiful lighthouse with INCREDIBLE sunsets and near a few great/cheap places to eat/enjoy the sunset uncrowded. You can buy fresh lobster $5/lb on a good year and $8/lb last year...mac n'cheese/hotdogs for kids. Hiking and beaches are free with the national park pass and it truly is beautiful!! Gas is way up this year but I think we did this for about $1,300 one year??

2) Adirondacks: tent camp or rent a cottage. There are lots of little cottages within walking distance of awesome lake beaches and terrific hiking. I've seen some older cottages for like $600-$800 a week (tiny but workable!!)

3) Visit Quebec and get a lower cost airbnb or hotel in the old city for maybe 2-3 nights (this is your splurge) and then either tent camp or rent a little cabin in the provincial parks---they look BEAUTIFUL, clean, and modern and are very cheap. Absolutely beautiful area and you can grab some delicious treats. Depending on the season, I've found better lodging that is CHEAPER than staying at relatively nearby lake placid. summer probably isn't as bad.

4) Week at a VA or WV state park. Some of the cabins are outdated but pleasant. Douthat state park is one of my favorites in VA, Black water falls state park in WV is great (also just rent a cottage in the canaan valley, preferably with a pool). First Landing state park (VA beach) is also awesome but is extremely popular so you really have to book ahead even for tent sites!! I'm saying 6 months ahead or more! There's also a few state park beaches delaware and MD that I've not been to but I don't think they have cabins and you must reserve ahead of time.

5)Camping road-trip: this is pricier with gas right now but doing some dispersed camping and visiting national parks out west...driving out there. It also requires significant planning.

Can you post links for those rural sites in Quebec?

And any links to the Adirondack cottages please! I always wanted to do that but don't know the first thing about where to stay.

With this, I actually just did a google search. I stayed a little "lodge" at Lake George, NY one year that was cheesy but fine. I would check out Lake George (village will be cheesy but lots of cheaper options) or just google cabins or camping lake george. I stayed at Roger's rock campground once and had high hopes but hated it.....it was gross and people were incredibly disrespectful....more so than other campgrounds.

Where I always stay personally is a YMCA family camp: Silver bay YMCA. You can reserve a room with which includes all your activities AND food for 2 people and is a great deal!!! I think it was around $60 a night per person for a 2-person room. With my family of 4, they don't have rooms like that to fit us so we stay in a cabin. Birch or Butternut cottage are these tiny cottages with fairly narrow but long covered porches. They have a single bedroom and then a living room that can be closed off to be a 2nd bedroom and a little kitchen....picnic table out front and grill. ALLL activities included and kids day-camp available. Price has gone up for camp in recent years so this year 3 hours in the morning (on campus!) is $122 a kid....the break is worth it and they have a great time.

Birch and butternut cost $1546 a week this year.

They also have some unique programs available to families: Vacations made possible where a family can be nominated for a free week who are experiencing tremendous stress and need R&R, cancer respite, military families, and a pastoral respite program. In the height of the pandemic, they offered free weeks for healthcare workers too.

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much! Silver Bay YMCA is on my short list for affordable vacations. I truly appreciate all the tips on here.

[Anonymous]

My husband grew up in a military family and his father was enlisted. They didn’t have a lot of money but took advantage of where they were stationed. Northern, CA (drove to Disneyland, Sea World, San Francisco, national parks). They drove from the west to east coast and hit a lot landmarks (Grand Canyon, etc.). Otherwise vacations were visiting relatives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband grew up in a military family and his father was enlisted. They didn’t have a lot of money but took advantage of where they were stationed. Northern, CA (drove to Disneyland, Sea World, San Francisco, national parks). They drove from the west to east coast and hit a lot landmarks (Grand Canyon, etc.). Otherwise vacations were visiting relatives.

I think vacations back in the day were mostly driving ones. Not sure where the middle class vacations now. And I think air travel had its hay day of cheap fares and soon it will be out of reach for a lot of people again.

[Anonymous]

No vacations OP. Drove to a lake for a day with 8 kids + 2 parents. Brought a frugal picnic lunch from home.

[Anonymous]

Can I ask how much for hotel room would be considered too expensive for most MC families posting here? I’m trying to assess where we fall — LMC, get hotel for $125 about 30 minute drive from beach in NE

[Anonymous]

Driving + camping or a cheap motel. Every 2-3 years we would fly somewhere and stay with family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Especially in this area. And I mean middle class not UMC. Not “I make 200k plus but I feel middle class.” Even some of the beaches DCUM sneers at can be pricey. Are people going into debt to afford it?

We are the "I make 200K plus but feel middle class group" - we visit family for a week + over the summer for our vacation. I know it feels like everyone heads to the beach - not true.

Us too. We do a week at my parents’ vacation home in the Adirondacks. It overlaps with our anniversary so we usually take advantage of free babysitting and go out somewhere fun. This year we’re doing four days in Maine, another year we did Vermont.

[Anonymous]

We don’t.

Sometimes we go to the beach on off season for an overnight. We’re hoping to car camp when we can get a tent/supplies. One of us has no income when the take leave, the other doesn’t feel safe taking pto jic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks so much! Silver Bay YMCA is on my short list for affordable vacations. I truly appreciate all the tips on here.

Deer Valley YMCA Family Camp in Pennsylvania as wonderful as well. We went for years when our kids were young and it was magical. So much fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They don’t.

- kid who grew up lmc

Yeah we took very few vacations over childhood - like 2 that I can remember. We sometimes visited family. We were middle class - but parents grew up poor.

[Anonymous]

We used to go to Seashore State park in Virginia Beach and rent a cabin. You had to bring everything (towels, sheets, a tv, etc) but could walk to the bay. I never knew it was a lower MC vacation but that’s what my parents could afford.

[Anonymous]

We are make $200k+but feel MC people and we send our kids to overnight camp that is $10k+. This is why we don't take fancy vacations. We're going to the beach for a few days and that's about it. As a kid, we would go to nyc to visit family. that was basically our vacation. my parents never took us anywhere beyond that even though we probably could have afforded it.

[Anonymous]

We do driving trips to camp or stay with friends/family. It's easy to find a middle-of-nowhere state park in Pennsylvania.

[Anonymous]

Lots of DH's family took 1 week of vacationon ... did they have more vacation? If they had 2 weeks/a year I never heard about it. One week, several generations stuffed into a beach house in NC. Whatever they could afford. Not picky.