WHEREVER YOU WANT TO GO, THERE IS SOMETHING ELSE WORTH SEEING

When you do finally make that trip to San Francisco, look to see if there is a special low fare to Los Angeles, and rent a car.  The drive up Highway 1 along the California coast is spectacular, and you can make good time coming back on the Interstate when it’s time to go home.  Or vice versa.  The same concept applies anywhere you choose to travel – investigate the area within a day’s drive.

WHEREVER YOU ARE, YOU’RE CLOSE TO SOMETHING WORTH SEEING

What do you consider a comfortable day’s drive?  500 miles?  600?  Take a map a string and a pin, stick the pin in your home town, and see what shows up inside the radius of the distance that you’re willing to drive in a day.  Think of this as your neighborhood and get to know it.  Combine weekends with two and three day getaways twice a year instead of flying somewhere for a week.

EXAMPLES FROM THE TRAVEL CHRONICLE WEBSITES

Destination Road Trip:

We wanted to go to Yellowstone National Park from our home in central Colorado, a distance of slightly less than 600 miles.  The trip required two days of driving for three days in the park, and that represents the least efficient ratio we can easily accept before considering a plane flight and a car rental.  If we had left on a Saturday morning our total time away from weekday responsibilities would only have been three days.  You might not live within 600 miles of Yellowstone Park, but you almost certainly live within 600 miles of many interesting places

Touring Road Trip:

We wanted to attend a family function in Phoenix, and it would require four days of driving for one day there.  This would normally be an automatic fly drive situation, except for all the amazing places to see in Northern Arizona.  For about the price of the plane flights we had the added bonus of a multi destination road trip.  This trip plan was determined by the geography between Point A and Point B.

THAT MONEY THING

Although we’ve made a few references to affordability, we are not going to delve into the whole subject because it is too vast.  My father once did a comparison of what it would cost to own and operate an RV for ten years, and concluded the he and my mother could vacation in first class hotels for about twenty years (or something similar) for the same price.  However, if you are planning to spend a couple of months (or more) a year in your RV, the whole calculation changes.  Some people spend so much time playing their strategies for finding the best airfare or hotel rate that they end up working for about $5 dollars an hour in the process.

We make a special effort to avoid traveling during high seasons or holiday periods, and that undoubtedly provides significant savings, though I’ve never made an effort to calculate the difference.  You may work in a business which is seasonal, or where you have the option of working during the holidays that your co-workers want off.  How many 4^th of July parades do you really need to see in your lifetime?

Travel Plan – Page 1

Page 2 – You Are Here

Page 3 – Credit Cards & Timeshares

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