While on vacation, you can save a lot of money on food by picnicing along the way. Before leaving The House, pack lunchmeat and cold drinks in the cooler, bring along bread and chips or whatever else you might want to eat. As you are traveling, stop at roadside parks for lunch instead of expensive restaurants. This also gives you some time to stretch your legs while enjoying the fresh air. Kids can run off some energy and play. Stop at grocery stores along the way to replenish your cooler.
I like to shop at the local shops for food when I am on holiday. Some countries have great markets with lots of good produce at cheap prices. Shop where the locals buy their food and you will save a significant amount of money.
I do it more to save time on long drives. I also prefer the kids not falling sick from eating food from restaurants. I generally buy freshly baked stuff in the local markets. I always carry with me jams, pickles, fruits etc. Eating what is locally available and fresh is the key to save money and remain healthy while travelling.
Even if small, i recommend everyone to have one or two sandwiches and a cold drink, recommend water, to just kill your hunger for the time being. I know that it's hard to not eat the local cuisine when traveling out of your country, but that will greatly help your budget.
When I was in Spain I bought water, fruit, nuts and cheeses to keep with me in the hotel. My appetite was on American time which wasn't always convenient. Of course, I wasn't traveling with children and that makes a difference. For me it isn't just about saving money, but about having access to the things that I prefer to eat.
When I travel, I buy usually junk food. They're good for when you're hungry, and doesn't cost much. One pack of chips is a dollar here, so everytime I would get hungry, I would just open a bag of chips, with either soda or water. That usually fills me up.
i always go to the local markets and ask around where i can find cheap and good food. If you ask the people that live in the country you are visiting, you find the best, cheapest food.
Yes! It's definitely all about grocery shopping while traveling. We've also found that it is healthier and cheaper for us to rent an apartment instead of paying for a hotel because we get kitchen access. After we arrive at our "new apartment," we go straight to the supermarket and get all the ingredients to make the meals for the time we will be in town. We have saved hundreds of dollars this way, and eaten so much better.
Exactly, I rent an apart-hotel and I can buy my food and cook it instead of going to restaurants. On the road I always avoid Service Stations, everything is more expensive and the service and quality of the food is not the best.
It is definitely cheaper to bring your own food along while traveling. Plus, you cut down feeling sick and heavy with fast food. Fast food doesn't settle well in my stomach especially on long drives. I, too, have found that renting a condo or extended stay hotel is cheaper than nightly rates at a regular hotel. At condos and extended stay places, they usually have a fridge for your food and a washer and dryer. It is so much easier to pack a few outfits and wash them than packing an outfit for each day. This also saves you room in your vehicle.
These are great tips. I also like packing a lot of home cook meals. And I avoid expensive restaurants.
This is perfect. I do this sometimes when i travel to the south with my family. Feeding a family of 5 on the road for 1 week can become a bit expensive.
Going to local markets and loading up on fruits and vegetables are a great way to save money while traveling. Breakfast can be ridiculously expensive sometimes and I like to just start the day with an apple or banana. Then when walking around a city or town I'm visiting carrots make great snacks as well as many fruits. Doing this then allows you to save up money to then splurge on dinner sometimes.
Those are some great tips. Another is to maybe cook big meal like spaghetti or meatloaf and take it with you in a cooler. There no sense in eating out everyday think of the money you will save!
When we travel to a foreign country on a package tour while on a tight budget, we bring cereal energy bars, trail mixes, and some canned rice meals. The cereal bars are light and convenient to carry in our pockets while on walking tours. When we go hungry we just grab one and we can last for several hours without going hungry. Canned rice meals are for emergency situations when we are running low on budget and we still have a few days to stay in our destination. Sometimes hotels don't offer free lunches or dinners. Those are the times when rice meals are handy.
Food is quite an issue when I travel. At home I am extremely careful with my food budgeting, and I do quite well. But it's difficult abroad because you can't cook food at home. Eating out is even more expensive than high-end home cooking so I probably spend triple abroad what I would at home.
I love doing this as well, even if there's no good "nature" places to picnic along the route, the service stations along the highways always have tables outside specifically for people to picnic and it's usually actually very pleasant. I usually pack a few different sandwiches, juices, water and maybe a little dessert when I have a long drive ahead of me just so I can do the little picnic
Sounds like a great way to see the countryside. Not only are you enjoying the a picnic in the fresh air, but hopefully you'll find a nice scenic spot where you can take pictures as well. When I went on vacation as a kid, we were always in such a hurry to get to wherever we were going. We would stop to go the bathroom of course, but never really to stop and relax. We would eat whatever snacks we would bring right in the car. This sounds like such a better way get the most out of your vacation and family time.
