Well, we must travel cheaper than some people. The most we have ever paid for a night on the road is $65. That was at a nice Ramada with a continental breakfast. Our approximate
budget is as follows:
Gasoline: $300 R/T including gas in Orlando, two trips to the beach, but this was a year and a half ago, so gas was cheaper.
Hotel on the road:
AAA discount, $68 (second driving trip we did a hotel through Hotel Kingdom for $35 but didn't like that as it tied us down to where we needed to stop at night.)
Food: I pack all snacks for the road and we bring a cooler with drinks etc. We also bring a picnic lunch for the first day's stop. That night we do fast food in the hotel room. Breakfast is Pop Tarts in the car the first day, hotel continental breakfast the second day. So, including the caffeinated beverages and snacks that DH buys, through the night, the first day food costs are around $40. One trip we stopped at a restuarant for dinner so that was about $40 more. Second day we need to get lunch so we either stop at a grocery store and get something from the deli or have brought along the whole loaf of bread and whatever for sandwiches. Usually have grapes and/or apples in the cooler. By the time dinner arrives, we are at our villa in Orlando and do micro mac and cheese or something similar for dinner and pop the kids in bed. So, we are up to maybe $80. Double that to include the trip home and add a little more and we are looking at maybe $200.
Tolls and incidentals: $50 (incidentals maybe Tylenol forgotten at home, Oranges at a roadside stand, etc.)
Okay, so we drive from about 6:00 at night through the first night on the road and stop for one hotel on the road the next evening around 5:00. Yeah, I know, some people think it's a bad idea, but since DH used to drive overnight for part of his job and he sleeps the whole day before, it's worth it to get that 10 hours of driving done while the kids are sleeping or at least quiet. We generally spend about 28 to 30 hours of travel time including breaks, gas stops, lunch etc, but not including from stopping at the hotel to leaving the next morning.
Total travel costs for us are about $600-$650 RT.
For flying, there are 5 of us, two of whom were under 3 the last time we drove and travel great in the car, but are not so easy to contain in an airplane for some reason. Last trip we flew and all three kids have asked repeatedly that we drive next time. We live in Mpls so get pretty crappy airfare so we estimate at $300 per person. Plus $115 for parking at the airport and $200 for a rental car (we need a minivan with three kids in carseats.)(Aprroximately $1800.)
So, yeah, we spend a lot of time on the road and while I know some people think it sounds awful, we like it. There are some rough patches along the way, but a snack or little prize or new CD usually gets us through those. We do not have a DVD player for the car and never will. I would rather travel on our own time schedule, with all the stuff we want to bring and comfortable in our own car rather than getting two small kids and one medium size one through the airport etc.
I know some people will also factor in the cost of wear and tear on your car, but it's not going to come close to the $1200 difference, so I don't get that specific.
Man, now I want to go again!
It's one of the things we're looking forward to on our drive. We haven't been to one since before DD6 was born, and we really miss it.
...My DH was none too happy 
, He got over it!!
