Book Review of The World’s Cheapest Destinations: 21 Countries Where Your Money is Worth a Fortune

January 28, 2013 By

Approximately 90 percent of content on Pit Stops for Kids is U.S. and Canadian-based, written to help families find the best destinations, tips, and experiences in North America. We consider ourselves experts in domestic road trip and outdoor travel, and if you’re here, it’s probably because you’re planning a domestic trip with your kids. But that doesn’t mean we don’t recommend crossing additional borders.

world's cheapest destinations book reviewOne of my goals as a parent who loves travel is to help my kids get as many or more stamps in their passport as I have. So far, my kids are far behind. This is partly due to spending so much of our vacation time exploring North American destinations for this site, but it’s also because I’ve long held onto a common misconception: that international travel is more expensive than domestic travel.

Turns out, I’m dead wrong. Tim Leffel, accomplished travel writer, world traveler, and my editor at Practical Travel Gear, put the fourth edition of his well-received book, THE WORLD’S CHEAPEST DESTINATIONS: 21 Countries Where Your Money is Worth a Fortune, in my hands, and I am not too proud to admit I’ve been educated.

I’m pretty adept at frugal family travel, often writing tips on how to eat on the cheap on vacation, set a vacation food budget, and road trip for less, but my vacation dollar (and yours) can only stretch so far in expensive North American countries. The World’s Cheapest Destinations doesn’t focus on how to travel, but rather where to travel, and for those of us who are budget-savvy travelers already, this makes all the difference.

What The World’s Cheapest Destinations will teach you:

If you’re considering international family travel, but assume you can’t afford it, pick up this book. The World’s Cheapest Destinations lists just what it advertises: the cheapest safe, stable countries to visit for as little as $30-40 per day per couple (only slightly more for a family of four). I know what you’re thinking, and no, this type of budget isn’t just for bare-bones hostels, third-class bus rides, and food stands only the most hard-core of world traveling backpackers could endure. In most situations, it represents comfortable travel in areas with reliable transportation, stable infrastructure, and an operating tourism industry. Tim offers no guarantees–there are no guarantees in travel, after all–but instead offers information gleaned from first-hand experience.

Expect to find general information about how to travel frugally in each country: what transportation is best, whether to eat restaurant or street food, how much you can expect to pay for tourist hot spots and museums, and–my favorite–a listing of things you can get for a buck or less. For example, in Thailand, travelers can expect to pay $1 or less for a whole pineapple (chopped up for you), a kilo of season fruit, a coconut with a straw in it, pad thai from a street stall, three local bus rides, or a kilo of your clothes washed and dried (and this is a partial list). Take that, McDonald’s dollar menu.

What it won’t:

This book is not meant to replace a country or city guidebook. You won’t find specific hotel ratings or restaurant listings. Nor does The World’s Cheapest Destinations offer advice specifically to travelers with kids. If you’re considering a frugal international vacation with kids, you’ll have to do as I did: read with your particular family’s needs and limitations in mind. One parent’s comfort level may be vastly different than the next’s. Tim does offer this advice (paraphrased): families traveling with kids should expect to pay a bit more than adults traveling solo or in couples, primarily in the form of upgraded hotel rooms, for safety and comfort.

Pick up THE WORLD’S CHEAPEST DESTINATIONS: 21 Countries Where Your Money is Worth a Fortune – FOURTH EDITION on Amazon for $15.95 for a paperback or just $8.99 for the kindle edition.

Back-to-School lunches and fall travel with EasyLunchboxes

August 14, 2012 By

In the Pit Stops for Kids household (and probably yours) it’s back-to-school time, but that doesn’t mean the travel ends. We’ll be enjoying many weekend trips and sports-related road trips, which means we’re looking for school lunch box ideas that double for the car. Our solution: EasyLunchboxes.

EasyLunchboxes is a great system for eco-friendly bento lunches designed by a mom. Based on the bento box lunch philosophy that saves on wrapping and packaging of all sort (including zip-lock baggies), an EasyLunchbox consists of a compartmentalized tray with lid to be paired with a soft-sided, insulated cooler. And unlike many bento lunch systems on the market, it’s affordable: you get a set of four containers, and don’t need to buy extra pieces.

Why EasyLunchboxes work well for school: It’s an all-in-one system. During last school year, we used various bento box style containers, but they were a hassle to stack and store, and inevitably, my kids lost pieces along the way. The EasyLunchBox trays fit into my kids’ favorite lunch bags perfectly (more on that later) and they’re all one piece. Plus, the trays are thin enough that I can still fit an ice pack and a piece of fruit and drink in the bag.

Why EasyLunchboxes work well for travel: Each EasyLunchbox is a tray, so it’s very car-and-plane friendly. Toddlers and preschoolers can eat snacks from the trays while driving around town, and everyone can eat lunch on the go while on road trips or weekend getaways. Plus, three EasyLunchboxes will fit in one approved cooler bag (sold for a separate price), making it simple to pack and stack multiple lunches for the road.

EasyLunchboxes

The downside: The only bummer about EasyLunchboxes is the fact that the bento trays are not leak-proof. This is expressed many times on the website (you can’t miss it), and it’s by design, so that young kids can open the lids on their own. I like the fact that the designer of EasyLunchboxes has kid-friendliness in mind, but it is a concern that we can’t pack liquids like yogurt or pudding in the tray.

A few specifics: Each tray has three compartments, and they’re not huge, so older kids will need a few extras tossed into their lunch bag or cooler: as I said, fruit and a drink, or one packaged item will fit easily. Four EasyLunchbox trays sell for $13.95, making this system the most affordable I’ve seen so far in the bento box world. The EasyLunchboxes site sells their own cooler bags with their trays for $7.95, but other lunch bags and coolers will work. (Here’s a list of the most popular lunch bags the EasyLunchboxes will fit into; we fit them into our LL Bean lunch boxes with no problem.) The benefit of using the EasyLunchboxes cooler is that it’s top-loading, with a top-side handle, which means kids will not be carrying it sideways after the (non-leak-proof) tray is inside. The coolers also have plenty of room for additional food or an ice pack. However, they’re a little bit too big to comfortably fit into a standard school backpack and a little bit too small to take on the road. They’re designed to fit three trays for packing for a family, and ours did fit the trays as advertised, but if I’m packing for the whole family, I need a bigger cooler with room for more trays, multiple drinks, ice packs, and other snacks. Check out exact dimensions of the EasyLunchboxes cooler and the trays here. Bottom line: For a road trip, I’ll stick with my larger hard-sided cooler and stack the trays inside, and for school, we’ll use our small LL Bean bags and fit the trays inside. Either way, EasyLunchboxes will be along for the ride.

Pick up your own EasyLunchboxes at Amazon in time for back-to-school!

As I disclose whenever applicable, we received EasyLunchboxes and an EasyLunchbox cooler for the purpose of review. This type of teamwork with family travel product companies makes it possible for us to review new products on the travel scene.