One of the first questions we always get when we tell someone we’re going on vacation is, “What are y’all gonna do while you’re there??” And while the ask is innocent, we’ve realized that it puts pressure on us to have something to respond with! When we say, “Uhh...we don’t really know,” it’s honestly a little awkward, and their response is usually something to the effect of, “Oh, yeah, well that’s cool, I’m sure y’all will still have fun!”
Like, yeah. We’re gonna have fun. And not every trip needs to be planned down to every detail! Whether it’s because you found a cheap flight at the last minute, or just because you really couldn’t put the time and energy into an itinerary, it’s okay (read: awesome) to just go!
Traveling spontaneously offers the freedom and flexibility to pave your path as you go, and is a great way to experience cities the way locals do. If this isn’t for you, I get it. If it’s not relaxing to not know what your next move is, then plan away - that’s great too! Enjoy your vacations how you need to enjoy them. I want to spend some time offering some tips, tricks, and encouragement for taking advantage of last minute or unplanned travel.
Planning isn’t something that everyone enjoys, and if that’s you, booking a vacation can be intimidating! But, if you’ve booked a flight or are planning to drive somewhere, you’ve probably got some high level, baseline knowledge of where you’re going. Even if that perception is just “nature” or “art” or “music,” that’s a place to start!
Or, maybe you’re like me, and you love following cheap flight blogs and social accounts (I’ll get more into how to find these deals another time). Sometimes, the significant deals they find are in a very tight date window, and may not be far out! We’ve been to Hawaii and Washington DC, among other places, on less than a couple weeks notice! If you’ve got the flexibility to go, and find a great deal to somewhere you’d love to visit, take advantage!
As awkward as rideshare driver conversations can sometimes be, drivers are often a great source of local things to do! They obviously spend a lot of time visiting diverse pockets of the area, but are also human beings who eat food and do fun things with their family. They’ll probably have some pretty good answers to, “What would I find you doing if you weren’t driving right now?”
A major part of being a barista or bartender is talking to and relating to people. And, the service industry in most cities is pretty tight knit! Sitting at the bar and striking up a genuine conversation with your server can go a long way towards learning about the local food, drink, art, and nature scenes! And I can just about guarantee they’d love that conversation so much more than,
“Hey, how’s it going?”
“Good, you?”
“Good”
for the thousandth time that shift.
But, there’s a difference between asking, “What should I do?” and, “What are your favorite things to do right now or places to eat?” When we hosted on Airbnb, we would respond to this first question with very basic responses about the more major sights in town. Why? The nature of the question is somewhat impersonal, and elicits a low effort response. But, asking someone’s personal favorite things to do allows space for them to take you off the beaten path, and talk about why they enjoy where they live. Let people brag about why they love their city! And, if you’re feeling really bold, ask if they want to come too. You’d be surprised how much this means to people, and how often they’ll say yes! We’ve enjoyed tagging along and going out with our visitors, ourselves!
The unfortunate reality about traveling is that almost all of us are on a budget, and the simple answer is this: only you know your finances and how much you can afford to spend. But, I can at least give a few pointers on how to stretch your dollar on last minute adventures!
Our threshold for how far is too far to walk shoots to the moon on vacation, especially when we don’t have an agenda! It’s a great way to save money, and a great way to see more of a city. All over the world, we’ve found lovely art galleries and coffee shops we never would’ve stopped at otherwise, just because we were meandering around.
If you’re a woman traveling alone, be safe and smart walking around! There are a lot of great blogs about solo female travel, and I’ll let their words speak better than mine could. A couple great resources are here and here!
Although food is such a major part of experiencing a new place, budgeting for two meals/day is better than three!
The blocks surrounding a city’s major tourist spots are generally more expensive, 1. Because the demand is present with so many people around, and 2. Because overhead costs for businesses are generally higher in more prime locations. You don’t have to venture far away, but even just an extra 10 minute walk from where the people are makes a big difference!
A lot of major museums offer free or discounted days, or have free permanent exhibits! And the deals are often not exclusive to random weekdays.
When we’re on a trip, we generally budget about $100/day total for food, drinks, and entertainment for both of us. Some days, that’s easy! It makes us be selective about what experiences we want to pay for, but still provides some space for us to get drinks or splurge on a meal, if we think it’s worth it.
We also use Venmo to build up extra savings for our trips! It’s an easy account that is separate from anything we typically spend out of, where we can just mindlessly accumulate cash and have that for some extra fun on last minute adventures. So, if we’ve ever been quick to offer that a waiter didn’t need to worry about splitting something on their end, now you know we’re probably acting selfishly 😬.
Not every trip is going to be on the fly, but don’t let not knowing what you’d do stop you from traveling! There are a ton of great experiences to be had by just getting away, and it opens the door to so many things destinations have to offer that are hard to find just searching on Google.
