States Have It All (Cities, Museums, etc.): 7 Reasons To Be a Tourist in Your Own State

At Travel Points 101, we not only give you points and miles tips; we also give you budget tricks for travel.

One of my most recent trips involved exploring the state I live in: Alabama.

Honestly, there were a lot of places I had never been in my home state.

I live in Alabama not far from the Tennessee border. Of course, I have been to the biggest nearby cities Birmingham and Nashville several times, but I had never been to a lot of places in between.

I am different from people who grew up and lived in the same place their whole life though.

I grew up in Alabama, but I lived in New York City for about a decade. I also lived in Washington, D.C.

The same was true in New York City too though.

Honestly, I think I missed out on a lot of places over there too. To this day, I have not been to Albany or Buffalo.

I think that is a shame.

After I started traveling, I learned to explore new places everywhere. It was a different mentality.

Places are a lot more fun now.

At Travel Points 101, we think you should spend as little as possible on travel.

Everyone should travel internationally and learn more about the world. In fact, I think international travel should be your priority.

I will write a post later explaining why this is important. My post will explain how you can fit more international trips in each year if you make it your priority.

Even on the most budget friendly of plans, international trips require a lot of points. So you may only do them a couple times a year or less for the average person.

You may like to travel across the country to major destinations in the United States. However, even a discount ticket of $100 round trip is money, especially if you have a family of three or four.

For times when you want to spend $50 or less (basically only gas), your own state can add to your travel mileage.

This can easily include nearby states too.

If money was no factor, wouldn’t everyone travel more – even within the United States?

Of course, they would.

As an experienced traveler, I look at my own state with new eyes and have a lot of fun.

Here are reasons to be a tourist in your own state:

Reasons To Be a Tourist In Your Own State

1. You get new eyes.

Any new place will give you a new perspective and teach you something new. It could even be the town nearby you always ignored.

You will travel down new highways and roads.

You will make new wrong turns.

Our daily routine can get in the way of seeing things right in front of us, and we can overlook simple novelties.

2. You will save money

Traveling close to home will save you money. Not everyone has the time or effort for their next 200,000 point international trip again.

It can take time to build up your points balance.

Sometimes, even a flight to the other side of the country can cost (especially with a family) even with points. In between, you can be exploring new places by staying in your own state (or bordering states).

This saves you money because you are close to home, you don’t need a flight, and gas costs are small.

This trip could be easily under $50 in gas if it were a day trip that did not include a hotel.

If you must have a hotel or overnight stay, smaller cities are usually around $100 after taxes for even Hilton or Marriott (my preferred chains). You can always pay the same $100 in larger cities by choosing to stay farther out from the city in the suburbs.

If the trip is two hours or less, I recommend a day trip with no overnight stay though.

This blog is about spending as little as possible on travel again

3. You meet new people

New places mean new people. On a recent trip to Fayetteville, Tennessee; I met a hotel clerk and had an interesting conversation.

I learned something new.

People are what places are made of, so you will always learn something.

4. You travel more

Most people would travel more if money were not an issue.

Every trip does not have to be a big international or U.S. major destination trip again.

If you want to travel more (and who doesn’t); this is a great way to do it.

Include both major cities, small cities, and even towns.

Each area of the country has popular sites by state and region.

Order your state’s visitor’s guide, and you will probably learn something new.

Again, any new place will teach you something new.

5. You will feel refreshed

That was new roads and new people.

Even when I travel to a town or city nearby that I have never visited, I come back renewed and refreshed.

A new experience is after all a new experience.

Summary

Most people do not explore the state they live in enough.

Again, I lived in New York City for a decade and still have never been to Albany, Buffalo, or most of Upstate New York.

I was not always into travel, but looking back I regret not visiting some of those places.

The next time I am in New York City to visit friends, I will try to see those places when I have time.

Exploring your own state or tri-state area is a wonderful way to see something new while keeping costs low. It can also increase the quantity of your travels.

Again, I currently live in Alabama and have been exploring the Alabama/ Tennessee area. It really has been fun.

Everyone should see international destinationations and learn about new cultures.

You should also travel within the United States to learn something new far away from your state.

But don’t neglect your own state as a cost effective new adventure.

Again, when you are not spending as much money on travel, you can use it for bigger goals such as saving for kid’s college, building a bigger retirement fund, becoming financially independent, etc.

This is part of our mission at Travel Points 101.

Why spend a lot on travel if you don’t have to?