I recently came across a startling statistic: 45% of parents who visit Disney with young children go into debt to take the trip.
That number is a 50% increase from just two years ago. And it’s not just parents going into debt for the trip—24% of ALL visitors to the theme park take on debt for the experience.
And so this might be a helpful time to remind ourselves:
You don’t need to spend a lot of money on your vacation to make great memories.
The extravagance of summer vacationing isn’t limited to Disney (although the percentages are significantly higher). Statistics show that 1 in 5 of all summer travelers will pay for their travel on a credit card and not be able to pay it off in one billing cycle.
I assume some of the increase in vacation debt in recent years has to do with the prevalence of social media. When our friends and parent-peers brag on social media about the extravagance of their summer adventures, we naturally feel inclined to desire the same for our kids.
We want our kids to have amazing memories and stories, and experiences to brag about with their friends. Add in our own pride and desire to prove to our friends that we’re doing well financially, and you have a recipe for disaster.
But here’s the reality: You don’t need to spend a lot of money on your vacation to make great memories with your family. In fact, in the long-run, you’ll be better off not going into debt to fund your trips.
I mentioned previously that my wife and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary earlier this month. But that’s just the tip of the family blessings I’ve received. I grew up in one of the most amazing families on the planet.
My parents have been married for over 51 years. Both sets of my grandparents remained married their entire lives. And I am still in contact with every aunt and uncle, cousin, niece and nephew in my family. We go back home to the Midwest to visit twice every year (Summer and Christmas) and we all look forward to games and food and laughter and conversation deep into the night every evening.
The closeness of my family is a blessing to me and my children. But growing up, our summer vacations were anything but extravagant. And yet, they were incredibly memorable, meaningful, and helped us develop and enrich these relationships I am so thankful for today.
The most common summer vacation I remember taking as a child was a 6-hour drive to my cousin’s house in Minneapolis. We would stay at their house, grill out in the evening, go to a Twin’s baseball game one night, and visit Valleyfair another of the days.
The cousins and us would try to stay up all night in the basement, eating potato chips, sneaking soda from the fridge, and playing Atari. The parents would play cards and talk upstairs in the kitchen.
And those memories are just as precious to me as any character I would have met at Disneyland. In fact, now that I am older and able to look back with the advantage of life experience, they are even sweeter to me. I am grateful my parents didn’t go into debt to take us on extravagant summer vacations.
Sure, the experience would have been fun. But going into debt each summer would have added stress to our family and their relationship all year long. Even more, I learned from those experiences that bonding moments don’t require a lot of money and I learned the joys of keeping my tastes simple. These are lessons that served me well as a young parent and brought more joy and stability into my family life than a fancy, expensive trip ever could.
I know the temptation to keep up with the Joneses’ and their summer trip itinerary is great, but it is not necessary. In fact, there is a wiser route to take.
What Makes a Trip Great
Your greatest memories don’t need to cost a lot of money. In fact, the most meaningful elements of a summer trip, don’t have to cost anything. This is what makes any summer trip memorable for kids:
Time with Family: The most precious gift we can give our loved ones is our time. Focus on being present and engaged, creating moments of connection.
Something Out of the Ordinary: It doesn’t have to be elaborate. A day trip to a nearby park, a hike, or even camping in the backyard can create lasting memories.
Kids Receiving Our Full Attention: Put away the distractions and give your kids your undivided attention. Engage in activities they love and create shared experiences.
Simple Joys: Sometimes the simplest activities, like playing board games, staying up late, having a picnic, or sneaking an extra soda late at night, can be the most memorable.
New Experiences: Try something new together as a family. It could be as simple as visiting a local museum, trying a new park, or a day-trip to a place you’ve never been.
These are the elements that will create the experience you want for your family. You don’t need to spend a lot of money to accomplish that. And I’m guessing someone needs to hear that and be reminded of that today.
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To further drive home this point and encourage all the moms and dads out there without the financial means to travel the world the summer: Can we fill this comment section with encouraging stories?
If you grew up taking simple summer vacations that you now look back upon as amazingly sweet, memorable, and meaningful, can you add that story below as a comment? Where did you go? What did you do? And how precious to you now are those memories of your simple vacations growing up?
Brenda McDowell says
I am one of fifteen siblings, we lived of our parents as a life of minimalist although then it’s not what we called it, we lived within our means not wanting for anything, life for us was fulfilling, summer vacation was considered vacation from school, no studies, we spent our days all day outside playing amongst ourselves and others in the neighborhood time spent playing baseball, flag football, kickball, basketball, soccer, tag, relay races, riding bikes, hopscotch, roller skating, dancing, talking, laughing, catching lightning bugs and June bugs, making makeshift camp grounds in backyards, we didn’t have to be in before the street lights came on because we were within our neighborhood so any parent would simply yell out for whoever and only then was it time to go in yet for me and my siblings we would always venture out to our screened in porch and make makeshift pallets talk and laugh more until we drifted off to sleep, telling our summer vacation time stories when back in school excited classmates more than their vacation trips, I’ve raised my seven children of a life of simplicity and they are humbled by it.
Alice says
So very similar to mine!
Stefanie says
Some of my most fond memories of summer were when we would go camping every year and would sleep in either a tent or a van. We would go to a lake that was a few hours from our house. Grilling our food and going fishing were daily events. There was no television or cell phones. Really the only cost was our camp site fee. These were wonderful times spent together as a family.
M. Carter says
One of my favorite childhood vacation memories was a road trip from California to Mississippi for a family reunion. We stayed at KOA campgrounds and stopped to see many landmarks in the states along the way. I remember picking and eating delicious wild berries and seeing amazing fireflies in Mississippi. My nine year old self kept a detailed travel journal, including logging all the different state license plates I saw. I learned a lot of U.S. history along the way also. I’m not sure I realized how lucky I was to experience it all, but I do now.
Amanda says
My husband is a pastor and I work very part time to be with our kids. If we went on vacation every year we would be in debt up to our eyeballs! We have friends that let us stay in their lake house. It’s only about an hour from our home. The lake is small and all we do is jump and play in it. We play games inside and watch movies. I think this is what our kids will remember as “vacation.” They love it. Sometimes I feel bad that we can’t take them to all the places their friends go, but it in the end they are always thankful for the time and I am thankful for our generous friends!
JoAnn says
I have amazing memories of taking multiple camping trips every summer. We tent camped and later my parents did buy an RV. We floated down rivers, hiked and went to Campfires every night to hear the rangers talk. We have so many stories to tell about encounters with bears and just funny experiences. This really is so much better than Disney! We bonded and truly relaxed.
Terri DeVrieze says
Our dad worked at a John Deere forge shop. Annually they shut down 2 wks in July. Six hr trip to Nebraska to see large family and then week two down Southern Iowa to see mom’s side. Farms, outhouses, dirt roads. That was the only vacation my family ever took but we looked forward to it every year. Sweet memories for sure.
Norma says
There were no big summer vacations in my family. My dad made the best memories with his customized van. He was always exploring and trying camping spots in our beautiful Puerto Rico. Almost every summer weekend we would go with a couple other families to a beach, a lake, or a river. Tons of water fun and comfort food!
Kathryn says
My parents couldn’t afford family trips when I was a kid, but we had some friends with family in the same state as my grandparents. My mom would pitch in for gas each summer and they would drive the four of us both ways on the eight hour trip and drop us off with my grandparents. My dad stayed behind and worked. Many awesome memories with all of my cousins each summer and we still are close now as adults. We’re still good friends with those friends too, over twenty years and an out of state move later.
Linda Sand says
My parents bought a tent trailer that had been a rental unit and we camped at least one weekend a month during the summer–always with other families. I still remember some of the songs and skits we enjoyed by the fire during the evenings. And we had a favorite park nearby for those weekends when Dad didn’t want to drive far. We mostly played in the creek there and built fairy homes in the mud bank.
Betsy says
I grew up in the city and just about every night we would catch fireflies in a jar, play stick ball on the corner and eat lemonade ice cubes my mom would make. My mother grew up in New Jersey near a lake and an amusement park that one of the relatives owned so we would spend a week there with our cousins. No one had lots of money. I’m in my 70’s now and I don’t know how families can afford to go to the Jersey Shore. A realtor told us most weekly rentals are around $8000 to $10,000 .