This is a guest post from The Crunchy Coach blog
Six Inexpensive Vacation Ideas
In this world of timeshares, resorts, and hotels.com, inexpensive vacation ideas are hard to come by. That is, they are not exactly broadcast by marketers on the mainstream media.
But there are several ways to do vacations on a budget, and still have as much fun as if you had paid thousands of dollars for a fancy hotel and professional tours. The following summer vacations will save you a ton of money and still give you the rest and enjoyment you are needing.
1. Go to a different nearby fun spot every day.
Using a tour book or the Internet, find as many large parks, lakes, etc. within a two-hour driving distance of your home. Plan to pack a lunch and snacks and spend the day at a different place every day, coming home to rest and charge up for tomorrow’s fun spot.
2. Schedule a staycation with another family.
Inexpensive vacation ideas are even more fun with more people! If you are friends with another family in your neighborhood, plan for your vacation times to coincide. Then plan several special events, such as a barbeque, a trip to the zoo, a day at the lake, and so on.
3. Do a small-town vacation.
Cheap vacations don’t always have to be staycations. Find a small town within driving distance of your home that has historical sites, an amusement park, or other places your family would enjoy visiting. Then, find a motel in that town and use that as “home base” for your vacation-week excursions.
4. Avoid resorts.
Sometimes you can fit a vacation into your budget simply by choosing a bed-and-breakfast or motel over a resort. Yes, the amenities will be fewer, but you will probably find that not having a “vacation in a box” causes you to be more creative, which results in more fun and stronger family bonds.
5. Plan a round driving trip.
Inexpensive vacation ideas often involve road trips. But road trips are much more fun – for both children and adults – when the “road” part doesn’t go on forever.
Plan a trip where every two to three hours, you end up at a zoo, an amusement park, a park with hiking trails, etc. Stay in a hotel in that area for a couple of nights, then travel a couple more hours to another fun spot, then return home a different way visiting different places.
6. Stay at a friend or relative’s house.
Cheap vacations are made even cheaper if you can get free boarding. Plan to travel to a state or country where you have friends or family who would love to put you up for the duration of your vacation. Saving the cost of either a motel or hotel bill is one of the best ways to do vacations on a budget.
Get creative with these inexpensive vacation ideas, and have fun saving money!
