| The real secret to cheap family vacations is | | | | campfire. We found balloons with messages |
| to be opportunistic. When a friend offers you | | | | attached, sea shells, fossil rocks, |
| their cabin on the lake, say yes. Can you | | | | odd-shaped driftwood, pieces of styrofoam big |
| have as much fun at the cheaper, closer | | | | enough to use as rafts, and - you get the |
| amusement park? Then that's where you need to | | | | point. |
| be. Do the kids like the idea of cooking | | | | |
| dinner over a campfire? Drive right on by | | | | Camping Vacations |
| that reastaurant. Find out what everyone | | | | |
| really enjoys. It's sad to spend MORE on a | | | | If your family is willing to live in tents |
| trip for LESS enjoyment. | | | | for a few days, or if you already own an RV, |
| | | | camping is the cheapest of cheap family |
| Examples Of Cheap Family Vacations | | | | vacations. We recently stayed at Williams |
| | | | Landing in Florida for eight days. We stalked |
| In Michigan, and many other places, you can | | | | alligators, watched armadillos walk through |
| find reasonable motels on the beach. Cheaper, | | | | camp, saw a dozen other forms of wildlife, |
| and usually more scenic, are the numerous | | | | and sat around the fire trading stories with |
| campgrounds on the beaches of Lakes Michigan, | | | | new friends from England and Texas every |
| Superior, and Huron. You can find these in | | | | night. The cost, including the hot showers: |
| Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and in | | | | zero. Woodall's catalog, available at any big |
| Ontario, Canada. Below are a couple | | | | RV dealer has listings of free campgrounds. |
| beach-based vacation ideas. | | | | |
| | | | Other Cheap Family Vacations |
| Treasure Hunting Vacations | | | | |
| | | | How about a Montana testicle festival? |
| Two metal detectors will cost less than a few | | | | Festival vacations can keep the whole family |
| nights with the family in a hotel. Why not | | | | happy. You'll usually find carnival rides, |
| camp near a ghost town or beach, and spend | | | | music, events, contests, and more. By the |
| your days hiking, exploring, and hunting | | | | way, Montana's testicle festivals are billed |
| buried treasure? We always find interesting | | | | as family events, but good luck trying to get |
| things when we take our metal detector to the | | | | the kids to eat the "Rocky Mountain Oysters." |
| beach. The kids will love the adventure, and | | | | |
| when they get bored with digging up quarters, | | | | Boondocking is all about parking your |
| they have swimming nearby. | | | | recreational vehicle where you don't have to |
| | | | pay. If you aren't sure that kids will enjoy |
| Beachcombing Vacations | | | | being in the middle of nowhere, find a ghost |
| | | | town or other treasure hunting locale. In |
| This is cheap, and the whole family can enjoy | | | | Arizona, an old Mayan Indian showed us where |
| it. You can find all sorts of things washed | | | | to look for arrowheads, semi-precious stones, |
| up on the beaches of the Great Lakes and the | | | | and ancient pottery. The desert is a great |
| Oceans. In Michigan, we used to find bouys, | | | | place to escape to in the winter, and |
| parts of houses, and light bulbs. The light | | | | treasure hunting is cheap vacation as well. |
| bulbs actually worked, a mystery solved years | | | | |
| later when a sailor told me they throw them | | | | There are many more cheap family vacations, |
| overboard for target practice. We were | | | | and many ways to keep any vacation cheaper. |
| finding the ones that escaped the bullets. | | | | Stock the cooler with 25 cent pop instead of |
| | | | paying pop-machine prices. Keep the kids full |
| We also found chunks of coal that had fallen | | | | on healthy snacks to avoid restaurants. Be an |
| off freighters. We burned them in the | | | | opportunistic vacationer. |