… How to plan a cheap vacation

Growing up, my family took a vacation almost every summer. By vacation, I mean a road trip somewhere. And by road trip, I mean just getting lost. It was mostly days full of driving and getting lost, which to me was a lot of fun. We explored Washington and Oregon more than most people get to on vacations. Those vacations will always be some of my most cherished memories. I learned that we didn’t need to go on lavish vacations to enjoy each other. The whole point of a vacation was to relax and spend time with one another.

Now that I’m older and get to make adult decisions, like having ice cream for breakfast or staying up until 2 a.m. watching TV, one of those decisions is also going on vacations. Here is my first and most important tip: it’s all about who you know. My roommate works at the airport, which means we get cheap flights to anywhere. And we have a lot of friends and family across the U.S. and other countries who we can stay with. While most vacations have had me just paying for my meals and any tourist activities, I have had to take some vacations where I have actually had to pay for nearly everything.

Free vacations are both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because it’s free. But it’s a curse because I got used to that luxury and it’s a reality check when I actually have to pay for things. Because I am used to cheap vacations, I have found out how to take cheap vacations when I don’t have the luxury of free flights or a place to stay.

One year, my roommate and I went to Hawaii for the weekend and we had to get a hotel. Here’s my next tip: sometimes the cheapest hotel will do. We were literally in our hotel to sleep and shower. That was it. So there was no point in getting some fancy hotel with a bunch of amenities we weren’t going to use.

Free continental breakfast is always a plus. Sometimes it’s only a few dollars more per person to get free breakfast, which is the best option. Even finding a small cheap diner will be more expensive. And, sometimes they have containers to take food with you.

That’s my next tip: if free breakfast is provided, take some extra food for later. Most of the time, hotels just end up throwing away their food. In Hawaii a few months ago, my friends and I watched as they threw away dozens of donuts. We even tried to make a plan to steal the donuts when they weren’t looking. But four people with a giant black bag might have been a little bit suspicious.

In September my friends and I surprised a friend with a trip to Hawaii. Here’s my next tip: start planning early. We started planning in July and I’m glad we did. Our first task was to find a hotel. My first tip about finding a hotel is to look at deals hotels offer. Sometimes hotels have deals where if you stay for certain nights, you get a night free. A general hotel tip is also finding one that is near a lot of activities and walking distance from places you want to go. The last thing you want to do is rent a car or pay for a taxi, which can get expensive.

As far as activities go, the best advice I can give is to plan early to find Groupons. There is a Groupon for any big activity. We got Groupons for a dinner cruise and parasailing. We saved a good amount of money looking through Groupons. Another tip that we actually got was to research the activities we wanted to do because sometimes they are just expensive tourist traps that aren’t worth the money. Look up reviews of the activities and most of the time people are honest about how terrible and what money-wasters the activities were.

One major thing I have learned is about packing. The best thing to do is plan exactly what you’re going to wear, with a few extra outfits just in case. This will avoid an over-stuffed bag with items you won’t use. If you’re going to travel somewhere you know you have to get presents for people, make sure to save room for the souvenirs. We got stuck in Hawaii an extra day and thankfully we all had an extra outfit. Speaking of over packing, I never bring toiletries with me for two reasons: they can explode and make a mess in your bag and hotels always offer free toiletries and you can get as many as you need. And, there are usually cheap convenience stores near hotels for the things you may need.

One more thing I have learned is to try and have your bag be a carry on instead of checking it in. Yes, it is a huge headache to carry your suitcase, but, this way you know your stuff won’t get lost. That has always been my biggest fear when traveling.

And finally, bring a lot of entertainment items for long flights – magazines, movies, games and books. And try not to buy airport food. It is way overpriced. Make some sandwiches and snacks at home for half the price and then try and sell them on the plane. Just kidding. But really, do try and take your own food. Paying $12 for a ham sandwich is a little insane.

The whole point of vacations is to relax. So try to make your next vacation less stressful by planning everything ahead of time and make sure you have plenty of time to relax while on vacation. Also make sure to take a vacation within your budget. The last thing you want to do is come home from a vacation and have to stress out about the money you spent.