|
Planning a vacation with your large family? You'll need some giant-size assistance lest you go broke from rising cost.
Here are some economy hits from Barbara Cowsill, mother of the popular singing group, the Cowsills, who travels extensively with a brood of seven, ranging from John, aged 20, to Susie, aged 8:
1. If you're going by air, discuss matters with airline expert, who can tell you when family fares are available, how to route a multi-city tour, when flights serve meals, and other cost-cutting steps.
2. To prevent overweight baggage charges, as well as the time and trouble of too much packing and unpacking, the Cowsill boys share their clothing since the same size often fits two or more of the troupe. The extra laundry and cleaning bills are considerable less than the charges for overweight luggage.
3. When about to start on a motor trip, stop at a grocerty store or delcatessen to get the makings of a picnic lunch. A couple of cold barbecued chickens, ham, cheese and roast beef sandwiches, cole slaw, and ripe tomatoes are the staples, with fresh fruit and cold drinks added at roadside stops.
4. Doubling up is mandatory when booking hotel or motel space. Mr. and Mrs. Cowsill share a normal double room, sometimes adding a cot for 8-year-old Susie. Two other rooms, with three beds each, house the boys. Wherever possible, rooms are booked all in a row, or at least on the same floor, since there is a good deal of borrowing of toothpaste and sharing of clothes.
5. The key words in packing clothing for Barbara and daughter Susie are drip-dry, dacron, and BanLon. Such clothes not only can be rinsed out in the bathroom sink; they can be rolled up to fit the corners of the luggage.
6. Every member of the traveling family carries one piece of hand luggage on the airpane. Barbara's makeup kit has room for extra scarfs and stockings wrapped in plastic bags. Daddy Cowsill's briefcase frequently is crammed with last-minute items everyone forgets to pack, such as hair-brushes and toothbrushes, shoe polish, and sheet music for numbers the group plans to rehearse.
7. Everyone carries a raincoat on to the plane when traveling, the experienced travelers often filling the pockets with odds and ends tht otherwise increase luggage weight.
8. It is often less expensive and more efficient for a large family to rent a station-wagon at the airport in which to drive to the actual destination. With the per-person limousine fare, the per-diem charge on the wagon is rarely more - and often less. And this makes possible a tour of the city on the afternoon of the arrival at no extra charge.
|
