Costa Rica on a Budget
It’s tricky to find the time and money to take a vacation and even trickier when you’ve got a family. Buying one plane ticket can be costly enough, but if you have to buy 4 or 5, suddenly it can seem like a family vacation is never going to happen. And it’s hard to get away from work and from life, which is why according to Allianz Travel Insurance’s Seventh Annual Vacation Confidence Index showed that more than 170 million Americans haven’t taken a vacation in the past 12 months and that 37% of people haven’t taken one in the past 2 years.
While vacations may seem daunting when it’s a whole family affair, they are also healthy and important for family bonding. Getting away from the stresses of day to life is important and spending time as a family doing something fun and exciting is a great way to become closer and know each other better. There are ways to make vacations manageable and affordable so that the whole family can enjoy one, hopefully at least once a year.
One of the ways to make a vacation more affordable to is to choose a location with frequent flights. Trying to go to some remote island is going to be pricey, but visiting a destination that has lots of international traffic will mean lower cost plane tickets. Costa Rica has flights from all over the world so finding cheap flights from main U.S. cities is relatively easy. Once you’ve arrived in your destination there are other tips and tricks to make your family vacation fun while staying within your budget.
The most expensive part of any vacation is accommodations. Staying in fancy hotels can mean maxing out your credit card quickly. Thanks to new services like AirBnB and Homeaway you can stay longer for less money and still have everything you need to have all the fun. Staying in vacation home rentals will help you save money and staying all together as a family is more enjoyable than everyone going off to their separate hotel rooms. Also, by staying in an AirBnB you’ll have access to a kitchen, maybe even laundry, sometimes a pool, or other amenities that can make life more fun and easy to handle when traveling with kids. You can save money by cooking some meals in rather than eating out all the time.
Another reason why Costa Rica is a great location for family vacations is the plethora of outdoor activities. You can hike through rainforests and national parks, explore coastlines, trek for waterfalls, relax in hot springs or spend hour surfing and playing at the beach, and all of these activities cost little to nothing. Take some surf lessons and rent a board for the week and you’ll find it hard to get your kids out of the water to do anything else. Surf camps, like the ones found throughout Tamarindo and the surrounding beaches, offer lessons for all age ranges and experience levels so the whole family can participate and enjoy.
You’re next family vacation doesn’t have to be a far away fantasy. By making savvy moves and visiting destinations like Costa Rica, you can all get out and have a little fun!
