When it comes to understanding the world, nothing beats travel. Parents who take their children to new places do them a fine favor by teaching them about life and other cultures in a way that no textbook ever could. Kids who see the world tend to grow up to be tolerant, interesting people.
Focus on Future Travel
If you make travel your number one priority and practice a few simple saving and spending tips, you can finance a vacation in less time than you think. In fact, you may be able to take a trip as often as you like and afford to take the family along, as well, says Thrifty Nomads magazine.
Stay away from your personal spending danger zones. Don’t stroll through shopping malls and avoid online shopping sites that might encourage you to spend when you really don’t have to. Find free things to do in your spare time. Your local library offers all sorts of family-friendly movies and books that don’t cost a cent yet provide hours of entertainment. When you desire social time, invite friends over or go visit them at their house. Not only are at-home hosted hangouts generally cheaper than a night on the town, they’re a great chance to boost camaraderie amongst neighbors.
Stop Buying Certain Things
Eat at home and walk past coffee shops. Food costs eat a large part of anyone’s budget. Set more money aside for traveling when you buy in bulk and cook at home. Make morning coffee and take it with you in a thermos bottle. Check the discount baskets at your local grocer and don’t be afraid of marked-down meats and fish. You’ll help to reduce food waste while tucking away cash in your family travel fund. When you do purchase the necessities of life, use a cash back credit card that refunds a percentage of what you spend every time you shop.
Take a fresh look at your monthly expenses and cut costs wherever you can. Get rid of Netflix and watch free movies on YouTube, instead. Discontinue magazine and newspaper subscriptions and read publications at the library. Stop paying for gym membership and start taking long walks around the neighborhood. Take a second job and put the whole paycheck into your travel fund. Charge for something you already do, such as dog walking and errand-running. Lease your spare bedroom as an AirBnB and pocket the income to spend traveling with the family.
The Big Picture
If long-term global travel is your intention, you may want to sell off possessions and rent your house to reliable tenants for a year or longer. This method of accruing a sizable amount of cash for long-term travel makes sense for families who value experiences over belongings, says BellyBelly magazine.
Health experts agree that travel offers multiple brain and body benefits. Sharpen your powers of observation and try new foods everywhere you go. Your kids will thank you for the cultural experiences and memories that are sure to last a lifetime.
Bio: Brooke Houghton could be described as a hippy Mom, but in reality she’s just raising her kids to be well-rounded individuals with wide-open minds to a variety of cultures.
great tips for travel, I hope to continue for years. My sister and I meet somewhere 1/2 way between our homes each year. We try to pick out something new
It is true that travel helps to broaden the thinking of kids and I wish I had done more of it when my kids were young. These are good tips and parents should try doing them right away.
I like the advice given because it makes travel something that can be accessible to many families with some thought and planning ahead. Kids really do benefit from seeing different places and cultures.
There are so many places I’d love to see, but it has to be delayed for now. I don’t have kids, so that’s not the issue. I have an elderly, unwell mother & she can’t travel. So…some day, but not now.
I want to do all of the above. Im 62 and wish I had traveled more when I was younger. Its about time I get going. Thanks for the tips.
Thank you for sharing these great travel tips. It is so true that we spend so much on food when we travel we have to try to follow these tips especially on things like coffee.