Street in Alicante, Spain / Illustrative photo by admin

From travel to lodging to food and everything in between, some people aren’t taking vacations because they can’t afford them. Rather than dish out your life savings to go on a trip you really can’t afford, try out these three cheap vacation alternatives.

1. Go Camping

Camping is one of the cheapest vacation options available today. Live off the land for a weekend (or longer, if you can handle it) and enjoy the time spent together without the chaos of the city and the constant need for technology.

If you don’t have camping gear, you will need to spend some money on these items up front, but they will last you for a very long time. If you don’t feel like buying, ask your friends and family members to see if anyone has gear you could borrow. Tents, sleeping bags, blankets, lighter/matches, pillows, toilet paper, cooking utensils—all of these items will help make your camping trip more enjoyable.

If you don’t want to hunt for your food, stick with easy meals that can be prepared over a burning fire. Items such as hot dogs and beans tend to work well, just make sure to bring a can opener with you.

Most campsites allow you to camp overnight for a very minimal fee, usually between $10 and $30 per night, which is much less than the cost of a hotel. You can either visit a campsite somewhere close to home or you can travel a bit further and go out of state. Obviously, the further you go, the more expensive the trip will be due to the price of gas.

There are plenty of activities to do while camping, too. If you camp near a lake, you can go swimming. During the day, you can take hikes and watch wildlife in its natural habitat. And at night, you can sit around the campfire making s’mores and telling ghost stories.

If tents are not your idea of a vacation, campsites also rent out log cabins. Though they’re more expensive than tents, they’re much cheaper than hotels and can provide you with more comfort than the tent but still offer the camping experience.

2. Visit Out-of-State Family and Friends

Visiting friends and family allows you to travel to new parts of the world on a small budget. As long as you are staying with your friends or family, the only cost you’ll really have is that of travel and possibly buying dinner a few nights per week (or at least splurging on groceries and cooking dinner for your hosts).

If you opt for this cheap vacation, make sure you don’t overextend your stay. Even the closest family members and friends can get sick of each other after a while. Make sure to limit your visit to three days maximum so not to be a bother.

It’s also a great idea to pitch in with chores and make sure that you and your family are respectful at all times. Let your host know that even though you are staying in their home, they don’t have to be your cook, maid and tour guide while there. Allow them to continue to live their normal life, and don’t force them to take off work or chauffeur you around .

3. Staycation

This word can take many forms. Some people use staycation to literally stay home, which isn’t a bad thing. Use this time to catch up on a good book, enjoy a community event or take a tour of your own neighborhood. If you live close to a big city, you may want to visit it for the day and take in all the free attractions, such as parks and window shopping.

Set up a tent in your backyard one day, grill out on another day, break out the sprinkler on another day. Staying home doesn’t have to be boring. You can make it fun. Just try to relax and keep yourself from doing too many of your normal chores. Those will still be there when it’s time to re-enter the real world.

Some people use staycation to stay overnight in a hotel close to home. Simply getting out of your house for one night may be the experience your family needs to have a good time. Opt for a hotel that has a pool or other amenity that your family would enjoy. Though you’re still spending money on lodging, you are eliminating the high cost of travel.

If a vacation is on your to do list this year, but you can’t afford to travel somewhere exotic, opt for camping, visiting friends and family or having a staycation. As long as you are with friends or family, and as long as you make the best of it, you could end up having one of the best vacations of your life.

Carrie Johnson lives in Houston and works with a traveling agency.  She likes to travel and recently won a trip to the bahamas island resorts.

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Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by John

If there is one piece of advice I would give you before even leaving the driveway to venture to pastures greener, it’s check your camping kit thoroughly beforehand. I have too often just thrown everything I thought I needed into the back of the car and whisked off only to have a few nasty surprises when I reached the camp site. So here’s my top 10 hints and tips – not be ignored!

1. Take out and check your tent and groundsheet – time consuming but worth it. Chances are you packed it away in the rain at the end of last season and the ground sheet will be covered in mud. Make sure all the ropes, poles, pegs are there and don’t forget the rubber mallet.
2. Gas canisters for the stove – make sure you have full ones not a bag of empty or half full ones. If you go early in the season it will probably be cold on an evening so if you have plenty of gas you can at least light the stove and huddle round it.
3. Check your pots, pans and kitchen equipment. There was probably the temptation to just take it home dirty after the last breakfast with the intention of washing it all up at home. Best intentions rarely happen so you’ll probably find the frying pan with layer of fat nicely growing mould.
4. Your sleeping bags should have been stored indoor over winter, but  if you were foolish enough to leave them in the garage I would unroll them and make sure a family of mice hasn’t taken up residence in the cosy comfort of you sleeping bag and left you a few little surprises.
5. Give the BBQ a quick check as the grill bit you put your food in probably has remnants of last year’s burger and sausage still attached. Make sure you remember to take new briquettes too as last year’s could be damp.
6. Always make sure you check the essential items are still in the camping kit and they haven’t been removed i.e. bottle opener/corkscrew, tin opener, box of matches, kettle.
7. Take the time to blow actually blow up any inflatable beds before you leave. There’s nothing worse than waking up on the floor the first morning as your bed has perished and you have a slow puncture. If you have one of those battery operated bed inflators remember to check the batteries are still ok too otherwise you’ll be purple in the face and very out of puff!
8. Remember the lighting – candles or rechargeable light / torch. Rechargeable doesn’t mean it will be magically rechargeable either – you do have to actually charge it before you leave!
9. Open up and sniff inside the water carrier. If you have left it wet from last year it may be mouldy and very smelly.
10. Toilet paper – always take a spare few rolls as we all know campsite facilities are hit and miss and you don’t want to be caught short so take you own!

Maria is what they like to call a later in life convert to camping, and while she embraces the great outdoors, she does enjoy a little pampering when she gets home!

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Photo by admin

One of the most popular places to go camping in the EU is France. The whole country is set up to welcome campers, whether they are in cars and caravans, campervans or simply with a tent in the boot of the car or attached to their backpack.

Pretty every much commune will have a campsite somewhere and these will often be a ‘camping municipal’ meaning that they are owned and maintained by the local commune (or council). Although this kind of campsite doesn’t have a big swimming pool and entertainment programme, they are always scrupulously clean and well maintained. It is such a vast contrast to many campsites in the UK.

The commercial campsites in France also make a great choice – especially if you have children who are confident enough to go and join in with the entertainment provided. Once you set up your site and introduce the children to the ‘animateurs’ who run the entertainment programmes, you might not see them except for mealtimes and bedtime!

Where to go
Camping near to the Dune du Pyla is a great place to spend a summer week. You have easy access to the beach, and most of the campsites are set in the shady pine forests that are just behind the beaches and dunes. This way you have the best of both worlds – beautiful sunny beaches, yet a shaded place to camp, so that at the end of the day you don’t have to go into a baking hot tent or mobile home.

If you’re a single traveller or a couple, then the most economic option is to take the car and throw your sleeping bags and tent in the boot, so that you can go where you want, but only need to pay the site fees for a tent rather than a caravan or the cost of hiring one of the fixed mobile homes that campsites hire out. Of course, the other option is to hire one of the fixed tents that the campsites also have on offer – far superior to anything that will fit in the back of a car! It really depends on how long you want to stay in one particular place or whether you prefer a holiday on the road.

About the author of this article:
Steve is a camping enthusiast who enjoys taking off for the weekend with his mates and their fully loaded rucksacks.

The post Camping in France – where to go appeared first on Europe Explored.

Photo by admin

In France, “le camping” is something of a religion. Families take everything but the kitchen sink to their favourite destinations – often setting up for a whole month of alfresco living.
Almost every commune has a “camping municipal” a publicly provided campsite – which are cheaper than the private ones and usually have excellent facilities. These can be particularly useful if you’re only staying for one or two nights as you travel around. A couple of good Vango sleeping bags and a cheap tent are all you’ll need any time between May and September.

Where you decide to go camping in France is entirely dependent on what you most love to do. France is a very diverse country with varied landscapes.

In the north, the coastline is rugged, while the south coast offers classic Mediterranean stretches of golden beaches.

Inland, the landscape is lush with landscapes carved by famous rivers such as the Loire and the Dordogne, whilst the Alps offer a mountainous landscape beloved by outdoor sports enthusiasts in every season for different reasons. You’ll need you best Merrell gear during any season here.

Also, the Vendée, Royan and the South-West along the Atlantic coast are perfect for family holidays camping in France. There are huge stretches of open sandy beach and the sea is perfect for swimming and water sports during the summer. Be warned, though, it can be exposed in these regions during the hottest months as the beaches are so open and the landscape generally flat.

Wherever you decide to camp in this magnificent and hugely varied country – you won’t be disappointed by the camping facilities.

Bon voyage!

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Photo by kakslauttanen.fi

In a glass igloo village Kakslauttanen you have a unique opportunity to stay in one of 20 glass igloos, or in a snow igloo. You can enjoy a cocktail in a bar “kota” designed in the shape of a traditional Lapp teepee and snow restaurant for 50 to 150 people. Those interested can also accommodate in one of 40 wooden cottages, most luxurious of them are equipped with bath, fireplace and a Finnish sauna.

Northern Lights above the bed

Glass igloos are built from a special insulating glass, which prevents the icy windows, even if outside temperatures drop below -30 °C. While inside maintains a pleasant temperature between 20 and 22 °C. Guests can observe the aurora (northern lights) directly from their warm beds. Each igloo has its own bathroom.

Snow Igloo is suitable for the rugged natures, in which the temperature ranges from -3 to -6°C. Guests, however, get sleeping bags designed for temperatures up to -32 °C, woolen socks and thermal covers.

Photo by kakslauttanen.fi

Village Kakslauttanen is well equipped and prepared for visitors and offers two saunas for about 100 people. Each sauna is equipped with rest rooms, fireplace, showers and toilets. Hardy can go straight from the sauna to the icy cool pond.

If you visit Kakslauttanen in December, you can participate on ice sculpture contest, which is held annually here. The statues then remain in the ice gallery throughout the year.

Glass Igloo Village is usually open from December or January and remains in operation, depending on the weather, until the end of April, but this area is interesting during the whole year, so you can stay in some of nearby hotels.

For further information about this village visit the site kakslauttanen.fi

View Glass Igloo Village Kakslauttanen – watch Northern Lights above the bed in a larger map

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