How to take big trips on little budgets

I am not a rich woman: I'm a teacher by trade, I have four kids who seem to grow out of their clothes faster than I can buy them, and I mistakenly opted for a massive dog who eats more than the average teenager.

And yet I have travelled to Europe at least once (and sometimes 2-3 times) a year for the past 5 years.

Santorini, Greece (2021)

What's the secret?

It's not a hidden trust fund or a deft airline points maneuver (although those would be nice). Instead, it's a series of small steps and tiny mind shifts that can make it possible for you, no matter how big your family is or what your budget looks like.

It will take several blog posts to get into all the details, but here is a brief overview to get you started:

Step 1: Plan your trip backward

If you have priced out your vacation and it seems too expensive, you're probably going about it the wrong way. Scott Keyes, founder of Scott's Cheap Flights and my personal travel hero, says that you should "flip [travel planning] on its head," making price the top priority.

Instead of searching for a destination, have a few destinations in mind and a few departure airports to work with. Check deals from those airports regularly and when the deals line up with your ideas, jump on it.

I usually have a few "trip sketches" ready at all times. I'll share my template later, but I imagine a few trips, noting top sights, rough accommodation prices, and an estimate of cost per day for food. I usually only allot an hour or two to the sketches, since I know they will change. (A quick Google search can provide all of this info.) Then, when the prices on those flights drop, I can act quickly and with confidence.

As Keyes says, planning this way is "how you afford to take two or three vacations for the price that you used to pay for one."

Step 2: Look beyond hotels

Hotels in the US are expensive. Even highway-side hotels in the middle of nowhere run $140+.

Then you add more people and the price skyrockets.

Once our 3rd child grew out of her crib, I all but gave up the idea of travel. Hotels in the US are designed for the family of four. Period. Many hotels don't allow extra beds because of fire marshal regulations, so I was looking at paying for two hotel rooms for every night of travel.

For years, I stuck with this assumption.

It wasn't until years later that I discovered that there are other options:

Suites (like Embassy Suites)

Airbnb or VRBO rentals

Camping

Camper rental

Family hotels (We loved Amsterdam's Meininger Hotel and Stockholm's Hotel Gio.)

Volunteer vacations

Homestays (like my daughter and I did in Costa Rica)

Home Exchanges

Share a rental with another family

Step 3: Look for the free stuff

While you're looking for the accommodation, look for free things to do wherever you're headed.

A few places to start:

• Look at local tourism pages for festivals and events in the area.

Tour de France "Caravane" event in Annecy, France

• Check Free Tours by Foot or similar websites for walking tours.

• Sit and sip a while. Unlike our American paper-cupped industrial coffee dispensaries, overseas cafes are meant to be savored. Even if you're not an artist or a writer, consider just sitting and doing plein air sketching or journaling. Hours of entertainment for the cost of a cappuccino.

• Find parks where you can walk, hike, and people watch.

(Our US Nat'l parks tour was the cheapest vacation we've ever taken!)

• Look for beaches or lakes. At home, they love devices. On vacation, my kids could spend hours collecting shells. Who knew?

• Look for free museum days.

(Note: Many museums in Europe are subsidized by the government and are

free for kids every day. Even big names like Le Louvre and Tate Britain are free!)

Trying on chain mail at the Viking Museum in Stockholm (free everyday)

• Look for local recipes and then make shopping and cooking part of your daily plan

Eating our picnic of homemade torta and salad while spelunking in Rioja, Spain.

This isn't an exhaustive list of how to save money, obviously, but it will get you started on your way toward creating a budget that actually works for you. Happy planning!

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Need some ideas for a big trip? Head to "Big Trips You Can Take for Less than the Cost of Disney."

For info on how to save for that dream trip, check out "I Want to Travel. Now How do I Find Money for It?"

For info on how to stick to your travel budget, check out "Five Things that Will Bust Your Travel Budget in a Hurry" Part 1 and Part 2.