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Sep 30, 2015    |       17 comments

The Cost of Travel

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We are in GA visiting my parents (who met us here from TX) for a long weekend.  It is a weekend that I’ve dreaded and greatly anticipated for months now. I had budget $250 for the trip, but in reality it will really only be $100 to cover the gas to get here and home.  So that’s good.

We got a really sad piece of news upon our arrival.  The decision has been made to sell the lakehouse (shared family vacation home owned by my dad and his two siblings jointly, inherited from my grandparents.)  I guess I had in the back of my mind that in April when we leave our tiny space, we could come here for a bit and kind of use it as a base for some travel if we don’t find housing immediately and if I’m still not sure where we will settle.  (Keeping myself open to any possibility.)

And with that news, my fingers have been busy researching travel with family, pets, last minute flights to anywhere, etc.  And I’m curious to know if any readers here have ever traveled for any length of time.  My thought is that by that time my monthly commitment (since rent, utilities will cease to exist) will be quite low.

So I’ve started looking at different ideas:

  • Camping
  • Living in a 3rd world country (met a family this year who spent a year in Panama living on a farm so their kids could learn Spanish, how cool is that?  And they have 10 kids!)
  • Using sites like AirBNB, Kayak and other economic, out of the box travel sites.
  • Just getting in the car and going with no set plan or destination

I don’t really know.  I like the idea of taking a break from “real” life these days and especially right now as I am wrapped in the many mixed emotions I deal with being around my parents.  Obviously there is alot of time before anything will be settled and even more so, there are tons of details I would have to address to make any of this happen.

But I’m just wondering, has anyone ever traveled for a few weeks/months and what was your experience?  I’ve found some families who do this and blog about it so I’m checking there too.  Do you have any blogs like that you follow or recommend?

This is in no way shape or form a plan for the future, just me exploring options and being prepared for whatever opportunities may present themselves.

Sep 30, 2015    |       9 comments

Frugal Holiday Ideas

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I’m starting to think about the upcoming holidays. Last year we went out for our holiday meals due to our tiny kitchen and lack of dining table.  We are in the same predicament this year, but I’d really like the holidays to be more special somehow.

Here are the ideas I’ve come up with so far:

  1. Find a soup kitchen to serve and eat in for the holiday day itself.  *I’d really like to do this, but it must be somewhere we can all work which I haven’t had luck with in the past.
  2. Find a place to rent and have a kind of “displaced” family potluck inviting everyone we know, focusing on single moms, seniors, singles etc.  Might be able to tie it to some sort of fundraiser or food bank collection.  Make it an event which I think would be good for me emotionally but might also bless others.
  3. Take the kids to a hotel with a pool and just have a bunch of junk food.
  4. Do a fancy feast somewhere, dress up…

I don’t know, but I figure I should plan something now to budget and get something lined up.

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