So, it’s time for your annual summer vacation, and the cost of gas has doubled in the past year. It hurts, I know. I’ve had to cut back drastically on the amount of driving I do, and I love driving. But, the cost of gas does not have to ruin your vacation plans, just change them.

Pick the Destination

The biggest way to save gas is to stay local. Figure an hour or two away. That should be about 150 miles, which at most, should be half a tank of gas. Now, find someplace interesting to visit. This could be your state capital, which will have a ton of public events or sights, or maybe a small quaint town. The choice is yours. If you live in a popular town, you could even do an in town vacation.

Booking the Hotel

When booking the hotel, you’ve got two options. If you like to live dangerously, wait until the day you are leaving, then call around and ask for their best rate, you could save 50% or more off the cost of the room. Then again, there could be nothing available. Either way, check their website, travel booking websites and call to see what their best rate is. Finding a hotel with a complimentarily breakfast is key as well. The food is usually very good, and best of all, it’s free! If you can find a hotel that has a mini fridge or microwave, you can swing by a supermarket and pickup some food. This is way cheaper than going out for every meal.

Finding activities

You can always find something cool to do right here on roadtrippr, but if there is nothing in your area yet, do a quick search online. By typing in the city or town name, and activities, i.e. “Boston Activities” you will find a ton of things to do or see. Beaches, Lakes, Museums, most likely, the list will be longer than you actually have time for. I’d pick out 2 activities per day and go from there. To save even more on gas, map out the locations and each day visit ones that are close to each other.

By following these steps, there is no reason you can’t have a great vacation close to home. Many area’s are setting up programs for people to highlight all the local things you can do. Check around, and have a great vacation.