staycation or camping definitely the truly low budget options. when i was a kid, my parents would take us camping on the florida keys and similar locales. so we had money to spend on the adventures. (assateague camping is pretty cool).

but non poor people forget that there are really shitty hotels in neat places. when we had 1 kid and a dog, DH and i would go out to cool hiking locations and stay in crap hotels. on a splurge outing, it might be $80/night for lodging. but usually less. we do less of that now! but our last road trip to visit family involved a similarly shitty hotel (in a not-interesting location).

shitty hotels galore near the delaware beaches, as long as you don't need to be on the beach itself.

obx after labor day has cheaper vacation rentals. check out some of those rental "cabins" in the shenandoah for off-peak rentals. some of them are quite nice! and reasonably priced.

Florida! Not the fancy places either but panama. I love that place.

What is your budget, how big is your family (ages?), and when do you want to go?

I do a lot of cheap travel with my kid.

It depends on how we're defining low budget. I'm trying To watch my money and rebuild some savings so I'm doing low cost vacations, but I realize they'd still be out of reach for someone who was really struggling.

For our first week of vacation this year we're doing a mix of staycation (pools, museums, picnics, etc) and a couple of day trips or overnight trips. Thinking Richmond for a night, maybe Natural Bridge.

Our second week of vacation we go to the beach. We rent a condo in Sandbridge the last week of August. It's after peak time, so the traffic getting there is light and the costs have dropped. We do a condo because that way we get a pool and can be right across from the ocean. Three bedroom condo for a week starts under $1000 if you don't get one with an ocean view. You can get houses for not much more if you don't mind a little bit longer walk. Find a family to split with and it brings the costs way down. Yes, you still have to cook, but we just do easy stuff, and if you go with another family you can take turns cooking so it's still less than at home.

Next year we may use a week to dive up to Boston to visit my sister (we'd stop at my parents for a night to split up the drive).

Save up for travel. Cut wherever you can.

Take day trips or shorter vacations. Stay outside the city of off the beaten path.

Bring bottled water, snacks, fruit, etc. so you can minimize restaurant costs. Try to find a hotel that includes breakfast.

We don't have a lot of money, but we prioritize travel. You can too.

Anonymous wrote:Or just ideas you have had. Really, anything but camping.

LOL my "poor" vacation was always a beach camping road trip. We camped our way down the coastline. It started as college students, and now it's our favorite trip to take each year.

Ive never done this but isnt there an organization where you can switch houses with another family for a set period of time?
You can go see a city you want to see, and they come and stay in your house and do the same.

Hi there, playing sport on the beach with friends.

Anonymous wrote:op- thanks for the ideas. Yes, I was definitely including myself in the "poor" category. Didn't realize anyone would take this the wrong way.

DH is outdoorsy, I am not. He talked me into renting s state park cabin for a few nights last summer and it was like that Bernstein Bears Terrible Vacation book but with more mosquitoes and mice. And all the stuff you have to pack (bedding and food x 5) -it was way more work than just staying home.

Last time we went camping, we picked one that had fast food and restaurants across the street.

op- thanks for the ideas. Yes, I was definitely including myself in the "poor" category. Didn't realize anyone would take this the wrong way.

DH is outdoorsy, I am not. He talked me into renting s state park cabin for a few nights last summer and it was like that Bernstein Bears Terrible Vacation book but with more mosquitoes and mice. And all the stuff you have to pack (bedding and food x 5) -it was way more work than just staying home.

Good title. People should chill.

State parks/lodges
Extended fam visits ... "farms"
Baltimore
Staycation with "big" surprises every day... don't give away you're on vacation too! (zoo/library; park/air and space; puppet show/swimming). It's great.

My ex and I used to like to take road trips to poor, small industrial towns and stay at the hotels that were all that 100 years ago, like the definitely haunted Lowe Hotel in Point Pleasant, WV - home of the Mothman. Also home to the TNT site, where the army built TNT manufacturing bunkers on Native American burial ground. That area gave me the creeps, but ex fit right in with the locals and had a great time.

Big recommendation: The "Weird US" Series: Your Travel Guide to America's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets. http://www.weirdus.com/index.php

Thanks to the awesome "Weird Virginia," ex and I visited Foamhedge, a life-size replica of Stonehedge near the Natural Bridge. That book also told about a place where you and kids can go looking for fairy crosses (minerals that form into crosses. Find one and keep it for good luck.)

I HATE camping. How old are your kids? My top budget choice is Outer Banks the week of Labor Day if your kids are too young for school. Rates drop WAY low, you can drive and shop at the cheap southern grocery stores. Plus cheap beer at Brew Thru.

Local, close to here, I would recommend Cape Charles, VA. You can rent a big house and split it with other low budget friends for cheap. You can also get a small house for a family of 5 or smaller like this for $700/wk in Cape Charles. https://www.vrbo.com/3804905ha#rates

Another local option would be renting a house on the Eastern Shore of Maryland that has a bayside beach.

Deep Creek Lake also has some reasonable rentals, and Lake Anna.

Definitely a rental cottage. Pick one with average decor, it will be cheaper. Maybe settle on a house with only one bathroom and an outdoor shower.

Outer banks.

Anonymous wrote:I've reported the title.
Not cute, funny or okay OP. But you knew that already.

come on people. Stop being so easily offended.