According to the Travel Industry Association of America, the average traveler, on their longest trip

When the Bartlett family goes on vacation it isn't just around the corner. They have traveled the world visiting such places as England, France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and many more. They have accomplished this for less than the average family spends for a week at Disneyland. Dale and Michelle Bartlett have four children, and to say the six of them have the travel bug would be an understatement. They have however, found incredible ways to travel the world, most of the time for the cost of food and fun.
St Augustine was quoted as saying, "The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." This is so true. The world for us and our children has expanded beyond our imagination. To understand others and the world at large it is best to become explorers. The problem arises, though, with how on earth to pay for it. Often times a family vacation is determined more by the family budget or how much we want to add to our credit cards, rather car rental specials than where we really want to go.
According to the Travel Industry Association of America, the average traveler, on their longest trip spent a little over a thousand dollars. The fact is that thousand dollars provided only small trips of less than five nights and were no more than 700 miles round trip. This is also an average, taking into account that single people travel more than families, the average family could easily double and even triple the cost for the same small trip.
Now, what if I told you that for the same amount of money and maybe even less than you would spend going to Disneyland, you could spend two weeks and even more in Europe. car rental specials Would you be interested? Oh, yes… the kids might have to trade Mickey for the Eiffel Tower, or swimming in a hotel pool for swimming in a crystal clear lake of the Swiss Alps. Or maybe you will have to trade a long hot car ride for an airplane ride with TV's and movies car rental specials in front of every seat. Maybe you will have to substitute a tour of the studio where they filmed Jaws for the beautiful city of Salzburg where they filmed The Sound of Music. Am I getting your attention? And to think, all this for less than you were planning to spend anyway on a vacation less than 700 miles away.
We had traveled car rental specials all over the United States and had always wanted to travel abroad, but the family budget just wouldn't allow it. Our first trip to France and England began a wonderful adventure, not only to some incredible new worlds, but an adventure in how to travel cheap. We have compiled a few of the many ideas on how we do this in this article. We hope you enjoy them and they give you a good start in traveling cheap and even free.
Go during the off or not too off season. Technically, winter is the cheapest time to visit Europe, but years of living in the Northern Utah Mountains has made my wife allergic to cold weather as well as reluctant to cart the heavy coats, hats and gloves needed to survive a February day in London. Instead, we tend to make more of our trips in the spring or fall, when hotel rates are still cheaper than the busy summer season and there are fewer tourists. One of our visits to France in early spring offered a few days of crisp weather, but nothing we couldn't handle. This time of year is also easier to obtain free fares using points accumulated as frequent flyer miles.
Frequent Flyer Miles really add up. Sign up for the airline that will best fit your travel needs. I average between 15,000 and 20,000 points a month into my account. The vast majority of these are from partners who provide you miles for things you are already car rental specials buying. Cell phone and credit cards are just a few of the many companies that will give you miles for every dollar spent. Change the way you purchase items. Instead of writing a check or paying cash, use your point's credit card and write a check when you get home for the same purchase. You will never carry a balance and you will gain a lot of valuable points.
Research like crazy and be flexible. There's no substitute for shopping around when it comes to finding great deals on airlines and hotels. No single source always has the best prices; I've booked cheap vacations from consolidators, travel car rental specials agents and over the Internet. There are also package deals offered off-season by airlines. Check them all out, and be sure to look at different departure and return dates. Traveling midweek generally cuts costs, and moving your visit by a few weeks can also save a bundle. car rental specials A departure in late March can cost significantly car rental specials less than one in early April, for example. Flexibility is really car rental specials the key here. There are special last minute deals which will make your mouth water. If you aren't as flexible, then planning is a must. Often our trips are planned over a year in advance. However, the time spent is well worth it. We have traveled for a month through Europe (including airfare, hotel, food, sites etc…) for less than it would cost us to drive and stay a week in Disneyland.
Use your ATM card for cash. When traveling overseas use the ATM for cash. Banks are cashing in by charging higher fees for overseas transactions, but you're still better off using ATMs than most currency car rental specials exchange kiosks. Just make sure you withdraw large amounts car rental specials $200 to $300 at a time so that the $1.50-to-$3 fees your bank charges don't add up. (Also, make sure you know your numeric PIN. European car rental specials keypads usually don't have letters on them.) If you do use a currency exchange service, pick one that posts the rates at which it buys as well as sells currency. The rip-off places car rental specials are the ones that only post the selling price, or the ones that have more than a 5% gap between the two prices.
Keep your receipts. If you shop a lot, you can get a refund of the value-added tax (VAT) you pay in European countries. This is something you'll need to do at the airport car rental specials on your way out of the country, but the small hassle can be worth the savings up to 25% of what you spent
Get a museum pass. Most major cities allow you to buy one-, three- or five-day passes that get you into major museums. Not only do these passes tend to pay for themselves with just a few visits; they also allow you to skip the hours-long lines at popular museums like the Louvre in Paris and the Uffizi in Florence. That alone would have been worth paying a premium.
Scope out public transit. Public transportation in Europe tends to be efficient, cheap and safe. The Tube will get you just about anywhere you need to go in London car rental specials including back and forth from Heathrow. Trains and the Metro do the same in Paris. Many other cities, such as Florence and Venice, are small enough that you'll be able to walk just about everywhere you want to go. There's really no reason to rent cars if you are staying in a big city. It can also be expensive to park in cities; save that for trips to the countryside.
Eat like the natives. A popular piece of budget travel advice is to eat your largest meal at lunch, when prices car rental specials are cheaper. If we plan to splurge, we typically have light breakfasts and picnic lunches in local parks.
Use the Internet to stay in touch. You can buy international phone cards and postcards at most tobacco shops if you want, but the cheapest way to stay in touch is through free e-mail services like Hotmail or Yahoo!, accessed through local cybercafés.
Using these and many other tips we have learned, our family has been able to travel the world inexpensively. Much of our travel is actually free. We have spent over a month traveling through Germany, Switzerland, Austria and France and only paid for three nights lodging, most of our airfare was free too. Last summer our trip back east for two and a half weeks was less than $140.00 car rental specials per person including air, rental car, hotel, food and souvenirs.
You can find out more about these and many more tips on how to travel free in our book,  Have Kids Will Travel… A Guide to Inexpensive Family Travel Anywhere in the World Most of it Free . If you have any questions you can contact us at 435-245-3208, email us at havekidswilltravel@sisna.com  or visit us on the web at  www.havekids-willtravel.com . The book is currently car rental specials at a special introductory price and because we want you to fly for free, we let the book travel free with postage included.