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Take a Staycation

The most cost efficient vacation as you trade airfare for $1.79 a gallon gas, and a hotel for your home.  Within your city, plan out a different activity for each day.  What museums, parks or zoo can you visit.  What about a sporting event one day.  Do something active one day – a bike ride, go skiing, or to a great fitness club that has a pool and gym for your family to have fun (most have daily rates or passes).  To save more money, try to pack a lunch to bring with you to cut on cost for when you are out.  To make the staycation seem even more like a vacation make the dinners really special.  Often what kis love about vacation is eating out, so try to bring some of that excitement into your home.  Each night make a different type of food – Mexican, Italian, Chinese and so on.  Pick out some great new recipes in advance, get all the ingredients you need and have fund with it.

Explore the country around you.

Take a map and draw a circle around the city or town you live in, about a 250 mile radius.  Then look at the cities or areas that fall within this.  Pick a few of them and then go on a little tour.  I live in Cincinnati, so for us this circumfrance would include places like Louisville, Indianapolis and Columbus.  We could take two days in each city and have a wonderful vacation seeing things like the  Louisville Slugger museum, Louisville Science Center right across the street, tour Churchill Downs, Indianapolis Children’s museum and Zoo, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and museum, Fastimes indoor Karting (like go-carting), a Pacers game, Columbus Zoo, COSI (center of science and industry), Columus Santa Marina tall ship, and a BlueJackets game at Nationwide Arena.  That is a fun filled vacation that adds a hotel bill, but still save on airfares which are more expensive then ever.

Once you find the areas you want to go to, get online and search on the top attractions for that area.  It is so easy to find the great spots to visit, purchase tickets in advance, get driving directions, hours and more.