My need for travel continues to grow as I age, and I am finding my tastes are as well. When I started actively travelling for work in 2018, I found hotels to be a nice escape. With that said, it was harder and harder to maintain a well-balanced diet, especially when the hotel did not have a continental breakfast. For someone like me that is constantly dieting and a vegetarian, I found healthy options on the road were not easy to come by. When my personal travel took off and I started to stay in condo-style hotels, my world changed forever.
Consider this: a breakfast at a local breakfast chain can put you back $20-25 a person and cost you well over 1000 calories. (I looked at a veggie omelet with breakfast potatoes, pancakes, and an orange juice at a chain and found that my plate contained 1140 calories). My calorie budget for the day is only 1500 calories, so multiple this by three for all meals and I am well over my food budget and out $75. This can be costly for a trip, especially for multiple travelers.
You may be asking yourself, what is the alternative? Well, I have found that staying in condo style hotels are one way to get ahead. For about as much as you could stay in a mid-grade hotel, you can stay in a timeshare properly with a full kitchen. For comparison, consider a weeklong stay in a place like Biloxi, MS. I will be travelling there in September/October 2023. I paid roughly $750 to stay in a 2bdrm townhouse with a kitchen, living area, and resort ameneties. A Fairfield in town is charging $1493 for the same dates and only offer a single room with two beds. I would prefer to save the $743 to enjoy on my vacation.
You might be thinking, who wants to cook on vacation?!? Well, consider just buying groceries to cover breakfast and going out for the other two meals. Instead of $175 for breakfast for one person for one week, use a portion of that money to buy the essentials like protein shakes, yogurt, cereal, and/or eggs. Budget friendly, convenient, and better for your waistline. You can also save a bunch by stocking up on water and other beverages. Plus, restaurants give large portions, so repurpose those leftovers for another meal the next day to save even more.
Does this all sound good? Check out my blog for more tips and tricks. Also, check out the vacation deals to see how you might be able to save on your next vacation stay.
Until next time!
Jillian
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