In December 2022 I posted Part One of my Travel Ideas article and had terrific positive feedback from folks so thank you for that. If you are just coming to this article for the first time, I would suggest scrolling down and reading Part One first. I hope you enjoy this second installment and that you find it informative and useful and that it inspires you to want to travel more!
Be flexible. If you can plan short stays during the week, rather than weekends, then you are more likely to find places available and fewer people and crowds. Some national parks are swamped with visitors from dawn till dusk, especially in the peak travel season, so look to state and county parks as options. Many are just as spectacular as the national parks, just on a smaller scale. If you are going to a national park, consider the shoulder seasons. If you can’t do that, get entry times for early morning or late in the day. Many people are headed out of the parks by 4pm, just as the late afternoon light is getting great, so stay for a sunset and you may have the place almost to yourself. Or get an early start and return midday for a meal and a nap before heading out again later in the day. Do your shopping and relaxing mid-day when everyone else is sitting in their car looking for a parking spot at an overlook or trailhead.
Travel close to home for short trips. A drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway or through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park can be done in a day or as a short 2 or 3-night excursion. And it’s something you can do on short notice if your work schedule is flexible, or you are retired. As temperatures warm up in the spring, it’s a great time to get outdoors for a hike or picnic in areas before the heat of the summer. Higher elevations, such as Mt. Mitchell and Grandfather Mountain, offer cooler temps even on mid-summer days. Fall color in these areas is especially beautiful, and with elevation ranges of 1500 to over 6000 feet, you are sure to find areas of color somewhere or your fall drive. Check out our guidebooks, Blue Ridge Parkway Vistas, and Great Smoky Mountains Vistas for additional ideas. The text and photographs are sure to point you toward some terrific spots to visit.
Cancel as far in advance if you must. We book many options far in advance. We hope to keep all our reservations, but plans can change as the months pass and sometimes we must cancel a trip. If you cancel far enough in advance you usually get back most of your deposit, so pay attention to the cancellation windows when booking a spot and mark those on your calendar. We try to cancel as far in advance as possible to give others the opportunity to take our spot. If you are flexible in your schedule and can travel on short notice you can take advantage of such cancellations to make your own trip. Most last-minute spots come open about two weeks or less in advance of a particular date.
Save money. Travel can get expensive, so always look for ways to cut cost that won’t impact your experience. Many destinations offer special packages to get bookings for the next season, or at times of lower visitation. Many times, these offers will be sent to you by places you have visited before in an effort to lure you back. If you enjoyed your previous stay, then maybe these are offers you want to take. We use a travel credit card and put all our household purchases on that card (which we pay off promptly each month). It’s not uncommon that we have enough points to pay for a rental car or airplane flights for our next big trip. You can also save money by planning where to fly into and rent a car. For instance, if we can fly into Las Vegas as a base for a western trip, then the rental car rates are significantly lower than other nearby airports. Air flights in and out of there are generally cheaper as well and the airport is easy to access; so we would choose Las Vegas rather than Albuquerque for instance if we had the choice.
Stay with friends. Another way to save is to stay a few nights with friends. This saves you money on hotels or an Airbnb. We travel out west a lot and had friends in Santa Fe, New Mexico who we always enjoyed visiting. We made many trips that took us through Santa Fe, and we would stay with them for two or three nights. We had a great visit with old friends, and locals always know cool spots to visit and places to eat. From there we would move on the Mesa Verde or Chaco Canyon and the Four Corners. Taking along a gift, or paying for a meal or two, or hosting them on their next visit your way will show your appreciation of their hospitality.
In conclusion, I hope you will let me know if you have other travel ideas that you have found useful that I might not have mentioned. I’m always interested in hearing about, and learning from, other people’s experiences.