The Snellings Take The Big Island

As I sit and write this on this New Year's Eve I'm really wishing my family and I were in a warm climate preparing to celebrate the end of the decade, but we are in the frigid cold enjoying our new East Coast life style.

 I'm excited and ready to bring in this New Year in our new home, but I can't help but day dream about some sunnier days.

So let me take you back to one of the highlights of my year from 2019....

Hawaii 2019:

One of our family travel wish list locations for many years had been Hawaii. Mr. @ProfessorDrz and I had been to Maui, Hawaii for our honeymoon fourteen years ago and then again for our ten year anniversary. Maui has always had a special place in our hearts and we've always wanted to explore other islands with the children, but the Hawaiian islands are so expensive for families to travel to and vacation on. Fortunately for us, with a little planning and by the grace of God we were able to pull off a 6 night, 7 day vacation to the Island of Hawaii, also known as The Big Island.

Our three children have always wanted to go to Hawaii because they knew that is was such a special place to their mom and dad, so they would often talk about how cool it would be if they could go as well. So in late June we surprised my son with a trip to the West Coast as a graduation gift. He was totally stoked! Then, when that trip was coming to an end, we surprised the kids and told them our vacation wasn't over since we were heading to The Big Island the next day.

These kids couldn't believe it because we had just had an Amazing week long vacation visiting the Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas and so much more. Next thing we know we were on The Big Island chasing waterfalls, eating shaved ice, hanging at the beach, watching sunsets and living our best lives. 

How We Save Money Before Trips!

This post is about how we save money for trips, and also how we gift experiences to our children more than just things. I thought it would be a perfect reminder this time of year that travel, experiences and just quality time with each other is also a wonderful gift to give this holiday season! Here are a few ways we make this possible for our family each year. 

We are very budget conscientious when it comes to major purchases and we take planning for them very seriously, especially when it comes to travel. When our spring break trip to Portugal became a reality, and not just a dream in my head, I went into planning mode. That included enacting a budget and plan for how to make this happen without breaking the bank or cheapening our experiences.

Since the airline tickets were bought in advance, it gave us plenty of time to save for our other vacation expenses we would incur including Airbnb, hotel, tours, meals and souvenirs.

How We Make It Work:

Vacation Savings Account

We have a travel savings account, that is regularly founded. This account helps a lot because it allows us to jump on great deals when they pop up and we save thousand of dollars by being prepared.

Research the Destination to Find Out if it's a Budget Friendly Place 

I always do a great deal of research before deciding on a vacation destination to see if it will work for my family's vacation style and meet our budget needs. Lucky for us, after talking to friends and doing a bit of research, we found that Lisbon and Portugal in general is indeed an inexpensive vacation destination, especially for families. (Photos from Lisbon, Portugal below.)