HIDDEN TRAVEL VALUES THAT ARE UNDER YOUR NOSE

By Eileen Ogintz, family travel expert and author of the syndicated column “Taking the Kids”

       The secrets to travel savings aren’t as hard to find as you think, you just need to know where to look.  Little things really add up.  Consider opting for a big city getaway on the weekends when business travelers are gone, or a resort during the week.  Choose places that might be considered off-season in summer—Florida, for example, or Arizona.  You won’t mind the heat if you can take a dip in the pool or the beach.

    Obviously you are going to save big bucks if you opt for a vacation rental rather than a hotel room.  You can get an entire house—often with all the bells and whistles—for less than the cost of a single hotel room.  In many vacation rental homes you can bring your pet, which will save big bucks in boarding your four-legged family member.

    And that brings me to the real hidden travel value you might not consider.  You have opportunities in a vacation home to create those all-important memories that you won’t in a hotel—celebrating the first meal the kids cook for you, spending hours around the breakfast table catching up with friends who live across the country, talking with friends late into the night after the kids are asleep.  You can’t do that when you’re staying in a hotel.

    Sure, we could do some of that at home, but the key difference is location.  When you’re in a different locale and a different house, you are away from the stress and strains of everyday life. You won’t feel compelled to throw in a load of laundry, go out and pull weeds in the garden, fix a leaky faucet or (hopefully) answer work emails.  The kids won’t be out with their friends, at practice or on the computer.

    You can focus on what’s most important—your family.  All the better if you’re sharing digs with the cousins, siblings, and grandparents you don’t see that often.  The beauty is to build vacation memories—and they are the ones we all remember the most—you don’t have to spend a lot of money either.  The kids will remember the pancakes that spell out their names or the funny vacation movie you make. We all still laugh when we watch the “Life with Melanie” vacation movie we made in France when my daughter Mel—who is now graduating from high school—was five.
When you are away from home, you’ve got time for things you don’t on a typical weekend at home—watching your  kindergartner’s favorite cartoon, listening to your tween’s favorite band, taking a long walk on the beach with your teen, snapping photos of your  parents with your children.

    Sure, money is tight. But don’t give up on a summer vacation. The time together and the memories you make are far too important.

 Copyright Eileen Ogintz.  For more takingthekids visit www.takingthekids.com