by Olivia Emisar

Created on: October 31, 2009

Cheap Thanksgiving vacations for families

Times are hard and budgets are strained beyond belief but we still want to take some time off to be with our families and take a much needed respite from the daily rigors and stresses of life. What is a family to do?

We want and need to leave it all behind and come back refreshed and energized to tackle our lives again with more energy that before but can't afford a trip to the Bahamas or sunny Hawai'i, perhaps we just need to look a little closer to home and pack accordingly for a relaxing touristy vacation close to our own backyard.

Within a 60 mile radius there has to be a place for our families to go while we save money on hotels, transportation and entertainment. The cheapest vacations can happen right at home, but I recommend staying at a hotel to avoid the temptation of answering the phone or parking the family in front of the television set for a week. A travel trailer would be ideal for further savings and renting, borrowing or using the seldom used one we have parked in the backyard or storage facility can put some much needed distance between us and the daily grind.

I can't write this article to each specific location but can offer some suggestions to adapt to your unique location and family situation:

*1. Search nearby towns or city's and find out what their Chamber of Commerce has to say about their festivals and celebrations. Your own State has a visitor's website highlighting festivals and activities that are typically free or low cost. Planning your vacation around events and celebration that your family has not experienced before will yield life time memories and a nice change of pace from the daily grind.

*2. Search hotels that have amenities for your kids, such as heated swimming pools and Jacuzzi for the adults. Going swimming during the cold month is a treat that kids will rarely forget and fun for the entire family. Most hotels that are geared towards families typically have a refrigerator and a microwave which will save you and your family money on meals, drinks and snacks purchased at the supermarket or brought with you from home. Websites that specialize in discounted hotel rooms can offer real bargains at this time of year and even free stays depending on your credit cards and how many days you are planning to stay.

*3. Transportation costs can be reduced by utilizing the local transit system and learning to go places just like the locals do. A quick search of bus and train schedules

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