Search Results for: blog home away from home on vacation

Ways to Stretch Your Vacation Dollar

With spring break travel peaking and the busy summer vacation season right around the corner, now is the time to learn how to stretch your travel dollar.  The following tips don’t require a ton of effort to execute.  What’s more, once you realize how easy it is to save on travel-related expenses, you may be inspired to find a few more frugal ways to keep from going into debt during your family getaway. Timing is key:  Do a little research before you hit the road on a family vacation.  Airfare and hotel rates can jump sky high when traveling during … Continue reading →

Budget Beach Getaways

Sure, you can save a bundle by driving a small car to the coast and spending your entire winter vacation living out of tent that you’ve pitched on the beach.  However, there are a slew of other ways you can score a budget-friendly beach getaway without having to go to extremes.   Beach packages are readily available to a host of sunny destinations, including Hawaii, Mexico, California and the Caribbean.  The trick to saving more than a few pennies on these tropical getaways is to have social media platforms work for you.  By signing up for alerts from airlines, hotels … Continue reading →

Vacation Budgeting

Can you afford to get in one more family trip during the upcoming Labor Day weekend? According to AAA, 33 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more away from home during the holiday weekend, despite the fact gas prices are hovering near the $4 mark. Clearly, budgeting for gas is a huge factor for families looking to hit the road on a final summer fling, but it isn’t the only financial element to consider. Crunching numbers can provide a major reality check when it comes to vacation planning. However, by doing the math before you leave home, you can … Continue reading →

Coming Home From Vacation

Today was a travel and transition day for my family. This morning, we woke up in our hotel on Cape Cod. By bedtime, we were back home in Vermont. Transitions can be difficult for toddlers, and I could tell that today was a little rough for Dylan. He did his best, though, and I am proud of how well he has done this week with all of the new places, excitement, and different experiences. I am hoping that as we unpack and get settled back in to our home, Dylan will feel happy to be at home. I’m expecting that … Continue reading →

When Depression Starts To Affect Your Home

I usually consider myself very organized and on top of things. The past several months have conspired to change that perception. It has been a rough year, there really is no other way to say it. My life and the lives of people around me have changed so much. As a result I’m suffering from a little bit of depression. Today, after a nap, I realized that my home is completely out of control. The yard that I love so much is overgrown with weeds and almost dead. My sprinkler system is broken and in my current state of mind, … Continue reading →

Parents and Vacation Time

With Independence Day falling on a Wednesday this year, many parents with jobs outside the home, took off Thursday and Friday to extend the holiday weekend. Others simply exercised a week’s worth of vacation to spend uninterrupted holiday time with their families. Are you enjoying time away from the office right now? If so, consider yourself lucky. According to a new study, the United States is one of only a handful of developed countries in the world that doesn’t require companies to give their workers time off. In other cases, workers are given minimum vacation time that cannot be transferred … Continue reading →

Cooling Your Home For Less

Just like Spring, Summer came early to Utah and with it lots of hot, dry air. In the middle of the summer I don’t miss the humidity of the east coast but sometimes, a little rain would be nice. Keeping your home cool in the summer is just as expensive as keeping it warm in the winter. There are some things you can do to reduce your cooling costs. All of the things you do in the winter help with cooling costs as well. Changing the filters on the air conditioning unit, using weatherstripping, closing the curtains during the hottest … Continue reading →

There’s No Place Like Home

I recently read an article called What Does Home Mean To You. It was a collection of short paragraphs by a bunch of different people giving their definition of home. Not one single person mentioned clean floors, dusted shelves or sparkling mirrors. Every paragraph was the feeling they get from being home. It’s not even necessarily a physical space, for some people it’s where ever their spouse or children are, for still others it’s Mom and Dad. What says home to you? Although I would like to say a clean house, it’s really not. Home to me is anywhere my … Continue reading →

Dog Days of Summer: Pets on Vacation

Pet owners face a unique situation when making our summer travel plans: we have to worry about our pets. Do we only go places where we can take our pets, or do we try to find care for them while we’re away? Website Pet Relocation released its third annual Summer Pet Travel Survey. They found that 70% of the people questioned plan to travel with their pets. If you want to take your animals along with you on vacation this summer, there are a few things you have to consider. Make sure you can bring your animal with you where … Continue reading →

Prepare Your Calendar for Summer Vacation

If you have kids then you know that it is never too early to prepare for summer vacation. Your home life will change as the evenings grow longer and the children are home from school. Here are some ways that you can plan out those days and get your self prepared. The transition will be easier and less stressful that way. Make Note of Important Dates Do you know when the last day of school actually is? Are there half days coming up before then? Will there be parties, dances, fairs, last ditch school fundraisers going on. Make note and … Continue reading →