Going on vacation is fun ? but it is also expensive. Of course, you already knew that. While everyone would love the opportunity to take their family on a great vacation to somewhere warm and beautiful, that kind of experience doesn?t always fit within the household budget. Faced with the option of either taking a nice trip or staying home and saving the money, many people today are forced to pick the smart (but less exciting) option.
With that said, there are plenty of things that you can do close to home which will allow you to have much of the same kind of fun that you would have while on vacation. Without the travel cost associated with going somewhere far away, you can save money and still make memories with your family. The following list includes four summer staycation ideas for you to consider.
Visit National Parks
There are beautiful National Parks spread out all across the U.S. ? meaning there is likely one within a reasonable drive of your home. If that is the case for you, consider making a day trip out to a National Park to enjoy the incredible nature that has been preserved within.
You will have to pay a small fee to enter the park, but that fee will pale in comparison to what you would spend on a traditional vacation. In fact, if you are going to visit more than one park during the summer, you may wish to consider a season pass in order to save money.
Be a Tourist in Your Own Town
Depending on where you live, there are likely a number of tourist attractions in the biggest city near you ? and you probably have never bothered to visit them yourself. Put together a list of nearby tourist attractions and spend a day or two doing all the things that people do when they visit your area. As part of the experience, be sure to try out new restaurants that you normally wouldn?t visit in your day to day life.
Check Out an Amusement Park
Do you have an amusement park near your home? If so, take a day to visit the park with your kids to pretend like you are on an out of town vacation. This is probably not something you do on a regular basis, so it will feel like a vacation and the kids will have a great time. You will obviously need to pay for admission to the park, but without the hotel and travel costs you are still going to save nicely.
Enjoy Your Home!
Most people are so busy with day to day life that they never get a chance to enjoy their own homes. While it might not sound that exciting at first, you may be surprised to find how much fun you can have sleeping in, playing in your own yard, and just relaxing with your family. You don?t always have to be on the move to have a good time, and staying home won?t cost you anything!
Can you think of any other fun staycation ideas? Do you like the idea of a staycation as a way to save money?
Photo courtesy of: Wokandapix
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Some good tips!
Another idea that my wife and I leverage — mini-road-trips. We found that there are a number of cute areas to wander and explore within two hours or less of where we live. Two hours is a reasonable driving distance (for us at least) to do there-and-back in a single day without feeling exhausted from the drive.
So every few weeks we plan a day trip to one of these areas. The cost winds up being just gas and lunch – though it would be easy enough to bring a packed picnic lunch for someone who wanted to avoid that cost.