With airline flights costing thousands of dollars, depending on your destination, it’s no wonder that many people are extending vacations to prolong the relaxation time. Walking along the beaches or hiking through forests just cannot be duplicated at home. However, extending your vacation increases costs at the same time. Hotels, dining out and daily activities add up to a hefty bill. There are several ways to make your extended vacation more affordable with careful planning.
Buy
Paying for a hotel for one or two weeks can cost as much as your mortgage. If you tend to travel to the same area each year for family or personal interests, consider buying a vacation home. With low interest rates on most properties, including homes offered by Leverage Global Partners, paying for a vacation home may be cheaper than a hotel. You do not need to worry about hiding your valuables or tipping the cleaning crew. It is your space to share and enjoy on extended vacations.
Share
A relatively new way to make an extended vacation more affordable is swapping vacation homes. Online meetings are available on several websites. You post your home’s city or town location and available swapping dates. Other members contact you to exchange homes for a specified time period. For example, you stay in a vacation home in London while that property owner stays in your vacation home in Hawaii. Because most vacation homes are not full of valuable personal belongings, such as computers, the risk of theft is low. You can conceivably enjoy a different vacation home each year with swapping. You only pay for flight, food and activities. Saving on lodging is a smart way to see the world.
Cook
Eating out for each meal adds up over an extended vacation, especially if you have a large group in tow. Fill your vacation home with food the moment you get into town. If you do not own a vacation home, be sure to reserve a hotel room with an available kitchen or kitchenette. You can potentially save hundreds of dollars on food alone if you simply cook each meal. The meals do not need to be complicated either. Sandwiches, pan-fried chicken and quick casseroles are all hearty meals that everyone can share.
Time
Finding good deals on things to do is really not that hard as long as you take some time to look. If you wait until you get to your destination to decide what fun things you will be doing you will probably end up spending top dollar for these activities. A couple weeks before your trip, take some time to research activities. You may be able to find coupons, discounts, and the like for things you really want to do. This is also a good opportunity to find things that don’t cost any money at all. Sometimes the most fun activities are things that are cheap and off the beaten path.
Avoid a costly vacation by choosing alternative lodging and food choices. When you use a vacation home and cook your own food, you have more money for other activities and souvenirs that weren’t possible before.