The Out-of-the-Box Family Vacation

With the economy the way it is, you have to stretch a dollar so thin now it becomes as skinny as a tightrope, which you end up walking every month when you pay bills.  Nothing says “overdraft” like the financial outlay needed to raise a family.   So logically you put the family budget on a diet and cut what you consider to be the unnecessary fat, like cable TV, family vacations, and a new washer and dryer. (Honestly, who’s going to notice that your son’s tighty-whiteys aren’t so white anymore?)

But ironically, these stressful financial times are exactly when you need the relaxation of a vacation, even if it’s not the big granddaddy trip you’ve always dreamed of (that being the one that involves passports and knowing how to say “I’ll have the stuffed rack of lamb” in French).  There are plenty of trips you can take with your family that don’t involve a whole lot of cash if you think outside of the box.

First, resign yourself to the fact that you won’t be visiting the normal tourist destinations.  This means saying no to theme parks, water parks, cruises, ski trips, high cost-of-living cities (good-bye San Francisco, Chicago and New York), and tropical islands that you can get to only by taking long, expensive plane rides.  (At this point your kids will look at you like you have nine heads and whine something about you being an insane meanie.)

But their attitudes will change when you lay out interesting vacation alternatives; starting out west.  When most people think of Utah or Colorado, they think skiing.  But as we all know, skiing for a family of four can be expensive.  So instead of skiing in the winter, why not try mountain biking in the summer?  There are no lift tickets to purchase and instead of paying $30 per person, per day to rent skis, you pay around $8 per person to rent a mountain bike.  Plus, the hotel accommodations are usually much cheaper (than say, Park City or Aspen at Christmas) and you have alternative lodging options like bed & breakfasts (which means your first meal of the day is covered) or motels instead of fancy hotels.  

For mountain biking you can’t beat Moab, UT, (nicknamed the Mountain Biking Capital of the World).  Nestled near the southeastern border of the state, it’s an easy four-hour drive from Salt Lake City and offers free trails for all levels of biking expertise.  It has a cute, old fashion Main Street, where you can dine inexpensively at family friendly restaurants, hunt for treasures in rock shops, or rent your bikes in one of many bike shops.  Lodging on and around Main Street starts at under $100 per night (depending on the time of the year), and many of the mountain biking trails are an easy ride from Main Street.  Plus Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park are right there for gorgeous hikes in red rock terrain that exists nowhere else in the world. (Visit www.moab.net for more information.)

Just on the other side of the Utah/Colorado border from Moab is Telluride, Grand Junction, and Fruita, all of which offer some great family mountain biking as well.  Biking enthusiasts in particular often rate Fruita equal to or better than Moab, mainly because it’s got a lot of the same terrain and family activities as Moab, but is still undiscovered by the general masses (and thus, cheaper to stay in).  A mere 14 miles (19-minute drive) from Grand Junction (which has a major airport), Fruita is off Interstate 70, making it easy to get to.  (For more information on mountain biking in western Colorado visit www.gjmountainbiking.com.)

As you can see, airing out your family on a budget-friendly vacation is not impossible.  Mountain biking is just one of many great inexpensive family vacations ideas we’ll spotlight in a series of upcoming articles here on Parentainment.  (And remember, for the sake of everyone’s sanity, you should take your family on vacation at least once a year.  The new washer and dryer can just wait). 

Stacy Dymalski is a freelance writer, filmmaker, and stand-up comic. Her screen credits include co-writer (with Zack Van Eyck)/director of the feature film "Jupiter Landing" and writer/director of the web sitcom series "Hagnet."  Stacy learned about being a parent the hard way: she became one. A working mom, Stacy finds the humorous lessons in family life and then writes about them in magazines and books (much to the annoyance of her two sons).  Stacy recently co-authored 'The Vixen Chronicles' with Brandy Pinkerman: