Last month I had the pleasure and privilege of scoring an early copy of Jennifer Coburn’s new book ‘We’ll Always Have Paris’, and believe me when I say, it did not disappoint! In We’ll Always Have Paris, Jennifer recounts the tales of travelling all over Europe with her young daughter, as well, shares a look back to her own childhood years when her father passed away all too soon. Feeling like time was closing in on her, she decided to spend her daughters adolescence making memories that would last a lifetime, just in case she didn’t have that long. Having a desire for family travel myself, I asked Jennifer to share some tips on you can make it happen on any budget.
Family Travel on a Budget
When I tell people I took my daughter on four summer trips to Europe, some people reply, “Must be nice.” What they’re assuming, of course, is that my family is rich. Nothing could be further from the truth.
When my daughter Katie and I took our first trip overseas, our house was a state of serious disrepair. None of our windows shut properly. The oven in our 1970s kitchen had two settings: hot and off. And the bathroom floor was patched with wooden boards.
Perhaps making overseas travel a priority was irresponsible, but I will always treasure the memories of watching Katie sketch at the Louvre in Paris and explore the Coliseum in Rome. Plus, there are ways to make family travel fit most budgets.
Fly for free – Airline frequent flyer programs are a pain to navigate, but worth the hassle. Katie and I have flown to Europe for free in the height of travel season, but I had to learn a few tricks in order to collect and redeem miles.
First, earn miles by signing up with a credit card that awards points for charges. If you have the discipline to pay off the card in full every month then charge everything! If I bought a banana, it went on my American Express card, which awards 1.2 miles for every dollar I spend.
Join a dining club – or other groups – that award miles. I earn five miles every time I charge a meal at many restaurants, including hamburger joints.
I’ve been able to fund four round-trip tickets to Europe in the summer this way.
Don’t have the patience to read the fine print? Neither did I, so I called the airline in the middle of the night so I could talk to a call center operator who wasn’t rushed. She advised that if I wanted to fly during peak travel season, I should call on the exact day “non-revenue” seats opened up, which was 331 days prior to flight date for American Airlines. She suggested I call at midnight (in her time zone) to ensure another savvy traveler didn’t snatch up the extremely limited frequent flyer seats. The operator also offered this valuable caveat: Be sure you are 100% certain of your travel dates because any changes will cost you.
Put your home to work – You can actually earn money while traveling by renting your vacant home on Air BnB or another vacation rental service. To find lodging, email everyone you know and ask who has friends who will rent their home or rooms. Katie and I spent 10 days in a lovely home near London. A friend’s aunt charged us $20 per night. Friends in southern Italy let us stay with them for free.
You might also house swap through one of many reputable home exchange services.
Enjoy family discounts and “City Passes” – Many countries offer discounts at tourist attractions for children under 16. And most cities offer a cultural pass, which bundles admission to attractions at a discount. I bought a $32 Barcelona arts pass that gave me access to every museum we visited. Katie got in for free almost everywhere we went.
Make a game of budgeting – At the start of our visit to Italy, I explained to Katie that I could afford to travel for a month on a budget, or a week on a shopping bender. Thankfully, she agreed that time was more important than stuff, and we made a game of staying on our daily budget.
For meals, we loaded up on free breakfast, carried snack bars (from Costco back home), and ate at wonderful little delis. It was Italy, though, so every few nights we splurged on great meals.
***
Travel is a luxury because it gives us the time to explore new parts of the world with the people we love most. But that doesn’t mean it has to break the bank. With some advance planning and cost cutting, the trip of a lifetime doesn’t have to put you in debt for the rest of your life.
Jennifer Coburn is the author of “We’ll Always Have Paris: A Mother-Daughter Memoir.” Visit her online at JenniferCoburn.com or on Facebook/JenniferCoburnBooks.
Take a peek at some of the fun they had!
I’d like to visit Switzerland with my family.
would love to travel to Sweden with my family
I would love to go to Australia with my kids.
I would love to go visit Iceland
I’d love to go to New Zealand with my kids.
I’d love to visit Australia!
I’d love to visit Australia with my family.
I would like to see New Zeland
I’d like to visit Hungary.
The Galapagos Islands are on my bucket list for travel with my boy.
Cheers.
I would actually like to travel throughout Canada with our children and grandchildren. There are so many wonderful people and sights in this great country! 🙂
Hello Jennifer! Lovely giveaway! I would choose Zurich, Portugal and Greece. 🙂
I would love to visit Italy with my children.
I’d love to take my son to Australia.
every country, but France would definitely been at the top of the list. I love France!
I’d like to travel in Canada with my family
I would like to travel to Japan with my children.
I would love to take my daughter and Mum to England. My Mum is from England and there are so many relatives that my daughter and I haven’t met before. Thank you for the travel/budget tips…they are great!
The Netherlands!
I am entering your giveaway.
It would be great to win a copy of
We’ll Always Have Paris by Jennifer Coburn.
In response to your question of
What country would you like to visit with your children/parents?
I would like to visit Egypt and Scotland.
Thank you for having this giveaway!!!!!!!!
I can’t wait to visit France with my daughter. She has been in french immersion for about 5 years so far and I’d love to go with her in about 5 years.
My husband and I would love to take our kids back to paris france with us. It’s so family-friendly and beautiful and we fell in love with it so I’m sure our kids will love it too! Another place we’d love to visit together is the beautiful white sand beaches of Boracay in the Philippines. A great way to relax, have fun and introduce our heritage and culture to them.
I would visit Italy. It is a very family oriented country and full of history
I would love to travel to Italy, and New Zealand.
I would love to visit Italy
would love to see Hawaii
I would love to take my kids to several different places. First stop, Walt disney world!
I’d love to do a Mexican Riveria cruise with my grandkids.
Would love to go on an African Safari when the boys are older
Italy
I would love to visit Germany with my children
I’d love to visit Scotland and see where my family came from!
Too many to list! Paris is on my list as is Iceland. There are lots of places In Canada I still want to see too like Vancouver and Halifax.
Love to travel
Our family is planning a hopeful trip to Ireland later this year!!!! To celebrate our 50th ann and me turning….o-l-d-er!!!!
actually always wanted to see Paris
We would love to go to New Zealand! But also France. Also Italy. There are too many to list! LOl!
Our next vacation will be to DisneyWorld although we would love to visit Egypt some day (when it’s safer to visit). My husband’s family is from Egypt.
I’d like to visit Austrailia
I am looking to go to Ireland with my mom.
Cuba- thats where we are from
I want to visit Poland someday.
I would love to do an Alaska cruise with my parents. So much to do/see without having to leave the ship. Shorter day time trips would work well too.
I would love to go to Australia!
I would love to visit Paris of course. I don’t even know of anyone who has been there yet,but I do see movies that are done in Paris and it looks so picture perfect and so elegant and lady like (like me) I would love to be able to have the chance to read and explore this wonderful delightful book and to share with others.
I’d like to go to Wales to research our heritage.
I’d love to go to Finland