Tips from a
Savvy Traveler
Dana Biberston has been around the world
Compared to China, Italy was shockingly expensive. “In China you divide the
and back again, and in the course of her
price by seven to convert to USD—in Italy, you multiply the price of everything
travels she has learned a few things.
by two!” she says.
Some of her favorite Italian memories involved walking along the street and
1) I budget and plan very carefully for our trips. I don’t
just taking in the local culture. “Some of my favorite photos were captured as I finance travel. There were times in our life when we
walked down a side street,” she says.
found tickets from Denver to London for $200, but we
While Dana likes to plan and manage her trips, her husband is considerably
couldn’t afford to go. Before you travel, ask yourself:
more laid back. While in Greece, the couple stopped at Mykonos, known as the
can I afford the time and the money to take this trip?
party island of Europe. “It’s desert—Boise with a beach around it,” Dana jokes.
2) Take the opportunities when they come. Spontaneous
“I had it all planned out. We were going to take a ferry to another island to see
travel is fun as well. When we went to China, we had
some ruins.”
friends there. We had a great deal on airfare. Why
But in a “travel nerd meets free spirit” contest of wills, Ryan decided to put his
wouldn’t we go and let the opportunity pass us by?
foot down. He said, “Nope! We are renting scooters and going to the beach.”
3) 3 Watch the flights carefully, and if you find a deal,
When Dana asked him where they were going, he said, “Who cares? Let’s go
jump on it! One of my favorite search engines is kayak.
have fun.” They asked a local for a beach recommendation that was off the beat-
com. It will search all the major airlines, and you can
en path—“Not a place I would want to take my teenage son,” Dana jokes.
navigate from there.
But she learned a valuable lesson about travel that day. “It ended up being
my favorite memory of the whole trip. Now when I plan a vacation, I always plan
4) 4 Family vacations are so important. Whether you are
a beach day. You have to have one day when you enjoy the moment and take
traveling across the world or finding a nice camping
what comes. I have tried to apply that lesson to every trip we take. I want there
spot in our own Idaho back yard, you have to make
time. It’s those memories that last forever.
to be one day when we do whatever we want—or nothing at all!”
The Biberstons are also experts in that most daring of ventures: the fam-
5) 5 Make a list of travel goals. What are your lifetime
ily vacation. Last year, they took their entire clan to Southern California to visit dreams? Where do you want to go in your life? Checking
relatives and see the sights. After a travel agent initially told her it would cost off that list can be one of the most satisfying things
$10,000 to fly her kids to California and visit Disneyland for three days, Dana
you will ever do.
shopped around to find better deals. She recommends Costco’s Southern Cali-
fornia pass as an economical way to visit multiple tourist attractions there. In
6) 6 When you’re in a foreign country, get up early and
hit the streets. You will see a side of the environment
addition to Disneyland, the family went to Universal Studios, the San Diego Zoo,
that most tourists miss.
and Sea World.
But the beach was the biggest hit for her six kids. “We rented a beach house in 7) 7 Take lots and lots of pictures, and treasure your
San Diego,” Biberston says. “The kids loved the beach so much that they wanted
memories.
to leave the zoo and go back. I said, we are not leaving until you have seen an
elephant, a giraffe, a hippopota-
mus and a rhinoceros. THEN we
can go back to the beach!”
As she prepares to take the
children to New Zealand, she
notes that traveling with kids
forces you to look at the vaca-
tion through their eyes instead
of yours. “Adults can keep crazy
hours,” she says. “But you have
to be sensitive to children’s
schedules. With the downturn
in the economy, it’s an inexpen-
sive time to travel. But be sure to
ask questions. Be willing to take
the time to think, will this work
for my family? We are fortunate
to have lots of great vacation
spots close to home—camping,
Yellowstone, the Oregon Coast.
Take time to play as a family!”
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