By Kacey Mya
One of the greatest joys in life is traveling. Getting to go on adventures and explore new places is something that will never get old to me. Unfortunately, my piggy bank doesn’t always support the trips I want to go on. Luckily, I don’t get discouraged easily and find ways to take trips anyway—even without a ton of money.
Try A Staycation
There are so many things locally that people forget about. We’re often so focused on going somewhere exotic that we don’t explore our backyard. In my area, there are a bunch of little food places, some gorgeous state parks and museums I had never even heard of. So I decided to give some of those a try.
I tried a tiny Italian restaurant that basically looked like it was run out of a house. Honestly, it was the best food I’ve ever had. The prices were great and you got enough food for at least one more meal. And I never would’ve known it by looking at the place.
I burned off all those pasta calories by taking a hike in the state park not far out of town. There were beautiful waterfalls and swimming holes—the perfect place to spend a summer afternoon. I can’t wait to take more friends and show them the beauty we have so close to home!
In addition to boosting the local economy and saving you money on travel costs, staycations are a lot better for the environment. Plus, I ended up having a ton of fun and now have recommendations for people when they complain there’s nothing to do around here.
Take Little Road Trips
Now, I would love to go cross-country on a road trip. But that’s just not in the budget right now. Instead, I recently opted for something pretty local. My state, Pennsylvania, is decently big, but we’re also within a few hours of so many other cool places.
I made sure to get a few friends together, because splitting costs is always helpful. Plus, long car rides are always more fun with people to share them with! Taking along a cooler filled with sandwiches and bottles of water was a great idea as well. You don’t realize how much those little convenience store stops cost, but they really add up.
We’re in a landlocked state, so we chose to head to the ocean. There are always things to do in beach towns and we went to one with a lot of historical sites near it. Instead of doing the expensive mini golf and activities on the boardwalk, we went off the beaten path and found things the locals recommended farther inland. This saved a ton of money and it was a lot less crowded.
The locals are also the best place to turn to for food recommendations, instead of spending $10 on a slice of boardwalk pizza and a soda. They pointed us to a local sushi joint that was so good I would probably make the trip again just to go there.
You might not get to go global with your travels, but you can still see some awesome things when you can’t quite afford the big trips!
If You’re Taking Trips Abroad, Go All-Inclusive
Sometimes you just really want to have an exotic getaway. I needed somewhere tropical in my life, so I started to look at all-inclusive resorts. If you want the luxurious location with the best value for your money, all-inclusive really is the way to go.
