-
Step 1
With gas prices skyrocketing this summer, we still find that traveling by car is more economical for our family. We cannot afford five plane tickets and a rental car. Check prices and consider driving if you live within 8-12 hours of the hospital. When we calculate the costs involved, driving always wins for our family.
-
Step 2
Pack your meals in an ice chest. When driving, we carry an ice chest packed with food and snacks. This keeps us from having to purchase meals on the road. Our old truck has a forty-four gallon tank and we can make it from North Carolina to Cincinnati on three-quarters of a tank! This helps us a lot. We do not have to stop to refuel, and this cuts down on any purchases at high-priced gas stations along the way. We stop at rest areas to eat picnic meals, use the restroom and stretch before hitting the road once again.We let the children pick out a few lunch items that they do not eat on a regular basis at home, too. This excites them and makes the trip lots of fun. They love the Oscar Meyer Lunchables, but we rarely allow them to eat those when we are at home. They are not exactly expensive, but when
we are at home, we try to eat more nutritious meals. Peanut butter and jelly are easily transportable, too. We pack plastic forks and knives to help with the preparation, as we have found it easier to keep the jelly jar in the ice chest and make the sandwiches to order. We also pack more nutritious snacks like raisins and dried fruit, nuts and cheese sticks. The yogurt tubes are a great snack that can be frozen ahead of time and placed in the ice chest. Eaten frozen or thawed, these are always refreshing!Tupperware containers of freshly sliced carrots and celery in water also make a quick a nutritious snack for hungry travelers. Get your children involved in preparing the snacks you will eat along the way and you will be surprised how quickly it all comes together. -
Step 3
My son helping me cook fajitas in the hotel between medical procedures.Instead of carrying large jars of condiments, we collect the extra packets from various places along the way. The mustard, ketchup, soy sauce, mayonnaise and other condiment packets are easily transportable! I pop them in a Ziploc bag and voila, we have an instant condiment bar. For cooking in the hotel, I place a bit of my favorite spices in a Ziploc bag to use once we arrive. I use the new Ziploc containers to carry items like sugar and even dish soap. These containers come in all shapes and sizes, making it possible to carry just about anything you can imagine on the trip.
-
Step 4
The author and her son on a break from the hospital at lunch before heading back for another procedure.Find inexpensive lodging! Ronald McDonald Houses (RMDH) offer low cost housing for families. You need to plan in advance and find out the regulations for the RMDH at the hospital. Some hospitals are so busy and there is a high demand for RMDH rooms, so families cannot make reservations until they arrive at the hospital. Some reserve rooms for transplant patients and those in critical care, while others have distance limits. Meaning that you have to live greater than two hours from the hospital to be eligible for a room. When my son had his neurosurgery at Duke a few years ago, we were not eligible to stay in RMDH because we only live an hour and a half from the hospital.We usually find hotels that give hospital discounts to visitors. Most Children's Hospitals have websites with information on lodging and discount availability. We find it cheaper in the long run to pay twenty or thirty dollars more for a room with a full kitchen than for our family to eat out at restaurants during our stays.
-
Step 5
The author's son eating his fajitas in the hotel room...complete with IV.Find inexpensive meals to cook in the room. We usually find a Sam's Club near the hospital and stop to get easy fix meals for the duration of our stay. When possible, we try to make it from the hospital to the room for lunch, too. We have found that asking helps! We've been given a pass to leave the hospital for lunch even when our children still have IVs in place. If you tell the staff in advance what your lunch plans are and assure them you will return in time for the next procedure, they usually do not mind. We certainly cannot do this all the time, of course, but there have been instances where we have left long enough to eat lunch in our hotel room and return. The boys actually prefer being able to eat in the hotel room! It also provides a respite from the crazy world of the hospital.
-
Step 6
The last tip I have to offer is packing lots of snacks! We shop at Sam's Club prior to leaving on any of our trips. We pack a picnic basket full of snacks and each morning when we head out to the hospital, we grab snacks from the basket and drinks from the ice chest. We keep them in a backpack and tote them around the hospital. Some of the biggest expenses we have had to deal with are buying snacks and food when the doctors and clinics are running late. If you come prepared, this can save you quite a bit of money! Items that cost two and three dollars in the vending machine or gift shops only cost seventy to eighty cents at Sam's Club.
-
Step 7
This is certainly not an exhaustive list of ways one can cut the cost of traveling to children's hospitals around the country, but it will hopefully help you to get started on your way to great savings.
