I grew up in a family of modest means and our annual vacation was a car trip to the same beach destination for 2 weeks. We rented a cottage and cooked a lot of meals at home. I have great memories from doing this. I think without much budget, I would focus on family traditions. We did occasional one-time trips but not much. We went to NYC as kids. Florida once. That kind of thing.

As an adult with my own family, we have the budget for it and we travel often and always go somewhere different and travel internationally at least 1x per year. We do a bigger trip for every major school break (winter, spring break, summer) and do some weekend trips throughout the year two. We prioritize travel.

I don't think there is any right or wrong. A nice family with a good dynamic will have fun doing anything. Just like a dysfunctional family with money will be miserable at the nicest vacation ever.

We travel quite a bit, as we own properties in a couple of countries. Children were in boarding school in another country so would visit them as well. It's a fair combo of domestic/international for us, and most of the time we are traveling 30-some weeks of the year. We do tend to spend more like 6 months in one location and then more or less time in others. Children are older and they meet up with us when they feel like it.

Depending on what you like to do, but trips to Kings Dominion, Hershey Park and Bush Gardens can be done on a budget. Beach trips, if you stay off the ocean.

We our kids were little, we did a lot more local and/or affordable travel. A week in Williamsburg and Gatlinburg. A road trip to Boston. A week in West Virginia. A weekend in Shenandoah, a weekend in Harpers Ferry. Long weekends in Chincoteague and Rehoboth Beach (in the winter months) were very affordable and still fun. We did a week in Vermont. All driving distance.

We also visit family and do "touristy things" when visiting so it feels more like a vacation.

DH and I made a pact that we would travel every 5 year anniversary. We went to NYC for year 5, but year 10 and 15 we were able to go to Europe. Making it an every 5 year thing allowed us time to save up and hunt for deals. Being open to different locations, traveling during the shoulder season, and not chasing the popular spots helped make these trips more affordable.

Finally, we sometimes travel together on work trips. One parent is working, but might be able to meet up for some parts or one extra day of travel. Their work pays for the hotel and one persons flight, so costs for the family are greatly reduced. We took the kids to San Diego like this- only paying for 3 flights and 1 night of hotel.

No need for plane tickets saves a lot of money. One year when we wanted to keep the budget low DH and I just did a long weekend to Cape May. We loved it.

Did a similar weekend in Solomon's Island, which is super close.

I traveled and lived internationally extensively in my 20s/early 30s before kids. We haven’t yet done an international trip with them (save Canada and may do Mexico soon) because there is so much to see in this country. And I don’t feel like dealing with long plane trips + jet lag with little ones. More power to those who want to but I will wait until they’re older.

Easy-ish and cheap-ish trips from the DMV include the Delaware beaches, Annapolis, Chesapeake Bay, Baltimore, Cape May, Philadelphia, the NC beaches (the Outer Banks is a favorite and a common repeat for us), New York, the Adirondacks (Lakes Placid and Saranac), the Hudson River Valley, Vermont, Maine, and Montreal. Also very easy is anywhere around the Shenandoah. (By “easy” I mean can be reached by car within a few hours to half a day. Flights can be quicker but also add a ton of money.)

Not flying saves money with a family but often you can find cheap flight deals. LA is often $300 roundtrip for example— and Iceland is sometimes similar.

Used to go abroad twice a year, for weeks. Then, had kids. Traveled overnight in neighboring states, no more than 2-3 nights.
Then, divorce. I’d travel with kids for one night trips, as it was all I could afford.
I look forward to taking my kids abroad someday when my finances improve.

I travelled internationally cheaply as a young person with no parental help. It was not hard but travel back then was a lot cheaper amd when you are just responsible for yourself you can make anything work.

With kids now we’ve traveled a lot in and out of the US but my favorite trips were hands down the US ones, and they can be done cheaply if you camp. We have done this all over the western us. State parks and BLM campgrounds are cheap and always available.

Anonymous wrote:We have always had a limited travel budget so I have mostly settled for our annual beach vacation. The exception is that we did Canada twice - kids were elementary age the first time and MS/HS the second. It was very affordable and fun. Our first trip was to Niagara Falls and Toronto and our later trip was to Montreal and Quebec City. We didn’t feel like we skimped at all. When my kids were younger, we did lots of day trips and single overnights to see destinations within a few hours of DC. There’s no shortage of places to go! We did Lancaster, Philadelphia, NYC, Williamsburg, etc. We did also take our kids to Disney World twice but on a budget. We saved a lot staying outside the park and just doing limited park passes. The hotel had a nice pool with slides which was fun and there are lots of areas of Disney you can explore for free.

+1 to all of these locations - I think we visited all while my kids were younger. It sounds like you are equating international to Europe? Bc Canada and Caribbean countries are also international, and often no more expensive than domestic travel. Keep in mind that all of Europe is roughly the size of the U.S., so you traveling around the U.S. would translate to Europeans traveling to several different countries.

And growing up, MC and even UMC families did not take regular international trips. It's a new thing as flight pricing came down.

We have always had a limited travel budget so I have mostly settled for our annual beach vacation. The exception is that we did Canada twice - kids were elementary age the first time and MS/HS the second. It was very affordable and fun. Our first trip was to Niagara Falls and Toronto and our later trip was to Montreal and Quebec City. We didn’t feel like we skimped at all. When my kids were younger, we did lots of day trips and single overnights to see destinations within a few hours of DC. There’s no shortage of places to go! We did Lancaster, Philadelphia, NYC, Williamsburg, etc. We did also take our kids to Disney World twice but on a budget. We saved a lot staying outside the park and just doing limited park passes. The hotel had a nice pool with slides which was fun and there are lots of areas of Disney you can explore for free.

My grandparents did National Geographic.

I would definitely look for trips in your budget. I mean you can do anything from day trips in the area (lots of places in Maryland and Virginia to explore) to camping (don’t overspend on gear) to visiting family.

Baltimore is a great city to visit and it’s only an hour away. Kent island is only an hour away. Shenandoah is 2 hours away. Philadelphia is 2 hours away. Etc etc

That depends. Where have you been previously OP and how many times?

2 questions

1. What did you do when you couldn't afford international travel? Just stay at home or travel more locally/domestic?

2. How often are you traveling (if you have kids)?