Traveling cheaply and successfully
with a little one
I am currently unpacking from our weeklong trip to Denver. My husband put attending the MAPS conference as the one thing he wanted to do this year, so we made it happen. My toddler and I had our own little trip exploring the city and spending some quality time together.
My goal with trips (they are not vacations when you have a toddler) is to make them as fun and stress-free as possible. That applies from the packing to the activities to the budgeting (yes, a trip budget is essential!).
I want to unpack a few strategies we use to make that a reality.
Plan ahead, but plan for the plan to not go according to plan. This could sum up my whole philosophy toward financial planning, parenting, trips, and pretty much anything else in my life. It gives me confidence that we can afford to take the trip, I can navigate the city by myself with a toddler, and we have everything we need. For trips specifically, this means:
Making a trip budget. I think through how much things will cost and how much we can afford. Once I have a number, I give us a little wiggle room because I know there will always be unexpected expenses (I thought there was a free shuttle to the hotel, but they stopped doing that, so we had to take a Lyft from the airport). I have gotten rather good at this, for this trip, we came in $3 under our budget.
Researching activities. This way, I know what we need to bring. I’m not completely lost on what things we will do and when. I can buy tickets in advance if needed.
Curating a trip checklist. We have an ever-evolving trips checklist. For every trip we go on, we go through it and make sure we have all the essentials. Water bottles? Check. Sleep sack? Check. Plug covers? Yes, we brought a pack of outlet protectors to cover the outlets in the hotel room.
Roll with it. Did we wake up at 4 am one morning? Yes, but the sink is a very fun place to play at that time of the morning. Did we run through all of our swim diapers? Did buses come early? Of course. But that’s all part of the experience and presents opportunities to shop like a local, walk a little more, and have a story to tell.
Think free, cheap, and discounted. The biggest cost items for most trips are transportation and accommodation. Making those free/cheap makes our trips possible and leaves money for experiences. Finding ways to save at other experiences means more of them.
Cover flights and hotel(s) with miles and points. We carefully choose itineraries, locations, and accommodation configurations that worked for us. We stayed seven nights at the Hyatt House in downtown Denver. It was two blocks from the convention center and had a kitchen in the room (so we could cook some of our meals), an indoor pool, and free breakfast. Plus, we paid $0, thanks to our credit card points. Similarly, we flew from the small two-gate airport in our hometown and avoided red-eyes. We paid airline miles for our flight there and cash on the way back to make that happen.
Use public transportation. Some buses were free, and the others were $3 for a 3-hour pass. Not only was it the cheapest way to get around, but I also avoided lugging a car seat in a ride-share or finding/paying for parking with a rental car. Plus, the bus was one of my toddler’s favorite activities of the entire trip.
Utilize free activities. We went to story time at the public library. We visited two local playgrounds. We went to the splash pad three times. We also sat in random outdoor spaces listening to music or watching vehicles.
Don’t pay full price. We went to the children’s museum, the Museum of Nature and Science, the aquarium, the zoo, the botanical gardens, and the art museum (I will say the botanical gardens and the art museum were short-lived experiences with a toddler, but she did get in free.). I bought myself a City Pass to get into most places at a discounted rate and used our memberships from home to get reciprocal prices (50% off) at the others (both the children’s museum and the aquarium offered this).
If you’re visiting Denver specifically, the 20 bus is much nicer than the 15/15L and can get you to a lot of the same places. The best food we ate the whole time was from Liang’s Thai Food cart (cash only on 16th Street Mall). I highly recommend the Union Station fountains. Stop and get a coffee at Copper Door Coffee Roasters if you visit the Denver Botanic Gardens (the best coffee on the trip, even though we made special trips to other coffee shops).
You see a different side of the city with kids. We were back in the hotel at 7 pm every night, but we rode and walked (and walked and walked) around at least half a dozen neighborhoods (yes, I Zillowed the houses/apartments in each of them). We met and played with other families and kids (one dad entrusted his kid with me after knowing me for an hour!). We cooked macaroni in the hotel room and visited nice sit-down restaurants.
Cheap and successful? ✅