Adventures in Travel: Lennon Party of Two - Part 1
For the last few years, my husband and I have taken mini trips with each of our three kids. It's great one-on-one time, making each feel special while escaping our normal routines for a brief time.
This summer, we added a new twist. Each child had to plan their trip, staying within a $500 budget. The budget covered transportation, lodging, meals, and entertainment. For simplicity, we conceded that the budget did NOT have to cover gas, tolls, taxes, or tips.* We also allowed that anything brought from home (snacks, water bottles, etc.) or purchased in advance at the grocery store didn't count against the budget.
After various scheduling blips, my younger daughter (11) got to go on her trips first, both with me and her dad. To help shape a plan, we honed in on the question, "What's most important to you?"
Wee One's response - "I want ramen every day! Or sushi!" She's into Anime and all things Japanese right now. We Googled where Japantowns are - and only three remain in the US: San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles. Sadly, California is 3000 miles away from Virginia, and not easily accessible on a $500 budget for two. I told her we'd do our best to find Japanese restaurants wherever we went.
Planning the Perfect Weekend Getaway
After further contemplation, she chose Williamsburg for our trip - specifically Water Country, USA. We priced out tickets ($82.52) and parking ($32) and decided that would be Day 2's main activity.
She'd enjoyed our boat rides tremendously on our last family vacation, so I suggested we find a boat on either the James or York Rivers. Google suggested the Schooner Alliance II: Yorktown Sightseeing Day Sail from Yorktown Sailing Charters. She was in! For $80 we booked a 90-minute sail, and arranged our plans to leave home in time to make a 2pm departure on Day 1.
We'd already decided Day 3 would entail going to the Williamsburg outlet mall.
With our itinerary in hand, she searched hotel options on Expedia.com. She filtered for "Breakfast Included" and "Pool" and decided she didn't want anything less than an 8/10 customer review. Sorting hotels from low to high price, she scanned the list until she found her 8 minimum. Coming in at an 8.2 with high scores for cleanliness, she chose the Sleep Inn Historic in Williamsburg, at $765.65/night (excluding taxes). We booked all three (hotel, boat, water country) and packed our bags. We were sure to bring refillable water bottles, to save money in the water park.
The next morning we were off, with lunch and snacks packed in the car. We had a screen-free drive to Williamsburg and made it to the wharf [free parking!] with time to spare. After eating our lunch in the car, we walked along the sandy river beach for 20 minutes until the boat tour was ready to board. On the sail, not only did we see baby dolphins, crabs, and fish, but she also met up with a girl she'd met at camp this summer. After the cruise, we hung out at the beach for an hour, and then checked into our hotel. It was clean, and the friendly front desk clerk pointed us toward three of his favorite Asian restaurants.
At the Ramen shop, Wee One scrutinized the menu and asked several questions about the ramen options and the prices. She recently discovered tempura shrimp, and we got an appetizer for $8.50. Later, after feeling grossly full, she observed we could have saved a few dollars (and eaten less) with the add-on tempura shrimp instead of the separate appetizer plate. Our tab was $40.47 (plus tip & tax).
We reviewed our overall budget. Knowing the water park food would be very expensive, we decided to forgo dessert. Noticing Bubba's Ice Cream the next block down, she recalled a coupon she'd seen in the tourist coupon book we picked up at a rest stop and advised me we could get buy-one-get-one at Bubba's. We decided we'd do that before leaving town.
Day 2 saw us enjoying the hotel breakfast, then hitting the road. I didn't anticipate the 20-minute line to get into the parking lot, but we made it there eventually. I also didn't anticipate the small locker costing $25. We'd penciled in $10 for the day locker, so that was a bit of a budget setback. It annoyed me that we spent $57 on parking and a locker when each admission was only $41.
Later a neighbor gave the pro-tip of having one person with a season pass (free parking for the year), and of setting down your bag on the lounge chairs near the lazy river. I'd noticed others doing that while there, but we'd already paid - lesson learned for next time. Wee One and I had several "next time we'll do this instead of that" discussions. I was incredibly proud of how the wheels were turning in her beautiful brain.
We brought our refillable water bottles, saving us $4.50 for every water bottle we didn't buy. We also brought 2 cheese sticks, an apple, an orange, and some salami to snack on. I knew the water bottles were fine, though I saw mixed info online regarding the snacks. The security guards didn't confiscate anything when they did the bag search, so I'm assuming they were fine. We shared a mid-afternoon large chicken tenders/french fries basket ($15.99 + tax) which tided us over until dinner.
We rode three attractions for 8 hours, leaving when the park kicked us out at 7pm. After changing and combing our hair, we went to Bubba's for pre-dinner buy one get one ice cream cones ($9 for the both of us, which was much better than the $9.75 price for one small Dippin' Dots we passed up in the park), then to the Chinese restaurant recommended by the hotel front desk clerk. Dinner was delicious, and Wee One produced another coupon from her tourist coupon book, offering a 20% discount for paying cash. I promptly pulled out greenbacks for the $24.72 (plus tip & tax) bill. We brought home half our dinners; the hotel room had both a mini-fridge and a microwave.
Day 3 saw breakfast as a combo of Chinese dinner leftovers and the hotel lobby provisions. We checked out and headed for the outlet mall. We don't have one closer to home, so she'd been waiting patiently for this trip to select and buy her new Crocs. Her Dad also wanted a pair and because the total bill exceeded $75, we got another discount of $15 off our order [this didn't count in the trip budget; it was a pre-planned purchase]. We window-shopped the other stores for a while, then headed to Panera, her lunch choice. I had a [free with my Sip Club] cup of coffee, and she enjoyed a bagel with cream cheese ($3.87). We did some additional clothes shopping in preparation for Cotillion, then made a second and final trip to Bubba's ($7.04) before heading home.
On our drive, I asked her to order her favorite parts of the trip. The water park was #1; shopping for Cotillion clothes came in last (zero surprise!). Our total expenditures totaled $462.91 plus taxes and tips, including the $32 parking fee.*
It was a BRILLIANT exercise in prioritization and budgeting, and we both had an awesome time. I couldn't believe some of the conversations she initiated. I'd like to think with having Wee One plan and budget this perfect weekend getaway, we created a core Lennon memory while offering practical hands-on practice with money. I'm so proud of her.
If you can make the time and the budget to have your kiddos self-direct their own outings or weekend get-aways, I highly recommend this process! I'd love to hear what's worked for your family.
Thanks for reading, and here's to teaching the next generation critical executive function skills! 🌟
* My husband and I crossed wires on parking; it was later determined to be out of scope, largely due to unpredictability.
Not sure how to introduce money concepts to your children? Check out my new online course: Raising Wealthy Kids
Stephanie Brooke Lennon is the author of Family Bank Blueprint, GoldQuest, and What Would Water Do? Simple Strategies for Navigating Life's Obstacles. Her titles are available in Paperback and Kindle on Amazon.com. Follow Stephanie Brooke on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, Amazon, and at BrookeLennon.com.
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