Have Kids Will Travel by Dale Bartlett
When the Bartlett family goes on vacation it isn't just around the corner. They have traveled the world visiting such places as England, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and many more. They have accomplished this for less than the average family spends for a week at Disneyland. Dale and Michelle Bartlett have four children, and to say the six of them have the travel bug would be an understatement. They have however, found incredible ways to travel the world, most of the time for the cost of food and fun.
St Augustine was quoted as saying “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” This is so true. The world and history for us and our children has expanded beyond our imagination. To understand others and the world at large you need to become explorers. The problem arises, “How on earth we will pay for it?” Often times the family vacation is more determined by the family budget or how much we want to add to our credit cards, rather than where we really want to go. We hope the following excerpts from our book, “Have Kids - Will Travel” will help stir the explorer in each of us.
“According to the Travel Industry Association of America, the average traveler, on their longest trip spent a little over a thousand dollars. The fact is that thousand dollars provided only small trips of less than five nights and were no more than 700 miles round trip. This is also an average, taking in account that single people travel more than families the average family could easily double and even triple the cost for the same small trip.
Now, what if I told you that for the same amount of money and maybe even less than you would spend going to Disneyland, you could spend two weeks and even more in Europe, would you be interested? Oh yes… the kids might have to trade Mickey for the Eiffel Tower, or swimming in a hotel pool for swimming in a crystal clear lake of the Swiss Alps. Or maybe you will have to trade a long hot car ride for an airplane ride with TV's and movies in front of every seat. Maybe you will have to substitute a tour of the studio where they filmed Jaws for the beautiful city of Salzburg where they filmed Sound of Music. Am I getting your attention? And to think, all this for less than you were planning to spend anyway on a vacation less than 700 miles away.”
Chapter One - Cheap or even Free Airfare
(There are multiple ways to get cheap and even free airfare. The one we use the most is…)
The “Frequent Flyer” - Many people think that a frequent flyer is someone who takes multiple flights a year. A frequent flyer can literally be someone who only takes one flight a year, or possibly none at all. I wonder if people realize how quickly they can have free airline tickets. In years past it was based only on actual miles flown, but today nearly everything you purchase can add miles to your account…
Go during the off or not too off season - This is a wonderful tool for the homeschooling family. Because school can often be picked up and moved at anytime, Homeschooling families can take advantage of non-peek times. Technically, winter is the cheapest time to visit Europe, but years of living in the Northern Utah Mountains has made my wife allergic to cold weather -- as well as being reluctant to cart the heavy coats, hats and gloves needed to survive a February day in London. Instead, we tend to make more of our trips in the spring or fall, when hotel rates are still cheaper than the busy summer season and there are fewer tourists. One of our visits to France in early spring offered a few days of crisp weather, but nothing we couldn't handle. During this time of year it is also easier to obtain free fares using points accumulated as frequent flyer miles.
Chapter Two - Sleep Cheap or Free
(There are ways to get free hotel rooms and very inexpensive rental homes like the one we stayed which slept 8 for less than $60.00 a night in the beautiful Tuscan hills overlooking Florence, Italy. Our faforate way however is…)
Free through home exchange - Another way is so much fun. There are many cost conscious families just like yours who are willing to exchange homes. This concept goes back to Europe's royalty who when on vacation simply called up a king or duke and asked if they could use their castle while on vacation. These days it is as easy as going online…
We have had offers for homes in Belgium, France, Germany, South Africa, England, and throughout America as well. The offer in South Africa was incredible. The property was part of a private game preserve, edging against the ocean where you could sit atop cliffs and watch the whales swim by…
Other Chapters include: Where to eat, Transportation, What to do, What to take and more…
Using these and many other tips we have learned, our family has been able to travel the world inexpensively. Much of our travel is actually free. We have spent over a month traveling through Germany, Switzerland, Austria and France and only paid for three nights lodging. With free airfare these trips are very affordable. Two summers ago, our trip to the North East US for 2 _ weeks was less than $140.00 per person including air, rental car, hotel, food and souvenirs. This past summer our trip to Italy was just over $600.00 per person for everything. That is less than half the cost of airfare alone.
If you are interested in discovering more ways to travel cheap and free, you can read more in our exciting book, “Have Kids - Will Travel… A guide to inexpensive Family travel anywhere in the world -Most of it Free- the cost is $14.95 and includes free shipping. If you have any questions you can contact us at havekidswilltravel@sisna.com or visit us on the web at www.havekids-willtravel.com
About the author:
Dale and Michelle Bartlett have been married 20 years and have four children, Brianne, Cameron, Devon and Marissa. They make their home in the mountains of Northern Utah. They have been traveling cheap and free since Marissa was 3. They are a home schooling family and understand the budget struggles it brings. Their hope is to bring the world a little closer to other families through incredible adventures.
