Vacationing All Year While at Home

The vacation norm is to travel somewhere and then pack in 16 hours of activities per day to relax.  We've done this with trips to Disney World, Florida, Washington D.C. and other areas.    Sometimes this leaves me more tired than relaxed.

Another option may be to take advantage of vacation activities while staying at home. Where we live, there are numerous activities and venues that allow us to try such an option. While we are not a vacation destination city. here are some of the activities and venues in our area:

Amusement park.   We have a very nice amusement park in our area, which includes typical rides and a large water park.  The cost of an annual pass is less than the cost of two adult admissions.   Since the park is only 15 minutes away, we can go for a couple hours and still have the rest of the day.

Ski Resort.  , We have a small ski resort nearby.   It's not the Rockies, but good enough for a beginner skier like me.   The cost for an annual pass with rental is about the cost of two days of skiing at a ski resort like Vail.   The ski resort is close enough that we can go for 2-3 hours and still have the rest of our day.  We expect to go over 15 times this winter.

Restaurants.  We have several top rated restaurants in the area.   Before going on my vegan/no added oil diet, we tried many of them.   Nowadays, since most are known for their steaks, we have not visited the recent additions.  But this may be a good option for the rest of the family.

Zoo.  We have a highly ranked zoo in our area.  The cost of a family annual pass is about the cost of two visits.  Normally, we go to see the animals but with a pass we can go more often and see the shows.

Seasonal events.  We have several regionally recognized events in our area.  My spouse and I attended these prior to having kids.  Nowadays, I just consider these traffic nuisances, but maybe we should consider going again as the kids get older.

We also have professional sports teams, live theater, and various museums close by to us.   I would not normally consider these venues as vacation material.   Of course, we can still take advantage of these venues for entertainment.

The two biggest benefits are doing vacation activities while at home are time and cost.   We don't have 1-2 days of travel time and avoid $1000-2000 in travel costs, which we can reinvest into having more fun at home.

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This is not financial or vacation advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

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