Our Travel Year Itinerary

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Family Gap Year Itinerary and Budget

Planning a family gap year can be complicated.  First you need a way to make money while travelling.  Secondly for us it’s finding locations in areas that are budget friendly and make sense.  Then purchasing and planning plane tickets, lodging, insurance and things to do while all staying in budget.  We definitely made a few mistakes along the way but overall the experience was really positive and I can’t wait to go on our next family gap year.

Even once we got the schedule and budget decided – the kids needed homeschool / worldschool resources and we needed internet to pay the bills.  We tried to balance shorter and longer trips to balance the budget and used numerous other ways to save money while traveling.  There was a lot of moving parts and occasionally the feeling of sitting on the edge of disaster (which luckily never came).

Here’s our Itinerary for the Year (and some budget information – the rest is pending).  I’m going to add in details as I have time – there is a lot of information I can cram in here.  I also recommend checking out specific location pages for more in depth details and I will include those links when appropriate.

Before you Travel Planning

Planning for long term travel can start 2 years prior to when you leave to just a few months ahead of time.  We planned ours in 6 months. Some big scheduling items and concerns include:

It’s a good goal to get your budget and bills as low as possible before you travel.  We were able to rent out our house so we did not have a mortgage (they even pre-paid most of the year).  We tried to sell all of our cars except for one very cheap van (and failed miserably at that – we’ll do better next time).  We tried to get rid of all of our other bills (and moderately succeeded).  Our goal was to get down to travel and health insurance and Netflix.  We got close.

Here’s our Itinerary for the Year (and some budget information – the rest is pending).  I’m going to add in details as I have time – there is a lot of information I can cram in here.  I also recommend checking out specific location pages for more in depth details and I will include those links when appropriate.

Gap Year Itinerary and Budget

Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Alabama

June-August 15: Orange Beach / Gulf Shores AL

  • Housing Cost: Free (stayed with family)
  • Flight: R and the older two kids drove down.  The youngest and I flew (usually about $100 per flight)
  • Transportation: We took our current vehicles with us, cost: regular car payments and insurance
  • Food:  We generally eat our more than normal but this time we were able to eat more at home.  Lunch generally costs about $40 and Dinner around $60
  • Activities in Gulf Shores:  We did not do much out of the ordinary and kept our activity budget low.
  • Saving money over the summer allowed us a little more wiggle room when we were traveling

Portland Oregon

August 15, 2017 – August 19, 2017: Portland, Oregon

  • Lodging: Through AirBnB, small studio outside of town for around $500 total.
  • Flight: with layover in Las Vegas (missed a 2 million jackpot by 30 minute, oh, well – around $150 pp x5.
  • Car Rental: picked up rental in downtown area that we could take across the Canadian border.
  • Food:  Our unit did not have a kitchen so we made small snack meals, and easy breakfasts but otherwise did eat out for most meals.  Our favorite nearby was Laughing Planet in Portland.
  • Activities

August 19, 2017 August 20, 2017: Crater Lake

  • Lodging: Campsite for 1 night reserved 2-3 months ahead of time
  • Food:
  • Entrance Fees:
  • Camping equipment:

August 20, 2017: Camping near some random lake a random place in Oregon

  • Lodging
  • Food

August 21, 2017: Eclipse Day, Newport Drive by and Camping at Beachside State park Oregon

  • The Eclipse – totally free except for the glasses we had mailed to our house prior to the trip
  • Lunch and exploring Newport
  • Lodging
  • Food: We filled every nook and craney we could find in the car with extra food and water since we were worried about getting stuck in traffic during the eclipse.  Turned out was not a problem but we did discover B’s new favorite snack food.  Tortilla’s and Peanut Butter (with a little bit of honey).  It’s also great hiking food.  Once we got in to town we did eat out a few times, our normal price.  There was a nice restaurant in the town near our campsite where we had dinner and breakfast.

The Eclipse was great, Newport was a cute town (I really liked the Aquarium), and the Beachside area was nice but I liked the Seaside area better.  If I was repeating this trip I would probably skip Beachside and focus more on Seaside.    I’d still think about stopping in Newport for the aquarium and Tillmook cheese factory and just do a long travel day.

August 22, 2017 – Newport Beach and Driving up to Seaside, Oregon

  • Oregon Coast Aquarium and lunch at the aquarium
  • Visit to Tillmook Factory:  Cost of Ice Cream – yummy
  • Stop over in Cannon Beach, Oregon (can be done easily from a base in Seaside)

August 22, 2017 – August 23, 2017 – Seaside Oregon

This was a nice stop for us.  I wish we would have stayed here longer.

  • Lodging: The Tides $187 per night
  • Food – we made all of our meals at the condo
  • Laundry – overdue, and took for ever

Washington State

August 24, 2017 – Drive up through Washington State and Camping at Sul Duc Hot Springs

  • Lunch and a quick Break in Astoria
  • Drive Along the Washington Coast (and the bridge) with stops to walk the beach along the way.  Whale sighting while driving.
  • Lodging:  Camping at Sul Duc Hot Springs Campsite in Olympic National Park

August 25, 2017: Drive to Port Townsend and ferry to Coopeville, Washington

  • Port Townsend for lunch: Cute town hung out around the waterfront until time to catch the ferry
  • Ferry Cost:

August 25, 2017 – August 30, 2017 Coopeville, WA

  • Lodging
  • Ft. Casey
  • Desolation Pass and Rosemary Beach
  • Library: Free
  • Playground and hikes: Free

August 26, 2017 – August 30, 2017 – Camp Orlkila

  • M caught ferry from Anacortes to Orcas Island after check in and back
  • Cost

Vancouver Island Canada

September 30, 2017 – Drive and Ferry to Vancouver Island

  • Ferry Cost

September 30, 2017 – October 1, 2017 Ladysmith, Canada

Costa Rica

October 1, 2017 – flight to Costa Rica

October 1, 2017 – October 7, 2017 – La Fortuna, Costa Rica

If I was redoing this trip I would stay here longer – at least 1 week.

October 7, 2017 – October 11, 2017: Tortuguero,

I did like this area for a short stop.  3-4 days would be fine – I don’t think there is enough to do for a longer stop unless you are involved in the turtle volunteer programs or you upgrade to a place with a pool.  Although I do feel that not having much to do was a good thing for us.  We learned how to play cards and rest.

  • Private Driver:  Our hotel arranged a guide to pick us up, Taxi and Boat to the Tortuguero as well as a return trip to San Jose for
  • Lodging
  • Activities:
    • Beach: free but you can not swim, the currents are too strong
    • Canoe ride
    • Night time guided turtle tour
    • Food:  Reasonably priced but not cheap.  We generally bought fruit and snacks for the hotel and supplemented with small meals.
    • Coconuts – In the square the guy with the cooler only not the other dudes.  500 Krones? (A kept her coconut money with her at all time – she now calls most coins coconut coins), or you could just pick one up off of the ground
    • Park Entrance Fee

October 11, 2017 – November 8, 2017 – Pursical, Costa Rica

  • Lodging
  • Rental Car
  • Pool/Resort passes in Santiago de Pursical
  • Food – Some things cheap, some reasonable but not cheap, other stuff way more
  • Local Pool and Restaurant (St. Marie?)

October 21, 2017 – Jaco Beach, Costa Rica

  • Lodging
  • Surf Lessons
  • Food
    • So far the best burgers of the trip and one of my favorite restaurants

October 2017 – San Jose / Sana Ana Day Trips

  • Kids Museum
  • Trick or Treating – free except we bought costumes at Walmart and Dinner
  • Sana Anna Mall (Chili’s break, toy store and book store)

November 8 , 2017 – Hotel near San Jose airport

  • Hotel for 1 night
  • Restaurant
  • Flight from San Jose to Houston

Back in the USA – Gulf Coast, New Jersey and New York City

November 8, 2017 – November 9, 2017- Houston to Mobile and hanging out with friends

Next time we are in Houston I want to make some time for the kids museum – it looks great but no time this trip

  • Houston with a friend – free! … Hi Shellie!
  • Rental car for 2 days
  • Drive to Mobile, AL for dinner with friends (Hi Other Friends!), meet parents, and drop off rental car

November 9, 2017 – November 28, 2017 – Gulf Coast Alabama

  • Lodging: Free – staying with parents
  • Activities – some boating, some beach, some excessive eating for Thanksgiving; all low budget
  • Early Christmas with the family – used to get more appropriate bags, new books, some small travel supplies, small toys, and whatever extra clothes that we needed

November 28, 2017 – Drive to Atlanta, and Flight to Philadelphia

  • Rental Car
  • Flight

November 28, 2017 – December 10, 2017 – Staying with Family in New Jersey

  • Lodging – Free
  • Food – our normal
  • Activities
    • Garden State Kids Museum – free with sister’s buddy pass
    • Jelly Bean Factory – $5 for 1 kid (may have been half off day)
    • Charles Dicken’s Festival – Free except for the cupcakes, philly steak sandwiches and pony ride

We did use this time to rearrange our bags and purchase what we where missing.  We bought kids shoes and snow boots from a second hand shop and I bought a new jacket.

Copenhagen, Denmark

December 10, 2017 – Flight to Copenhagen

  • Overnight Flight from ? Airport in New York (but at least an hour outside of the city, feels like you are in the middle of nowhere) on Norwegian Air –
  • Landed in Copenhagen around noon, took the metro to Vanlose stop and a taxi to our next stay ($10 x 2 taxi’s)

December 10, 2017 – January 5, 2018 – Copenhagen

  • Lodging – this is by far our most expensive place but we were hoping to balance it out with not getting a car rental, and the cheap flights
  • Transportation:  Bus, metro a couple of time, train to Louisiana Museum of Modern Art – very easy to navigate public transportation system once you get the hang of it.  Google maps was really helpful
  • Food:  Traditional restaurants are expensive (about $20 per meal per person), we saved some money by sharing meals (which we normally do anyway).  We ended up only eating out only a few times – 2 times at restaurants, one pizza place, taco place at Tivoli, 3 times at Burger King, and once at the Louisiana Museum (for the entire month).  Mostly we ate at home and carried bread, cheese and fruit with us everywhere for snacks.  We did enjoy a few stops at doughnut and pastry shops.  We had a couple discount grocery stores near us and frequently could keep our food budget to $20 per day by buying at the discount stores.  If we ate out as much as we normally do at home then no way could we have afforded Copenhagen.
  • Activities:
    • Membership to the National History Museum
    • Experimentarium
    • Rosenburg Castle
    • Tivoli
    • Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
    • Boat Tour
      • There were several places in town that were super high on my list for things I wanted to see but we just did not make it.  We went downtown about every other day but most days we just wondered around then would go to the National History Museum to warm up.  I’m sure we’ll be back – we can fill in the blanks then.  For us it’s more important to enjoy the atmosphere then rush around checking off boxes.  I highly recommend taking a stroller with you.  We could not find a place to purchase a cheap one and not having a stroller for A limited our choices.

January 5, 2017 – January 6, 2017 – Overnight Hotels and Flight to Morocco

  • We ended up booking a hotel room at the airport in Copenhagen.  I was really nervous on relying on public transportation in the middle of the night (the buses and metro didn’t run as often and it was not a straight shot).  Also Taxi’s our size would have been about $190 and there is no Uber in Copenhagen.  This was a large extra expense for us but for me it was worth less stress
    • Clarion Copenhagen Airport – $169

Marrakesh, Morocco

January 6, 2018 – January 11, 2018 – Marrakesh, Morocco

  • Flight for all 5 of us to Marracesh, Morocco:
  • Extra hotel room in Morocco (The way the flight ended up working we had to book an additional day in Morocco and leave 2 days early from Copenhagen.  Otherwise our flight would have been way more expensive)
  • Taxi’s in Morocco – to our first hotel
  • The Riad – Through AirBnB
  • Taxi to the Riad
  • Guide for in Town
  • Souvenirs – we overpaid for everything especially the first 2 days (we are not good hagglers and having the kids with us just makes things tricky).  The kids all had a $20 souvenir budget that they quickly spent.  M bought a small but very nice handmade rug for $60 over her budget (for her birthday).   Day 3 and 4 we found a place closer to our Riad that had much better prices for food and R was able to get a good deal on a new bag $5.   On the next trip we will likely either make purchases more from the people in the mountains or may be have a guide that does not work on commission and will help us find the better deals.
  • Food – first dinner $60 and the kids did not eat it.  Dinners and food near our Riad were much cheaper.  Groceries were priced OK.
  • Atlas Mountain Tour $220 for the day.   This is our big splurge of the trip and it was wonderful.

Lisbon Portugal

January 11, 2018 – Flight to Lisbon, Portugal

  • Flight
  • Car Rental for Jan.  – Feb 24
  • Drove 3-4 hours to Lagos, Portugal

January 11, 2018 – January 16, 2018 – Lagos Portugal

  • Lodging
  • Food – Reasonable and generally cheaper then US.  Also the places we went were very good.
  • We had a really nice time just walking around
  • We bought 3 t-shirts for B (since we lost his bag) and one sweatshirt for about $25 Euro
  • The Science Center

Andalusia Spain – Olvera 

January 16, 2018 – February 18, 2018

  • Lodging – Townhouse in Olvera
  • Food – mostly groceries, reasonable prices.  Occasionally eating out.
  • Activities – mostly parks
  • Car Rental (only used on weekends but no car rental places in the city where we rented)
  • SIM cards
  • Scooter

Day Trips to Seville

  • Royal Alcazar of Seville admission
  • Parking
  • Lunch/Dinner
  • Cathedral de Seville Admission
  • Souvenirs
  • Car Seat and Trip to the Mall

Day Trip to Cordoba

  • Gas and Parking
  • Entrance to the Mosque de Cordoba
  • Souvenir
  • Food

Day Trip to Ronda

  • Parking
  • Lunch/Ice Cream
  • Museum Fees
  • Bull Ring Entrance Fee

Day Trip to Malaga for Carnival

  • Parking
  • Lunch

Day Trip to Gibraltar

  • Parking
  • Lunch/Dinner
  • Tour of the Rock

Drive to Grenada then Sierra Nevada 

February 18, 2018

  • Parking
  • Food
  • Alhambra Entrance Fees

Sierra Nevada Spain

February 18 – February 22

  • Lodging
  • Traffic Ticket
  • Ski Lessons
  • Food

Lisbon Portugal

February 22, 2018 – February 25, 2018

  • Lodging
  • Tour
  • Food

Ireland

Kilorgan

February 22 – March

  • Lodging:
  • Food
  • Activities

Ballyhack

March

  • Lodging: the Schoolhouse
  • Food
  • Activities

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