Budget Travel Ideas: |
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budget travel ideas continued from page 1
3.
rent a
vacation home
Thousands
of individuals now rent out their vacation homes or villas
through vacation home rental
websites. You can search
these websites by location, and find listings complete with
pictures; then communicate quickly with the owners by email.
Warning: many of the villas listed on vacation home websites are deluxe and expensive-- and very large. Which leads another strategy...
4. travel
with another family
Another cost-saving idea is
to rent somewhere spacious and share it with another family-- whether it's a barge in France
or
a houseboat on Lake Shasta.
A note of caution: when you travel with kids, your lodgings are not simply where you sleep at night, but also your haven for private family time, the place where little kids can take a nap, or act cranky without being a public spectacle...
If you travel with, or stay with, another family, be sure you have enough privacy to get your kids quieted down.
| 5. house-swap | ||
| House-swapping offers the chance to stay in a vacation destination absolutely free, and is often wonderful-- but sometimes not. | Links for home exchanges |
When problems do occur, they stem from a mismatch in house-attitude: such as, when the Careful family swaps with the Carefree, or the Careless.
Nonetheless countless families have had great experiences with home exchanges. If you think you're the right personality type, go for it.
6. rent
out your own house while you're gone
It's a
bother-- but renting out your house during an absence can cover
plenty of travel costs. You might advertise in a local paper; or
post a notice at a university (where visiting faculty often need
a place to stay).
Continue to more cost-saving strategies:
|
Budget Travel Ideas, page
1: rent weekly apartments; -stay at hostels in family rooms or suites |
Page
3, Budget Travel Ideas: stay with local hosts; do a home-stay with a local family; try a volunteer vacations; check newsgroups. |
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