A weekend getaway is a great way to leave the stresses of life behind for a few short days. Depending on your budget, it can be a lavish vacation for relaxation or a cheap way to sneak in a vacation before you have to head back to work. Great locations beckon, whether they are across the country or right in your own back yard.
If you are looking for a true weekend vacation and want to get away soon, try a trip that you can get discounts on by looking for last-minute deals. Many popular vacation spots, like California and Florida, are inexpensive to get to when booked last minute. Try LastMinute.com (see Resources) for trip packages that include flight, car and hotel on the cheap. When choosing where to go, try to choose a place that has a flight time of less than four hours; you don't want to spend your whole weekend flying there. Staying in the country is a good idea as well, as you won't have to spend your precious vacation time battling customs.
For an interesting way to spend a weekend vacation, consider being a tourist in a town near you. Choosing somewhere that you can drive to is a good way to save money and get the most for your vacation buck. Use TripAdvisor.com to find a vacation spot near you, along with some suggestions on what you might do while you're there. You should still book a hotel, but drive your own car and find some attractions that you want to try. It could be a local amusement park, a fair, festival or a water park. Spend the weekend doing things you don't usually do, while having the luxury of staying in a hotel. Choose a place that's no more than a six-hour drive away from you. That will give you plenty of time to enjoy the ride but still have the energy to see the sights when you get there.
"Staycations" are a new development in today's less-than-stellar economic climate. A staycation is a vacation when you stay at home, rather than spending money on traveling. It may sound silly at first, but staying in your own home for a weekend vacation may help you to find new things in your own hometown that you never tried before, whether it is an art exhibit, a new restaurant, or just heading our for a day at the beach, the lake or the mountains. As long as you treat the weekend as a vacation, no work and no stress, a staycation for your weekend vacation might be the perfect fit for you.
