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How (and Why) to Make Family Travel a Priority

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When our children were younger, travel meant holiday visits to see family. As they got a little older, I had a sudden strong urge to start taking trips with them that didn’t just mean visiting family for holidays. Since Eric and I both grew up not taking many trips, I wanted everyone to start having more travel experiences.

If you have done much traveling, you know that even small trips can really strain a budget. However, after we started doing a little bit of traveling, we started trying to make a concerted effort to save and make room in our budget for more trips.

If you’ve been putting off family travel because of the expense, I encourage you to start making it a priority. Special memories are formed through travel. There is just something about getting away from the normal routine and setting out on an adventure with your family. In the everyday grind of life, it’s easy to lose perspective.  For us, travel sometimes helps us bring back that focus, which is why saving money for trips is a family priority.  Family travel seem too daunting or expensive? Here are ways to make it work, and why you should be traveling with your family.

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Speaking of some extra money, make sure to read through this post and get all the way to the bottom for your chance at a $100 gift card!

Trips Don’t Have to Be Far Away

You might be putting off traveling with your family because you have in mind that trips need to take you far from home. They don’t! Last summer, we had some extra money and decided that a trip to Chicago would be fun. Even though that’s just a few hours from where we live, we had never made Chicago a destination before. Chicago Theater We had a great time exploring some museums, shopping, eating and even using a portable ping pong set that we bought in our hotel room. It was a great chance for family bonding, and it only took us a few hours away. Where could you explore with your family that’s within an easy drive from home?

Trips Don’t Have to Be Expensive

For a few years in a row, when we first started being serious about making travel happen, we rented a rustic cabin in a state park and spent long weekends there. It was a great chance to reconnect with nature, learn new things and spend some quality family time together. camping trip

Watch for Deals to Help with Traveling

Finding ways to save up money is a great way to make travel happen for your family and so is watching for deals on things like vacation packages, airline tickets, hotels and more. When I saw a great airline deal last summer that said flights as low as $49 one-way, I decided to take a peek and see where we could go for that amount. When I saw that one of the options was Washington D.C., I knew that we had a Fall Break trip awaiting us. Washington Monument While we did have the expenses of Metro cards, food and a hotel, Washington D.C. offered up days and days worth of free things to see. We would have missed that if I hadn’t checked out possible deals.

Splurge on Bigger Trips When You Can

The first time we managed to go to Disney World as a family (because of a gift from my grandpa), it was so magical that I knew we had to do it again soon. In fact, I may have said that right as we were driving off of the property. Eric said, “Sure. You find a way to pay for it, and we can go again next year.”

Apparently that was all the challenge I needed! I carefully saved money from different sources to make sure that I could pay for us to fly there and cover all of our Disney World expenses for a week. Careful savings made it possible to enjoy a big family trip and pay for it all ahead of time.

Christmas at Disney World

Find Ways to Save for Traveling (or Whatever is Important to Your Family)

There are many things you can do to save for traveling, or whatever is important to you and your family. Whether you try to bring in some additional cash by doing extra work or by cutting out (or down) on some regular expenses, you could use that money for more adventures, more wonder and more memories. 

One way you can save every day is with the U.S. Bank Cash 365™ American Express® Card. Since you can earn 1.5% cash back on everyday purchases, it means that all those trips to the grocery store and the gas station could really add up (especially since the rewards don’t expire)! U.S. Bank is dedicated to making possible happen for its customers and communities. What is your possible that you want to make happen? 365 days of more simplicity? 365 days of more adventures?

As an added bonus to applying for the U.S. Bank Cash 365™ American Express® Card, you could earn a $100 Customer Relationship Bonus! U.S. Bank is offering $100 for people who spend $500 in the first 3 months with the U.S. Bank Cash 365™ American Express® Card and have a relationship with U.S. Bank.  If you do not have a relationship with the bank, you may still open a card and receive the bonus if done within 30 days.  (You will need to apply online to earn the bonus, although the card is available online, through the call center and at branches.)

What travel necessity would you first spend your cash back on? Leave a comment for a chance to win a $100 gift card. 

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About Angie Kauffman

Angie, mom to three very fun kids, is the founder of Real Life at Home.  With degrees in elementary education (B.A.) and special education (M.S.Ed.), as well as being a former homeschooler, she is passionate about supporting both parents and teachers by providing printables, crafts, and activities to help children learn and grow.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Emily H says

    I’d spend my money on gasoline! It may not be glamorous, but it’s definitely a necessity when it comes to traveling and commuting!

    Reply

  12. Amy Tong says

    Great tips and thanks for sharing. the travel necessity I would spend my cash back on is grocery! We all love to pack treats and snacks on road trips
    amy [at] uTry [dot] it

    Reply

  19. Natalie says

    I would use the cash back to buy luggage! I do not own a single piece of luggage for travel! I have been borrowing a friend’s suitcase.

    Reply

  27. Jeffrey says

    With an upcoming road trip I would set the money aside for gas. We will be driving to Florida and back, 17 hours each way!

    Reply

  29. Erika says

    I would spend it on some books and activities to keep the kids busy in the car, and I would spend the rest doing memorable things with our family on a vacation.

    chambanachik(at)gmail(dot)com

    Reply

  30. DeAnn says

    I would buy a portable DVD player for the kids. We love singing songs, so this would be an easy way to play the songs and sing!

    Reply

  57. Tina W says

    First I would buy a new window shade to keep some of the brutal summer sun out of my car. Then I would get some beach towels, load up the family and head to the coast!!!

    Reply

  91. Anastasia Falling says

    One thing I MUST have when I travel is… batteries!! I never want to run out of power when taking pictures!

    Reply

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