海角大神

In 2009, my family travelled to the Dallas, Texas area. In that area, I have two great aunts and a number of first and second cousins. We spent a lot of time with them, enjoying meals and reconnecting.

In 2011, my family travelled to the Seattle, Washington area, much like we did in 2004. We visited my wife鈥檚 sister, spent a lot of time with her on the event of her wedding, and visited my wife鈥檚 other sister who lives out there, too.

Fairly regularly, we visit the Chicagoland area, where one of my cousins lives. I adore this cousin and her two children, and we stay with her every time we go there. We also have the chance to see several old friends who now live in that area.

Almost every time we travel, we do it in conjunction with family. We often make it a point to visit places where there are friends and family to see, either along the way or at the destination.聽

Not only does it give us a powerful chance to bond with people we don鈥檛 see that often, it also saves us a truckload of money on our vacation.

For starters,聽a local person is often the best travel guide of all.聽They鈥檒l know of local deals and discounts. They鈥檒l know when to go to various places. They鈥檒l also let you know about places to be avoided.

I鈥檝e had relatives literally take our GPS unit and program it with great places to visit in the area. I鈥檝e had other relatives take most of a week off just to travel around the area with us and show us the sights and sounds. I鈥檝e rarely went on a trip without a relative pressing some coupons into my hand 鈥� or sometimes even free passes to stuff 鈥� that they鈥檝e picked up here or there.

Locals know the area. Locals that care about you will do a great job of making sure you get the best of the area at a good price.

Beyond that,聽visiting people can sometimes take care of lodging costs.聽It鈥檚 much easier to visit the Chicagoland area since we know that we have lodging when we arrive. My cousin will almost always insist on preparing several meals for us, too.

(We reciprocate for such hospitality when people visit Des Moines, of course.)

Of course, you shouldn鈥檛聽expect聽such things. However, I鈥檝e found that if there are friends and family that I am excited about seeing, they鈥檙e almost always excited about seeing me and they usually want to show me the best of where they鈥檙e located. All I ask is just a chance to see them when I鈥檓 there, so I鈥檒l get ahold of them well in advance of my trip just to see what鈥檚 happening.

The recipe is simple. Beyond the personal value of meeting family while traveling, there鈥檚 also frugal value as well. Take that into account when planning your travel.

This post is part of a yearlong series called 鈥�365 Ways to Live Cheap (Revisited),鈥� in which I鈥檓 revisiting the entries from my book 鈥�365 Ways to Live Cheap,鈥� which is available聽at Amazon聽and at bookstores everywhere.