Here’s how you can take an inexpensive road trip without blowing a tire or your budget:

• Map your course. Use MapQuest or Google Maps to plan your itinerary. Plan to stay overnight in state parks or budget accommodations. You can find log cabins, treehouses, and even yurts to rent by going to http://www.airbnb.com/.
• Stay off the interstate. Avoid paying tolls and take a more scenic route to your location. You miss a lot when you travel down the busy interstate. For a list of wacky roadside attractions, visit http://www.roadsideamerica.com/.
• Pack your lunch. Shop the local markets and brownbag your lunch when you travel. Not only will you save a ton of money, you’ll also be able reduce calories by selecting healthy, low-fat options. Fabulous Travel has a great article on its site titled, How to Make Travel Picnic Packs for Suitcase or Backpack. Here’s where you’ll find it: http://www.fabuloustravel.com/brown-baglunches/article/412/21505.
• Visit free attractions and festivals. Make the Chamber of Commerce in the cities that you are visiting your friend. They can provide you with information and literature about upcoming events and festivals. You can also check out websites like 2Camels and Festivals.com. They have up-to-date listings of things to do in all the major cities in the United States.
• Skip the souvenirs and take pictures instead. Beautiful pictures can be taken and turned into customized postcards easily. Carry along some heavy cardstock, a glue stick, and a sharpie. Stop by a drugstore or retailer and have photos printed before heading to your next destination. Send your handmade postcards to friends and make sure to keep a few for yourself. You can record details on the back to help remind you of your trip.

The beauty of a road trip is that you call the shots. You determine where you go, how long you stay, and what types of things you see and experience along the way. Although guidebooks are great for introducing to different cities and attractions, no one knows what piques your interests better than you do. With very little money, you too, can travel to some of the most exciting parts of the country easily.

1. Be willing to fly into an airport in another city if it saves you money. If you can travel the rest of the way by bus or train for less, by all means do it! Factor in the extra time it takes to get to your destination and that will determine whether or not this is a viable option for you and your itinerary.
2. Watch for sales and use coupons when allowed. Most airlines have blackout dates but some do offer specials during the holidays as a way to fill seats. Keep your eyes open for the bargains and you may just score yourself a roundtrip plane ticket for less. And make sure to use a good travel rewards credit card so you can build up even more points or miles when booking your flights.
3. Fly on the holiday. Many people want to arrive to their destination early. If this is not a possibility for you, consider flying on the holiday. Many people report that it’s one of the most economical ways to travel. The plane will be less crowded and airlines are more flexible because they want to fill seats.
4. Travel in a group and split the cost of accommodations. Many hotels offer family suites which are spacious and affordable. They have full sized kitchens and sofa beds. There is also enough room for a cot or two. Divided amongst two or three people, this is an extremely cheap way to stay in the city of your choice.
5. Take advantage of free WiFi. If your hotel doesn’t offer this amenity, don’t fret. Starbucks, McDonalds, and public libraries offer complimentary Internet access. You can do everything you would do at home-surf the web, update social media accounts, and send email for free.
6. Forgo eating in restaurants and prepare your meals instead.  If you’re traveling with your family, this is a very cost efficient way to do so. You can prepare many types of food without a stove or oven. You just have to be creative. Visit the local supermarket for inspiration. Chances are, you’ll have a refrigerator in your hotel or motel room. You can easily store perishables there.
7. Buy your own bottled water and carry a Thermos with you in the car. It’s easy to purchase H2O and freeze it for the trip. The second is true about hot water. You can prepare hot tea, instant coffee, and even hot chocolate easily in a Thermos. If you’re really ambitious, you can even prepare Ramen Noodles in it by allowing the noodles to sit awhile to “cook”.

Sometimes holiday travel is a necessity but spending every dollar in your wallet or pocketbook is not feasible in this economy. Take advantage of these simple tips and stretch your budget further. Who knows! You may even have fun coming up with new ways to save money while you travel!

Here are some tips that will help you safeguard your most valuable possessions during a potentially dangerous time of year:

• Do not publicly announce your plans on Social Networking websites or in front of people you don’t know intimately. You never know who may be lurking in cyberspace. Not only should you keep travel plans and gift ideas to yourself, your spouse and your children should too.
• Make sure that doors and windows are locked when you leave your home even if it’s only for a few minutes. You can never be too safe. If you’re able to install a deadbolt, by all means do so. This added safety precaution is well worth the time and money you invest in it.
• Have a family member or trusted friend collect your newspapers and mail while you’re away for an extended period of time. You never want to give an outsider the impression that no one is home. Newspapers and mail piling up are a surefire sign that your family is away.
• Set an automatic timer to turn on indoor and outdoor lights. Although it will increase your electric bill ever so slightly, using a timer gives people the impression that someone is watching your home. A dark home gives thieves the tools they need to quietly enter your home and ransack it without anyone even noticing.
• Leave a radio or television on to give outsiders the idea that someone is at home. Some background noise is ideal whenever you leave the house even if it’s only for a few hours or two. If a thief believes that someone is home, they will skip over your residence.
• Do not leave large displays of holiday gifts in visible areas. Unless you want someone else to have all the presents that you purchased, you should keep them in a concealed area of your home away from doorways and windows. Anyone passing by could see them and steal them while you’re out shopping or picking your kids up from school.
• Use the ATM in well-lit areas during daytime hours. Thieves take advantage of certain situations. Avoid putting yourself in danger by taking unnecessary risks. Always handle money transactions during business areas.

1. Find a friend or family member to stay with overnight. Staying with the people that you care the most about is far more fun than spending the night alone in the most expensive luxury hotel. If this is not an option for you, consider signing up for an account at CouchSurfing.org. It’s free to join and easy to find a place to stay for a night or two. Look at the profiles listed, contact the member with your request, and voila, you score free lodging for a day or two. It’s as easy as that. My friend Vicky traveled all over Latin America very cheaply as a Couch Surfer.
2. Pack snacks and beverages that are easy to consume in the car. Using the passenger seat as my “kitchen”, I was able to prepare a number of hassle-free snacks including pretzels with individual tubs of peanut butter, fresh fruit and raw veggies, and pumpkin seeds. I also have a cooler stocked with ice and bottles of water and juice. This allows me to eat and drink what I want without having to stop every few hours for a meal. You can easily put together a couple of sandwiches and eat these as well. Think about items that require little effort to eat while driving. Squeezable tubes of yogurt as well as individual bags of chips, crackers, and dried fruit are easy to unwrap or open with one hand.
3. Find the cheapest gas by using a mobile app like GasBuddy. Using my iPod Touch, I am able to locate the cheapest gas wherever I go. I just open an app like GasBuddy, allow the internal GPS to locate the city that I’m closest to, and select the filling station that has the best price based on the listings. This allows me to get out and stretch my legs from time to time as well. (By the way, I have to have a wireless Internet connection to do this. I prefer Virgin Mobile’s MiFi card because there is no contract and it is very reliable. You can connect up to four wireless devices using it.)
4. Avoid buying cheesy souvenirs. I have a brand new digital camera that I couldn’t wait to put to use. Instead of picking up bags upon bags of t-shirts, postcards, and magnets, I opted to take really beautiful pictures. High up in the mountains of Alabama, I was able to get some incredible shots. I was also able to see sights that I’ve only seen on TV. Now’s how’s that for amazing? If you really want something to help you remember a trip, consider picking up a cheap spiral notebook or dollar store journal. Record your memories that way.
5. Earn some income while traveling. There are a number of income boosting opportunities that can come out of a road trip. For example, if you’re a writer, you can share your experience with others by writing a travelogue of how-to article. The Lost Girls have a list of websites willing to pay you for your work on their website: http://www.lostgirlsworld.com/2011/01/travel-freelancing/. You can also take photos and sell them to magazines or websites. Here is another great resource: http://www.great-adventures.com/know/plan/publish.html.

Who doesn’t love the idea of traveling full-time? What a luxury it is to have greater control over your time, money, and choice of scenery. With that being said, living aboard a recreational vehicle is not for everyone so how can you tell it’s for you? Here are some things to ask yourself before you prepare for a life on the road in an RV.

• What will your expenses look like? Let’s face it. Gas isn’t cheap. That means that you have to have a plan if you want to get from point A to point B. Factor in the cost of upkeep and maintenance on your recreational vehicle as well. Campground fees, fishing licenses, insurance, and groceries are also realistic expenses while living on the road. Write everything you can think of down and come up with an estimate as to how much you will need to live on each month. You may be surprised how little money you need.
• What are you willing to cut back on or eliminate in order to make this dream a reality? How do you expect to make such a big change if you’re not willing to break bad spending habits? Will giving up your daily coffees and afternoon restaurant lunches help you get one step closer to your goal? Well, of course it will! You have to decide what is important to you and cut back on the things you don’t need. A few small sacrifices will go a long way over time.
• How will you make money along the way? Even the most frugal person requires some of the green stuff to get by. Will you live off of savings or will you do odds and ends jobs along the way? Workamping is a great way to gain employment while living on the road. You can sign up for their services by visiting http://www.workamper.com/optinnew/index.cfm. Or if you’ve set up an online business there’s a good chance you can work from a laptop anywhere you have an internet connection.
• Are there any places in particular that you want to visit? Knowing what part of the country you’ll be spending time in during what season will help you plan accordingly. Obviously, some places like Florida and California stay warmer longer. These are great states to visit when the rest of the country is frozen over with snow.
• What type of dwelling will accommodate you and your family or pets? RVs vary in size and function. Some have to be pulled behind a truck with a hitch while others can be driven and lived in. The size of your family and the amount of space you require to feel comfortable will determine which make or model best suits you.

If you find the though of hitting the road appealing, what’s stopping you? If it’s money that’s holding you back, find ways to sock more into your savings and buy a used RV and it may be more feasible. That’s what I plan to do. I have a price range in mind and I’m starting to put a little away each month to make my dream of full-time roadtripping a reality.

Instead of spending ridiculous amounts of cash to stay in overpriced hotels and participate in run-of-the-mill sightseeing, why not explore the possibility of being a Light House Keeper or help care for the trails in your favorite National Park?  Not only will it do you a world of good to spend your summer doing something useful, it will get you out of your house and into locations that even the most seasoned traveler dreams of.

Pam Grout, author of The 100 Best Volunteer Vacations to Enrich Your Life, has created a handy reference guide for those individuals wanting to lend a helping hand but that are unsure of where to start.  Each listing has a description of the type of work available through each volunteer opportunity, a summary of costs, and the contact information of the group, institute or organization organizing the trip.  Not only will this book spark your interest, chances are, it will give you a serious case of wanderlust.

Websites like the American Hiking Society and the Gesundheit! Institute provides volunteers with ample opportunities to uplift someone’s spirit and leave the world in a better state than what they found it in.  You can find out more about program requirements and restrictions by visiting these websites or contacting the Volunteer Coordinator by email.

Other places worth looking into include:

• The Earthwatch Institute.  Scientific expeditions that include projects on ecology, zoology and archaeology
• Habitat for Humanity.  Building projects in numerous countries that help people obtain affordable housing.
• Rustic Volunteer and Travel.  Opportunities to complete projects in China, India, Nepal, Uganda, Argentina, Peru, etc.

No matter what time period you are looking at, there is a Volunteer Vacation opportunity available.  Some programs last a few days while others last a few months.  Some provide meals and accommodations at no cost to you while others charge a menial participation fee.  Whatever way you look at it, it is money well spent.  In addition to changing your life, you have the opportunity to change those around you with a simple act of selflessness and kindness.

If you’re interested in a volunteer vacation you may also be interested in caretaking as another option for traveling, vacations, or even as a career option.

Charissa Arsaoui is a freelance writer for ChickSpeak, Buzzine, DisFUNKshion Magazine, Student Stuff, and a guest contributor for Wisebread.  She loves thrift related topics and can spot a bargain a mile away.

Caretaking sounds like a simple enough task. You do what is asked of you by the owner of a property in exchange for simple accommodations on their property. People from all over the world are looking for people to help out on their farms and ranches or to complete projects that promote sustainability and greener living. Opportunities are not limited to the United States so the chance to travel the world is increasingly more likely than it is with other types of jobs.

Freelance writer and spirited traveler, Nora Dunn, shares her experience caretaking with Transitions Abroad. In an article titled, Caretaking Jobs Abroad: Some Creative Ways to Travel the World Long-Term, she notes the type of characteristics that make up a good caretaker. She also states the advantages and disadvantages of remaining in one place for long periods of time. The former business owner from Canada traded in her role as entrepreneur to accept caretaking positions around the world. Her experiences are chronicled on her blog, The Professional Hobo.

In addition to the Caretaker’s Gazette, the following resources can help caretakers find jobs:

• WorkingCouples.com – Opportunities for two make up the website. Subscribers pay $5 a month to access job listings specifically asking for couples. The site’s free newsletter provides free tips, job and resume updates.
• Caretaker-Jobs.com- Cooks, gardeners, innkeepers, and farmers can find jobs of interest listed on the site. Membership costs $29 a year.
• Workers on Wheels – RVers and Campers find this website invaluable. Not only are their listings for caretaking positions, there are also categories covering income earning opportunities like freelance writing and photography, professional organizing, and volunteering. Articles and links to relevant resources are provided at no cost to the reader.

Tourism Queensland selected someone to be a caretaker. In addition to being paid a hefty salary for six months of service, the young man got to spend his days exploring the region, promoting tourism to executives, and making numerous appearances in the media. The Island Caretaker blog allows Ben’s followers to see what he is up to as he works “The Best Job in the World.”

Caretakers need to have a positive attitude, a willingness to earn their keep, and a stable source of outside income. Some positions pay a salary or stipend but many only provide lodging. Other positions provide access to equipment and supplies or allow caretakers to eat their fill of organic produce and farm fresh food. Individuals may also be asked to assist with elderly family members, pets, and children. With my experience caring for special needs children, acting as an Activity Director in a retirement home, and now working as a freelance writer, caretaking sounds like something I am very equipped to do.

Charissa Arsaoui is a freelance writer for ChickSpeak, Buzzine, DisFUNKshion Magazine, Student Stuff, and a guest contributor for Wisebread.  She loves thrift related topics and can spot a bargain a mile away.

XMA53NJJUSAT