Ways to Take Vacations During a Recession

By: Dan P.

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If you're like most people, you have a stressful job that places incredible demands on you all year long, and you are eager as can be to take advantage of that chance—that usually only comes around once every year, or less—to get away and have a nice vacation. Yet, with the economic crisis worsening the way it is, a lot of Americans are worried that they're vacation plans will have to be put on hold this year. This is in large part due to the fact that most people have conventional notions of how to vacation, which involve tons of expenses and very little do-it-yourself attitude. If you can break out of that mentality, and have the discipline to come up with a tight budget and stick to it, then you should be able to have a nice vacation in a recession.

Creating the Budget

The first step is sitting down and reviewing your finances at this particular moment, contemplating what the scenario will likely be between now and the time of your potential vacation, and beyond. What expenses at home can you sacrifice in the meantime to help guarantee your ability to go on vacation with the family? Be very disciplined in this part of the process, and make a strong effort to save up the necessary funds to go on vacation. Once you make a budget, you need to stick to it, no exceptions.

Saving on the Trip

In order to save on travel expenses, you will want to consider vacationing a little closer to home this time around than you may have previously done.

Driving to your vacation spot instead of flying will surely help you keep down the expenses.
If driving is not an option, then consider finding good deals on airfare: there are so many sites today strictly dedicated to going through the millions of deals and offers out there, that you shouldn't have a hard time finding a better fare than that being offered through the airline's own site or offices.
A couple of good sites to start with are: BudgetTravel and TravelZoo.These sites mine through untold quantities of offers to find the best possible match.
Another great way to save on the travel side of the equation is by buying tickets through an auction, and SkyAuction is a great place to start.
Lastly, if you are courageous and flexible enough, consider asking airline employees at your nearest airport to put you on the bump list: when a flight to your particular destination ends up having an unexpected seat vacancy, you will be notified. This option is not effective for people traveling in large groups or that can't make it to the airport at the drop of a dime.

Strategically Planning Your Vacation

Try to make your vacation neatly fit into your broader agenda. Here are some ideas:

If you have a trip that you need to make (say, for business reasons) to another location that you think has the sufficient amount of interesting, entertaining attractions for you and your family to enjoy, then try to add your vacation onto the beginning or end of your business trip. This will not only possibly save you an airfare (if your boss is paying yours, that is) but will make better use of your time.
Consider traveling in a larger group than just yourself and your family, like going with friends and/or extended family. You will be able to pool resources, and everybody will end up saving a few bucks that way. From car rentals to lodging expenses, you will end up sharing the cost more equitably.
Try finding vacation rentals instead of a regular hotel: they usually have better prices, are more spacious, and include full kitchens instead of just a mini-bar and coffee maker. The money you can save by avoiding having to eat every meal out at a restaurant could be more than $100 a day, especially if traveling with the whole family.
You could try visiting friends or family for your vacation destination, and you might just end up with free lodging, a vacationers dream!
Instead of renting a car, perhaps you could rent bikes or scooters, which will save you loads of cash.
Instead of buying food, maybe you can take advantage of local lakes, rivers, or seashores and fish and collect other food sources (like clams, mussels, crabs, etc.) free of charge. Always make sure to find out if you need a local hunting or fishing license to do so, and that there are no significant plagues (like red-tide for shellfish) affecting the area at that moment. The price of one fishing license could be only a fraction of the repeated costs of buying meals at the grocery store.

Home Exchange

To save a fortune on accommodation costs, why not consider exchanging your home with another homeowner from around the world.

There are some websites that globally connect people that wish to swap their homes for a short period of time.

Of course, you would have to be comfortable with someone you don't know staying in your home, plus this would may only work well for you if you live in an area that other people would want to visit.
Check out HomeExchange or Intervac to get started.

Choosing Your Activities

Let your vacation be a time for fun and relaxing activities, but not necessarily for activities that require a lot of money.

Visiting museums, going to wildlife parks and refuges, and simply enjoying the outdoors can be fun activities that won't require you to break out your wallet, at least not that often nor for that much. Affordable vacations are usually smart vacations, so choose your activities wisely.
Bring as much equipment as you can from what you have at home, instead of renting equipment at your destination, as paying the fee for one extra suitcase may represent a lot less money than renting equipment for several days.
Take a look at FreeAttractions to search the country for many different attractions that are absolutely free of charge, and consider reading this article at Stretcher for some more super cheap vacation ideas.

Conclusion

Whatever you end up doing, remember that the only recession proof vacations are the ones that have been well researched, thoroughly thought through, and wisely executed. You will have to make some sacrifices—you won't be able to indulge your every desire—and you will maybe have to cut the time back a little bit, but with the right activities and the right venues, you will be able to have a great vacation, even in the middle of a recession.

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