Road trips can be oh so fun and often times can save you hundreds of dollars in travel costs. Stay close to home if you need to spend less and venture further if you’ve the space in your finances to be gone longer.
A few small tips that really add up:
Skip the drink orders and have everybody pack and fill a water flask. Buy a few gallons of water at the grocery store and refill from the car (keep one gallon at the foot of a carseat kiddo, and anything else that needs easy access but won’t get in the way of moving feet).
When eating out, consider splitting meals between the group. If you’re road tripping, pull off at rest stops for bathroom breaks and skip gas stations for the time + money suck. When it’s time to fill up the tank, tell your travelers to unbuckle and spend that time tossing trash + tidying up the car. Fill up those water flasks from and away you all go!
National Parks are a great choice for budget travel and give you the option to camp too. But if you can’t find the will to pitch a tent, consider local day trips and pack in that adventure!
Visiting family and friends in other places can also be a fun way to see new things, build relationships and save on accommodations. You’ll lose some control and spend extra time visiting with this plan. So if that’s hard on your family, it might not be the right choice.
Check out our National Park guides to Yosemite and Zion or any of our local guides near your area and hit the road! Have you explored the world of travel hacking (maximizing credit card, airline, hotel reward programs for free travel)? We like @ourfamilypassport on Instagram.