Hi, Jacqui here. Mike and I love to travel and often. There are so many ways that everyone can travel often, cheap and have up to 20 vacations a year. You read that right! Check out how Mike and I did it and some of the websites that I've used. There are a lot of great ways to save money while traveling.
Long vacation ( Vacation 1)
Plan the vacation during a holiday week. Mike and I use Thanksgiving break because there are sometimes two paid holiday days and a weekend on both ends. So we would schedule the vacation the Saturday before, be gone the entire week and return the following Sunday.
That is a 9 day vacation with only 3 PTO, (Paid Time Off) days. This vacation we would plan large trips like Hawaii, Panama, Mexico, National Park Road Trip, etc.
Mini Vacations (12 vacations)
Request one Friday off each month and take a three day weekend to some place new and that's 5 hours away. That's already 12 vacations a year. Leave right after work Thursday, if you can and you're not tired. Arrive by 10 PM, get some rest for a fun filled weekend. Plan the return drive back around 3 PM on Sunday and that will give you enough time to arrive back around 8 PM, do laundry and food prep for the week. We lived in Atlanta, and it was fun to hang out in a different city each month. There is so much to do in each city that each year can be a different vacation, and it's so important to have a break from regular, daily life.
For example, Chattanooga,
One year could be white water rafting.
The next year could be hang gliding.
The next year could be zip lining in the Smoky Mountains.
Another example is Savannah
A historic tour one year.
Beaches the next year.
St. Patrick's Day the next year.
Quickie Vacations (7 vacations)
Pick some place that you've never been that's only 2 hours away and plan a weekend trip. Google trips has a list of everything to do, see and eat in any place you want to go. Now pick 7 weekends for road trips in a year and that rounds our your 20 vacations a year and there are still 31 weekends to plan the "Have To Do's" like sports games, kiddo's events, yard work conferences, etc. We loved the North Georgia Mountains and we would love to drive an hour from Atlanta to spend a quick weekend in Helen, GA, the cutest German, Mountain town, or simply to drive an hour into the city and get a hotel when something fun was going on to enjoy our city like a tourist. We had a list of 50 things to do in Atlanta, and we did all of them. So much fun. Look around where you live and discover all that there is to do and see. I bet there is a bunch to do. Think art fairs, car races, fall leaves, mountains, city, beach, and so much more.
Now, here's how you can save money. Check out these websites, many that we've used, and plan your next vacation.
Accommodations
Airbnb Hotel points, if you have to stay in hotels for work, sign up for the hotel points to earn free hotel stays. We use Hilton hotels and a lot of our stays were free with points. Another thing to consider is to stay at the higher end hotels when the company is paying and lower end hotels to use points. We used the Hampton hotels when we went on our vacations, that's the lesser of the Hilton brands, to stretch our points out further. Couchsurfing Hostels RV Walmart one night free
Big vacations - The off season is always the lowest prices AAA layaway Expedia Bookit
Transportation if your car is not road trip worthy
Once You're There
The city bus
I would love to know what you think of this or if you try it.
xoxo
Jacqui
Explore the quirky adventures and misadventures as I take you on a journey of the United States National Parks. These journeys inspired me to explore even more about the history of the United States, the good, the bad and the ugly. These journeys are encouragements to explore, or re-examine these beautiful lands. From mountain roads with hairpin turns to stunning seaside escapes to exploring good old American history, these are amazing journeys to take in this lifetime.
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