We did a 10-week family trip this year with our 5 kids. We went to 11 National Parks, museums, Disney, State parks, and zoos. It was amazing on so many levels. It was inspiring, restful, adventurous and fun. In the end, our out of pocket expense was $1850.
Trip Planning Myth #1: Perfect is the Goal
“Go big or go home.” “If you are going to do it, do it right.” That’s the exact opposite of my approach to trip planning or life. Nike’s catchphrase is Just Do It. Mine might be, “Just get started.”
While we had an amazing trip, at points, it was also stressful, rushed, controlled chaos and horrible timing. It’s crazy hard to plan for a 10 week trip with 5 kids. There was a flurry of appointments, planning, packing, and prep to get done before we left. In the weeks leading up to the trip, I was excited but also overwhelmed. In the moment it was stressful. Now six months after the trip, I don’t regret that stress for a second.
We lived and travel through Europe for over four years. We created a rule during our Europe travel that we would only see 1 sight a day. There is a temptation to do it all. 15 sights in 3 rushed days. Our one sight a day rule gave us two options. Spend more days in a spot (and inevitably have to skip cities) or skip sights. We did a lot of both. We traveled slower and skipped a lot of amazing sights.
Instead of being sad that the trip wasn’t “perfect”, we would just smile and say, “Guess we will need to come back and see that next time.” We left cities half unseen and explored knowing that we will be happy to return.
This trip was no exception. We skipped cities. We left things unseen and unexplored. We planned to return. Not everything was age appropriate for our kids. There were a lot of hikes, museums and tours that we simply smiled and said, “We’ll do that in 10 years.” There were also a lot of attractions and things we did that were really fun for our kids now but they might find boring in 10 years.
Trip Planning Myth #2: Spending More Money = A Better Trip
Expensive isn’t an effective goal.
I heard a great quote the other day:
“Money is like gasoline during a road trip. You don’t want to run out of gas on your trip, but you’re not doing a tour of gas stations.”
― Tim O’Reilly
This is an amazing perspective on life, business and personal finances. But it also applies to creating amazing life experiences. The goal is an amazing experience. Spending a ton of money isn’t the goal. When we start with the focused goal, we can often find multiple paths to that goal.
Trip Planning Myth #3: Start with a Budget or Destination
When you planning an amazing adventure, know your goals. Know WHY you want to take a trip.
Don’t start with travel books or sites. Don’t start planning on the internet. Look at your life goals and your values. And see what need this trip fills for you. What you really need to get out of it? Are you looking for rest? Do you want to create space for creativity? Are you hoping to learn about new cultures and ways of looking at things? Do you need adventure and to push your boundaries? Do you need connection with people you love or want to meet new people? Plan your trip to optimize your goals.
There are a lot of paths to get that outcome. Spending more money isn’t the goal.
We had some really specific goals for this last trip: connection, adventure, rest, reflection, dreaming and planning. We planned our trip and budget accordingly.
We are starting to plan out our 2019 trips and the goals are very different for 2019. The itinerary, accommodation, budget, and activities will reflect that.
Now to the numbers and a few frugal hacks!
Our total Vacation expenses included anything that was specific to traveling. Gas, camping fees, eating out, museums, snacks, parking costs, spare tire. It didn’t include anything we normally pay, like our cell phone bill or property tax (but you can see below all our other normal expenses that still happened during this trip.)
Our total trip cost was $4500. Note: we did manually enter all our expenses, and while I did doublecheck, I’m sure a few were missed!
Frugal Hack #1: Renting our house: outcome $2650
While we traveled, we rented out our home fully furnished to a traveling nurse. It worked out amazing! She took great care of our place. The side benefit was that we had someone to take care of the yard and grass and keep an eye on things. I might have been a little nervous with our house sitting empty for 10 weeks. She paid us $2650 and we put that directly to our trip cost.
Frugal Tip #2: Christmas gift card $400
One family member gives us a visa gift card for Christmas each year so we can go do something fun with the kids. Between minimalism and having a small-ish home, we greatly appreciate experiences over more toys. This year we saved it to pay for a yearly membership to the San Degio zoo. We were able to do 4 days at the zoo while we were there. Our family member was thrilled their gift gave us all such a cool experience. It was my younger kids’ first time ever at a zoo! We had enough left over to do a few other fun things as well.
Frugal Tip #3: Credit card gift cards
One of our credit cards will let you trade points for gift cards and they give a better trade value. So $40 of points becomes a $50 gift card. We cashed out a few of our points for fast food casual places we like or coffee shops. If you plan to eat out more during a road trip, having a few gift cards can help.
Frugal Tip #4: Vary the price point of camping
Your camping experience doesn’t have to be all luxury campground or all state parks. We would switch it up. Some nights we would do the $50 campground with full hookups, wifi, a pool, playground, laundry and cell phone service. This was for the kids and adults. And occasionally we would do the $15-$20 a night state or National park campground. Because we traveled in a pop-up camper with 5 little kids, we didn’t do any free spots, or parking lots. But I met a lot of travelers with hard-sided campers and vans that would mix one of those in a week to save a few bucks.
Frugal Tip #5: Pop-up and Mini-van
Over the last 3 years, we have done over 150 days of camping. Plus we have used our camper as a guest house for another 50+ nights. Part of the reason we were able to afford that was that we bought a 20-year-old pop-up camper to start. Our current van was able to tow it so we didn’t need to buy a more expensive vehicle. Plus the gas mileage with a Toyota van and pop-up camper was amazing.
Was it a perfect set up? Please! Heck no. Far from perfect. But I wasn’t willing to wait for the perfect camper to get started. We had 150 amazing days of travel, adventure and time with friends and family over the last three years. There is no way I would trade those experiences. And I’m so glad that we didn’t give those up just because our sleeping accommodations weren’t perfect.
Don’t plan for perfect. Just know what you are looking for and what you really need out of a trip. Then go get started. Do a night away. Or a weekend. Escape in a tent for a week to a big city (Yes, even big cities have campgrounds! We have camped in Amsterdam, Paris, Dubrovnik, Munich, Seattle, San Diego, and then some).
Here is a break down of all our expenses! Like I mentioned above, there might be a few missing. But this was my best attempt to capture all the vacation costs.
For conversation: Any adventures you are planning? What’s your main goal for travel?
I love your adventure. Thanks so much for sharing and for keeping it real.
I can’t wait to see how older kids and more experienced travelers change things up for you and your family in 2019.
Thanks so much Debbie! Each year brings it’s own adventure. It’s fun, challenging and never boring. =)
Gotta love that house rental offset! Woot woot!! We’re planning 2019 now, too. Looks like it may be the year for our Great American Road Trip to the Pacific Northwest! We’re thinking of spending the summer in WA, near our (due on Thanksgiving Day) new granddaughter! Planning wheels are in motion, your post was timely!
The house rental worked out great. I would have had to hire someone for the yard work and would have wanted someone to check on things anyways. Summer is awesome in the PNW! And a grandbaby is an awesome reason to hang out there. =)
Yay camping! Friends camped throughout the UK, in cities, one year and said the campsites were wonderful! They used the money they saved on accommodation by camping to balance out eating all of their meals out. It also meant they had way less gear to cart around with them in their rental car.
I’m about ready for another epic trip, myself!
Europe camping is amazing! I think because Europeans get more vacation days, camping and city camping is much more popular than in the US (most families can’t afford 6 weeks of hotel travel so they camp). We camped all over Europe in tents and cabins and loved it!
Wow, you guys are awesomely organized! One thing my wife and I love about the empty nest phase we are in but pre-grand kids, is that we can go with zero planning. We just get in the car and head in a direction. 3,050 miles later we are back home having had a great time. We usually don’t even know where we are staying until the afternoon for that day. And that evening we figure out what we want to do tomorrow. That might drive you crazy but there is a certain freedom to it. However with five kids, forgeddabout it! You need a game plan tighter than Nick Saban’s!
It will be fun once we get to that point! Right not we literally have reservations booked out for the entire trip before we leave! In part because the kids aren’t very flexible on how long they can stand being in the van. So we plan campgrounds based on drive time. =)
This is great timing. My son is going to be in 4th grade next year so we’re trying to figure out how to plan a trip using the 4th graders get into NP for free plan. We don’t have a camper yet but I do have a bunch of hotel points that might do (in addition to a good old fashioned tent). I am curious about the gift card trade in $40 for $50 gift card. Which program provides that? I always use it for airlines but this might be a better option.
It’s one of our points cards, but I don’t remember which one. We tented camped for years and love that too. Plus a lot of campgrounds have little cabins you can rent it you want to mix it up.
While we haven’t planned or committed to any long trips yet we have taken a much more holistic approach to our annual trip/vacation travel planning. Next year will include a 3 week staycation as my mum will be coming over from Australia (haven’t seen her in 6 years, so excited!). We will spend the exploring the state of Florida where we live so that we can maximize our quality time together and minimize costs. The rest of our vacation time will be split between a wedding and a 10 day trip to Europe. We will then strategically use our days off and long weekends for downtime, local parks and trails, beach time (we live 1 block from the beach) and we have let friends and family know that next year they will have to travel to us if they want to see us (we are the couple who usually does all the traveling to other people). So much planning!
That sounds like a great plan! It great to mix it up between enjoying local things and an overseas trip.
I love this idea of planning from the view point of what you want out of the trip. I never thought about that before. Thanks!
Yeah, once you know what you are really looking for, there are generally a few ways to problem solve for that. =)
Jillian – this vacation sounds amazing! Could you share your itinerary?
This post is the basic outline of the trip. https://www.jillianjohnsrud.com/ultimate-national-park-road-trip/
great trip. i love that little camper. our friend in new orleans just got an old pop up last year. i saw it and informed him that was our new guest room as he has a small house and kids and that’s an expensive city to get a room. nice post. moms like you are the best.
Campers make great guest rooms! Ours has a couch, 2 king sized beds, a kitchen table and mini kitchen. With 5 little kids in our house, I think our guests like having a little retreat in the backyard that is quiet and private. Our main home is a bit like a youth hostel. Our camper is a bnb. =)
Wonderful advice, Jillian. Looks like you and the gang had an adventure you’ll all lovingly remember for years to come. Mrs. G and I are planning to hit Australia next year for at least a month. I hope we’re just half as successful with our big adventure as you were with yours. Cheers.
Hey Jillian,
Incredible job keeping the expenses low. The best part about it is you’ve created memories your family will carry for the rest of their lives (without breaking the bank and putting yourself in financial distress).
I love your point about knowing what your values are and keeping those in focus when setting out on the journey. It’s not just about throwing money at the situation but rather about knowing why you’re taking the trip in the first place and letting that be your guide.
Take care,
Ryan
Thanks Ryan! We did make some wonderful memories. It was a once in a lifetime experience, but the kind I hope to do every year or so at that price.
Such a great article! We thought about camping in France too (the camp sites looked great!) but were unsure how to do it if you’re flying into a country. How did you manage it? Did you travel with your camp gear (tent, sleeping bags etc) on the plane? Thanks for a great blog!
You could buy some things in the country or pack some. A lot of campsites also have little cabins you can rent! Most hikers pack all of that into one backpack plus food and water, then carry it hundreds of miles. So it’s possible. =)