I had been planning a big summer vacation this year. Travel is important to us and we had been moving towards a system of alternating one year of just visiting family in the country/at beach (great vacations in their own right) for essentially free and one year of a big splurge vacation. This year is the splurge and I have close to $6,000 set aside in YNAB for this with a plan to hit $6,500. This is for our family of 4, which includes a 7 year old and a 17 year old. For the older one, it could be one of our last big family vacations together. That being said, I'm starting to balk. I find the idea of saving a chunk of that money very appealing. I've run our budget out for the year and we could save more than we ever have if we didn't do some big spending. There is also some home improvement stuff I'd love to fast track. But perhaps most importantly, there's nothing that is shouting out to us in terms of a vacation. We had initially thought Mexico but backed out of it. Then we thought West Coast/Pacific Northwest. I have to go to Portland for work in April and am going to bring my older daughter with me so now I'm questioning that too.
So, I'm now thinking maybe we should just do a road trip - perhaps mostly camping. We need to be in Chicago at the beginning of July and need to return home to NYC about 2 to 2 1/2 weeks earlier. So I'm trying to figure out ideas of road trips that work in those stops and are reasonable. Alternatively, we need to be in Cape Cod in late August and could do a trip from there instead (though financially speaking, it would save money to combine the Chicago and vacation trips as Chicago needs to be done regardless). Do people have any suggestions for itineraries that would be pleasing to a family like ours (with an older teen and a younger child)? My kids are down for camping, though I'm sure my daughter would like some cities. Family would love things like white water rafting or canyoning. Bringing bikes is a possibility though adds to gas costs. We already did Quebec - through much of the province, out to the Gaspe, Quebec City and Montreal. I'm tempted to do those cities again with different camping just because we loved it so much. But we tend to hesitate to repeat - though we also really LOVED it. We can stay with friends for free in Burlington, Vermont. Same in Chicago.
I hate to give up the West Coast in some ways because I love the idea of it, but it's just a lot when you talk about plane fare and then renting a car on top of it. I wish it was easier to reach the SW or Rockies from Chicago. I want to do something that feels special and different, but I'd really really prefer to not spend as much money as I had originally planned. That being said, road trips can add up. We ended up spending over $4,000 when we did Quebec - though that's still $2,000 less than what I've budgeted for this summer.
Any suggestions much appreciated.