Rolling downhill to summer and cheap travel

My travel plans shaped up somewhat differently this spring.  Bangkok and Shanghai fell through.  The Cataloochee (NC) trip went well — my daughter learned to ski and I’ll have a story about the resort in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in the fall.  Spring break wasn’t its usual peaceful reverie in Destin, but became a trip to Ohio for family reasons instead.  (If you’re ever in Ashland, Ohio, the Lyn-Way restaurant has great pies.  Try the elderberry or the buckeye pie.) 

So, looking ahead, I’m thinking the summer will be about cheap thrills — inexpensive travel — fun places to go, see, do that won’t break the bank.  It’s not just the economy, we’ve got college tuition to pay, so my travel budget will have to go towards that.

With the price of gasoline, even running up to Chattanooga to see family isn’t undertaken without calculating the cost.  So, on May 11th, look for my story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on 5 vacations a family of 4 could take for $500 or less. 

Here’s a cheap travel tip if anyone’s wealthy enough to get to Europe (not me, unfortunately), but needs to save on accomodations, food, and getting around…

Think like a college student.  Check out guidebooks like Let’s Go  or Rough Guide to find smaller hotels or hostels where you can sleep cheap.  Let’s Go is also great for finding those out-of-the-way local restaurants.  Meals are likely to be unpretentious and usually more authentic to the culture instead of frou-frou stuff for tourists.  It’s also a great way to find out about cheap transportation (by bus or train discounts) once you’re in the country.