This year the travel budget is tight! With airfare cost steadily climbing and gasoline prices through the roof, consider a vacation a little closer to home.
Lots of people have no idea what is in their own backyard. Get a local travel brochure, and thumb through it to see what sights are in the vicinity that you haven’t seen. I found a dairy farm one year that had a ice creamery on site, and we simply booked a night in a little B&B down the road and had a long, fun day. We hit a Civil war museum the next morning, and had lunch at a fabulous out of the way spot before heading home.
There are often places close enough to drive without hurting your pocketbook that could make perfect family getaways. Consider renting a camper trailer and roughing it for the weekend at a state park, or take a scenic drive that ends at a rustic campground. Take your own breakfast and lunch food, and you can splurge on an in town dinner at a fancy place.
Check your local Sierra club chapter for wildlife events. When I was a kid, they had the coolest ‘owl hunt’ - we didn’t actually get to see any owls, and it was frigid cold - but we heard plenty of hooting and learned how to call back. (We also learned how to crunch Wintergreen Lifesavers with our mouths open to make sparks in the dark!)
Avoid the local traffic by looking for an event or attraction just outside of town, and renting a decent hotel room near there. A mini vacation can be fun if properly planned! You will be well rested after a good night’s sleep, and ready to spend all day having fun before a second night rest and a leisurely return home.
Look for family vacation deals that don’t require a huge outlay. This can be as simple as combining a family pack to a sporting event with trading in your credit card points for a nice roomy rental car and a pair of upper class motel rooms! If you live close to a big tourist attraction, look online for special deals aimed at out-of-towners - you might be able to pick up a good deal.
You can still have a great family vacation on a budget if you just put a little thought into it!
SARAH P.
