An Ordinary Family's Frugal Travel with Kids, Gaining 160,000 Fans!
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Located in Yunnan, an ordinary family. After resigning, in 2 years, I've taken my child to travel through 6 countries and over 70 cities, gradually realizing my childhood dream of traveling around the world. Taking photos, writing travel guides, and sharing parenting insights, I've been fortunate to gain hundreds of thousands of readers.
With limited money and time, I always meticulously plan each trip to make 'traveling with kids on a budget' as comfortable as possible. This article shares some ideas for traveling with children:
✅ Destinations:
Children's interests vary with each age stage. I've made an age-segmented recommendation table for family travel destinations, which is in Figure 2 for your reference.
✅ Making Holidays:
Although I've resigned, my child attends kindergarten, and my wife only has 10 vacation days a year.
For family trips, we'll use 5 vacation days + 4 weekend days to make a 9-day holiday; during Spring Festival and National Day when there are many people in China, we'll travel abroad. On ordinary weekends, we buy discounted tickets, flying out on Friday night and returning on Sunday night, visiting many cities.
✅ Airfare and Accommodation:
For well-planned trips, I generally book airfare and hotels about 3 months in advance, which is much cheaper. For Southeast Asia, I choose AirAsia, and for domestic travel, I compare multiple platforms; for overseas hotels, the web version of agoda is cheaper than the app; if it's a short-term trip, book hotels after 6 pm and airfare on Tuesday afternoon, which is usually cheaper.
🌟 For family trips, I usually book standard rooms with 1.35-meter beds, which are more comfortable for the child to sleep with. However, often a king bed or a standard room with a 1.2-meter bed can be more than 50% cheaper, or in some countries where the beds are very small, I'll bring a lightweight inflatable mattress for myself to sleep on. It weighs only as much as a bottle of mineral water, takes up no space in the suitcase, and can also be used outdoors for the child to lie down and play.
✅ High-speed Trains and Self-driving:
Before the age of 6, children are free of charge, making high-speed train travel particularly cost-effective. We've visited all high-speed train destinations within a 2-hour radius; for mountainous areas with troublesome transportation, we'll self-drive.
✅ 2024 Travel Review (for reference for 2025 travel destinations):
January: Climbing Yulong Snow Mountain in Lijiang, visiting Chimelong Wildlife World and Hong Kong Disneyland for the New Year.
February: Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, to experience island culture and Chinese culture.
March: Dali's wheat fields are in their most beautiful season; taking the child to the ranch, tie-dyeing.
April: Nujiang Luoguqing to see the azaleas blooming all over the mountain; celebrating the Water-Splashing Festival in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan.
May: Guizhou Kaili to eat sour soup beef, stay in a century-old house in Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village, watch the intangible cultural heritage of the Lusheng dance in Langde Miao Village.
June: Hulunbuir grassland to see cattle and sheep, stay in Mongolian yurts, learn surfing and snorkeling in Sanya, Hainan.
July: Cruise travel to Okinawa, Japan, experience architectural culture in Gulangyu, Xiamen, participate in Elephant Protection Day in Xishuangbanna.
August: Visit the sunken ship in Weihai, Shandong, watch the golden rice fields like in a fairy tale in Xingyi, Guizhou.
September, October (public holiday + National Day): Turkey to chase hot air balloons, jump into the Mediterranean, visit the world's cultural city Istanbul.
November: Saudi Arabia, to see desert civilization and modern cities.
December: Harbin to experience skiing, ice skating, scrubbing baths, watch the romantic snow in Hengdao Hezi.
Spend the least amount of money to show children a bigger world. In 2025, I will continue to set out and share more practical tips with everyone. You can also meet up for trips and share strategies in my Xiaohongshu community.
Travel [Topic] with Kids [Topic]
With limited money and time, I always meticulously plan each trip to make 'traveling with kids on a budget' as comfortable as possible. This article shares some ideas for traveling with children:
✅ Destinations:
Children's interests vary with each age stage. I've made an age-segmented recommendation table for family travel destinations, which is in Figure 2 for your reference.
✅ Making Holidays:
Although I've resigned, my child attends kindergarten, and my wife only has 10 vacation days a year.
For family trips, we'll use 5 vacation days + 4 weekend days to make a 9-day holiday; during Spring Festival and National Day when there are many people in China, we'll travel abroad. On ordinary weekends, we buy discounted tickets, flying out on Friday night and returning on Sunday night, visiting many cities.
✅ Airfare and Accommodation:
For well-planned trips, I generally book airfare and hotels about 3 months in advance, which is much cheaper. For Southeast Asia, I choose AirAsia, and for domestic travel, I compare multiple platforms; for overseas hotels, the web version of agoda is cheaper than the app; if it's a short-term trip, book hotels after 6 pm and airfare on Tuesday afternoon, which is usually cheaper.
🌟 For family trips, I usually book standard rooms with 1.35-meter beds, which are more comfortable for the child to sleep with. However, often a king bed or a standard room with a 1.2-meter bed can be more than 50% cheaper, or in some countries where the beds are very small, I'll bring a lightweight inflatable mattress for myself to sleep on. It weighs only as much as a bottle of mineral water, takes up no space in the suitcase, and can also be used outdoors for the child to lie down and play.
✅ High-speed Trains and Self-driving:
Before the age of 6, children are free of charge, making high-speed train travel particularly cost-effective. We've visited all high-speed train destinations within a 2-hour radius; for mountainous areas with troublesome transportation, we'll self-drive.
✅ 2024 Travel Review (for reference for 2025 travel destinations):
January: Climbing Yulong Snow Mountain in Lijiang, visiting Chimelong Wildlife World and Hong Kong Disneyland for the New Year.
February: Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, to experience island culture and Chinese culture.
March: Dali's wheat fields are in their most beautiful season; taking the child to the ranch, tie-dyeing.
April: Nujiang Luoguqing to see the azaleas blooming all over the mountain; celebrating the Water-Splashing Festival in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan.
May: Guizhou Kaili to eat sour soup beef, stay in a century-old house in Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village, watch the intangible cultural heritage of the Lusheng dance in Langde Miao Village.
June: Hulunbuir grassland to see cattle and sheep, stay in Mongolian yurts, learn surfing and snorkeling in Sanya, Hainan.
July: Cruise travel to Okinawa, Japan, experience architectural culture in Gulangyu, Xiamen, participate in Elephant Protection Day in Xishuangbanna.
August: Visit the sunken ship in Weihai, Shandong, watch the golden rice fields like in a fairy tale in Xingyi, Guizhou.
September, October (public holiday + National Day): Turkey to chase hot air balloons, jump into the Mediterranean, visit the world's cultural city Istanbul.
November: Saudi Arabia, to see desert civilization and modern cities.
December: Harbin to experience skiing, ice skating, scrubbing baths, watch the romantic snow in Hengdao Hezi.
Spend the least amount of money to show children a bigger world. In 2025, I will continue to set out and share more practical tips with everyone. You can also meet up for trips and share strategies in my Xiaohongshu community.
Travel [Topic] with Kids [Topic]
Comments
This is amazing! I can't wait to try it out myself. Thanks for sharing!