Activities on a vacation don’t have to cost a lot. Here are some ideas from our recent vacation to the Oregon coast:
*Shop online for affordable lodging. Hub used the site VRBO.com (Vacation Rentals by Owner) to find us a house to rent near the beach. VRBO is the same site we use to rent our Moab condo to vacationers. Our needs were simple. We didn’t require a hot tub or a game room. Balconies and garden paths were luxuries not needed. We were looking for a place near the beach that could sleep nine people and had a kitchen so that we could cook most of our meals ourselves. The house we rented fit the bill. It wasn’t fancy or big, but that didn’t matter. It cost us under $800.00 to rent it for an entire week. Run the numbers, you can’t find hotel lodging for nine people for that price.
*We saved money by using the kitchen of our little beach house. Had we stayed in a hotel we would have had to eat out for our meals. By renting a house and visiting the local grocery store, we cut our vacation costs down. Because the kids were allowed to make requests for meals, they didn’t mind not going out to restaurants. Breakfasts were cereal, waffles, fruit, and bacon and eggs. Lunches were usually sandwiches. Some days we planned “day activities” that required us to pack a picnic lunch. Dinners were spaghetti, stir-fry, lasagna, grilled cheese sandwiches and soups. As long as the kids bellies are full, they don’t mind where the meal comes from.
*Take advantage of the location of your lodging. We purposely chose a house near the beach because our kids love the beach. We knew we would be spending lots of time there. The beach was within easy walking distance. In fact, we could see the beach from the house. We used the beach for many of our activities. And it was free! Explore the area within walking distance of where you are staying. You never know what you might find. One afternoon Hoob and I took a walk around our temporary neighborhood and picked up fliers advertising the other vacation homes in the area. We imagined what it would be like to stay in each house. We talked about the features we liked most. It was fun to walk it together. (And it was gratifying to see that most of the houses were renting for $3,000 – $4,300 per week–Hub really did find us a good deal!)

Our little beach house.
*Look for free souvenirs. We didn’t spend a dime on souvenirs this vacation. The beach is a great place to find interesting things to bring home. The kids loaded up on sea shells, pretty rocks, bits of sea weed and sea glass. If you are staying near the woods, allow the kids to find pine cones and pretty flowers to press. Look for pamphlets of the places you visit. My son gathered pamphlets with great pictures of one of the museums and some of the other sites we visited. I once read a story in a magazine about a woman who collects the dirt from each of her vacation spots. She had sand from different beaches, red soil from her jeeping experiences, dark soil from the woods, all stored in little decorative bottles on her fireplace mantel. There are numerous ideas for free souvenirs.
*Pictures! Pictures can be some of the greatest souvenirs, and with a digital camera, you can take as many pictures as you want and then delete those that don’t make the cut. Make sure to get lots of candid shots along with the posed pictures. Let the kids decide some of the shots and make sure your pictures tell a story. Take shots of the scenery, the silly people you see, and local sites you aren’t likely to see again. The kids loved bringing the laptop to Grandma’s house two days after we returned home from our vacation and showing their grandparents and cousins the pictures from our vacation. Once the vacation is over, the kids can choose some of their favorites to print out and maybe even frame. One of the gifts I gave to Hoob for her birthday was a new frame with the picture of her jumping on the beach (see my last post).

Scenery: A lighthouse we visited.
*Before the vacation, do some online research to find out what there is to do in the area. As I researched for our Oregon vacation I learned that the breezes on Oregon beaches make kite flying ideal. I shopped around for a couple of months before the vacation and found kites for $1.99 for each of us. We made sure to spend one afternoon flying our kites on the beach.

Putting the kites together.

Four of the kites in the air.
*A bonfire and s’mores. Keeping with our desires to spend a lot of time on the beach, and wanting to do the typical “beachy” things, we built a fire on the beach and made s’mores on our last night in Oregon–an inexpensive activity that all enjoyed.

Yum...s'mores!

Getting ready for glow-in-the-dark-tag.

Lovely nail painting job.
June 19, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Great tips. Seems to be the most important tip is to PLAN AHEAD! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done the spontaneity thing and spent way more than I wanted.
Next time y’all go on vacation, I’m coming along; I love kite flying . . .
June 19, 2009 at 5:11 pm
I love your beach house! 🙂
I’m so glad you had a fun vacation. We’re doing ours at home this year, and I will certainly use some of your tips.
June 19, 2009 at 5:55 pm
wow ur ‘little’ beach house is amazing…I’m so jealous as its bigger than my own home hehe. Nice blog 🙂
June 20, 2009 at 1:19 am
I LOVE your toes. I paint mine all fun colors like that too. You did a great job of planning. I’m not nearly as good at it as you are. I have good intentions but I get so sidetracked. I love all the things you did. Kite flying is awesome and we love to do that and I also love that cute beach house. I also really love the treasures you can find on a beach. I just love that glass.
I’m so glad you had a good time and I just loved seeing your pics.
June 22, 2009 at 2:52 am
That vacation sounds like so much fun! I think I am going to check that VRBO.com out! We are going to visit family in NH and were looking for something affordable on the beach up there! Thanks!
June 22, 2009 at 5:45 pm
I love the free places! We’re all about parks and hiking trails. They make for a really good fun-filled active day. thanks for sharing the photos!
June 30, 2009 at 1:27 am
I love your pictures at here, I want to go there too 😛
July 14, 2009 at 6:33 pm
[…] written about our recent trip to Oregon in two previous posts. In both (Road Trip Must Haves and Vacation on the Cheap) there are examples of ways our kids showed enthusiasm. Here are a few more ideas on letting go […]
July 29, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Hi,
I’m developing a traveler tale web landing page for our website which is a collection of traveler stories about staying in vacation rental properties across the world.
I was wondering if I have permission to publish an excerpt of this blog posting on our website and include link directly to your blog from our website. Also, I’d like to include candid photograph of you to place on the page with your first name and last initial.
Thanks in advance for your consideration.