Planes and Trains
In 2008 our firstborn, a poor college student, managed to save up enough money from her college scholarships, grant money, and job (her grant is because she is the child of a disabled vet) and went to England on her own. She saved money on school by living at home, doing well enough to earn scholarships, and choosing in-state schools with programs for children of disabled veterans.
Some of the ways she saved money on textbooks included buying them used at places like half.com and Amazon, and not buying them at all, but checking them out of the library in advance, and reading ahead. A good student, her professors noticed that she didn't often have her own textbooks and offered to loan her some from time to time. One even asked if she was in serious financial need, and offered to buy her books. She explained her strategy for saving money for travel, and he laughed and kept his checkbook in his pocket.=)
We blogged about some of the frugal methods for traveling and keeping fresh on long plane journeys here.We've also blogged about frugal eats on road trips here and here, but some of the things that work great on road trips are less doable when spending three days on a train. And next week, we are losing three of our sheltered, homeschooled girls temporarily for more travel. Jenny is going to the Philippines with a group on a missions trip. They'll be helping established, locally run congregations with VBS type programs, visiting a leper colony, and pitching in however they are needed. Pip and the FYG are traveling to California.
Pip has been looking at Amtrak prices for a while now, and found a limited window where if you buy one adult ticket, a child travels free, and a 'child' is 15 and under, which the FYG is.They are going to be on the train for 3 days there, and four days coming back. While in California, they are staying with old friends, and on the way back they will be staying once with new friends and picking up a few hundred ounces of donated breastmilk for the Striderling. They have limited carry-on so we are thinking and planning double time to come up with frugal meals and toiletries and ways to keep themselves feeling fresh. We know they can probably pick up something to eat at the train stations along the way and eat in the dining car, but we also assume that will be slightly more expensive than the norm, and not necessarily as healthy.
We'll be using the wipes based on the home-made diaper wipe idea, only with rubbing alchohol, essential oils, and a bit of grapeseed oil extract. We've dehydrated
We're making home-made granola and trail mix. Yogurt actually doesn't have to be refrigerated all the time, so the train travelers are taking yogurt for the first day or two, along with plastic spoons, their own reusable water bottles,
They've been researching their journey assiduously, whenever they have layovers of three hours or more they will be looking for free cultural sites to see within walking distance, for instance. They are downloading some free books and music to mp3 players and iPods (the HG is loaning hers to the FYG), and I am putting together a short list of daily assignments while on the train for the FYG. I am nervous for them, but excited, too, and grateful that all three of them have such an opportunity before them. Do you have any travel tips to add?
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2 Responses to “Planes and Trains”
May 20th, 2011 at 7:54 am
You may want to use witch hazel instead of rubbing alcohol for those wipes, as it is a little less harsh on the skin but has the same general purpose.
Loved your post! It was full of great ideas!
May 24th, 2011 at 2:16 pm
To help save more room-the back of a plastic spoon works well to spread peanut butter!
Can’t wait to hear about their adventures!
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