Summertime Traveling
Summertime traveling while convenient for most, is not my favorite time to head off on a road trip. Perhaps I am spoiled because as a homeschooling family we have always been able to pack up and hit the road anytime of the year and being able to avoid the summertime traveling crowds is a no brainer to me.
Unless you are just set on heading to the monster amusement park or vacation spot, there are ways and places to travel during the summer that can save you money and sanity.
My first stop is always Priceline. I love their app! If we are looking for somewhere within a couple of hours of home, just enter the amenities you need based on your age of children. We want a hotel that includes at least breakfast so we head towards Hampton and Comfort Inns if a Drury is not in the area. Drury hotels include dinner and breakfast in their room rates which is AMAZING when you are traveling with children! Once you see what is available, book your room. You are ready to pack up and hit the road for a short trip and with Priceline you can save up to 40% off rack rates and up to 60% off same day rooms (this works best if you wait until lunch to book room).
If nothing on Priceline trips my trigger then I head over to Groupon. What I like about Groupon is that I can search for specials in any city, not just my own for deals and promotions. The one thing to watch on Groupon is some of your tickets are not valid the same day as purchased. However, saving 50-75% off activities like Zip Lining, White Water Rafting, etc is worth buying a day or more in advance.
My favorite travel days are Wednesday or Thursday. Most locations are not crowded mid week and I don’t have to deal with the madness (sorry for those that can only travel in the summer).
State Parks are another great place to look into visiting in the summertime, especially if you can travel mid week. Some of the parks are awesome! They have everything from camp sites to lodges available. We like to visit the smaller state parks (again because of the crowds) and find that they almost always have available spots during the week.
Do you have any summertime traveling tips to share?
These are great tips! We love to us Hotwire for last minute summer trips for hotels. This summer alone we have saved over $3000 using it on a week vacation. We have a 15 hour road trip coming up and both of my girls are younger so we make sure to stock up on the Target dollar section activities as well. Entertaiment can really add up quickly.
I would use the money for back to school shopping.
I pack for just enough. I bring cases of water in the car. I pack for the night bag as well and leave the luggage in the car.
These are great tips. I’ve heard a lot about Groupon, but haven’t tried it yet. I’m going to get on that.