It was summertime in 2005, and my wife wanted the family to go on a vacation.
I had vacation time coming, but very little money.
Well my wife had an idea for a low-cost vacation.
And when she explained her idea, it sounded like a good plan.
Here's how it worked: We are surrounded by interesting, and fun places to see.
These places are within a 2 hour drive from our home.
So on Monday, we could drive south to one of our favorite amusement parks.
We don't go there very often, because It's an hour and a half drive one way.
On Tuesday, we drove west to Chicago.
We could go to the Science and Industry, or Field Museums.
We live in a small town in Indiana.
It's a little over an hour drive to Chicago.
I really enjoy going to the museums.
But I don't go there to often, because of the heavy traffic.
On Wednesday, we'll go east to Amish country.
They have a huge flea market there.
It's only open on Wednesday, so it's a big event.
Also it's interesting to see the town that it's located in.
Some of the buildings are very old.
It's like, going back in time.
And a big contrast, from a big city like Chicago.
This is about an hour and a half drive one way from our home.
On Thursday, we traveled north about 45 minutes to the Indiana Dunes State Park.
Here we can go swimming all day long in Lake Michigan.
Then in the evening we drove another half hour to a drive-in theater.
There are only three drive-in theaters in our area.
Years ago, there used to be a drive-in theater in every town.
Now you have to drive 45 minutes one way, to get to one.
Finally our family went camping on Friday, and Saturday, at our favorite campground.
I don't remember what this vacation cost altogether.
But I had enough money to pay for it.
And I didn't know that this would (someday) be called a "staycation".
My family enjoyed the week.
And we consider this to be our vacation.
There is a simple formula to this type of vacation.
By using your home as a daily starting point, you'll be sleeping in your own beds at night.
This will save the cost of staying at a motel.
Also, you can pack a picnic lunch to take with you each day.
Actually we had a big cooler full of food and drink.
Enough to last us all day.
Food and lodging are two big expenses when budgeting for a vacation.
Then I tried to find fun places, that my family would enjoy.
I looked for places that I could drive to in about 2 hours.
And I did this for several reasons: I didn't want to rent a car.
My older car could handle a 2 hour drive.
My kids would get restless on long trips.
They did pretty good sitting in the car for two hours.
And last, but not least, the high cost of gasoline.