Everyone needs the occasional vacation. No matter how adept you are at rolling with the punches and weathering the working world’s many obstacles, you need to make time to de-stress and recharge your batteries. Unfortunately, since travel excursions can often prove costly, many budget-conscious individuals make a point of avoiding them altogether. While traveling isn’t exactly the most affordable hobby, there are numerous steps you can take to lessen the financial burden. So, if you’re interested in embarking on a relaxing vacation without making a dent in your bank account, the following measures are likely to come in handy.
Embrace Off-Season Travel
There’s no mystery as to why spring and summer are the busiest seasons for travel. Not only do many of us have vacation time during these periods, but the agreeable weather also makes for good travel conditions. Plus, after spending almost half a year cooped up indoors, most people are raring to get out of the house and take a trip. However, traveling during the aforementioned seasons typically comes at a substantial cost. Because so many people embark on trips throughout the spring and summer, airfare and lodgings tend to be incredibly pricey during these periods. Additionally, if you’re vacationing with your family, you can expect to spend a small fortune on food, hotel and travel costs.
Provided you’re not dead-set on taking vacations during the spring and summer months, you can save quite a bit of money – even when visiting some of the country’s most popular destinations. Being open to a fall or winter vacation stands to expand your travel options exponentially. Because airlines, hotels and resorts are desperate for business during the offseason, many of them are highly amenable to offering discounts that can’t be found at any other time of year. Travelers bound for Niagara Falls are likely to find incredible deals at Fallsview hotels throughout this period.
Don’t Eat Every Meal at a Restaurant
Not having to cook is one of the best things about being on vacation. Eating every meal at a restaurant may feel like a tremendous weight off your shoulders, but it can also make short work of even the most robust travel budget. Furthermore, if you’re traveling with your family, a single meal at a restaurant can cost somewhere in the area of $50 to $100. Needless to say, repeating this process three times a day can eat up quite a bit of cash.
While there’s nothing wrong with sampling new cuisine and treating yourself to good food throughout your vacation, placing limitations on how often you eat out stands to save you a considerable sum. With this in mind, consider limiting yourself to one restaurant meal per day. For example, you can stay at a hotel that provides free breakfast, pack yourself (and anyone you happen to be traveling with) a nice lunch and eat dinner at a restaurant that piques your interest. In addition to helping you save money, limiting the number of meals you eat out will make your daily restaurant visit seem all the more special.
Seek Out Free Attractions and Activities
Depending on the destination, you’re liable to feel as if everything you do throughout your vacation requires you to spend money. There’s denying that some destinations are much pricier than others, but even the most expensive locale should feature an abundance of free (or nearly free) activities. Visiting nature parks, attending local festivals and touring museums are all examples of entertaining vacation activities that won’t cost you a dime. So, before heading out on your next trip, fire up your favorite search engine and see what free attractions your destination has to offer. As you’ll find, “expensive” and “entertaining” aren’t always one and the same.
Travel has the power to broaden the mind and provide a well-earned respite from everyday life. However, a good vacation also has the power to deplete your personal finances. Still, this isn’t to say that you need to resign yourself to spending unreasonable sums of money every time you wish to embark on a trip. Heeding the advice offered above will ensure that you don’t wind up breaking the bank the next time you find yourself bitten by the travel bug.
