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Tough one - USA travel?

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I'm a single Dad with two teenage kids (girl 13, boy 15) and I'm not rolling in cash. Anyone got any idea how I can take them to the USA this summer (we didnt go anywhere last year) without running up debts? Any ideas at all?

Travel Tips

May I kindly suggest visiting one of our great national parks ! They are many and most have cabins or lodges available to rent. Forget about tent camping....It would be very costly to buy the needed items. Try looking at the national parks website. Select the park by your families interests and cheapest flights. Rent a car and stay in the park. They have hiking and great scenery in these parks. Stop by a grocery store and you could purchase food items to lower your costs. Source(s): http://www.nps.gov/
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Dude, the US is expensive. I don't know where you're arriving from, but the cheapest thing to do is bring a tent and find a campsite. You could stay outside a big city in a cheap hotel and ride a bus into downtown and check out free tours and stuff.

Note: Seattle isn't cheap. Don't try western WA.
Here are some sites that can help you plan a Disney World vacation on a budget. The last site even has a vacation planner. Hope these help.

http://ok.essortment.com/disneyworldon_r...
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disbud.h...
http://www.explorethemagic.com/disney-wo...

You might also think about doing a home exchange. What that means is rather than staying at a hotel, you and a family from the country you're planning on seeing "trade" homes. You stay in each other's houses. (Or apartments.)
Here are some site with info on how you can hook up to do that.
http://www.homeexchange.com/
(Home exchange is the best site for this.)
http://www.swapyourvacationhome.com/main...
http://www.viamagazine.com/top_stories/a...
I say the US is cheap compard to Ireland or the UK. a pound is 2 Us dollars and hotel rooms are in the neighborhood of 70-120 US. Which is 35-60 pounds.
It depends where you are coming from, but the US dollar isn't really all that strong now, so that way it will most likely be cheaper from where ever you are coming from. It depends how much time you have,but a great way to see the states is to drive across. Instead of staying in hotels or motels you could bring a tent or rent cabins and stay in hostels, and instead of always going out to eat you could buy food from grocery stores. You could always rent an RV, though that may be a little pricier, and just pull over to the side of the road to sleep, or rent or maybe even buy a car that (time providing) you could sell before you leave. The US is such a vast country with a variety of cultures and climates that the best way to see the whole thing would be with a road trip. I also think that the kids wold actually remember this vacation more if it was a road trip with camping, because when they get back to school how many other kids will have seen the entire US, rather than just play tourist in New York and Los Angeles, barely affording it because they stayed in expensive hotels. Best of luck with your vacation!
I live in the San Francisco area, but I've travelled the whole country. Reading through your questions and answers, I think you might do well going to Tennessee. You seem to be into music and the Nashville scene might be educational, but I suggest the Knoxville area. It gives you access to the great smoky mountains, the museum of appalachia, Dollywood and it is one of the least expensive area of the USA. You can also drive a bit farther to things like Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, or Nashville, or possibly Branson, Missouri. Check out all these things online to see if they interest you.

P.S. The bad thing about Knoxville is that it is an expensive place to fly into of out of. You may do better flying to Atlanta, GA or elsewhere and then driving. The USA is really best seen by car. Trains and buses aren't very good here.