Living a frugal life does not require you to give up simple pleasures of life. You can still travel, eat out, experience new destinations in nice hotels, but at affordable prices.
It is possible to collect enough airline points via credit card bonuses to fly a family accross the continent or to Hawaii for free. International flights are often more expensive but they are not impossible.
It is also possible to stay at good hotels using Marriott, Hyatt, IHG, Hilton free stay awards or via credit card points.
During your trip, it is possible to locate restaurants that cater to your taste via restaurant.com or groupon.com so that eating out does not burn your pocket.
Of course you will try to use 5% cash back cards for any incidentals during your trips. If you get a good deal, a bigger 10%, 20% or even 30% cash back could be in the cards, too.
In these pages we will give examples to possible itenararies for a family for free vacations and trips.
Sample vacations we will cover are:
Yellowstone National Park and Utah Trip
Sequoia, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Napa Road Trip
Santa Cruz, Monterey, Carmel and Big Sur Trip
Sonoma County Weekend Trip
Flying from Bay Area, California to Boston, Acadia National Park
Flying from Bay Area, California to Jackson Hole, Yosemite National Park, with a road trip to Utah (Moab, Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park), Salt Lake City, and back to San Francisco.
Driving from Bay Area, California to Los Angeles.
Driving from Bay Area, California to Santa Cruz, Monterey, Carmel weekend get away.
Flying from Bay Area, California to Maui, Hawaii.
Flying from Bay Area, California to Kauai, Hawaii.
Driving from Bay Area, California to Lake Tahoe.
Driving from Bay Area, California to Yosemite National Park.
Flying from Bay Area, California to Orlando Florida, Miami, Key West.