Have you been thinking it
would be nice to treat your
family to a fun and
affordable family vacation?
Question for you. What steps
have you taken to determine
your family's preferences?
Is everyone together on a
destination? Have you set a
budget? What is it that all
family members can be
flexible on? Do you have to
fly... or, can you drive?
Before leaving on any
trip, it's best to sit down
and make notes of the top 5
vacation ideas that might be
suitable for everyone in
your family. Is it going to
be a ski trip, a river
rafting trip, a cruise, a
trip to the Caribbean or
Mexico? Do you want to save
money this coming year and
maybe try camping? Whatever
you decide on, the next step
is to determine what your
budget will be. Once you
have those two steps
completed, you can spend a
little time poking around on
the Internet.
Not many people know
this, but you can save a
significant amount of time
researching affordable
family vacations by using
quotes (" ") in your search.
For instance, if you were
searching for river rafting
vacation... without quotes
you would get around 670,000
pages of information, lots
of them duplicated. On the
other hand, if you were to
type "river rafting
vacation" in quotes, you
would get 9870 relevant
results. In fact, I do
almost all of my Internet
searches using quotes as it
saves a lot of time. Go
ahead and spend an hour or
two looking around on the
Internet. Now discuss what
you find with other family
members and attempt to hone
in on three destinations or,
if everyone is in agreement,
it's time to do some serious
research.
Every family has its own
level of affordability.
Determine if you want to fly
or drive. If your
destination is within 500
hundred miles, it might make
a lot more sense to drive.
But before you plan a trip
in your family vehicle,
consider a rental. It may be
cheaper to rent than put a
thousand hard miles on your
own car. Wear and tear on
your car is something to
keep in mind. Besides,
current model SUV's or vans
offer a lot of creature
comfort and could possibly
add an additional bit of
excitement to your family
vacation pleasure.
Another consideration is
lodging. Have you every
considered a vacation
rental? Affordable vacation
rentals offer several
alternatives to traditional
hotels. If you have a
mid-size family of five, you
can spend a lot of money on
meals. Vacation rentals not
only give you more privacy,
but almost all of them have
kitchens where you can
prepare healthy meals for a
fraction of what it costs to
eat out. Many vacation
rentals have pools or spas
and are located a short
distance from major
attractions. There are
thousands of great rental
properties available for
your next family vacation or
quick getaway. Visit my
travel site, 5 Day Trips.com
for more information on
Vacation Home Rentals
I'm for saving time on
the Internet. In the past
I've spent needless hours
doing research on vacation
planning. One way I've cut
hours off my online research
is using this great link I
found for easy vacation
comparisons. The people at
Vacation Compare can
literally shave hours of
research time and give you
some great options too. It's
a great way to save time and
most importantly, money.
Visit the link in the bio
box for more information
Planning a fun and
affordable vacation is not
easy, but it's completely
fulfilling when you return
and everyone has had a good
time, you didn't stray too
far from your original
budget and you feel good
about getting started on
your next affordable family
vacation. Just remember the
steps outlined above and
prepare for a little
flexibility.