This added feature of the Mid-Atlantic Day Trips Blog came about through a discussion with my husband about how to enhance the content of the blog pages. We toyed with the idea of starting another blog, cleverly titled “Budget Friendly Day Trips” but soon realized we didn’t want to compete with the existing blog, into which we’ve already invested a lot of time, energy, and yes, money.
We discovered that there are no other blogs that I could find that focus on day tripping on a budget.
We also realized that a lot of the activities we do that I write about in the blog are, in fact, quite budget friendly. That’s probably why I haven’t gone bankrupt while writing the blog!!
So in this new feature, which will appear once or twice a month on Mondays, I’ll focus on interesting things to see and do on a budget. It will alternate with another new feature: My Top Picks, which will focus on whatever my whim strikes me!
Here are the rules — or should I say, “guidelines,” I’ll be following:
- Gas money isn’t included. That’s because if I live near Baltimore and drive to Deep Creek Lake, my gas expenses will be different than for someone who lives in Pittsburgh and drives down to Deep Creek Lake. Gas prices also fluctuate, depending on the time of year (summertime prices tend to be higher) and what world events are happening.
- Budget friendly in my view is a day trip that, with at least one meal, costs $50 or less for two people, or $100 or less for a family of four.
- In the interests of my budget, I’ll upcycle some material I’ve already covered. But I’ll try to provide updated research into the costs associated with the activities. The costs will be valid as of the day I post. I’ll link back to the original post if I recycle some previous material.
- I’m not going to depend on grouponing or other such deals.
- When I mention restaurants, it’ll be because they’ve received some decent reviews (or I’ve tried them myself) and there are entrees available that will allow you to stay within the budget. But the menu might also include more expensive entrees that would completely break the budget. And of course, alcoholic drinks don’t count as well.
- Rules are made to be broken. So if a day trip comes in at $55, I may still include it in this series, but I’ll be up front about that, and will let you know when I twist, bend, or break a rule.
As with the other posts for the blog, I welcome guest bloggers. Send me an email at [email protected] or contact me via the blog’s FB page if you’re interested in being a guest blogger.