I recently got into a discussion with some girlfriends about what it means to enjoy budget travel. Although most of us turned out to be on the same page about it, we did play a little bit of devil’s advocate during the discussion. Here are some of the things we decided that budget travel does (and does not!) mean to us.

Budget Travel Does Mean

• Getting a fair price on a trip. Budget travel doesn’t necessarily mean paying the lowest price possible to go somewhere. It means being able to enjoy a trip at a price that you consider fair. For example, it means getting good deals on hotels even if those hotels are more expensive than some of the ones your friends would choose to stay in.
• Finding free and cheap alternatives to higher cost options. We all agreed that budget travel means doing your research to find ways to enjoy your trip that are lower-cost than the average traveler may pay to take the same vacation.
• Learning to budget. Ultimately, we felt that budget travel means learning how to set limits and boundaries for yourself when planning your trips. It means learning to create a realistic travel budget and then to stick to that budget when traveling. It means setting a travel spending cap for the year and not exceeding it (unless an emergency warrants it, of course).

Budget Travel Doesn’t Mean

• Being uncomfortable. Budget travel means getting a good price for good travel. It may mean staying in economy hotels but only economy hotels that are comfortable and safe. It doesn’t ever mean sacrificing comfort and safety for the lowest price.
• Traveling to the cheapest places. Sometimes budget travel does mean traveling to destinations that are cheap rather than to expensive cities. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean this. It may mean budgeting wisely to go to a more expensive destination.
• Being cheap. There is a big difference between being frugal and being cheap. None of the gals in the group wanted to be penny-pinchers, to skimp where it wasn’t necessary or to skip travel altogether to save money. Instead, we want to be frugal with how we spend our money when we travel, making smart choices that reflect our strongest beliefs about how we spend both time and money.

What does budget travel mean to you?

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It’s time to get ready for summer travel. The following checklist is something that I keep on hand to make sure that I pack all of the summer extras that we need when we are traveling as a family at this time of year. At this time each year, I head out to the store and stock up on all of these items so that they’re ready to go when we are.

1. Sunscreen. Of course you should wear this all throughout the year but it’s especially important for summer travel. Waterproof sunscreen is what we get.
2. Water shoes and/or flip flops. These summer shoes are a must-have during vacations at this time of year.
3. Hiking shoes. More than any other time of year, we do hiking during our summer vacations. Flip flops won’t work for those treks!
4. Sunglasses. Everyone in the family gets their own pair although the kids just get cheap ones since they tend to lose them often!
5. Swimsuits. The kids outgrow these every year so it’s time to go get the ones that we need for this season. We’ll need them even if we don’t travel but they’re a must-pack item for summer trips!
6. Light jackets and sweaters. This is one that I used to always forget because it’s tough to remember to pack them during warm weather. Sometimes you need them, though.
7. Bug spray. The kids would go crazy without it!
8. Coupons. Summer is a great time to get good deals on hotels, attractions and other travel experiences. If you use printed coupons for these then be sure that you’ve printed and packed them in advance.
9. Trashy novels and magazines. That one is just for me but it’s a must-have for summer travels which are designed to be lighthearted and non-intellectual. I save the novels and psychology books for winter vacations.
10. Batteries. This is a year-round must-pack item for all of the mp3 players, handheld video games and other gadgets that we take on road trips and long flights.

Is anything missing from my list?

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I hope you had a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day! It was beautiful here. We did some silly crafts with the kids and checked out a local parade. I wish that we had gotten a chance to go on a little vacation but it wasn’t in the cards for us this year. However, we’re beginning to ramp up our travel talk around my house now. That’s because Spring is just about here and we think that’s the ideal time for family travel.

Some of the reasons I enjoy taking family travel time in the Spring include:

• The weather is beautiful almost everywhere. This is a wonderful time of year. The weather in most places is starting to warm up. In another month or so, it’s going to be perfect weather in almost any destination that we might want to visit. That is the single best reason to travel with the family at this time of year.
• The parks are beautiful. Everything grows in the spring. We love to enjoy outdoor adventures during our family vacations and it’s especially pretty to indulge in that at this time of year. Hiking to see waterfalls and wildflowers are some of our favorite springtime travel activities.
• It’s affordable. The peak travel time doesn’t come around until summer. It’s easy to find good prices on flights, deals on hotels and cheap tickets to attractions during springtime travel.
• We have most places all to ourselves. There are not nearly as many families traveling during Spring as there are during the summer. This means that we can enjoy busy family destinations during a time when the crowds are much sparser. That’s always a treat.
• The kids love getting out of school. We don’t mind taking them out for a week or so during the spring. It makes the vacation seem that much more exciting.

We love traveling during the summer, too. However there’s something much more appealing about traveling as a family during the Spring. I’m excited that Spring starts this weekend! Are you?

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St. Patrick’s Day is coming up. Most families don’t seem to think about traveling for this holiday. However, it can actually be a perfect time to take a little family trip. It’s off-season for many places so you can easily find good deals on hotels. Destinations aren’t too crowded. And you can see some things that you wouldn’t normally see on family trips.

Five terrific places to think about visiting for St. Patrick’s Day this year are:

1. Ireland. This would, of course, be the ideal St. Patrick’s Day destination. It’s not easy to find budget flights to Ireland at the last minute but if you can swing it then it would surely be an experience to remember.
2. San Francisco. Believe it or not, this is a terrific city for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. There is a very cool historic green church which is, of course, St. Patrick’s church. There are also great Irish restaurants and other fun activities to enjoy in this big city during St. Patrick’s Day.
3. New York City. Many people love to visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. What better time to see this landmark than during St. Patrick’s Day? Get a cheap Times Square hotel room and make a whole weekend out of it!
4. Chicago. Another major city where you can see a lot of fun events and also visit a St. Patrick’s church is Chicago. The church here is also well-known and fun to spend time at with your family.
5. Boston. If the thing that you are most interested in is a great St. Patrick’s Day parade then look no further than South Boston. Over half a million people attend this event, though, so be sure to keep an eye on the little ones!

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There are a lot of cool things that you can get on Etsy for traveling. Here are ten that caught my interest.

1. Vintage Luggage. You say it’s old and banged up. I say it’s beautiful. We don’t have to agree but I’d love to win you over to my side of the argument. What do you think?

2. Binoculars. I’m not a bird watcher but these goggles make me want to become one on my next vacation!

3. Handmade Eye Pillows. These are perfect for making sure that you get enough rest during your trip. Use them in the car, on the plane or just in your hotel room.

4. Vintage Pajamas, Nighties and Bloomers. I would love to say that I wear things like this all of the time to sleep but of course that would be a lie. I’m more of a sweatpants kind of mom. Still, I would like to own a few of these fun pieces on vacations when I get away from my own life for a little bit!

5. Urban Toolbelt. Okay, so I’m probably giving up any cool points that I’ve earned since this item is sneakingly similar to the fanny pack but it’s so practical for travel and I think it’s cute!

6. Handmade Coffee Cuff. At home I usually drink coffee from my own pot. If I do go to a coffee shop, I take my trusty refillable mug with me. However, on vacation, I’m known to frequent coffee shops and to get their disposable cups. I don’t want to drag my mug along with but I could be at least a little bit green by bringing my own traveling coffee cuff.

7. Handmade Coin Purse. Who doesn’t need a coin purse when they travel? You just don’t know when you’ll need change for a meter or a bus or something else in your destination city. Why not have a cute one that’s practical too?

8. Traveling Notepad. I would love a little pocketed notepad that could hold stationery, stamps, passports, pens and a puzzle book. That’s about all I need for myself when I’m traveling!

9. Children’s Backpacks. I may not need much on a trip but the kids end up needing tons of snacks and whatnot. I like to have them each carry their own little bag of what they need. Handmade backpacks would be a cute new way to do this.

10. Multi-purpose Shoe Bags. These can hold shoes at home but I can also see them holding toothpaste and things like that when we travel. And they’re so cute!

Do you shop on Etsy?

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I recently wrote here on the blog about my ideas for affordable Valentine’s travel. One of the things that I think is a great thing to do for Valentine’s day is to spend the night away from home in a local hotel. It feels like a nice little getaway, someone else makes the bed and you get a new place to experience some romance. Unfortunately, it can be a lot easier to find deals on hotels than it is to find hotels that are worth it. Luckily, it’s really not that difficult to spruce up a budget hotel room to make it a whole lot more romantic.

Here are five easy ways to make economy hotels more romantic for Valentine’s Day:

1. Bring your own sheets. Do you have really wonderful, luxurious sheets at home? Bring them with you to your budget hotel. Sure it means that you need to make the bed yourself but it also means that you’ll enjoy it a lot more.
2. Light some candles. All rooms are more romantic when you turn out the overhead lights and use candles to give a glow to the space. This is a really frugal way to make your hotel night getaway a special one.
3. Add ambience with your iPod. If you have an mp3 player and a set of speakers then you can create a more romantic mood in your hotel room just by playing some great music for you and your partner.
4. Pack a picnic. It’s so tempting to go out to eat nearby when you stay in a hotel. But why waste your money? Pack yourself a terrific picnic instead. Spread out on the hotel room floor with a blanket, wine and chocolates and rekindle the romance in your relationship.
5. Keep the television off. Nothing kills the Valentine’s mood like the TV. Keep it off during your in-town getaway.

These are cheap things that you can do to make it romantic to stay at a budget hotel in your city for Valentine’s Day. Is there anything else that you’d recommend?

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I am starting to think about Valentine’s Day. Should my husband and I do something special to celebrate the day between just the two of us? Should we take the family somewhere to celebrate? Or should we just stay home and celebrate together there (either with or without the kids since they could always go to the sitter)?

I haven’t made a decision yet. I’m doing a lot of thinking about it, though, so I’ve come up with a list of affordable Valentine’s travel ideas that we might consider. Hopefully other families in the same position would benefit from seeing this list as well.

My list of cheap Valentine’s ideas for 2010 so far includes:

• Look for local deals on hotels. It’s romantic to do a hotel getaway with your spouse. Actually getting away can be pricey, though. Getting away to a hotel in your own area is a neat way to rekindle romance without spending a lot of money.
• Stay home with the family and celebrate love. Do Valentine’s arts and crafts. Put together a family play or musical about why you love one another. Celebrate your love with the whole family instead of just the romance between you and the spouse. It’s the ultimate holiday staycation.
• Combine Valentine’s and anniversary travel. Want to get away for a romantic weekend with your hubby but not sure where the travel money would come from? Consider working out your travel budget for the entire year so that you combine this trip with your anniversary plans. Infuse the weekend with romance and you won’t feel like you missed out by doing a two-for-one.
• Have a daytime date with your spouse. Take the day off of work and pretend that you’re on vacation together. Go to a park. See a movie. Hold hands. Make out. Enjoy being in love again.
• Have a romantic night at home. Send the kids to visit their grandparents. Take out the candles, the rose petals, the bubble bath and the lingerie. Stay home, spend little and enjoy one another for hours and hours. You won’t feel like you need to travel anywhere else ever again!

I think it’s great to travel for Valentine’s Day if you can work it out. However I also think there are dates that can be had at home that can replace travel on this special day.

What are you doing for Valentine’s Day this year?

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Guess I’ve gotten off to a slow start with my blog posting for this year. It’s been more than a week since my last post! I’m the type of person who tends to beat myself up a little bit about things like that. However, one of my personal New Year’s goals is to be kinder to myself. Although I hope that a lot of you are enjoying my budget travel blog, I realize that it’s not the end of your world if I don’t post every few days. I’m trying to remind myself of that and to just be happy that I get the chance to post as often as I do.

That said, the New Year has gotten off to a great start here. I was able to take a little bit of time to myself to solidify some of my goals for 2010. I had already established my travel goals for the year but I wanted to take the time to make some other personal goals instead. Like the one about being kinder to myself. And I also want to be more compassionate and caring with my family. It’s so easy to snap at the ones that we love but it’s so unfortunate that we do this, isn’t it?

Anyway, I’d love to know how your holiday travels went. Were you able to get good deals on hotels? Did you spend as much as you thought you would or more than that or less? The friend I’ve mentioned on the blog before (who originally wrote to me about Houston hotel deals) actually ended up not spending anything at all on her holiday travels. I thought that the way that she did this was great so I figured I’d share it here to get us all off on the right foot for a great New Year.

Here’s what she did:

• Used frequent flyer miles that she’d accumulated to pay for her flight.
• Used travel points from her credit card to pay for an affordable hotel room.
• Traded her time and energy for food (by cooking the food bought by relatives in the area so everyone was happy)
• Committed to only enjoying free activities – and kept that commitment
• Refused to buy anything new for the trip or during the trip

How inspiring! I think a new 2010 goal of mine might be to travel next Christmas season without spending any money.

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I love everything about budget travel. I love the experience of it. I love getting better and better at it as time goes on. And I love learning as much as I can about how to save money on traveling by getting advice from people who are even better at it than I am.

I get budget travel advice from a wide range of different sources. The ten best places that I’ve found for getting budget travel tips are:

1. My friends and family. I tend to surround myself with people who also enjoy traveling and who also need to save money. The conversations that I have with these people are my favorite source for new budget travel ideas.
2. Budget travel blogs. I specifically look for blogs that are related to budget travel. There are great general travel blogs and great blogs on frugality. There are also great specific blogs on niche topics like hotel specials. However, the blogs that are about the whole general topic of traveling frugally are the best resource for this information.
3. Travel news sources. I go to standard news sources like CNN and Yahoo! News and scour the stories there for hints on budget travel. These news sources have been particularly helpful regarding budget travel since the recession began.
4. Twitter. I love Twitter! It’s a great source for getting up-to-date budget travel tips. You have to find the right people to follow on the site but that’s getting easier and easier as the site improves. Look for existing Twitter lists related to budget travel and just follow those!
5. Travel Booking Sites. I don’t necessarily book all of my travel through these sites but they’re a great resource for getting information and tips about reducing the cost of travel. This is one of the best resources I’ve found for getting tips about getting good deals on hotels.
6. Travel magazines and women’s magazines. These two types of magazines both frequently feature articles about budget travel. Hint: Look at back issues in the library for tips instead of paying for the latest issue at the newsstands.
7. Travel guides. There are several publishers that put out budget travel guides for specific locations. These books are a great source of low-cost travel information to specific destinations.
8. Forums. To be honest I have a lot of trouble finding the best forums for this topic but I know that they’re out there. I think forums are a great way to connect with other people about all types of topics so I continue looking for the right ones about this topic.
9. Facebook. Whenever I have a question about budget travel I always ask my Facebook friends. They never fail to give me some kind of creative answer.
10. My own brain. Staying in touch with myself and using common sense have really helped me learn more about budget travel as I go.

Where do you get the best information about budget travel?

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