Trip Report: The Perfect Family Trip!
EDIT: I wanted to add this link here at the beginning. Ragusa's Summer 2014 Trailer Hello friends! We have been home for two months, but I am just now feeling like getting to the trip repo...
Forum Discussion
I was messaged regarding the cost and expenses of the trip. Seems like it might be an interesting topic to others, or maybe even helpful. So I'll respond here.
A trip like this could be "all over the map" (pun intended) cost wise. It depends so much on what your goals are financially, what your tolerance is, what your lifestyle expectations are, and on and on...
We are the average american family in respect to income. We are not average in our spending and saving habits. We haven't had a credit card in 20 years, and set a limit on spending that is comfortably far from bouncing off zero. Not saying this to brag, as there is nothing to brag about...I'm simply illustrating that your philosophy in your daily living will probably spill over into a trip like this. It did for us, not only because it's hard to break habit, but because there are versions of this trip that we could not have afforded! :)
Doing this on a tight budget was a priority. So here goes:
6,000 miles @ 11.5mpg = 522 gallons at $3.75 = $1956
30 nights @ $28 = $840
10 nights @ walmart = $0
Food, we ate out for 2 meals, so it's the same as home = $0
Park Pass = $80
Other passes = $200
Breakdown, not really trip related = $400
special gear before the trip = $300
dog sitter = $200
Trip total = $3976
Family of 4 for 6 weeks = $662 / week or $100 per day.
I could argue that the strict trip cost was only gas and campground/fees @ $3076
This trip could double in cost without blinking an eye. Start eating out, stay at RV parks with full utilities, do the rafting, bungee, donkey, helicopter stuff...
We had a trip that will define our families "golden age". You can't put a price on that, and I wouldn't take ten times the money to erase the memories.
A trip like this could be "all over the map" (pun intended) cost wise. It depends so much on what your goals are financially, what your tolerance is, what your lifestyle expectations are, and on and on...
We are the average american family in respect to income. We are not average in our spending and saving habits. We haven't had a credit card in 20 years, and set a limit on spending that is comfortably far from bouncing off zero. Not saying this to brag, as there is nothing to brag about...I'm simply illustrating that your philosophy in your daily living will probably spill over into a trip like this. It did for us, not only because it's hard to break habit, but because there are versions of this trip that we could not have afforded! :)
Doing this on a tight budget was a priority. So here goes:
6,000 miles @ 11.5mpg = 522 gallons at $3.75 = $1956
30 nights @ $28 = $840
10 nights @ walmart = $0
Food, we ate out for 2 meals, so it's the same as home = $0
Park Pass = $80
Other passes = $200
Breakdown, not really trip related = $400
special gear before the trip = $300
dog sitter = $200
Trip total = $3976
Family of 4 for 6 weeks = $662 / week or $100 per day.
I could argue that the strict trip cost was only gas and campground/fees @ $3076
This trip could double in cost without blinking an eye. Start eating out, stay at RV parks with full utilities, do the rafting, bungee, donkey, helicopter stuff...
We had a trip that will define our families "golden age". You can't put a price on that, and I wouldn't take ten times the money to erase the memories.