Travel Hacking

Now that summer is approaching, people are talking about their vacation plans. I am almost embarrassed these days when people ask me what I'm doing this summer. We are spending a week camping with the family, but we are also traveling to Peru for several weeks. The response is always a "wow, that's a big trip and an expensive one".
I smile and say "actually, it's not, because we travel for free."

Then they look confused. And I say it's my hobby, travel hacking. I can show you how to do it if you want. And that's where the conversation ends.
I don't understand this because who would want to pay thousands of dollars for something you can do for free with a little bit of planning. But I think most people think travel hacking is illegal or complicated or a hassle.
But I think it's fun and the result is a few years ago, we went to Thailand for free and this summer, we are heading to Peru! We fly for free and stay in most hotels for free. My kids see the world differently, they understand culture and history and have very open minds. In my son's classroom, they studied refugee crisis around the world. My son told the story about the crisis in Zimbabwe. He didn't read it in a book. Instead, he learned from the man in our hotel whose family fled Zimbabwe and lost their farm. He was able to describe the differences between Zimbabwe and Zambia because we explored both sides of the border and then discussed the differences that we saw as a family.
Amazing! That's why I travel hack and if you would like to learn, read my posts and I'll teach you.