After two years of traveling internationally with my sister and my two nieces, I’ve come to a conclusion that will save you a ton of money.

We’ve traveled to seven countries in Europe, and we took two road trips across the United States.

Of course, we traveled on a budget, but we also dabbled in a bit of luxury traveling in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

So I’ve had different experiences of traveling with these two kids. I’m not kidding when I say that you will save HUNDREDS of dollars.

Here’s the big secret…

YOUR KIDS DON’T CARE.

The average kid does not and will never know the difference between a $50 night Airbnb or a $250 Night Airbnb.

The average kid does not care or know the difference between a $100 meal in Dubrovnik or a $10 meal in Dubrovnik.

The average kid would prefer going on a 12-hour long bus ride, making multiple stops, than taking a direct flight to whatever destination.

Your kids could not care less.

This is coming from a girl that traveled when she was younger. I took the family vacations to Disney and Canada. Let me tell you something, the things that I remember and the memories that I cherish the most are not expensive things like Disney World.

It’s the long car rides, the different stops we made to get snacks, and the time I spent hanging out with my mother and my sisters. All those things were completely free or inexpensive.

I hate to break it to you, and I know that you want the very best for your kid when traveling internationally, but the things that you THINK your kid needs to have a fabulous time abroad, they probably don’t need it.

They actually couldn’t care less.

The average kid needs a cup of macaroni and cheese, an iPad, and a couple of outfits from Walmart. With those items, they’re going to be perfectly fine.

I’ve noticed that parents tend to make the trip about themselves, which causes this ridiculous overspending. They tend to give the kids the things that they did not have when they were younger.

I don’t think this is a bad thing at all. However, I still believe that it’s a problem because it causes the parents to overspend.

Let me go through some examples of some experiences that I’ve had with my nieces when traveling.

I mentioned this a bit earlier, my nieces would prefer to take the most budget transportation methods over a more expensive method, like taking a flight or the train.

My nieces love to take the Flixbus, a budget way of traveling around Europe. If you haven’t heard of the Flixbus, it’s a bus company where you can pretty much go anywhere in Europe, for super duper cheap.

I’m talking about $10, $15, $20 for a long bus ride. These buses tend to make stops to pick up other travelers, which makes the rides much longer than it has to be.

It’s an inexpensive budget backpacker way of traveling around Europe.

My nieces would prefer to take a long bus ride because they get to stop at different places, get lost looking out the window, and stop for snacks. I can’t explain it, but that’s just their thing.

Your kid would be perfectly fine with some mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, french fries – kid foods.

When we were in Dubrovnik, Croatia, we decided to splurge. We decided to have dinner in the walls of Dubrovnik, which was super fancy-schmancy.

Guess what? My sweet nieces couldn’t care less about that.

That fancy meal we had in Dubrovnik is NOT the meal they remember.

Do you know what they remember?

My niece always talks about a meal we had in Wroclaw, Poland in 2018.

The whole meal came up to around $40. Yes, $40! The $40 covered food for me, my sister, and three children.

My niece always remembers the chicken she had and how the chicken was epic.

That was one of the cheapest meals we’ve had in Europe. And BTW, my sister and I had beers, and we all ordered entrees, dessert, and all that jazz.

It was a super inexpensive meal, yet my niece’s favorite meal.

Next, your kid does not want to spend the day at the Louvre, so save the €25.

The average kid (I know all kids are different) does not want to spend the day at the Louvre.

I think you probably know that already, but I have to make it crystal clear.

Do you know what will make your kid happy, and it’s FREE?

They would enjoy taking a walk, going to the public park, or going to the beach.

If you’re in Paris, walking on the river, getting some ice cream, and hanging out. These simple things would make your child happy.

These are just some examples that stand out to me.

I could go on and on about this, but I think I made my point.

Again, I want you to understand that you don’t need to spend a ton of money for your kids to have a great time abroad.

When you finally start traveling abroad with your kids, you’ll laugh when you realize the things that your kids enjoy.

You’re going to find it’s the small things. 🙂

Let me know what other topics you would like me to talk about when traveling internationally with kids. I will make some blogs on planning international travel with kids.

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