My girls are in 8th grade this year and our U.S. readers may (or may not) be aware, but that’s the year when children from across the country travel to Washington D.C. for a field trip. My girls have had overnight field trips in the past (last year they went to the Catalina Island Marine Institute – such a cool experience!), but this is a big one. Not just in terms of the distance….but in terms of the cost!
For this academic year, the price of the field trip is $3,000 per child (and $3,400 if a parent wants to join as a chaperone)! I have twins, so that price tag is $6,000 for my two daughters, for four days/3 nights in Washington D.C. Where, by the way, pretty much all the museums are free.
Insert: mind-blown emoji.
I want my kids to have the educational experience of visiting D.C. But we don’t need the social aspect of the field trip (like I said, they’ve had other overnight field trips before, so they’re not deprived!), and we certainly do NOT need the enormous price tag.
So the thought occurred to me….I bet I can do it for cheaper!
DIY Field Trip Planning
Once the idea took root, I really started to run with it! We live in Arizona. It’s quite a hike to get to D.C. And if we’re all the way over there anyway…..why not also jump on a train up to N.Y.C. and let the girls see the city for a couple days, too?
And that’s exactly what we’ll do.
Even more fun – it will be a girl’s trip! I’m planning to take my girls to D.C where my mom will meet us for 5 days (4 nights), then just my daughters and I will board a train up to NYC for an additional couple days (2 nights) before flying back to Arizona.
My goal is for the *entire* trip to cost less than $6,000 – the price if I were to send just my two girls on their 8th grade field trip. Only there will be 3 of us, a longer timeframe, and two cities! Can we do it?
Here’s my budget breakdown:
| D. C. Night Tour x 4 people | $125 |
| Museum entry – FREE | $10 |
| Capital or White House Tour – FREE | $0 |
| Flights | $2023 |
| Train from DC to NYC | $99 |
| NYC Hotel | $758 |
| D.C. Hotel | $300 |
| ESTIMATED FOOD ($200/day x 7 days) | $1400 |
| ESTIMATED NYC Tourism $500 statue of liberty & 9/11; $650 Broadway | $1150 |
| ESTIMATED souveniers | $150 |
|
Total: |
$6015 |
Some of the numbers are known costs because I’ve already booked the things (e.g., flights, hotels, train, D.C. night tour). Others are estimated costs.
Food – I’ve estimated at $200/day (approx $67/person per day). We won’t be drinking alcohol, and will mostly dine at casual dining type of places. I also plan to pack some snacks with me for the travel days.
NYC Tourism – I’ve estimated $500 for a statue of liberty and 9/11 tour (based on Viator pricing), and one of the girls’ top wish list items is to see a Broadway show, so I’ve estimated approximately $650 for that (tickets are expensive!!!). Much of our tourism will be just walking around through Central Park and Times Square, too.
Souvenirs – I’m budgeting $150. I collect Christmas ornaments and coffee mugs so I’ll get one from each city. I’ll give the girls $25/each (out of this budget), but if they go over they’ll have to use their own spending money.
A note about the D.C. Hotel – it’s so cheap because I’m splitting it with my Mom and she picked up more of the cost.
All-in, the total comes right out to my $6,000 budget. And I’m hoping there’s a little bit of padding in my estimated NYC tourism costs (meaning, I hope it will actually be less than these estimated figures).
I’m a bit worried about food. I googled estimated costs for food in these cities and $60/person per day was at the lower end of the spectrum, so this would definitely be going cheap, but I think we can do it.
What are your thoughts on the feasibility of my budget?
Have you ever skipped an “official” school trip and planned your own version instead? Did it save you money?
It’s been so fun to have this little challenge for myself, and I can’t wait to experience DC and NYC with my girls! I have been to NYC once before, when I was 15, only two years before 9/11. I’m looking forward to returning with my kids this time to experience the magic of the city!
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