When my son was 4 months old, we were grinding through an intense feeding schedule and juggling our 3-and-a-half-year-old, new baby and freelance work.
I remember feeding my son and looking up at my husband in the bleary-eyed hours of the night (or maybe it was morning ― all those hours look the same), and saying, “Let’s go somewhere this summer with the kids. For a month.”
That bold declaration was a serious one, but sprouted from that raw desperation that comes when you’re feeling the slow burn of running on fumes.
I needed a severe change of scenery and lifestyle so badly that I ached for it. I wanted to be a new person again. One who slept at night and took walks in the sunshine. I wanted to be anywhere with my family besides that faded brown couch in our cozy family room.
My husband responded enthusiastically, which wasn’t a surprise. He is a travel fanatic, and took my idea seriously. But instead of the idea slowly fading into fantasy of “one day,” we talked regularly about our precious new goal like it was a reality.
Where would we go? How would it affect our freelance work? How would we afford it? We had about 10 months to pull this off.
Choosing an Affordable Destination
We decided we wanted to do something totally different and travel with our kids abroad, but scratched Europe off our list pretty quickly. Our goal was roughly 10 months away, and I didn’t want to be flying with a newly minted 1-year-old and 4-and-a-half-year-old on a night flight and adjusting to the time change. We also knew a European vacation for an entire month would probably be too expensive to hurdle.
Instead, we focused on affordable Mexico, where the flight from Atlanta was 2 to 3 hours, and I spoke the language reasonably well. Our priority was also to go somewhere safe and inspiring.
We checked the U.S. Travel Advisory warning while doing our research on where to go in Mexico, and obviously decided not to vacation in a border town or areas known for high crime. And if you don’t have experience with Mexico, here are some insights you may not know:
- The fastest growing class in Mexico is the middle class
- Mexico is very safe. Is all of it safe? Not by a long shot. Some of Mexico is incredibly dangerous. But fearing travel to Mexico because of crime is like being afraid to travel to the U.S. because of neighborhoods with high crime.
- The Mexicans we met frequently asked us if we were afraid to raise our children in the U.S. because of our crime and mass shootings. Many said they were too afraid to travel to the U.S. (even to Disney World) because it was too dangerous.
However, there was a problem with our location of choice. I knew I didn’t want to spend a month on a Mexican beach in blistering 100 degree weather with two young kids.
Despite living in Atlanta, I am NOT a big fan of the heat or humidity. I assumed all of Mexico would be in the midst of a heat wave during the height of summer, but was wrong.
We found a colonial town in Central Mexico north of Mexico City where the high averaged about 80 degree in July. Seventy-degree weather is the norm. San Miguel de Allende is known for its thriving arts and culture, fine restaurants, friendliness and beauty.
Leveraging Frequent Flyer Miles
Next, we took at close look at our frequent flyer miles to see how we could get to the nearest big airport in Leon. We’ve always been aggressive about utilizing travel reward points through our Starwood Amex card and other offers. Free travel is out there for the taking if you’re proactive about it and plan ahead.
We realized we had enough frequent flyer miles for two direct round-trip tickets. We would pay out of pocket for a ticket our 4 1/2 year old, and brave our 1 year old flying on my lap. Our cost of an “infant in arms” ticket was calculated based on an international tax, and our baby’s ticket was less than $150.
The cost of lodging for an entire month was a concern, but I was determined to figure it out.
Booking During the Off-Season
I started researching when the low season in San Miguel de Allende would be. Turns out it was July, which worked well for us since we hoped to go somewhere during the summer when my daughter was out of preschool, and to give us enough time to plan ahead. The lodging rates were cheaper, and we knew the swell of tourists wouldn’t wash in until August or September. Our tranquil little mountain vacation looked well within reach
I kept a diligent eye on Airbnb and VRBO to look for lodging appropriate for our family. We settled on a 2-bedroom “casita” in walking distance to town. I discovered that plugging in lodging dates for 4-weeks automatically dropped the rates nearly in half. We would have paid the same amount booking for nearly 3 weeks as we would have for a 4 week stay. It makes sense. Landlords want to get someone into their vacation rental for a month instead of piecing together enough tourists during the low season to fill the vacancy.
Our accommodations ultimately came in at nearly $1k for the month (plus a refundable deposit). And every accommodation we looked at in San Miguel de Allende came with twice weekly maid service (that’s right – 2x a week!).
Our place had a spacious rooftop balcony overlooking the Parroquia in the main square and mountains surrounding us in the distance. A small outdoor kitchen area on the roof was full of colorful flowers, and our master bedroom balcony was enveloped in the kind of postcard views that make you want to pass out from all the beauty. We were also just a $2 to $3 taxi ride (for our whole family) in any point in town if walking proved too far.
We flew to Mexico and spent a month in San Miguel de Allende, toured pyramids, swam in hot springs, ate out or cooked at our home away form home, and enjoyed everything the thriving city center had to offer for roughly $2,900. That’s less than a family vacation for four for an entire week in places like Disney World.
But that type of money is still a big chunk of change that isn’t easily thrown at a luxury like a lengthy getaway. So how did we do it?
Extra Freelance Work
My husband is a freelance graphic designer and I’m a freelance writer focusing on travel and small business. I also rigorously build my career around Lifestyle Content in order to earn income plus perks and benefits like travel and products.
Our clients didn’t even know we were out of the country for a month unless we told them. We made sure they didn’t feel the interruption in our services by staying reliable, always being available and turning in deadlines early just in case of WiFi problems. We also had a back-up plan and identified several places with public WiFi in case ours went down.
We also took on extra work and set it aside in a travel fund to save for our adventure. We planned ahead for nearly a year, so we had time to pick and choose projects that would raise our earnings.
Although I didn’t track exactly how much extra work we did, it couldn’t have been that much of an increase. My work typically yields $75 to $400 a project in most situations, and my husband typically earns more in his graphic design business. We would have needed an extra project every other month for the 10-months we planned to book this trip.
While my husband and I were already full-time freelancers with a network to tap, even traditional working parents can build up side incomes and maximize their vacation time.
For starters, begin your vacation on a Friday night to build an extra full weekend into your vacation, then take your allotted ten days if you’re working a traditional job. That gives you nearly three full weekends to play.
It’s also possible to squeeze even more family travel into your schedule. Here’s how I traveled 50 Days a Year with a Full-Time Job.
Before you protest on making your own travel plans a logistical reality, let me assure you that anyone can freelance. It’s just a numbers and marketing game. You need to keep putting yourself out there, repeatedly, and marketing yourself to see results. But doing anything from gardening to cooking to writing as a side gig is completely doable even if you’re working full-time. And being able to control your income is the fastest path to lifestyle flexibility and wealth.
Cut Back on Spending
It was surprisingly easy to stop spending on frivolous things like dinners out to the local pizzeria just because we were too unmotivated to cook. The pizza isn’t even that great or satisfying, and had become a crutch when we didn’t feel like cooking. Instead, we only spent on necessary items and occasional splurges that mattered to us. We focused on everything we would gain on that month-long adventure in San Miguel de Allende instead of what we were losing. Which was mostly crappy pizza and stuff around our house we didn’t need.
Keep your travel goals near and dear to your heart, and keep your family focused on the same thing. Make your goals highly visible by changing your screen saver, looking through guidebooks and doing online research. The more action you take to that goal, the less desire you’ll have to sabotage it by buying stuff to clutter up your house you don’t care about.
Find Miscellaneous Ways to Earn
I’m a big, huge fan of continuously de-cluttering and selling off our used and even broken items. A recent haul resulted in $425 in earnings for around 2 hours of work.
There’s something else I do anytime I have a bad travel experience to recoup some cash. I complain.We had a few very disappointing and disruptive hiccups with our airport and flying experience. After writing a detailed email to complain about it and sending it to the airlines, we were offered two $50 Amazon gift cards. We felt the $100 was sufficient for the inconveniences, and went towards household items we regularly buy on Amazon Prime.
A Family Adventure (to be Repeated Many Times)
I stopped short of typing, A Family Adventure of a Lifetime in this subheading. Because after doing a trip like this once, I know we can do it again and again.
The experience of traveling with our children for a month was absolutely life-changing. Our children were exposed to customs, food, language and traditions they never knew existed. Yes, I know they’re unlikely to remember any of it, but experiences still shape their young minds, outlook and family dynamic.
Not traveling with kids until they can remember it is like saying you’re not going to attend baby music classes, buy learning toys that delight and inspire them, go to preschool or dress up and go Trick-or-Treating. Travel matters.
In the case of our then 4 1/2 year old daughter; she learned how to overcome homesickness, make friends with kids who didn’t speak her language, try new foods, look for adventure around every corner, and appreciate her baby brother’s presence in her life. By the time we left, she was saddened to leave behind her beloved Mexico and asks when we can go back all these months later.
My family grew incredibly close on this adventure, and it makes me emotional just writing about how much it impacted us. It was intensely challenging doing a trip like this with young kids; but I grew as a person, writer, mother and partner to my husband. All of our creature comforts were stripped away and shaken loose, until we had no choice but to focus on the present and each other to figure it all out.
What we discovered is that all we really need is each other, and the opportunity to experience lifetogether.
You don’t need to go to Mexico for a month to replicate that. But the thriving Jardin in San Miguel de Allende swelled with a constant sea of music wafting over the cobblestone streets, locals delighted in our children’s curiosity, daily parades spontaneously marched by and the nightly fireworks that broke out for no apparent reason all gave us a vibrant backdrop to frame those experiences around.
Mexico fueled my family’s spirits and imaginations with renewed vigor that sprouts from doing something wildly outside your comfort zone.
To me, that type of family experience is far more important than up-sizing my house to fill with more stuff I don’t care that much about. It’s also far more exhilarating than taking the reliable route through life while raising kids. And instead of waiting around for life’s opportunities to happen to us, we’ll keep creating those life-altering opportunities by growing our flexible income and lifestyle ourselves. One freelance project at a time.