The cost of a trip...

can really make traveling a challenge. In a comment on my post titled Jardin du Luxembourg, Part Un



Anonymous said...
how do you ford a trip with 10 children!
April 28, 2011 7:02 AM  


Well... fortunately, we have a really big Ford... F250-crew cab... so everyone can fit if we squish and double-buckle ... Sometimes a few of us might have to lay down in the truck bed... but if we throw a mattress down back there, it's pretty dang comfy!

Nawwwwwwwww!

I know what that person meant...

That person wants to know where one would get the money to afford a trip to Europe with 10 kids, right? I'll bet that is a question that crossed a lot of readers' minds... unless you understood from reading my blog that only 4 kids still live at home and only those 4 kids came with us on the trip. But even that would be pretty spendy...

Airfare alone would run you .... ummmm... about six grand. And that's if you got a deal.

Lodging... minimum of about $200/night times 12 nights... about $2400. And that's for a nast-o-rama place you really wouldn't want to get near let alone sleep in with with four kids.

Food... restaurants are always pricey... even if it's just Denny's or the equivalent.

Getting around town, seeing the sights, souvenirs... all that stuff adds up.

We'd be looking at around $10K. Big money for many. Too much money for most.

So ... just how did we swing it?

The reason why you never see my face in video is because that might divulge my secret identity...

I work to only be captured on camera (still or moving) with my long, black wig on, wearing my "movie star" sunglasses and after just having my lips shot full of collagen.

Do you know how much work that is?

image source

nawwwww...

Actually, it's my ex-husband who's the breadwinner...
And I was worried that people might de-follow me if they knew who he was...

image source

just kiddin'...

Here's the secret...

• A serious butt-load of frequent flier miles saved up from long ago travels when flying was super cheap and a really nice, incredibly generous, tolerant and flexible friend with a huge house will eliminate the bulk of the costs. 
• Eating salami and cheese and bread from the backpack for every meal out of the house, and cooking at home for all other meals using food from the grocery store or farmers' market cuts the food expense dramatically. 
• Combine this with kids under 18 being free to most museums, monuments and the like and visiting those places on free day for adults as well as keeping souvenirs to the cheapie fare and using public transportation most of the time made the trip completely doable.

We did take the whole family to Europe back when there were only 8 kids (hahahhaha... "only 8"). I somehow managed to score the sweetest of deals on airfare for that one and was still playing with some money I was awarded as part of a law suit settlement. It was a very challenging trip... kids ranging in age from 8 months up to 21 years old. I am not sure I would term that trip a success... though I sure did learn a lot :P

This recent trip was, indeed, a success.

Opening the floor to any other questions...  :)