This mum took her family on an epic European holiday for two months and, thanks to Airbnb accommodation and ‘early-bird’ travel deals, managed to save almost $10,000 without compromising on anything. She says anyone can do it – including you!
First published on September 8, 2018 at Kidspot.com.au.
This year, my family escaped the Australian winter and followed the sun to Europe. For two months, we travelled to some of Europe’s most iconic locations – Lake Como, Paris, Venice, Barcelona, Dublin, Rome, Oxford, Mallorca, London, Edinburgh. In the process, we spent precious time together as a family and created lasting memories we’ll cherish forever.
Of course, adventuring as a family-of-four to the other side of the world doesn’t come cheap. Many of our friends have asked us how we could afford such an epic holiday and the answer is simple – by saving hard and travelling smart.
We proved that with a bit of know-how and some smart forward planning, it is possible to minimise the cost of an epic overseas family holiday and save some serious coin in the process. And all without compromising on quality or luxuries. How did we do it? Read on …
This year, Kylie and her family (pictured) travelled to Europe for two months and stayed in Airbnbs everywhere they went. Picture: Supplied.
Save, save, save
Knowing the cost of accommodation and travel inevitably swallows up over half a holiday budget, we found that the best way to save on each was to book well in advance to get the best ‘early bird’ deals we could. We booked our flights six or more months prior to departure. But this meant we needed money to book ahead and to do this, we’d had a strict savings plan in place for at least 18 months before we’d even booked.
When my husband and I had first conceived of the crazy idea to take our family to Europe for two months, we’d set up a separate high-interest savings account into which we automatically transferred as much money as we could spare each week.
While we sacrificed a few things to make it happen, like take-away coffees, bought lunches, impulse buys and weekends away, knowing it would result in an amazing family holiday certainly made it easier to go without.
Kylie’s family stayed in a traditional thatched hut (pictured) on the Irish island of Inis Mor. Picture: Supplied
Dream big! (But do your research)
Where do you want to go? While your savings are accumulating in your bank account, spend some leisurely hours online researching your destinations. Consider where you want to go and what you want to see and do while you’re there; explore where you’d like to stay and how you’ll get around as a family.
Having a rough plan ensures you’ll get an idea of the budget you’ll need for each location and makes the possibilities suddenly become, well, possible!
Make notes in an exercise book; create a Pinterest board to collate your travel ideas; establish a new folder on your computer desktop and start filling it with your research; put together a ‘dream itinerary’ and then begin to fill in the gaps. This will help you determine how many days you’ll need in each place and the logistics of getting around as a family – for example, whether you catch a train, bus, cab or Uber from the airport and if it’s cheaper and/or more convenient to get a subway day pass or a ‘hop-on-hop-off’ bus tour ticket for sightseeing.
Once you have a good idea of how you intend to travel between cities or even countries, you can start to book those in advance … booking plane, train, bus and hire cars early can offer some very impressive savings. For example, when travelling by train between cities in England, you can purchase advance fares on the Great Western Rail website and save as much as 80 percent on your travel!
Staying loch-side in Scotland, Kylie and her family enjoyed a few awesome days living in The Skipper’s Hut, canoeing, swimming and exploring the area. Picture: Supplied.
Accommodation is king
We knew our choice in accommodation would make or break our family’s travel experience. While hotels are often conveniently located, they don’t necessarily offer the best value for a travelling family. They provide standard family rooms at a premium that are often just one big characterless space with two double beds or a couple of bunks squashed inside.
Which is why we chose to stay in Airbnbs* throughout Europe. They offered significant savings,comfort and convenience – homes away from home. In fact, when we did the sums, we discovered that our overall Airbnb accommodation choices resulted in us saving around 65-70 percent on what we would have paid for family hotel rooms!
Twelve months before our departure date, I began to research some of the best-rated Airbnbs for families in the locations we wanted to visit. Some Airbnbs were so impressive and popular (such as our incredible Parisian apartment) that we changed our itinerary to facilitate its availability.
The character-filled lodgings we chose throughout Europe allowed us to live where the locals lived, have our own kitchens (for when we wanted to save some money by not eating out or hankered for a home-cooked meal) and, most importantly for a family with young children, use their laundry facilities!
The only real downside to Airbnb is that you need to pay at the time of booking, which means you must have access to funds well in advance. However, it’s important to keep in mind that Airbnb hosts may increase their rates over the course of the year, so you may secure the property at a lower rate than if you’d booked it closer to the time, offering yet another great saving.
Living like a local in Ireland … kids hanging over the front fence of their Airbnb, enjoying the view of the Atlantic Ocean. Picture: Supplied.
Being super organised, planning ahead and booking well in advance was the secret to ticking a European holiday off our family’s bucket list. And if we can do it, and save money in the process, absolutely everyone can! It’s as simple as saving, dreaming big and planning wisely.
Bon Voyage!
*This is not a sponsored post; the writer has no association with Airbnb and independently paid for all her family’s accommodation costs.
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