We’ve just come back from a few days in Taupo with no goal other than to do not a heck of a lot. We continued to train as I am competing in South Africa in September, however other than that there was no work done at all.
It’s super important to have some time to relax and actually rest, something I am not the best at as I am constantly on and coming up with ideas and plans.
It’s hard to take the penny pincher out of the accountant so here are a few simple tips for how to have a relaxing vacation on a budget.
// Location
Choose somewhere close to home. Originally I was looking overseas because, well travel. However choosing a location close to home is often the key to saving money, if you only have the cost of a little bit of fuel you can definitely save all that money you would have usually spent on airfares. You could even consider a stay-cation where you stay in the same town that you live, however for us it wouldn’t have been worth it – Wanganui is just too small.
// Activities
We are lucky in that we don’t tend to enjoy activities that cost a lot of money. Find the activities that you enjoy that are free or low cost. For us, going to the gym is an activity we actually enjoy, plus we needed to train. We also went for a walk and a bike ride to enjoy some of the scenery as well as get some fresh air. What activities are there in the place you are going too that are free or low cost? If you are getting away just to relax then make sure you pack some books or a kindle – low cost and relaxing.
// Accommodation
We always stay at cheap accommodation as this can really add up over the course of a trip. We went with an AirBnB apartment for this trip which cost us $413 for 5 nights. The bonus with an AirBnB is that there is often cooking facilities which can save you even more money, plus you can spread your stuff out and not worry about cleaners coming and going. The downside, you’ve got to make your own bed.
// Meals
Most people go on holiday and end up buying every single meal whilst they are away and then wonder why the trip costs them so much. We are quite different when we travel, we will generally buy 1 meal out per day (sometimes even none) and then cook the rest ourselves. This saves us both money and unwanted calories, yet we still get to look forward to a meal each day where we don’t have to cook or clean up after ourselves. Often we will make lunch our meal out as there are generally way cheaper lunch specials than there are dinner specials, plus it was cold at night too 😉 Breakfast is super easy to take yourself, whether you eat cereal, toast, oats or bacon and eggs it’s a pretty easy meal to make and save yourself $10+ each per day.
There we have it, 4 very simple tips for a relaxing vacation on a budget.
Have you ever taken a short vacation close to home just so that you will be forced to relax?? – Comment and let me know, I love hearing from you.