There really are only two types of travel.
When you understand this, you will travel a lot more and your planning will be easier.
This will help you prioritize the big trips and squeeze in a lot of smaller trips.
This will help you save money on travel too.
Helping you spend little on travel is our mission as usual.
Most people only take 1-3 vacations a year.
The rest of the year, you could be at home watching television or out traveling more with smaller trips.
I want you to travel more, and I know it is not hard.
Why should you not be jetting off even for a weekend when it is easy and costs you little?
Domestic Travel
Domestic travel is the first type of travel.
I know something like the road trip can seem small.
I think the road trip is underestimated.
Of course, you should prioritize international travel first.
Sadly, most people in the United States do not travel internationally.
Most people in the U.S. don’t even have a passport.
I know that is out there to a point’s audience.
While you should definitely prioritize international travel, the average person only takes 1-3 vacations again.
Instead of sitting in the house, you should be fitting in as many small trips as possible again.
I like seeing new places even on road trips.
I don’t mean go out and spend a lot of points or money on small trips either.
If you are not careful, you can spend as much on a domestic trip as an international one.
I don’t want you to do that.
I mean you should be out enjoying little trips for almost nothing.
Domestic travel will either include a road trip or a flight.
You can read all about how road trips can help you travel more in this post.
The road trip is underestimated again.
It can allow you to see a lot of new places near you.
I enjoy any new place again.
Last year, on my road trip to New Orleans, I drove through Central/South Mississippi for the first time.
This was not my first trip to New Orleans, but it was my first time getting there through Central/Southern Mississippi.
I currently live in Alabama.
Odd that I have never been through the neighboring state of Mississippi except on trips to Memphis.
Maybe I have an excuse since I lived in other parts of the country like New York City for almost a decade.
Driving down Interstate 59 through the state of Mississippi was new and fun.
I got to interact with the nice people of Mississippi.
On another trip (years ago), on my first visit to the state of Texas, I drove from Austin to Houston..
It was cool to drive through a state I had never been to.
The Texas trip started with a flight To Dallas.
Then, I flew from Dallas To Austin.
I then drove from Austin to Houston (as mentioned earlier), and then flew home from Houston.
The flight from Dallas to Austin was $50.
I love short flights between cities that are close to each other in flying time (i.e. NYC to Boston or D.C. or L.A. to San Francisco or Las Vegas).
They are usually only $50 again and beat both a bus and a train (although Amtrak can be nice too).
You get to fly more too.
I got to see three top cities in Texas (missed San Antonio).
Again, the truth is there are many places even in your state that you have probably not explored.
Order your state’s travel guide.
Remember, to still explore other parts of the United States as the United States is a pretty big country though.
Domestic trips don’t have to be just road trips either.
They can include flights too.
With flights as low as $30, you can jaunt off to a new U.S. city cheaper than a road trip.
Most places in the United States can be seen in 2 days too.
Read below how you can save money on domestic travel.
International Travel
Of course, international travel is the second type of travel.
I am listing it as the second type of travel, but it should be put first.
You should see the rest of the world.
Again, most people in the United States don’t have a passport (60%).
That is sad.
I understand.
A long time go before I got into travel, I did not travel as much internationally.
When I lived in New York City, I did not even get to the rest of the state.
I lived there almost ten years.
I just did not know better back then.
In terms of international travel, I had lived in Africa though and been to several countries there.
International travel is where you will get the most bang for your points too.
These are probably your big trips when you get vacation time.
I will write a post about how easy it is to earn a million points a year, so you have enough points for your bigger trips.
The point of this blog is to spend as little as possible on travel.
You should prioritize crossing an ocean too.
Why?
A trip to Canada or the Caribbean can cost as little as a flight within the United States with points or cash.
Crossing an ocean, like Europe or Asia, will cost you more points or cash though.
That is why you should prioritize them.
The average trip to Europe or Asia in miles is 60,000 miles.
Watch out for sales though.
For instance, I have seen sales to Europe as low a 40,000 miles round trip.
Miles/points are like money, you don’t want to spend more than necessary.
Compare that to Canada or the Caribbean at around 25,000 round trip, and you see why you should prioritize crossing an ocean.
The last time I went to Canada, I got an award sale and paid 7500 one way.
That was cheaper in miles than some of my U.S. award bookings.
With good deals in either miles or cash, you can fit in Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean as smaller trips.
That is what I plan to do.
I have been to Canada but not Mexico or the Caribbean.
My big goal for this year is to see the three remaining continents I have not been to except Antartica: South America, Asia, and Australia.
This will help you see more of the world too.
What Does This Mean For You?
So, now you know there are two types of travel.
How does this help you?
You can now be out prioritizing your big international trips.
While the average person only takes 1-3 vacations a year, you can also be out using smaller domestic trips to travel more.
If you have reliable transportation, a road trip can just cost gas and a hotel.
Beware: You Can Spend As Much On A Domestic Trip As An International Trip
While everyone should hopefully (after this post) take both more small and big trips, I don’t mean for you to spend a lot on small trips again.
I want you to travel more, both internationally and domestically.
I don’t mean for you to spend a lot on your smaller domestic trips though.
Just keep this in mind when you are doing your planning.
I want you to spend almost nothing on smaller domestic trips, and save your points/cash for bigger international trips.
Here are some things that are helpful to spend little on domestic trips:
- Explore your state or neighboring states
- Do only overnight road trips, cutting costs on hotels
- Do day trips
- Do weekend flights, cutting costs
The next section will explain each one in detail.
How To Save Money On Domestic Travel
1. Explore your state or neighboring state
Get your state or neighboring state’s guide.
I enjoy exploring new places in my state or nearby states.
Honestly, I did not do this before I got into travel.
I just ignored many places nearby.
Now, I have a lot more fun.
A couple months ago, I saw the famous FAME studio in my state for the first time.
People come from far away to see this, and I live an an hour away.
It was fun.
New places are fun again.
Even if it is only an hour away.
This was only $20 in gas too.
You can’t get cheaper than that.
Have nothing to do on a weekend?
Jet off to somewhere new in your state.
This is better than sitting at home watching television.
Again, get your state guide or google the best things to do in your state.
This works for neighboring states too.
I usually make trips in my state day trips.
Make sure to do your research and planning before each trip though.
You want to thoroughly explore places in your state as you would other destinations.
2. Overnight road trips
Whether driving 3 hours to Atlanta or 6 hours to New Orleans, I try to keep my road trips to overnight.
Six hours is usually my threshold for driving unless doing something special.
After that, it is time to fly.
I have not done a cross country road trip yet though.
I have done the Northeast (Upstate New York) to the Southeast (Alabama) though.
Again, I think you can spend as much on a small road trip as an international trip.
No one should do that.
The point of a small road trip is to spend little money.
That is why most of my road trips are only overnight.
If you have reliable transportation (the kind of vehicle that can do a highway), the biggest part of a road trip is usually a hotel.
By cutting hotel costs down to one day, this saves money.
Read how you can save money on hotels in this post too.
I like to get as close to $100 for a one night stay too.
I stay at mostly Hilton and Marriott hotels in the center of each city, so this is not always easy.
Lately, sometimes I have to settle for $200 for my one night stays when I want a central location in the middle of all the action.
Use calendars at chains like Marriott and Hilton to find the cheapest rate, whether points or cash.
I don’t use my own money for travel though.
You can read what I do to not use my own money without points in this post.
If you can give up a central location, you can go for the suburbs or an airport hotel.
This can usually keep you closer to the $100 price range.
Again, hotels are the biggest cost for road trips.
Most places that you will drive to will cost little in gas.
Since a big part of domestic travel will be the hotel, here is one trick you should know to always save money.
3. Day trips
Next, to save money, don’t stay at a hotel at all.
For example, I live only an hour and a half away from Nashville, Tennessee.
I have done this several times as a day trip.
Really my day trips to Nashville were as fun as my overnight trips.
Again, all you will need is gas again for a day trip.
My last Nashville stay was an overnight stay at the Westin in Downtown Nashville.
It had been a while since I had stayed in Downtown, so it was fun.
That is the beauty of travel.
You can decide when you want to stay in a hotel or just do a day trip.
A day trip can even work to places 3 hours away.
Remember, you need to calculate time to drive there and return.
These are especially good for places in your state again.
4. Weekend domestic flight
With fares as low as $30 on discount carriers, the domestic flight can be cheaper than a road trip.
Most cities in the United States can be seen in 2 days too.
Save your bigger vacations for bigger international trips
Remember, if you are flying a discount carrier to use a backpack or similar item and not pay for carry on luggage.
Don’t let extra fees on discount carriers negate your savings.
Summary
I want you to travel more.
You don’t have to spend a lot of money to do it either.
There are only so many points a year (even if you earn a million points/miles a year or more).
Most people pay out of pocket for the rest of their trips.
Knowing that there are only two types of travel helps me spend little on travel and travel more.
Everyone knows I like spending little money on travel.
Know how to cut costs for little trips, and save points/money for bigger trips.
This allows you to travel more too again.
When most people only take 1-3 vacations a year, the rest of the year you don’t have to be sitting at home watching television again.
You can be out traveling more while spending little.
Again, I think people underestimate smaller trips.
Are you able to fit in a lot of smaller trips?
Does it help you have more points/money for bigger international trips?
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