When you are planning a trip it is all too easy to go for the recognised and popular destinations. And while I love Paris, Rome and New York as much as anyone else, I also take great pleasure in discovering the more unique travel destinations that are hiding, mostly undiscovered around the world and those that are perfect for people like us who are on a budget. (more…)
If I tell you this travel hack, you have to promise not to tell my kids.
We are a family currently backpacking around the world for a year. We’ve been going for ten months and so far have been to twenty-one countries and fifty-eight cities. We are on a very tight budget so I’m always things of different travel hacks with kids that I can use.
A goody two shoes travel friend of mine – whose name I will refrain from mentioning – once told me “when my kids got over the ages of 12 and 14 I had to start booking two rooms whenever we travelled as a family.”
Bahh.
This travel hack concerns paying for only one hotel room. And then cramming the whole family into it. It also requires you to tell a white lie.
When we first started travelling around the world as a family – before my kids realised that their mother was a pathological money grabbing liar, they would walk into a hotel room, look at the double bed and the pull out sofa and say:
“Why can’t we be like our friends? When they go on holiday with their parents they have adjoining rooms, why can’t we do that?”
Phhff to that, I say.
Here’s what we do. Actually, that’s a lie. Here’s what I do. My husband has no part in this scam. He is an honest and kind man. I am the one who will do anything to save money and prolong going back home to New Zealand.
First, let me say we love to couchsurf. Couchsurfing as a family has to be the number one hack that anyone travelling with kids needs to know about. It’s amazing and I love it. My kids hate it, but I love it, so we do it. Simple as that. But for those family travellers who just can’t face knocking on a strangers door and sleeping on their couch read on.
I have booked tons of hotel rooms all over the world including America, Southeast Asia, Japan, Europe and the UK. I almost always use booking.com
Here’s what I do.
I type in the family room that I want. The computer gets suspicious and nosy at this point and asks: ‘number of kids?’. God help you if you have three kids, there is only ever two columns.
‘Two’, I say. No fibbing here. All honest and upfront so far.
‘Kids ages at time of stay’ the computer demands to know. Desperate to get more money out of me. Here, I use the little drag and click the bar to pull up the kid’s ages.
My kids are 17 and 14. And they’re pretty big for their ages. In fact, my son’s feet grow at approximately one inch an hour. Especially when I feed him.
So I put their ages at 10 and 12. What’re a few numbers between birthdays I say.
When the day comes to check into the hotel, off we go. Me, my husband and our two humungous teenagers who are supposed to be 10 and 12. Looking like something out of Jack and the Beanstalk.
If it looks as though the receptionist on duty is a jobsworth kind of person or maybe even the owner, I tell the kids to either hide in the toilet or else to crouch down in front of the reception desk. Bringing their noses level to the counter.
Seriously. I’m not kidding here. I do.
We found, especially in Europe, if kids are over a certain age the hotel won’t let them sleep in the same room as you.
At first, my son thought it was a good laugh, but now, ten months later he refuses to play the crouch down and walk like a small adult with broken legs game; instead he stands in the corner of the reception area and hides behind his phone, shaking his head and twitching his foot aggressively. Threatening to explode with embarrassment.
I have to say, I think this travel hack may be nearing its end.
But what would you do? Come on people. Be honest. If you’re travelling on a budget what would you do?
If I say the kids are only 10 and 12 it means we can all go in the same room, no questions asked. Yes, it means we have to share, yes it means we have to live with the insults that my daughter throws at us for snoring in perfect orchestration, but I don’t care.
We only have to pay for one room.
Let’s look at the choices.
Don’t look at my teenage son. He’s always complaining that the air conditioning is faulty. This was us in Thailand after using the family travel hack.
Two rooms. The kids get to lay spread eagle in the luxury of there own space, wet towels thrown carelessly on the floor, plasma tv screen burnt out within twenty-four hours of continuous use, happy in their own big fat mess.
But. Double the money.
Or.
One room. Kids scrunched up in the corner arguing, me marching around the tiny space collecting wet towels and throwing them into a heap in the corner, Brian complaining that there aren’t enough plug sockets to charge the millions of devices we travel with and everyone continuously arguing about who gets to sleep under the fan.
Yet. Half the cost.
Exactly. I knew you’d agree with me once I’d explained it so nicely.
How we saved ten grand on accommodation in Europe
5 Fears you seriously need to ignore when travelling with kids
How to travel with kids and stay sane until wine o’clock
Travelling the world for a year with kids. The effects. A PODCAST
I hope you liked that secret travel hack with kids! Let me know your favourite money saving hack – I’m always open to ideas?! Happy travels X
Over the years I have discovered some valuable airport hacks that make traveling by plane all the more pleasurable. Even on a budget.
If you are a skinflint like me, then you will like this post.
Although I can’t advise you on how to get into VIP lounges or receive upgrades – I’m currently backpacking the world with my husband and two teenagers, airline staff value their jobs, there’s no way on God’s earth they would ever risk putting us lot up into first class.
Not with the way my son’s feet smell. (more…)
Finding the best travel pants for long flights is by no means easy. Depending on the climate and the kind of holiday you are taking, you will want to look your best at all times but, more importantly, be comfortable.
Below you will find a range of travel pants for every occasion. Whether you are flying out to laze on a beach in the hot weather, or are taking a sophisticated city break, we are confident that you will enjoy our hand-picked selection of best travel pants for women. (more…)
You cannot visit Japan and do what every other tourist does. You just can’t. It’s against the law and I won’t let you. If you are looking for things to do in Japan, have a sense of adventure, don’t mind heights and want to experience a slightly different Japan then ‘Hello’.
Let’s be friends.
Travelling in Europe is not cheap. I know. We recently spent four months backpacking around the continent with our two teenage kids as part of our year-long escaping from normal life world adventure. After coming from Asia it was a bit of a shocker on the old budget. That’s why I’m so glad we spent a chunk of our time house-sitting.
It saved us a fortune, the kids got to relax and slow down and we got to drink delicious wine from the terraces of beautiful properties. Win, win.
I’m Liz, a lifestyle and travel blogger and this is my family. 2019 Update! Last year we finally did what we had talked about for sixteen years.
We took our two kids (teenagers) and backpacked around the world with them.
It was wonderful.
We slept on strangers couches, visited places that I’d only ever dreamed of, ate lots of noodles in Japan and argued about how much time the kids were spending on their phones.
We returned home to New Zealand in 2019 and decided that we would do everything in our power to live differently and to show others that whatever your dream you can make it a reality.
We have set out to create a lifestyle that will enable us to become location independent (as much as you can be when you own 5 sheep, a dog and a cat that is apparently going to live forever) so that we can continue to travel to far-reaching places around the world and pay for my son’s wifi.
We want YOU to be part of that journey. This ISN’T a blog with beautifully filtered Instagram stories, perfect parents and adorable kids.
No. This is real life. Brats and all.
That means me telling you that although your bits might wobble while you run to catch a train in Sri Lanka, who cares?! You are there! Living your dream!
And anyway, don’t worry…I sell baggy pants in my shop – they hide a multitude of sins.
Go to our start here page to find out more about us and I do hope you will join me on this quest for living outside of the box.
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