Camping, closest beaches, theme parks (smaller ones like Six Flags, Hershey and Lake Compounce, not Disney)

Mostly we visited family. Otherwise, we liked to rent the rustic cabins that the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club rents. They are really cheap and in beautiful spots and a step up from camping.

Anonymous wrote:They go visit their families. (Which my ILs are upset about. They wish we spent all our annual leave visiting them instead of vacations.)

Not to get too off track here -- but I do think that a lot of the conflict over family vacations you see on here is a result of income differences. When I was a kid, we camped or stayed with my Grandparents on vacation. My Grandparents had a lake house (a rustic cabin, not fancy at all) and we spent a ton of time there when I was a kid. Now maybe our parents have the same expectation, and instead we're now off to Europe etc.

But that's the answer to your question -- camp or stay with family. The only time I went to the beach as a kid was when we visited family who lived driving distance away (but not really near) the beach. We'd drive over to the beach for the day. When I was poor and new to DC, we'd drive to Rehoboth for the day. Leave early and get back late, tired and sunburned, but we had a great time.

They go visit their families. (Which my ILs are upset about. They wish we spent all our annual leave visiting them instead of vacations.)

Anonymous wrote:Especially in this area. And I mean middle class not UMC. Not “I make 200k plus but I feel middle class.” Even some of the beaches DCUM sneers at can be pricey. Are people going into debt to afford it?

We are the "I make 200K plus but feel middle class group" - we visit family for a week + over the summer for our vacation. I know it feels like everyone heads to the beach - not true.

Anonymous wrote:We go camping or to visit family. Can not afford hotel / house at the beach.

+1 Camping is maybe 20$ a night at the more expensive campgrounds (plus the gear, which is a cost initially but eventually pays off if you camp a lot). And yeah, we visit family--free digs!

Anywhere they want or they don't go. They either save for a trip or charge it and pay it off later. I'm sorry what other type of response did you want?

But some may go to visit relatives? I know some lower income families that take day trips over to OC, or to the amusement parks. Some go mid week in the summer, when hotels are less. Others drive to see family or drive to the family beach/lake/mountain house. Others do Disney on the cheap, drive to get there, stay off site in a lower ties hotel, don't buy souvenirs, take their own food. Some camp.

If you are looking for ideas of how to vacation on a lower income, that's a differently worded question. But you can save towards it or go in debt to go somewhere.

I agree on the cost of hotels at the beach. We try to use a timeshare instead (plenty of family or friends have one that they aren't using) and we will just pay their maintenance fee or less to use it, but we do plan ahead for that.

Camping

Off season at Ocean City

Anonymous wrote:We go camping or to visit family. Can not afford hotel / house at the beach.

This is what we did when I was a kid.

Lake, beach, park campground.

We go camping or to visit family. Can not afford hotel / house at the beach.

We were true MC growing up. We did a long weekend at the beach, or we camped, or occasionally split a very modest beach house with my MC grandparents. (Think 3 bedrooms, window AC units, and several blocks from the beach.)

I was happy and didn’t know any better. But my friends weren’t taking lavish trips either.

Ocean City, Va Beach, WVA. It gets old, but it's better than nothing.

A few days in Ocean City, MD

Especially in this area. And I mean middle class not UMC. Not “I make 200k plus but I feel middle class.” Even some of the beaches DCUM sneers at can be pricey. Are people going into debt to afford it?