Dan Carney • E-mail

With the dollar weak in Europe and gas prices near record highs, many Americans are opting to save some cash and take short-distance travel alternatives for this year’s summer vacation.

The economy drive is understandable, but following the herd has never been my style. I still wanted to find a way to take my children to another country this summer to give them the experience of being immersed in a different language and culture.

The solution: a vacation in Quebec, where my 10-year-old son and two daughters, ages 13 and 7 years, would find 98 percent of the residents are Francophones. Quebec is not France, of course, but it is sufficiently foreign to serve as a budget substitute at a time when fuel costs are driving transatlantic air fares ever higher.

In our drive for our kids’ cultural immersion, my wife and I didn’t want to just drive to a hotel staffed by English-speaking employees. We wanted the full cultural experience, so we opted to travel by motorhome, which would put us at campgrounds, grocery stores and gas stations throughout our trip. Our vehicle was a 31-foot Jayco Melbourne motorhome, loaned to us by the RV Industry Association to get a taste of RV travel.

Of course, virtually all of those French-speaking Quebecois speak more than enough English for us to be able to communicate, but we hoped we could get the kids to try some French too. And we wanted to find out the cost benefits of our approach: How much cheaper is it to travel by RV?

RV sales have hit the skids of late, and it’s not difficult to see why. With gas at around $4 a gallon, our motorhome, with its 55-gallon fuel tank, costs $220 for a fill-up. We never had to face that scenario because we were never so reckless as to run our Melbourne all the way to empty, and because other than the diesel pumps at truck stops, the credit card approval for regular gas pumps won’t let you buy that much fuel.

Fueling at about 400 mile intervals, we burned $550 worth of gas on our six-day trip. We plotted a course north of Washington, D.C. to Harrisburg, Pa. From there we rode Interstate 81 all the way to the Canadian border, reaching it after an overnight stay on the shores of Lake Ontario in Sackets Harbor, near Watertown, N.Y. Once in Ontario, we drove east to Montreal. Our return took us through Lake Placid in New York State’s Adirondack Park, picking up Interstate 88 west of Albany and Interstate 81 back to Washington, D.C.

Most of the pumps we encountered along the way cut off at $75, and we typically put that in twice per stop. We did encounter a Sheetz station in Pennsylvania that allowed us to buy $125 worth of gas at once, so while earlier $150 fill-ups totaled more, that $125 on a single receipt marks the largest gas purchase I’ve ever made in one transaction. It also marks the first purchase of fuel that exceeded the cost of my first car, a 1964 Ford Falcon.

Dan Carney At Canadian playgrounds the kids played on seesaws and merry-go-rounds — equipment now rarely seen in America.

The guy was asking $100, but as a crafty 14-year-old I talked him down to $95. Remember the old joke about how to double the value of a Yugo — fill it up with gas. That joke is now true for rusty old Falcons.

So why travel in a fuel-thirsty RV when gas is at record prices? Because it’s still cheaper than flying and staying in hotels. Our family of five stayed one night in a New York state park for $20 and four nights in the Kampgrounds of America Montreal South campground for $50 on each of four nights.

Online travel agency Travelocity.com says that it can send me to Montreal in the air and put me in a Knights Inn for the $550 we spent on gas, but that’s per person. And you have stay in a Knights Inn. Nicer hotels brought the travel tab to around $800 — again, per person.

Unlike most hotels, our RV had a refrigerator, a freezer, a stove and microwave/convection oven, so we were able to prepare most of our meals ourselves, making for huge savings. Considering the $125 tab at a creperie in Old Montreal, I didn’t want to eat out very much.

And the need to buy groceries added to the cultural experience, with nary a word of English overheard while stocking up in the Canadian supermarket. Having food right there on hand allowed speedier starts to each day’s sightseeing, because there was no need to first go to a restaurant to get breakfast. It’s hard to beat the cost and convenience of having a box of cereal, cold milk and dishes right there in the motorhome.

There were other benefits. The kids had been begging for a trip in an RV, and they really did play games at the dining table. At Canadian playgrounds they played on seesaws and merry-go-rounds — equipment rarely found on American playgrounds these days.

Also, the ubiquity of wine in Canadian camping shops — along with the batteries, milk, Coleman fuel and other camping essentials — was a benefit to their parents. Perhaps more importantly, there was the benefit of not having to struggle through an airport for an international flight with kids in tow.

For an air travel-weary dad, that aspect was priceless.

MORE FROM TECHNOLOGY & MONEY

Technology & Money Section Front

Detroit’s auto show likely to be a bit austere   Slideshow: Will CES impress? How to get rich from your ‘Big Idea’ ‘Buy-ology’: Movies, TV and why we buy What field still has jobs — and rewards? Ask Kitty Resolve to advance your career This year, take control of your finances Readers share money resolutions for ’09 10 ways to save money in 2009 How to deal with a holiday debt hangover Technology & Money Section Front   Add Technology & Money headlines to your news reader: