I recently found this link on a message board (MMM), about Americans and dining out:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-26/first-time-americans-spend-more-eating-out-food-home
The graph shows that for the first time, Americans are spending more eating out than on groceries. This doesn't surprise me at all.
I'll demonstrate:
I just got back from a week of vacation in Colorado. We were in 2 hotels in 2 different cities.
- We got free breakfast at the hotel every morning.
- We had a mini-fridge in one hotel, and an efficiency kitchen at the other, so we had fruit, veg, and sandwich makings.
- We ate out 1 meal/ day or fewer.
- So meals out: 1. takeout pizza dinner. 2. food truck Middle eastern sit-down lunch. 3. Dinner out tacos/ burgers (only thing cheaper was the pizza) 4. Dinner out pizza with friends. 5. Very late lunch at a bistro. 6. Ice cream. 7. Burgers on the drive home from the airport
- Meals in: lunches: 6. Dinners: 4 (there were 2 days we didn't eat out at all, had sandwiches for lunch and met our child-free friends at a park for a potluck so the kids could play).
So: 8 days. 6.5 meals out (ice cream is more of a snack), 10 meals "in" (groceries) and 7 meals free (breakfast)
Cost for 6.5 meals out: $292 = $45 each
Cost for 10 meals in: $100 = $10 each
That's more than 4x the cost to eat out than to eat something in the hotel room. It doesn't take very many meals out for the cost of eating out to surpass the cost of groceries.
Total cost for the week for food: $400
The question is: what percentage of meals are "out"?
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Thursday, August 3, 2017
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Vacation Post
This is just going to be a short compilation of our quick spring break (quick, because the kids were sick so much this weekend we had to only go for 1/2 week. Not enough vacation time left.)
What did we do: Went to the snow
How did we save money:
- Winter gear - we have some from forever ago. Bought the kids new boots ($20/each). Which will probably never be worn again. Will donate.
- Lodging - got sticker shock looking at Mammoth Mountain ($1280/ four nights, 1 BR condo, cheapest I could find.) Googled, opted to go a little north to sleepy town of June Lake. ($672/ four nights, 2 bedroom cabin duplex.) Reverse Creek Lodge. We really enjoyed this place.
- Food - took food and grocery shopped. By far, the cheapest food was what we brought with us - mac and cheese, raw veggies, bagels, cheese & salami. Next cheapest was shopping at the Vons in Mammoth (do NOT go at 6 pm on a Saturday!!) But most of my shopping is NOT done in large stores, because they don't have the best deals. Finally, when really out of something - the June Lake general store. $5.49 for a loaf of bread, whee!! But we needed to eat. And they were really nice.
Approximate cost for food for the four days: $90. Seems like a lot, but less than eating out for sure. Plus way less pain and suffering than eating out with a four year old.
- Entertainment. June Lake has a ski spot, which is much less populated and much smaller, and more family friendly than the southern neighbor, Mammoth. It was also < 1 mile from the cabin. It's also quite a bit cheaper - kids 12 and under ski for free. And...we saved even MORE money by...not skiing at all. People who ski regularly probably: 1. have their own gear. 2. Know how to get cheaper lift tickets on-line, or at Costco. People like us, not so much.
We priced out skiing for 1 day at June Lake, and it looked like it would be approximately $600. That's rental and lift ticket for hubby (who actually knows how to ski), rentals and lessons for the kids, and a lesson for me, who last went skiing in 1998. The cost to do the same at Mammoth would have been quite a bit more expensive, at least $200. We thought about it, but the June Lake website went down the night we were thinking about booking, so that sealed it.
I realize that I'm not too old to learn a new skill. But...do I want to? I mean, in the best of times, skiing is like golf - expensive. And I live at the beach. If I want to learn a new skill, shouldn't it be something like stand up paddle boarding, or rock climbing? Something that doesn't require a 5 hour drive to accomplish? Maybe if we go some day where we would ski for more than one day, it would be more worth it. Cheaper cost per day.
In any event, the area is surrounded by the Inyo National Forest. Our cabins had sleds that you could borrow. The owners of the lodge directed us to a nice little spot with lots of places to sled. And no snowmobilers! So, our days went like this:
1. Wake up. For me, that usually meant "wake up on the couch". Because the upstairs was HOT. I would wake up at midnight sweating, and move downstairs where it was cooler. I usually woke at 5:45 or 6. Kid #1 woke up at the same time. Kid #2 always ended up moving from his twin bed in the kid room to the king bed in the parent room. So daddy and Kid #2 woke up at 7, and not always well rested.
2. Drink coffee (instant, because we had it).
3. Make and eat breakfast - bagels, eggs, toast with nutella, toast with almond butter and bananas.
4. Go for a hike. There was a snow-filled hill behind the cabin area. We climbed it, including some rock climbing. At the top, we wandered through another cabin's yard (more than 50% of the homes here are second homes, usually only inhabited in the summer). This got us to a road, and we wandered down some streets back to the cabin. The hike usually took an hour, was about 0.75 miles (you know, hiking with a 4 year old) - and involved a LOT of snowball fights.
5. Watch TV, make and eat lunch - sandwiches and raw veggies, or grilled cheese and soup.
6. Do the dishes. Go sledding (which involved a drive). We sledded for an hour in the afternoon - more snowball fights, made a snowman one day.
7. Go back to the cabin. Warm up, have cocoa, make and eat dinner, watch more TV, maybe play a game, read. Bed at 9.
Pics below!
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Road Tripping and Plane Tripping and thoughts on Country Life
Oh my poor little neglected blog. How life gets in the way. These days, I still love to read a few blogs, and follow some bloggers on IG, but aside from that, I'm just living life.
What makes me want to come back today and write? A little time, and some inspiration. This year we opted to head to the east coast again to visit family. It was to be only a week in upstate NY. Birthdays, graduation, fun time swimming in the lake, family time. Indeed, we all had fun and it was go go go. I indulged in a stop at a farmstand, where I kept my purchases to salsa and strawberries.
On the way home, there was a detour - with my first solo road trip since the 1990s. (Does a 6 hour drive count as a road trip, if it takes 8.5 hours?) It was a beautiful trip, rolling green hills abounded through southern NY state, and then lots of forest in my home state of PA. I even got to stop and have coffee with a high school friend, whom I hadn't seen in -ahem- 28 years. Her son was there too, and he was excited to tell me about Minecraft. (What is it with kids and Minecraft? My boys are the same.)
The detour was just for me though - my stepfather was having a difficult recovery from surgery. I thought "why not?" I have the money, I had my computer so that I could work from wherever, and my husband was completely willing to head home with the little guy on his own (big boy was staying with cousins for another 1.5 weeks). Working "from anywhere" is easier without the little ones. I didn't turn the computer on once in NY.
Part of his recovery requires him to take short walks during the day. For him, this means feeding and watering the critters (literally, the chipmunks, bunnies, and squirrels). And from there, surveying the yard, fruit trees, and garden. Do you see where I am going?
I grew up here, just a few miles down the road. We had a garden, and a large yard. We canned during the summer. We picked apples from the tree in the back. We picked strawberries at a local farm. We wandered through the woods and fields to find fields and fields of tiny, wild blueberries. Every year we picked for hours until we were tired, and still only got enough for one pie and a few handfuls.
But I left all that. College, military, jobs out in sunny California. My land is 1/12 of an acre. Most of it house, parking, and driveway. We have "gardened" - a tangerine tree, a few tomato plants. At one point, we had two 3x3 square foot garden plots, until the gophers got them. The weather is fantastic, the rain - not so much (literally). I have friends who garden, but I don't. Why is that? Time I suppose. A full time job, two children, activities - it doesn't leave much time.
As I wandered today, my mind was racing with thoughts. Jams or smoothies from the wild raspberries or blackberries (too soon to tell which), growing along the path - former "rail", now "trail". The blueberries growing along side the property. The six different apple trees, of different types (apple sauce, apple pie, apple butter...) The grapes (wine?) The garden plot itself is actually small this year. Corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins. Rarely has my mind had such time to wander. I guess because I have time. A little walking (to the post office, or with my sister). Cooking and dishes. Work. The occasional nap.
Occasionally I think about hanging it up and moving. Back to the North East, where houses and life is cheaper. Upstate NY, PA. The ability to have a garden and relax a bit. But then winter hits, or the humidity and mosquitoes of the summer hit. It seems like a great idea, but in many ways I've become a California girl. The lifestyle, the fitness, the food, the politics. It's so much harder in this area of the country. It's not that you cannot live a fit and healthy life. Many people do. But it's not the norm. So you are swimming upstream. It makes me appreciate so much more my friends who manage it. The ones who do crossfit, or the ones who do races and 1/2 Ironman Triathlons.
It's hard here though. Small town life is hard life. The jobs are scarce. The towns are shrinking. The schools are broke (just like in CA). Meth is becoming a big problem, on top of the alcohol and smoking problems that have been around for ages. When I come home, I feel like I straddle two worlds. In my home town, I don't belong anymore. I'm a CA girl now. But in CA, sometimes I feel like I'm faking it. I'm still that poor country girl in many many ways.
One of the funniest parts of the trip this far is about a cantaloupe. My stepfather's sister brought him groceries (he cannot drive after the surgery). I cut it up when I came. It's delicious. Every person who has come by (my sister, my aunt) has asked "where did you get it? I haven't been able to get a good one." Finally we asked the sis, and she said "the farmstand at the corner of route X and route Y". Of course, a farm stand!
It makes me appreciate my CSA and farm delivery box that much more. On the trip out, I'd packed a fresh cucumber/ tomato salad (the first tomato of the season). It was glorious! And the woman next to me on the plane was jealous. On the drive down, my lunch was carrots and peppers and hummus (and KIND bar).
Well, I have a couple more days here. Despite the garden, it's still early in the season. My vegetables are from Walmart, my beer from Latrobe (when in Rome...)
What makes me want to come back today and write? A little time, and some inspiration. This year we opted to head to the east coast again to visit family. It was to be only a week in upstate NY. Birthdays, graduation, fun time swimming in the lake, family time. Indeed, we all had fun and it was go go go. I indulged in a stop at a farmstand, where I kept my purchases to salsa and strawberries.
On the way home, there was a detour - with my first solo road trip since the 1990s. (Does a 6 hour drive count as a road trip, if it takes 8.5 hours?) It was a beautiful trip, rolling green hills abounded through southern NY state, and then lots of forest in my home state of PA. I even got to stop and have coffee with a high school friend, whom I hadn't seen in -ahem- 28 years. Her son was there too, and he was excited to tell me about Minecraft. (What is it with kids and Minecraft? My boys are the same.)
The detour was just for me though - my stepfather was having a difficult recovery from surgery. I thought "why not?" I have the money, I had my computer so that I could work from wherever, and my husband was completely willing to head home with the little guy on his own (big boy was staying with cousins for another 1.5 weeks). Working "from anywhere" is easier without the little ones. I didn't turn the computer on once in NY.
Part of his recovery requires him to take short walks during the day. For him, this means feeding and watering the critters (literally, the chipmunks, bunnies, and squirrels). And from there, surveying the yard, fruit trees, and garden. Do you see where I am going?
I grew up here, just a few miles down the road. We had a garden, and a large yard. We canned during the summer. We picked apples from the tree in the back. We picked strawberries at a local farm. We wandered through the woods and fields to find fields and fields of tiny, wild blueberries. Every year we picked for hours until we were tired, and still only got enough for one pie and a few handfuls.
But I left all that. College, military, jobs out in sunny California. My land is 1/12 of an acre. Most of it house, parking, and driveway. We have "gardened" - a tangerine tree, a few tomato plants. At one point, we had two 3x3 square foot garden plots, until the gophers got them. The weather is fantastic, the rain - not so much (literally). I have friends who garden, but I don't. Why is that? Time I suppose. A full time job, two children, activities - it doesn't leave much time.
As I wandered today, my mind was racing with thoughts. Jams or smoothies from the wild raspberries or blackberries (too soon to tell which), growing along the path - former "rail", now "trail". The blueberries growing along side the property. The six different apple trees, of different types (apple sauce, apple pie, apple butter...) The grapes (wine?) The garden plot itself is actually small this year. Corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins. Rarely has my mind had such time to wander. I guess because I have time. A little walking (to the post office, or with my sister). Cooking and dishes. Work. The occasional nap.
The trail to the post office (0.6 miles away)
Occasionally I think about hanging it up and moving. Back to the North East, where houses and life is cheaper. Upstate NY, PA. The ability to have a garden and relax a bit. But then winter hits, or the humidity and mosquitoes of the summer hit. It seems like a great idea, but in many ways I've become a California girl. The lifestyle, the fitness, the food, the politics. It's so much harder in this area of the country. It's not that you cannot live a fit and healthy life. Many people do. But it's not the norm. So you are swimming upstream. It makes me appreciate so much more my friends who manage it. The ones who do crossfit, or the ones who do races and 1/2 Ironman Triathlons.
It's hard here though. Small town life is hard life. The jobs are scarce. The towns are shrinking. The schools are broke (just like in CA). Meth is becoming a big problem, on top of the alcohol and smoking problems that have been around for ages. When I come home, I feel like I straddle two worlds. In my home town, I don't belong anymore. I'm a CA girl now. But in CA, sometimes I feel like I'm faking it. I'm still that poor country girl in many many ways.
One of the funniest parts of the trip this far is about a cantaloupe. My stepfather's sister brought him groceries (he cannot drive after the surgery). I cut it up when I came. It's delicious. Every person who has come by (my sister, my aunt) has asked "where did you get it? I haven't been able to get a good one." Finally we asked the sis, and she said "the farmstand at the corner of route X and route Y". Of course, a farm stand!
It makes me appreciate my CSA and farm delivery box that much more. On the trip out, I'd packed a fresh cucumber/ tomato salad (the first tomato of the season). It was glorious! And the woman next to me on the plane was jealous. On the drive down, my lunch was carrots and peppers and hummus (and KIND bar).
Well, I have a couple more days here. Despite the garden, it's still early in the season. My vegetables are from Walmart, my beer from Latrobe (when in Rome...)
Wild berries along the trail
Elderberries
More wild berries along the forest edge
Cucumbers
Here's one almost ready to pick!
Corn!
Early girl tomatoes
Blueberries
Grapes
Flowers
Apples
Monday, April 4, 2016
On Traveling with Children
So I'm on vacation and I have time to think and relax and think some more. So I was thinking today about traveling, and about how traveling with children is different than traveling alone.
Now, you will always find people who swear that having kids won't change their travel habits. Maybe they lie, maybe it really happens. I dunno. But I do have to say that traveling with kids is different for us. Let's examine that.
- Air travel
Shortly after we had our first child, we continued with our travel habits. We were flying to visit family 2x a year (once to each family), and once on a real vacation (like Hawaii, or New Mexico, or DC). We continued this schedule for a couple of years, so that our older son had flown 5x by the time he was 1.5.
Air travel changed for sure. Instead of a single bag and a backpack filled with a book, my iPod, a few snacks to eat - it was now filled with many more snacks, kids books, coloring items, diapers, a change of clothing for the kiddo. Traveling with a single bag was definitely more of a challenge, but was do-able when he was small.
As time went on and he got bigger, it just got more expensive. 3 trips x 2 plane tickets was now 3 trips x 3 plane tickets. We started cutting back - our trips to visit family were cut back to every other year, and we combined them together with a rental car in between. The advantage was two-fold:
1. cheaper (less airfare)
2. longer trip (2 weeks). I realized, for the first time, how much more relaxing long trips are - even with kids.
Plus, traveling with kids kinds of sucks.
- Car travel
The vast majority of our travel these days is by car. This has additional challenges:
1. My older child gets car sick. While he's never actually barfed in the car, we have to drug him. (Dramamine.)
2. My younger child has a small bladder. An 8.5 hour drive can easily take 11 hours. For this reason, we've set a limit of about 6 hours (with the exception of the trip between families, which is 8). An 11-12 hour drive is torture!
3. I'm old. Sitting is hard.
4. Driving hours are limited (time of day).
Contrast this to the "old days". Pre-kid we took a driving tour of the Southwest over 9 days, with stops in Kingman, AZ, Grand Canyon, Sedona, Santa Fe, White Sands NM, Tucson, Joshua Tree National park. Single day drives of 8-10 were not uncommon, and almost every day was packed with an activity. Camping was pretty easy - put up the tent, heat up some dinner, explore, go to sleep.
Now, some folks will recommend driving with kids overnight, or early in the morning. With our sleep schedules, we cannot do that - even if it would work for the kids. We arrived home by plane after a long bout of weather, with a 2 hour drive, and had to pay $179 for 5 hours in a hotel room to sleep. Because we didn't want to die. Overnight may work if your kids sleep in the car, and if they are the type to need to run every 1.5 hours. And if you are a night owl.
Our method is to break up longer trips into multiple days.
- Miscellaneous travel
When we visit family, we have an 8 hour trip between the two places. We often rent a car and drive. However, twice we have taken the train. The advantages:
1. We aren't driving and can nap
2. The kids can move around. They are much happier
3. It's a shorter trip (6 hours)
4. It's about the same price as renting a car
Disadvantages:
1. The train leaves at 7 am. So we have to go up the night before and stay in a hotel
Pre-kid days, we would just drive, no question.
- Camping
So, I started getting into camping when my husband was getting over it. Of course, he bears the brunt of packing it, so I understand. Pre-kid we would pop up our tent, roll out our pads and sleeping bags.
Now, we are older and have kids. We have a small car. So, in order to pack, we use a Thule box on top of the car. It has to be carefully packed (stuffed). The kids get the sleeping mats, and we have cots. Because we are old, and the ground is hard.
Setting up takes longer. Only one of us can set up (maybe with help from the older kid), and the other one (me) has to chase the toddler. Cooking is reverse - I can cook while husband chases toddler. Camping trips have to be at least 2 nights to make it worth it. But a maximum of 3, because it gets old. And then you have the difficulty in getting the kids to sleep, and my own insomnia.
- International Travel
We haven't done it with kids. Enough said
- Timing
Pre-kid, you can go when you want. This can save buckets! Spouse and I traveled to Hawaii 4 times. Maui in October and Feb. Kauai in Jan and April (or thereabouts). Some of times we just randomly decided to go one month out, and got killer deals! One Kauai trip we traveled with one of our friends - three of us got a 2 bedroom, newly renovated condo overlooking the ocean. $180 a night. (Normal price: $450/nt).
Once you are on the school schedule, be prepared to open your wallet. Hotels, air fare, gas prices - all can easily be double due to increased demand. (Just ask my aunt how hard it is to get her daughter, SIL, and grand babies over from England in summer.)
Likewise, there is "peak pricing" in places like Disneyland. Summers, weekends, and spring break simply cost more. We went to Disney 2 years ago and lucked out - our Spring Break did not coincide with most of So Cal, so the peak pricing did not take effect until the following week.
You also have to be prepared for crowds. (See Disney, above.) We were recently visiting National parks in Utah. I did my research and found that it was best to get there before 10 in order to find parking. While Bryce wasn't terribly busy (got there at 10, found parking just fine), Zion was PACKED. Zion is very close to Springdale and therefore gets more visitors. We arrived at around 9:30 and found parking pretty easily. The shuttles were running within the park, but from noon until 4 (when we left), they were standing room only. We were lucky that someone was always willing to give up a seat to whichever one of us was carrying the 3-year old.
All of the hikes had hordes of people. If your desire is to be one with nature, and avoid people - spring break is not the time to go. And spring break is about 6 weeks long, as different school
systems have different schedules.
For the record, I don't mind hordes of people while hiking.
- Activities
I have found that I simply cannot pack our days full like I did pre-kid. You know, drive 6 hours, see place A. Stay overnight. Drive 6 hours, see place B, stay overnight. You can see SO MUCH this way! I know people who do this still - they tend to have campers that don't require setup. Your home is with you!
For one thing - I prefer to cook instead of eat out. In this case, an endless string of hotels or camping will not work. See above on how much harder it is to tent camp with kids - one night stays are impractical. And cooking in a hotel is work. One night in a hotel is sometimes necessary. A string of them is a pain. You are paying $100 to $200 for only 21 hours, really. If the hotel has amenities like a pool, you probably won't get to enjoy them. If you check in too late, you cannot go. Then check out can be early morning if you want to get on the road.
For this reason, I like condos/ houses. I recently had my first experience with Air-BNB, and I really liked it. Until now, we rented condos that were vacation condos - so sort of "hotel-like". These are nice too. The issue with condos or houses is that many have a minimum stay of 2-3 days. The owner does not want to pay a cleaning fee daily, and they don't have a staff like a larger vacation condo place.
Thus, we try to stay in a particular place at least 2 days, longer if possible. Our recent Utah trip was 5 nights in Utah (plus one night hotel stay in each direction due to the long drive). With 5 nights, we could have theoretically seen four things: Bryce, Zion, Lake Powell, Grand Canyon. And then we could have swung by Death Valley on the way home.
Um, that's too much "on the go" with the kids and us. We need down time. For our five days, we checked the weather to determine our "big days" and just relaxed at home and "winged it" on the other days.
Day 1: Bryce. Not ideal after the "should have been 5.5 but was really 8 hours" drive the day before. (It's 1.5 hour drive one way.) But weather dictated it because...
Day 2: Snow. We hung out at the townhouse, played with snow, ran errands, did a little work, watched TV, hiked behind the house.
Day 3: Zion (45 minute gorgeous nail-biter drive)
Day 4: Hang out near the townhouse, and saw a close-by park (Coral Pink Sand Dunes). Start packing.
Day 5: Check out and drive to Barstow. Leave early enough to grab a quick dinner and go see a movie. Vacation is not a vacation for my husband without a movie.
Have your vacation methods changed with time or with kids?
Now, you will always find people who swear that having kids won't change their travel habits. Maybe they lie, maybe it really happens. I dunno. But I do have to say that traveling with kids is different for us. Let's examine that.
- Air travel
Shortly after we had our first child, we continued with our travel habits. We were flying to visit family 2x a year (once to each family), and once on a real vacation (like Hawaii, or New Mexico, or DC). We continued this schedule for a couple of years, so that our older son had flown 5x by the time he was 1.5.
Air travel changed for sure. Instead of a single bag and a backpack filled with a book, my iPod, a few snacks to eat - it was now filled with many more snacks, kids books, coloring items, diapers, a change of clothing for the kiddo. Traveling with a single bag was definitely more of a challenge, but was do-able when he was small.
As time went on and he got bigger, it just got more expensive. 3 trips x 2 plane tickets was now 3 trips x 3 plane tickets. We started cutting back - our trips to visit family were cut back to every other year, and we combined them together with a rental car in between. The advantage was two-fold:
1. cheaper (less airfare)
2. longer trip (2 weeks). I realized, for the first time, how much more relaxing long trips are - even with kids.
Plus, traveling with kids kinds of sucks.
- Car travel
The vast majority of our travel these days is by car. This has additional challenges:
1. My older child gets car sick. While he's never actually barfed in the car, we have to drug him. (Dramamine.)
2. My younger child has a small bladder. An 8.5 hour drive can easily take 11 hours. For this reason, we've set a limit of about 6 hours (with the exception of the trip between families, which is 8). An 11-12 hour drive is torture!
3. I'm old. Sitting is hard.
4. Driving hours are limited (time of day).
Contrast this to the "old days". Pre-kid we took a driving tour of the Southwest over 9 days, with stops in Kingman, AZ, Grand Canyon, Sedona, Santa Fe, White Sands NM, Tucson, Joshua Tree National park. Single day drives of 8-10 were not uncommon, and almost every day was packed with an activity. Camping was pretty easy - put up the tent, heat up some dinner, explore, go to sleep.
Now, some folks will recommend driving with kids overnight, or early in the morning. With our sleep schedules, we cannot do that - even if it would work for the kids. We arrived home by plane after a long bout of weather, with a 2 hour drive, and had to pay $179 for 5 hours in a hotel room to sleep. Because we didn't want to die. Overnight may work if your kids sleep in the car, and if they are the type to need to run every 1.5 hours. And if you are a night owl.
Our method is to break up longer trips into multiple days.
- Miscellaneous travel
When we visit family, we have an 8 hour trip between the two places. We often rent a car and drive. However, twice we have taken the train. The advantages:
1. We aren't driving and can nap
2. The kids can move around. They are much happier
3. It's a shorter trip (6 hours)
4. It's about the same price as renting a car
Disadvantages:
1. The train leaves at 7 am. So we have to go up the night before and stay in a hotel
Pre-kid days, we would just drive, no question.
- Camping
So, I started getting into camping when my husband was getting over it. Of course, he bears the brunt of packing it, so I understand. Pre-kid we would pop up our tent, roll out our pads and sleeping bags.
Now, we are older and have kids. We have a small car. So, in order to pack, we use a Thule box on top of the car. It has to be carefully packed (stuffed). The kids get the sleeping mats, and we have cots. Because we are old, and the ground is hard.
Setting up takes longer. Only one of us can set up (maybe with help from the older kid), and the other one (me) has to chase the toddler. Cooking is reverse - I can cook while husband chases toddler. Camping trips have to be at least 2 nights to make it worth it. But a maximum of 3, because it gets old. And then you have the difficulty in getting the kids to sleep, and my own insomnia.
- International Travel
We haven't done it with kids. Enough said
- Timing
Pre-kid, you can go when you want. This can save buckets! Spouse and I traveled to Hawaii 4 times. Maui in October and Feb. Kauai in Jan and April (or thereabouts). Some of times we just randomly decided to go one month out, and got killer deals! One Kauai trip we traveled with one of our friends - three of us got a 2 bedroom, newly renovated condo overlooking the ocean. $180 a night. (Normal price: $450/nt).
Once you are on the school schedule, be prepared to open your wallet. Hotels, air fare, gas prices - all can easily be double due to increased demand. (Just ask my aunt how hard it is to get her daughter, SIL, and grand babies over from England in summer.)
Likewise, there is "peak pricing" in places like Disneyland. Summers, weekends, and spring break simply cost more. We went to Disney 2 years ago and lucked out - our Spring Break did not coincide with most of So Cal, so the peak pricing did not take effect until the following week.
You also have to be prepared for crowds. (See Disney, above.) We were recently visiting National parks in Utah. I did my research and found that it was best to get there before 10 in order to find parking. While Bryce wasn't terribly busy (got there at 10, found parking just fine), Zion was PACKED. Zion is very close to Springdale and therefore gets more visitors. We arrived at around 9:30 and found parking pretty easily. The shuttles were running within the park, but from noon until 4 (when we left), they were standing room only. We were lucky that someone was always willing to give up a seat to whichever one of us was carrying the 3-year old.
All of the hikes had hordes of people. If your desire is to be one with nature, and avoid people - spring break is not the time to go. And spring break is about 6 weeks long, as different school
systems have different schedules.
For the record, I don't mind hordes of people while hiking.
- Activities
I have found that I simply cannot pack our days full like I did pre-kid. You know, drive 6 hours, see place A. Stay overnight. Drive 6 hours, see place B, stay overnight. You can see SO MUCH this way! I know people who do this still - they tend to have campers that don't require setup. Your home is with you!
For one thing - I prefer to cook instead of eat out. In this case, an endless string of hotels or camping will not work. See above on how much harder it is to tent camp with kids - one night stays are impractical. And cooking in a hotel is work. One night in a hotel is sometimes necessary. A string of them is a pain. You are paying $100 to $200 for only 21 hours, really. If the hotel has amenities like a pool, you probably won't get to enjoy them. If you check in too late, you cannot go. Then check out can be early morning if you want to get on the road.
For this reason, I like condos/ houses. I recently had my first experience with Air-BNB, and I really liked it. Until now, we rented condos that were vacation condos - so sort of "hotel-like". These are nice too. The issue with condos or houses is that many have a minimum stay of 2-3 days. The owner does not want to pay a cleaning fee daily, and they don't have a staff like a larger vacation condo place.
Thus, we try to stay in a particular place at least 2 days, longer if possible. Our recent Utah trip was 5 nights in Utah (plus one night hotel stay in each direction due to the long drive). With 5 nights, we could have theoretically seen four things: Bryce, Zion, Lake Powell, Grand Canyon. And then we could have swung by Death Valley on the way home.
Um, that's too much "on the go" with the kids and us. We need down time. For our five days, we checked the weather to determine our "big days" and just relaxed at home and "winged it" on the other days.
Day 1: Bryce. Not ideal after the "should have been 5.5 but was really 8 hours" drive the day before. (It's 1.5 hour drive one way.) But weather dictated it because...
Day 2: Snow. We hung out at the townhouse, played with snow, ran errands, did a little work, watched TV, hiked behind the house.
Day 3: Zion (45 minute gorgeous nail-biter drive)
Day 4: Hang out near the townhouse, and saw a close-by park (Coral Pink Sand Dunes). Start packing.
Day 5: Check out and drive to Barstow. Leave early enough to grab a quick dinner and go see a movie. Vacation is not a vacation for my husband without a movie.
Have your vacation methods changed with time or with kids?
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Vacation Eats - and What Budget?
A sticking point for me while on vacation, is how to maintain my grocery budget. Inevitably, it's more expensive to eat on vacation. Why is that?
- If you are camping, then you generally are purchasing more "shelf stable" foods like canned chili, oatmeal packages, etc. Or at least, I do. Because otherwise, you have to pack ALLL your own food, pre-made. I know some people can do this, but our car + Thule box barely fits our camping gear.
- If you are on a driving vacation, then food planning stems around things that are easy to eat on the run and can be eaten cold. For us, this means sandwiches, veggies and hummus, string cheese, apples, instead of salads or stir-fries.
- If you are flying, then your food choices are limited even more, though my niece over at Mrs. Petri Dish travels with all her food pre-frozen. That becomes a lot more difficult when you have a family of four.
- If you are staying at hotels, then cooking options are limited to: nothing, or microwave/fridge, or whatever you brought with you (hot pot?) I have been known to feed my family noodle bowls where we heated the water in the hot pot. With raw veggies. I have to tell you, while the resort on the Big Island of Hawaii was fabulous, that was the world's smallest refrigerator. And cooking for three in a hotel room is hard, and expensive.
- If you are staying at a house/ condo/ Air-BnB, then you might lack staples. Some of them may have coffee filters, cooking oil, ketchup. Some will not. There's a bit of a start up cost.
I almost always aim to stay at a condo or house for any vacation longer than 2 days. Eating out is expensive, not healthy, and a PITA with a toddler who cannot sit still.
This means that you will likely be grocery shopping wherever you are staying. In a resort town, prices are more expensive. You also cannot take advantage of bulk buying.
Which brings me to the question: do you count grocery stops on vacation as vacation budget or grocery budget??
On our recent/ current vacation to the beautiful state of Utah - here's a sample of our eats for the week:
Day 1: travel. We ate dinner at home and drove 3 hours to the wonderful town of Victorville, CA. Sadly, we booked the hotel too fast and didn't realize that it didn't come with breakfast (a must with our family). The purpose of traveling a bit the first day is to break up the 8.5 hour drive. Honestly, with a toddler's small bladder, the 8.5 drive would take 11. That's too long.
Also sadly, there's no place "half way". Victorville is 3 hours from home and 5.5 from Utah. Las Vegas is 5.5 hours from home and 3 hours from Utah.
Speaking of small bladders, we stopped at McD's to pee and for fries and burgers. Because my 10 year old needed a second dinner.
Day 2: travel day from hell. I mean, just a long day. This was Easter. We ate bagels and smoothies in the hotel room (see: no free breakfast). We headed out at 10 am and probably didn't get in until 5:30 pm. In lieu of lunch, we snacked in the car - veggies, fruit, cheese, chips. We stopped at a Walmart and got mac and cheese for that 10 year old with the hollow leg (and some hummus).
Dinner was stuff that we brought, figuring that grocery stores in a small town in Utah would not be open (we were right). We had Madras lentils, chicken tikka masala with rice (from TJs), and sliced cucumbers. And chips and guacamole.
Day 3: Bryce Canyon national park:
Breakfast: bagels and eggs
Lunch/snacks: apples, veggies and hummus, string cheese, sandwiches, water, granola bars
Dinner: rotisserie chicken and stir-fried asparagus
Day 4: Errands, hanging our near the townhome:
Breakfast: bagels and eggs and smoothies
Lunch: Sandwiches, hummus and veggies, salami
Dinner: leftover chicken and stir-fried broccoli
- but then the 10 year old kept eating...apple, eggs, chips...
Day 5: Zion national park
Breakfast: bagels and smoothies
Lunch/snacks: Sandwiches, hummus and veggies, apples, chips, granola bars
Pre-dinner, we hiked a lot snack: yogurt
Dinner: pizza and stir-fried zucchini (Bought 2 "take and bake" pizzas. Had to slice them in half to fit on the baking pans. Ice cream for dessert!
Day 6: Coral Sand Dunes state park:
Breakfast: scrambled eggs with leftover broccoli and zucchini and cheese, bagels, apple
Snack: yogurt and smoothies
Future plans:
Lunch: Lunch out, veggies and hummus
Dinner: Leftover pizza, leftover broccoli and zucchini
Day 7: Long travel day
Breakfast: cinnamon rolls, smoothies
Lunch: sandwiches, veggies, apples (on the road)
Dinner: In-n-out in Barstow
Day 8: short travel day
Breakfast: at the hotel (free! Didn't make that mistake again)
Lunch: ??
Dinner: HOME!!!
- If you are camping, then you generally are purchasing more "shelf stable" foods like canned chili, oatmeal packages, etc. Or at least, I do. Because otherwise, you have to pack ALLL your own food, pre-made. I know some people can do this, but our car + Thule box barely fits our camping gear.
- If you are on a driving vacation, then food planning stems around things that are easy to eat on the run and can be eaten cold. For us, this means sandwiches, veggies and hummus, string cheese, apples, instead of salads or stir-fries.
- If you are flying, then your food choices are limited even more, though my niece over at Mrs. Petri Dish travels with all her food pre-frozen. That becomes a lot more difficult when you have a family of four.
- If you are staying at hotels, then cooking options are limited to: nothing, or microwave/fridge, or whatever you brought with you (hot pot?) I have been known to feed my family noodle bowls where we heated the water in the hot pot. With raw veggies. I have to tell you, while the resort on the Big Island of Hawaii was fabulous, that was the world's smallest refrigerator. And cooking for three in a hotel room is hard, and expensive.
- If you are staying at a house/ condo/ Air-BnB, then you might lack staples. Some of them may have coffee filters, cooking oil, ketchup. Some will not. There's a bit of a start up cost.
I almost always aim to stay at a condo or house for any vacation longer than 2 days. Eating out is expensive, not healthy, and a PITA with a toddler who cannot sit still.
This means that you will likely be grocery shopping wherever you are staying. In a resort town, prices are more expensive. You also cannot take advantage of bulk buying.
Which brings me to the question: do you count grocery stops on vacation as vacation budget or grocery budget??
On our recent/ current vacation to the beautiful state of Utah - here's a sample of our eats for the week:
Day 1: travel. We ate dinner at home and drove 3 hours to the wonderful town of Victorville, CA. Sadly, we booked the hotel too fast and didn't realize that it didn't come with breakfast (a must with our family). The purpose of traveling a bit the first day is to break up the 8.5 hour drive. Honestly, with a toddler's small bladder, the 8.5 drive would take 11. That's too long.
Also sadly, there's no place "half way". Victorville is 3 hours from home and 5.5 from Utah. Las Vegas is 5.5 hours from home and 3 hours from Utah.
Speaking of small bladders, we stopped at McD's to pee and for fries and burgers. Because my 10 year old needed a second dinner.
Day 2: travel day from hell. I mean, just a long day. This was Easter. We ate bagels and smoothies in the hotel room (see: no free breakfast). We headed out at 10 am and probably didn't get in until 5:30 pm. In lieu of lunch, we snacked in the car - veggies, fruit, cheese, chips. We stopped at a Walmart and got mac and cheese for that 10 year old with the hollow leg (and some hummus).
Dinner was stuff that we brought, figuring that grocery stores in a small town in Utah would not be open (we were right). We had Madras lentils, chicken tikka masala with rice (from TJs), and sliced cucumbers. And chips and guacamole.
Day 3: Bryce Canyon national park:
Breakfast: bagels and eggs
Lunch/snacks: apples, veggies and hummus, string cheese, sandwiches, water, granola bars
Dinner: rotisserie chicken and stir-fried asparagus
Day 4: Errands, hanging our near the townhome:
Breakfast: bagels and eggs and smoothies
Lunch: Sandwiches, hummus and veggies, salami
Dinner: leftover chicken and stir-fried broccoli
- but then the 10 year old kept eating...apple, eggs, chips...
Day 5: Zion national park
Breakfast: bagels and smoothies
Lunch/snacks: Sandwiches, hummus and veggies, apples, chips, granola bars
Pre-dinner, we hiked a lot snack: yogurt
Dinner: pizza and stir-fried zucchini (Bought 2 "take and bake" pizzas. Had to slice them in half to fit on the baking pans. Ice cream for dessert!
Day 6: Coral Sand Dunes state park:
Breakfast: scrambled eggs with leftover broccoli and zucchini and cheese, bagels, apple
Snack: yogurt and smoothies
Future plans:
Lunch: Lunch out, veggies and hummus
Dinner: Leftover pizza, leftover broccoli and zucchini
Day 7: Long travel day
Breakfast: cinnamon rolls, smoothies
Lunch: sandwiches, veggies, apples (on the road)
Dinner: In-n-out in Barstow
Day 8: short travel day
Breakfast: at the hotel (free! Didn't make that mistake again)
Lunch: ??
Dinner: HOME!!!
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Road trip food! More vacation tips.
Well, I'm still kind of slowly working on the round up of "how to eat healthy" on vacation from our summer trip. Now it's time to keep going in that vein.
We recentlytraveled for a week long trip to hit some National Parks. Because 4th graders and their families get free admission all year, woo!
A week long trip has some similar issues for a longer trip.
- You really don't want to leave perishable foods in your fridge
- You really don't want to spend too much while you are out
The plan for a week long trip starts a week in advance, with: not buying too many fresh fruits and vegetables. The goal is to finish them all before you leave, and perhaps have some to pack up for the trip.
How to keep your budget low on a trip? Well, we PLANNED to stay at a condo which had a full kitchen. That's great! But there are other considerations.
First, you want to bring some foods with you. These are:
- Foods that you buy in bulk at home (which saves money): salt, pepper, spices, olive oil, butter, canned beans, PB&J. These are items that can be pricey if you just want to buy a small amount for a week-long trip. You may use it all up *eventually*, but the point is - if you already have olive oil purchased in bulk, why pay 2x as much per ounce for convenience?
- Snack foods for the car. If you are like me, you do NOT want to stop at McDonald's on the way. Sure, the hubby and kids are gonna eat there on this trip, no doubt. But I'm not. Also, the car trip is 9 hours long - aka 11 hours with kids. That means you'll need breakfast AND snacks on the road.
- Foods that are otherwise going to go bad. This is if you did not plan properly before you went. Most foods can be frozen, but not all.
Second, you want to compromise in areas that will make sense for you.
- Bottled salad dressing. I usually make my own, but for a trip I'll buy Goddess dressing. This has the double benefit of being a dip AND a dressing.
- Pre-made grocery store deli items. Think chicken fingers, or a roast chicken. Individually wrapped string cheese. Pre-cut veggies. Sure, it's more expensive than making it yourself, but cheaper than eating out. For some of these items, it makes TOTAL sense to use Google, and check out the grocery store fliers for the store nearest your vacation site. Example: I knew that asparagus was on sale here for $1.99 a pound, but is $3.99 a pound where we are headed. So, if you want asparagus, take it with you. Otherwise, eat something else!
Third, do a little bit of meal planning ahead of time.
- This trip would have involved lots of driving, 5-6 breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. So for our family, that means: smoothies, cereal, bagels for breakfast. Sandwiches and salads for lunch. Fruit for snacks. And protein and vegetables for dinner.
- Err on the low side of food. Especially camping, I tend to buy too much. You can ALWAYS hit a store if you need more. So, plan your meals, and buy/ make/ take a little less than you think you will need.
- If you are going to buy a roast chicken, or cook a big pot of pasta, do it early in the week, not the day before you come home so you don't throw a bunch of food out.
In the end - the toddler got the stomach bug right before we were supposed to leave on the trip. He was feeling better after a couple of days, so we opted to head out. We made it 6 hours into the 9 hour drive, and spent the night in Vegas, where both boys proceeded to barf. So we came back home the next day, another really fun 6 hour drive.
In the end, most of the food I prepped got tossed.
We made multiple trips to the grocery store for toast (bread), saltines, applesauce, and Gatorade.
We did not eat Thanksgiving dinner. We all ate a bit of crackers and applesauce throughout the day, and even then my 9 year old barfed it all back up.
By the time any of us felt like eating, the food was a week old, and past it's prime.
In the end it was officially the worst vacation ever!
We recently
A week long trip has some similar issues for a longer trip.
- You really don't want to leave perishable foods in your fridge
- You really don't want to spend too much while you are out
The plan for a week long trip starts a week in advance, with: not buying too many fresh fruits and vegetables. The goal is to finish them all before you leave, and perhaps have some to pack up for the trip.
How to keep your budget low on a trip? Well, we PLANNED to stay at a condo which had a full kitchen. That's great! But there are other considerations.
First, you want to bring some foods with you. These are:
- Foods that you buy in bulk at home (which saves money): salt, pepper, spices, olive oil, butter, canned beans, PB&J. These are items that can be pricey if you just want to buy a small amount for a week-long trip. You may use it all up *eventually*, but the point is - if you already have olive oil purchased in bulk, why pay 2x as much per ounce for convenience?
- Snack foods for the car. If you are like me, you do NOT want to stop at McDonald's on the way. Sure, the hubby and kids are gonna eat there on this trip, no doubt. But I'm not. Also, the car trip is 9 hours long - aka 11 hours with kids. That means you'll need breakfast AND snacks on the road.
- Foods that are otherwise going to go bad. This is if you did not plan properly before you went. Most foods can be frozen, but not all.
Second, you want to compromise in areas that will make sense for you.
- Bottled salad dressing. I usually make my own, but for a trip I'll buy Goddess dressing. This has the double benefit of being a dip AND a dressing.
- Pre-made grocery store deli items. Think chicken fingers, or a roast chicken. Individually wrapped string cheese. Pre-cut veggies. Sure, it's more expensive than making it yourself, but cheaper than eating out. For some of these items, it makes TOTAL sense to use Google, and check out the grocery store fliers for the store nearest your vacation site. Example: I knew that asparagus was on sale here for $1.99 a pound, but is $3.99 a pound where we are headed. So, if you want asparagus, take it with you. Otherwise, eat something else!
Third, do a little bit of meal planning ahead of time.
- This trip would have involved lots of driving, 5-6 breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. So for our family, that means: smoothies, cereal, bagels for breakfast. Sandwiches and salads for lunch. Fruit for snacks. And protein and vegetables for dinner.
- Err on the low side of food. Especially camping, I tend to buy too much. You can ALWAYS hit a store if you need more. So, plan your meals, and buy/ make/ take a little less than you think you will need.
- If you are going to buy a roast chicken, or cook a big pot of pasta, do it early in the week, not the day before you come home so you don't throw a bunch of food out.
In the end - the toddler got the stomach bug right before we were supposed to leave on the trip. He was feeling better after a couple of days, so we opted to head out. We made it 6 hours into the 9 hour drive, and spent the night in Vegas, where both boys proceeded to barf. So we came back home the next day, another really fun 6 hour drive.
In the end, most of the food I prepped got tossed.
We made multiple trips to the grocery store for toast (bread), saltines, applesauce, and Gatorade.
We did not eat Thanksgiving dinner. We all ate a bit of crackers and applesauce throughout the day, and even then my 9 year old barfed it all back up.
By the time any of us felt like eating, the food was a week old, and past it's prime.
In the end it was officially the worst vacation ever!
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