Jul
21
2010
Thrifty Adventures
By Tom M
Ah, summer. There is no better time to get out of the house and get to know nature a little better. The best way to do this is to go camping! I know what you are thinking: “I want to experience nature from my air conditioned hotel room in Waikiki!” Well this is frugal blog, darnit, so let’s compare the two trips.
- Travel Expense
- Flight from Portland, OR to Honolulu round trip for a family of four:
- $1680 (double that for you East Coasters)
- 200 mile round trip drive to favorite campground:
- <$60 (assuming you aren’t an H2 driver…)
- Flight from Portland, OR to Honolulu round trip for a family of four:
- Hotel Expense
- 3 star hotel in Waikiki:
- $130 per night
- Campsite fee:
- <$30 per night
- 3 star hotel in Waikiki:
- Fun Expense
- Waikiki
- Snorkeling with the fishes
- $60 each
- Taking a helicoptor tour of a mountain
- $120 each
- Touring a pineapple plantation
- $12 each plus pineapple-y souvineers
- Snorkeling with the fishes
- Camping
- Going fishing
- $14 each (and in many states, kids under 14 can fish for free)
- Taking a hike up a mountain
- Free! (Just make sure to bring plenty of water and snacks)
- Touring a pinecone “plantation”
- Free!
- Going fishing
- Waikiki
- Food Expense
- Waikiki
- Breakfast – Banana crêpe with coconut syrup and fresh ground Kona coffee
- $14
- Lunch – Glass of POG juice, deep fried mahi-mahi, and a mango shave ice
- $9
- Dinner – Succulent pork roasted on a spit, by a master chef, over a bed of fire heated lava rocks
- $24
- Breakfast – Banana crêpe with coconut syrup and fresh ground Kona coffee
- Camping
- Breakfast – Burned pancake with a slightly squished banana and a glass of watery coffee crystals
- $3
- Lunch - cup of Kool-Aid, pan fried lake trout, and a couple of ice cubes found at the bottom of your cooler
- $0.50
- Dinner – Succulent hotdog roasted on a stick, by your 10 year old son, over a bed of random things you decided to burn (YUM!)
- $1.25
- Breakfast – Burned pancake with a slightly squished banana and a glass of watery coffee crystals
- Waikiki
As you can see, a camping trip is clearly a great option for those who want an adventure on a budget. I recommend looking at these great resources to help plan a camping trip:
- For camp ground research and reservations: ReserveAmerica.com
- How to go camping while respecting the environment: TreadLightly.org
- Want to find out about State and National Parks in your area?: U.S. National Park Service
- Easy camping menus that sound better than the one above: JoyOfCamping.com
- A great list to make sure you don’t leave anything at home: FamilyCampingGear.com
Do you have any great camping stories? Tell us about them in the comment box below.
Another option, which I have heard great things about, is the Pacific Northwest’s Forest Service Rental Program.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/recreation/rentals/index.shtml
“Whether it is winter, spring, summer, or fall, you can experience all of the seasons in a historic Forest Service cabin or fire lookout. Once operated as fully staffed lookouts or remote ranger stations, many of these rentals provide an opportunity to live the life of a ranger or fire lookout.
…
Many of the cabins and lookouts that compose the Recreation Lodging offering in the Pacific Northwest Region are the historic representatives of a once- extensive system of protective structures designed to detect wildfires – and to house fire guards, “smoke chasers”, who formed the front-line defense in fighting those fires as the initial attack.”
Thank you for sharing this.To Your Success!