Occasionally, the Toddler Tourist and Entourage likes to venture outside of the North Simcoe region. Sometimes it’s an hour drive away and sometimes it’s a three-hour flight. And while it is certainly easy to spend money while traveling, we obviously are always on the hunt for fun, family outings of the free and frugal variety.

his round, we were blessed to be able to trek south of the border for a little bit of vacation time. We were super fortunate to visit Florida during the second round of Snowmageddon. Sorry, not sorry to have missed all that, but many thanks to our neighbours for ensuring our house wasn’t consumed by Elsa. I’m sure you could probably guess one of the major reasons why we went south during this age and stage of our lives. We certainly had a magical time!

But naturally, the freebies provided some great outings and opportunities for our family. One fun thing we checked out in the Tampa area was the Florida Botanical Gardens, which boasted of an assortment of flora and fauna in the region. There also were some fun child-centric features like a climber, outdoor musical instruments and foam building blocks. We spotted some alligators there so that was a highlight! 

We also went to a Manatee Viewing Area which is a state and federally designated manatee sanctuary, maintained and supported by the Tampa Electric Company. The proximity of the Power Station to the shallow waters makes a nice warm spot where manatees tend to migrate.  We didn’t see any Manatees (and I was so bummed about this), but did see some sharks and stingrays. This property was so cool as there was a sea turtle hospital and interactive museum portion for kids. My kids had fun meeting a python. I had fun watching, far, far away. These both were FREE to check out on the same property. We could’ve spent loads of time here and had fun trying to spot different wildlife in the region. 

We also checked out some free beaches! Occasionally, you have to pay for parking if it’s a state park, but it’s quite reasonable, only $6 for the whole day! We went to the Sand Key Park Beach on an overcast day and enjoyed looking for seashells and exploring. While walking, we met with a fisherman, which gave us an accidental encounter with a bonnethead shark. That was a moment I will not forget! We stayed for a bit longer to see what else he could catch, and he caught a second one. And that was the day we did not go swimming…

While March Break has come and gone, we are slowly entering into future travel seasons. Maybe you’re planning something over Easter Weekend or already dreaming of summer. I am here to share some travel tips and ideas to make your dollar go further: 

Search local event calendars
There could be free concerts, pop-up events, farmers’ markets or areas to check out (or avoid, if you’re worried about crowds). We accidently were traveling during the Daytona 500 and the Florida State Fair…no rental cars to be found in a wide radius.

Go Geocaching
We are fans of this wherever we are. It’s fun to explore whatever region you find yourself in. Bring little knickknacks to swap out when you find a cache. You can earn different digital ‘badges’ in the app and it’s fun to look back at where you have been exploring.

Spend time on Google Maps (Or your mapping app of choice)
Literally zoom around where you’ll be staying to look for local parks. So many parks and beaches are free to visit. I spent a fair amount of time looking at maps, like a modern-day explorer, and that’s how I found out about the Botanical Gardens and the Manatee Viewing Area. I couldn’t believe these tourist destinations were free for the public to attend.

Find different places for lodging
We were able to stay at some very affordable and nice AirBnbs this trip. We have had some great luck with that, in lieu of hotels. It’s nice to have your own kitchen so you can make meals, instead of eating out. This is a huge way to save money- make breakfast and bring a picnic lunch, and then eat dinner out wherever your adventures take you. But I have been thinking about ways to make travel even more affordable by staying with family or friends and trying to pair outings with those locations. I also have been mulling over the idea of a house-swap…just to have a daycation in a different part of the Province. Since we only use the places for sleeping, they don’t have to be fancy. Sidenote, anyone want to visit Warminster?