Traveling is a great way to expose yourself to different people, cultures and places around the world. Whether you are visiting a foreign country, or driving to small town a few hours away, traveling opens you up new experiences.

For many college students, traveling isn’t high up on the priority list. With textbooks, living expenses, and ever increasing tuition payments, it’s easy to disregard traveling as something that takes up too much time and money.

Even though resources might be tight, small trips can be done in a day, for a relatively low price, while not sacrificing the experience.

Here are a few tips that can get you started on planning an affordable and enjoyable day trip.

Plan Ahead

Most local cities have festivals or events that happen every year around the same time. If you keep tabs on upcoming events you can take advantage of the festivals by getting (mostly)  free entertainment.

To keep track of upcoming events around Arizona, a great resource is the Arizona Office of Tourism’s event calendar. If you know what city you’re visiting, then this is a straightforward search. If you aren’t sure where you want to go, it can be a great source of inspiration for planning your next trip. You will be surprised how many free events happen around Arizona every month.

Be Thrifty

I am by no means a savvy couponer, but with sites like Groupon and LivingSocial, you can take advantage of some pricey activities for just a fraction of the retail value.

Here are a few examples of some recent deals on Groupon:

Be sure to check in regularly for new deals.

Read the Reviews

Sometimes if you aren’t sure where to go, reviews can help point you in the right direction.  Virtual Tourist combines reviews, photos and tips for 63,000 destinations around the world. You can read Pros and Cons, see photos taken by visitors, ask questions and maybe even find some lesser known spots.

When you’re looking for restaurants, sites like Yelp are great for doing your pre-trip homework. You can really gauge the overall reception of a restaurant based on the reviews. Besides just their rating, Yelp also displays whether or not the restaurant accepts credit card, what their best nights are, what the prices are and much more.

 

The more work you do before the trip, the more time you can actually spend enjoying your surroundings. Since day trips can be short, you want to take advantage of as much time as possible. These tips should get you thinking ahead of time. Stay posted next week to see upcoming trips!