Day trips vs vacation

blondie42107 · June 2014

Thoughts?
We're a family of four (3.5 and 1.5 year olds) and are trying to decide which to do. Usually our hotel costs are the worst part as we typically pack healthy foods we know our kids will eat.

Wulfgar · June 2014

If you have a lot of close places to see, I would do day trips. We have a lot of opportunities close to us that we do. Then again, we are focusing on trying to pay off debts so we really need to do better job of not even doing local things that cost us money. I am finding that the extra $100 a month to go to fun things adds up over the course of the year.

jjbmstinco · June 2014

Is there anything near that you want to do? We don't have children yet, but I will say that H and I prefer a longer vacation that we can look forward to rather than doing a day trip. Of course that might change.

Can you use any CC points to pay for a hotel? That we are doing while saving for a larger vacation.

Happy travels!

CuriousKiddosMama · June 2014

Vacations are always nice, but depending upon what your goals are right now (paying off debt, saving for something, etc) day trips can be just as nice- especially at that age. They won't remember a trip to Disney World or any trip at this age, so you may as well save the money if you are doing it for them.

Xstatic3333 · June 2014

Vikingsfan 71713 said:
Vacations are always nice, but depending upon what your goals are right now (paying off debt, saving for something, etc) day trips can be just as nice- especially at that age. They won't remember a trip to Disney World or any trip at this age, so you may as well save the money if you are doing it for them.

Ditto this. I'm not a mom yet, but in my experience babysitting/teaching it seems that kids that age really appreciate the simple things-a ride on a boat/train (including public transport), watching ducks at the park, an awesome playground, the zoo. That said, if YOU want to go somewhere and can afford it, I'm sure the kids will enjoy it too. A beach or mountain rental could be nice with kids that age.

vlagrl29 · June 2014

we prefer a much longer vacation. We will be gone for 10 days in about 1 week

With 2 kids, you and your DH I would rent a "beach house" if you are near the ocean or a cabin if you are in the mountains. I find they are just about the same price as a hotel if not a tad cheaper.

vlagrl29 · June 2014

we also keep costs down by making our own breakfasts, lunches and dinner for about half the time we are on vacation. Because we rent a house for our vacations and they usually have a grill, we have the ability to go to the local grocery store to stock up on food for a week and make it at the house.

blondie42107 · June 2014

We are trying to bulk up our savings and hopefully in the next year or two we will sell our current home and find one with more grass and a few extra square feet.

Last summer we drove a few hours a stayed a couple nights in a larger city. We visited the zoo, children's museum, parks, etc. My husband can usually get decent hotel rates through his work. I have no interest in flying with kids yet.

We actually prefer to stay in-state or very close by and enjoy simple things. Our biggest expense is usually the hotel cost for a couple nights. Maybe we're too cheap...lol

We have already taken the kids to another zoo nearby and have made a few trips to a local state park that has a beach, hiking trails and a splash park. We've thought about taking them camping as well - a cabin rental a couple hours away is about $150 for two nights. However we would have to pack quite a bit since they only supply furniture. But it's doable.

I guess a perk of a hotel room is that both boys still nap once a day.

hoffse · June 2014

I much prefer vacations/trips, but I don't have kids.

I prefer them over day trips because I don't take time off work for day trips. They occupy part of the weekend, which for me is key for down time.

I might change my mind when we have kids, but for now I'm in the "take a vacation" camp.

blondie42107 · June 2014

hoffse said:

I much prefer vacations/trips, but I don't have kids.

I prefer them over day trips because I don't take time off work for day trips. They occupy part of the weekend, which for me is key for down time.

I might change my mind when we have kids, but for now I'm in the "take a vacation" camp.

In the past we have done day trips on Friday's or Saturday's (I don't work Friday's and my husband has a lot of flexibility) so that Sunday is down time for us. I like having a normal routine on Sunday before the work week starts and to help the kids adjust and get ready for their week.

jjbmstinco · June 2014

Sounds like day trips are really working for you!

jessica490 · June 2014

I prefer vacations as opposed to day trips, because I'm bored with New England and don't see a ton of exciting new things to do there that I haven't already. If I'm going on vacation, I need to get on a plane to take me to somewhere where there are palm trees!

I don't have kids either but like others have said, it depends on if you can afford to longer vacation. I also wouldn't spend the money on something like Disney for young kids who can't remember it. Not sure where you live, but go to the Carolina's and find a beach house/condo to rent that has all your kitchen ammenities so that you can do all your own cooking and have the beach nearby. that was one of my favorite trips!

maple2 · June 2014

We have kids and end up doing a little of both. Our "vacations," though, are usually to visit family since we live far from pretty much everyone. Our kids are a little older, but we have found that any vacations that require everyone to sleep in the same room (hotel, tent, etc.) have to be fairly short because none of us sleeps particularly well that way. When we are able to stay at someone's house or rent a cabin, it's much easier to manager longer stays. We really enjoy spending time in nature, so staying in a cabin in a beautiful, kid friendly place with a beach or lake or forest to explore is fun for us. It's great because DH and I can really unplug from the rest of our lives and just be in the moment enjoying time with each other and the kids.

When we do day trips they tend to be to museums or zoos or hikes or something more structured than just hanging out outside building fairy house, fishing, and throwing stuff in the water. Definitely fun but not as relaxing.

Erikan73 · June 2014

We've been doing day trips as it is cheaper because no hotel costs and no dog sitter required. If you really want to get away check into groupons for details at resorts. Since you like to pack a lot of your own food check out www.vrbo.com and www.airbnb.com. Both these sites provide listings of home that are available to rent across the USA. Some on a nightly rate, others weekly. But sometimes they can be cheaper then a hotel. The advantage to renting a home is that you have access to a fridge which makes it easier to stock up a little on some of the healthy foods you want. Also depending on the layout of the home you rent, you can put your kids to bed & still have some time relaxing with your husband withouth disturbing the kids. Unlike in a hotel room where it's one big open room.

Ilumine · June 2014

It depends on why you want to make the choice? If it's financial, then day trips may really be the best choice.

One round trip to a local with great transportation (DC, Atlanta, Chicago, etc) can be cheaper then 4 or 5 day trips where you are making 4 to five round trip drives.

And there are many ways to negate the costs of staying in the location. Instead of hotels, rent an apartment or home and eat breakfast, lunch and dinner there. This also allows for rest time during the day, vs being on the GO GO GO the entire day, thus pushing your luck with tired and cranky kids towards the end of the day.

Now, when we lived in Germany, we did day trips all of the time. But our day trips consisted in 2-3 hour drives to get there and 2-3 hour drives back. We wanted to see EVERYTHING and would go back to the same location a couple of times to really explore.

But we also did a number of long vacations, for the same reason. We only stayed in hotels 2 times in the 3 years we were there and that was ONLY because the circumstances beyond our control. We saved so much money doing it that way.

smbenevides1989 · June 2014

I do both. We have a 4 year old and she enjoys any adventure. We stay will go to the beaches in the area, go to parks, museams, and even take her to Boston to go on the subways and trains. We have also gone to conventions, and she enjoys seeing the sights.

We did recently take a trip to Pennsylvania and she did really well. We will be taking her to New York next weekend, and we will also be taking her to Disney in December. So we just enjoy traveling.

vlagrl29 · June 2014

I second vrbo.com That's where we rent our beach homes from.

cbee817 · June 2014

Right now, it would be really hard to go on a vacation for a number of days. I feel like the girls are way too young and they would be out of sorts the entire time. It's easier for us to do day trips- there is a children's museum about an hour away that's really nice, we have family about an hour away too. For them, little things like the park, zoo, aquarium, beach (about 45 minutes away), etc are a lot of fun but they still get to go home and sleep in their beds. We have a lot of big trips planned (Disney, Hawaii, NYC, DC, London, X-country trip, Montreal, etc) as they get older and will remember them.. we're looking forward to those.

hoffse · June 2014

Yes I think it's probably an age thing when you have kids.

I have a coworker who travels all the time for business - he once went to three continents in one week. He speaks 8 languages (literally), etc. He's extraordinarily well-traveled, and he and his wife traveled a lot before having kids.

Even he did not start traveling with his daughters until they were a bit older. I think his oldest is 8 and his youngest is 6. They are going to Croatia this summer, and it's the first trip to Europe for the girls. Up until now, they really stuck to the Gulf Coast (4 hrs away for us), and day trips. I think they went to Canada last year, and the girls did well, so that's why they're doing Europe for the first time.

Honestly, H and I are 'saving' a lot of those smaller trips for when we have young kids. We want to travel with them, but we know that we might be limited to cars and short flights for the first 6 or 7 years. We do have a pretty extensive domestic travel list, but we won't start it until kids are here.

Mom987 · June 2014

We would prefer to do three 2-3 day trips vs. one 1-week trip, because we also have two kids and it is easier to go for shorter amounts of time, plus we're going somewehre different each time.

DandelionAZO · June 2014

We have twin three year olds and a 1.5 year old and we MUCH prefer day trips. The kids just don't sleep well traveling, which makes it stressful for DH and I. We'd rather do more day trips and spend a little more than on a hotel that no one will actually sleep in. When the youngest is 2 or so, we'll revisit our plan. We do travel to see family for the weekend and do day trips in those areas to make it feel like a vacation.

Day trips vs vacation

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