Travel Vixta

Every time we visit Ben’s family in Germany we hire a car.  We always pick one up from the airport.  We usually always pre-book, but there’s been the odd time, maybe only once, that we didn’t pre-arrange and just went to a desk when we were there.  It’s definitely better to book ahead of time to get a great deal and to know what you are paying.  I’m never sure if they overcharge when booking directly at a desk, but I always have my suspicions!

Car hire can be relatively cheap providing you book the most basic car for your needs.  We always get something that’s big enough for us and our luggage and that’s our only requirement.  We never have any additional requirements as we like to keep the cost as low as possible.

Many hire cars do come with add-ons that can start bumping the price up, but often they aren’t needed.  Here are eight tips to save money when hiring a car: Continue reading “8 ways to save money when hiring a car” →

When I went to school there were various school trips abroad.  I’m not talking about primary school, but at senior school as a teenager.  Unfortunately I never went on one as they were far too expensive.  There was also an awesome sounding trip in year 6 at junior school to a place called PGL (Parents Get Lost!).  Again, I couldn’t go due to the cost.  I was raised by just my mum, a young single mum, and money was always really tight.  I secretly never minded about the PGL trip as I’d hear they build water rafts and I couldn’t swim well at that age, so worried I’d drown!  I remember having to go into the class below for the week whilst the rest of my class was away.

Again in senior school I never expected to go on any of the trips abroad as I already knew we couldn’t afford it.  Luckily this time it wasn’t as if the whole year went (there were over 200 pupils in each year), but they always sounded like the most amazing experiences.  I hope Ben and I stay together and our financial situation stays strong so we can afford to let Bella and Reuben go on these school trips if they so desire.  We will definitely encourage them to go though as they are a great life experience.

They might even meet their lifelong partners!  Amazingly a school friend of mine got her first boyfriend on a trip abroad when we were at school and 20 years later they are still together, happily married with children!

As well as the trips being fun, there are also lots of evident life and educational benefits to school trips abroad.  Here are some of the reasons I’ll be encouraging my children, when they are older, to go on school trips abroad if they are offered: Continue reading “The benefits of school trips abroad” →