Thrifty Weekends

My love for travel really started with my Dad.  My brother, sister and I would hop into the Mustang or Station Wagon and head out on a Saturday with my Dad.  But we would never know where we were going.  These Saturday adventures were called the Mystery Ride.

Why just go to a movie in the next town, nope, my Dad made it an adventure.  The kids must have asked a million questions, but that was the point.  He provided a foundation for our curious minds and supported our wild imaginations.

He would actually ride in and out of parking lots of places that he had no plans of stopping at.  We had no idea and would cheer or jeer at these so called detours.  We had a name for it, “Burger King,” as that was his favorite parking lot to drive through.  And it was never our destination.

The “Mystery Ride” is now part of our family story when we talk about our childhoods and how much fun we had.  I am not sure how many Saturday adventures we went on, but it seemed like a weekly thing for a child.  My Dad rocked the “Mystery Ride” with adventures to places, including:

1. A Diner we did not know
2. Great Adventure
3. Turtle Back Zoo
4. A Broadway Show
5. The Ground Round
6. The Land of Make Believe
7. The Movies
8. Bow Craft Amusements
9. Arcades
10. Asbury Park
11. A Ferry Ride
12. New Hope, PA
13. New York City
14. Cider Farm
15. Hayride
16. Children’s Museum
17. Planetarium
18. Ice Cream Shop

To plan a Mystery Ride, have a plan, but take the long way and build up the anticipation in your children or nieces and nephews.  Let them ask you a million questions and go someplace they know, but then head back out.

Most of my thrifty weekends are local escapes.  Here are a list of places I go and do not go to plan my next adventure.

1. Pick a theme.
   • Sports
   • Outdoor
   • Food
   • Books
   • Entertainment
   • State Parks
   • Festivals
   • Music
   • Lecture
   • Local Interest
   • Volunteer
   • Raising Money for a Cause (5K, 10K, or walk)
   • Active
   • Retreat
   • Yoga
   • Learning
2. Check out a local calendar, website, or newspaper that lists local events and festivals of interest.
3. Use a search engine and search “local (your state or city) events.”  Do not make TripAdvisor your default website, as you will find more local input on tourism boards.  Here is one I came across from a local tourism board to give an example of:  Visit South County, RI  See if you can find an events page like this…
4. Use the search engine to focus in on the theme or themes you have chosen.  Let me give you an example.  At the end of a busy school year, my friends and I need to retreat and reconnect.  I put in “retreat” and my state into a search engine and local retreat centers popped up.  All that Matters popped up, with programs from yoga to meditation to classes and team building in the communities nearby to where I live for free or a small fee.  Amazing what a slightly focused search can yield.
5. I also put up “volunteer” as many folks want to find out ways to help their communities.  Local festivals, farmer’s markets, and sporting events like the Special Olympics are always in need of volunteers.  I use the site, Volunteer Match as a first place to look for opportunities.  When I was on vacation in New Orleans right after devastating tornadoes hit the region, I found a church to volunteer for a day in cleaning up the community.  While volunteering is free, I found the experience that I had that day, life-changing.

Hopefully, this list of starters can help you to plan your next adventure.