Spring break is right around the corner, but because of the pandemic, your family’s vacation may look a little different this year. The good news is that there are still plenty of ways to plan a safe getaway the whole family will enjoy. Instead of the normal long-distance travel, cruises, or resort stays, a great option is to head out into the great outdoors. America’s national parks have seen record-setting attendance numbers this year. Not only are these parks beautiful, but they’re a safe place to visit because it’s easy to socially distance.

There are over 300 bills waiting for Senate action, but one they’ve recently passed is the Great American Outdoors Act. This act funds delayed maintenance in our national parks, with 70% of the fund’s contents going to the National Parks Service. Upgrades to our national parks mean they’ll be an even better option for your next family vacation. Here are some of the most family-friendly parks.

Grand Canyon National Park

Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona is full of activities the whole family can enjoy. There are many areas to explore, with expansive breathtaking views everywhere you look. Whether you drive along the rim, take a short hike, or ride a mule down to the bottom, kids and adults alike are sure to have a great time. Kids can become Junior Rangers to learn more about the area’s culture and natural history, and get involved in fun programs led by park rangers.

Rocky Mountain National Park

Studies show that unplugging and spending time in nature is one of the best ways to de-stress and boost your mood. Many older adults are now working longer, with 24% of men and 16% of women over the age of 65 still in the labor force in 2018. This means that grandparents and parents alike can benefit from a relaxing family vacation in one of our national parks.

The family-friendly activities at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado are virtually endless. For a budget-friendly option, families can camp in one of the parks many campgrounds. There are also more than 300 miles of hiking trails to explore, ranging from short walks around shimmering lakes to more strenuous climbs up high mountains. Other activities include horseback riding, canoeing, and fishing.

Yellowstone National Park

There’s no better time to experience our national parks, as it is estimated that in the next five decades, at least 17 million acres of forest land will be lost permanently to urbanization and development. The whole family will love marveling at Yellowstone National Park’s iconic features, like geysers, hot springs, and thermal basins. Be sure the keep an eye out for all of the park’s various wildlife, including grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, elk, and bison. If you’re up for a thrill, try white water rafting or ziplining in the park.

Everglades National Park

When you think of a Florida vacation, you probably think of the massive theme parks, resorts, and beaches. But the Everglades is also a great place for a family vacation in The Sunshine State. One of the best ways to explore the park is on an airboat ride through the swampland, where you can see alligators, colorful birds, turtles, and other native creatures. The park also offers hiking trails for various skill levels, kayaking, biking, and more.

Make your next family vacation one that you’ll never forget and explore America’s many national parks!

Also, if you have a 4th grader, be sure to sign up for the Every Kid in a Park program so your family can get free park admission!

If you’re thinking about taking your family on a road trip, you’re probably already preparing for it. When your entire family is going to be in the car for hours and hours, you know you’ll need to put some thought in to ensure that everyone stays as happy as possible. Here are some tips and tricks that will help you out if you’re in the process of planning your next family road trip.

Consider Rental or a New Car

If your car has seen better days and may not survive a long road trip, consider rental, or even getting a new car before the trip. If you’re looking into buying or leasing a new car, make sure that you’re doing your research on the dealership that you’re buying from. 54% of consumers will go to a dealership that has a better customer experience over somewhere that has cheaper pricing. That’s because you want to be able to trust the dealership that you’re buying or leasing your car from — a car is what is keeping you and your family safe on the road, so you want to buy or lease one in the best possible condition.

If you choose to rent a car to drive, make sure to pay attention to the mileage limits and any fees that you may incur after you go a certain distance. These small fees may sneak up on you, and you won’t even know that they’re accruing until you get your final bill.

Get Any Car Maintenance You Need

If your car is in good enough shape to be driven for this road trip, you should still make sure that you do any needed maintenance before the trip. You should consider regular forms of maintenance such as oil changes, checking your tires’ air pressure, and getting your tires rotated.

Make sure to look into the exact mileage required for your oil changes — for example, if you’re driving a Mercedes with synthetic oil, you’ll need to get an oil change every 7,500 miles. If you’re driving a Toyota, the brand recommends an oil change every 10,000 miles, but they also recommend a top off of liquids and a tire rotation every 5,000 miles. Make sure to look at your car’s manual or find a coy online to ensure that you’re performing all the required maintenance before a long road trip.

Stock Up On Snacks

Although you’ll have to stop for bathroom breaks and to stretch your legs, try to avoid buying the snacks that rest stops have available. Instead, pack your family’s favorite snacks, and mix together healthy and less healthy snacks so that your kids can have a little treat if the time is right. Try to avoid too much sugar so you can avoid hyperactive kids with no way to let their energy out and stomach aches.

Make sure you also bring water with you. Bringing reusable water bottles and a jug of water is a good way to avoid creating waste with plastic water bottles while still keeping your kids hydrated. Avoid sugary drinks for the same reason you’re avoiding sugary foods.

Have Activity Options

Having “alone time” activities for your kids to do on their own can help cut down on fighting between siblings and the amount of entertaining you’ll need to do during the trip. Bring activities like coloring materials, books, and toys with you in bags personalized for each kid. If you’re bringing coloring materials, like crayons or a coloring book, make sure that you also bring a clipboard To add a fun element to the bags, don’t let your kids know what’s in them until you get in the car.

For group activities, consider things like games of iSpy or mad libs, both of which can be played with kids of most ages. You can also have members of the family take turns making up and telling stories to each other. This is a great way to channel your kids’ creative energy so they have an outlet for it during the journey.

Use Technology

Although limiting your kids’ screentime is important, downloading some of their favorite movies or tv shows onto your phone or tablet before the road trip can make the ride a little easier. Most streaming apps will allow you to download movies and shows, so make sure that you do that before you leave to avoid any data issues and buffering.

If there are games that your kids like to play on your phone, see if it’s possible to play them offline or look for similar games that don’t use the internet. Even if you have unlimited data and aren’t worried about them racking up your cell phone bill, you may hit dead zones while you drive.

Don’t Forget Portable Chargers

If you are bringing technology, make sure that you bring chargers with you as well. If your car doesn’t have USB hookups, consider bringing stand-alone portable chargers that can have a phone, tablet, or other USB charged based device plugged into it. There’s a reason why the US energy market is the third-largest US industry — we consume a lot of energy. Make sure that you’re prepared for it with the right charging cords and cables to avoid any issues with dying devices and cranky kids.

Break the Trip Up

Long road trips can be difficult for younger kids to understand conceptually, and it can also be difficult for them to sit still for that long. Finding small attractions along the way to stop at during your trip is a great way to give them a chance to get out all their energy. Look for parks, hiking trails, and playgrounds near the roads you’re driving on to help make the car ride that much easier to sit through.

Also, consider going to actual sit-down restaurants instead of driving through places or eating in your car. If you want to pack your own meals, bring a picnic blanket and set up your meal at a rest stop or one of the parks where you plan to stop. Giving your kids that extra chance to stretch their legs may make all the difference in the world when it comes to making the trip more comfortable.

Road trips are a great way to get in some family bonding time while also getting yourselves to another destination. Although sometimes younger kids struggle with the long journey, that doesn’t mean you have to have a bad road trip.

We Need Vacation

The daily stress of modern life is one that we can never seem to get away from. School, work, parenting, outbreaks of disease, paying bills, the list of sources of stress seems almost endless. This stress can accumulate, and lead to health problems such as heart disease, lowered immunity, increased risk of stroke, over-eating and diabetes, high blood pressure, and increased risk of depression and anxiety just to name a few.

In order to rid ourselves of daily stress, it’s important to practice daily techniques such as meditation, cognitive re-framing, physical exercise, and dieting. However, what happens when even those things are not enough to help get rid of stress? According to the American Institute of Stress, over 45% of Americans report that their main source of stress comes from work. This makes the workplace by far the most common source of stress in Americans.

Fortunately, many jobs now offer paid time off, vacation and sick days for workers in order to get away from work while still getting paid. Surprisingly, however, a study by the United States Travel Association found that 54% of all Americans did not take all of their vacation days for various reasons. This is a staggering amount, and if you find yourself in this group, be assured a vacation is not only necessary and fun but can also be paid for by your employer.

A Vacation is Anywhere

When it comes to planning vacations, many people think it must be stressful, or even impossible to plan without a travel agent. However, a competitive travel market and new programs such as Air BnB make it much easier to find affordable accommodations, affordable travel, and overall plan better for vacations.

If you’ve never taken a vacation or had a bad experience before, rest assured that a vacation does not have to involve overseas travel, expensive hotels and entire island getaways (although it’s not discouraged)! Vacations could also come in the form of mini-vacations, last a couple of days, be cheap and still give you the benefit of a full vacation. Even mini-vacations can still serve to give you the break you need from work, recharge your life batteries, and even gain new insight and experiences. Whether you’re planning a mini-vacation today or in the future, here are five tips to keep in your back pocket as a handy travel guide.

1. Go Cross-Country

Going cross country is the most underrated and under-appreciated form of vacation there is today. Because of movies showing children in the back of a station wagon asking “Are we there yet,” most people shudder at the thought of driving cross-country. However, the options for going cross-country in the U.S. include much more than driving. Today, traveling by train is a great way to sit back, relax, and take in the sights your country has to offer. Services such as Amtrak offer cross-country train rides along with pit-stops, luxury dining cars that offer full-service meals, and even sleeper cars that include beds and showers on board. With cross-country train travel, you get to reach your destination while experiencing not only major cities and pit stops but also the smaller towns and sights that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. The U.S. consists of mostly small farm fields and rural areas. In fact, according to statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau, urban areas make up only 3 percent of the entire land area of the country, while 97 percent of the country’s landmass is made up of rural areas. Expansive grasslands, wild horses, deer, pine forests and deserts all dot the American landscape and can be fully experienced in as little as 4 days cross-country on a train ride.

However, if you’re short on time, or simply don’t like the idea of sharing a train full of other passengers, renting a car and driving to another city is still a great way to get a mini-vacation in. It’s not hard to look up tourist destinations near your area, and places such as Hearst Castle in Northern California, The EMP in Seattle, The Getty Center in Los Angeles, and thousands of other options offer both a beautiful city and an entertainment destination. When planning to go cross-country, ensure that your destination is one that will inspire, is great for kids if you decide to take them along, and provides a day full of activities that strike your interest. For example, some destinations can belong to a niche of their own, such as the Mutter Museum that houses anatomical oddities, or the Winchester House in San Jose. Having a destination that will satisfy your unique interests will not only make the cross-country trip exciting but bearable and worthwhile.

2. Attend a Unique Event Near You

Whether it’s the Chicago River being dyed green, Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans, or even a sporting event that involves your favorite team, there is always an event happening near you. With these events could come the surge of hotel prices, so it’s always best to plan to attend an event ahead of time. However, if you are crunched on time and want to take a mini-vacation as soon as possible, Air BnB and services like it are a good way to book a room without hurting your bank account.

With the recent rise of violence at public gatherings, a concern for some might be their safety at such big events. However, the National Sources of Law Enforcement showed that in 2012, there were over 780,000 police officers working in the United States. For these major events, there is not only police officers sent out for extra reinforcement, but also extra security and protocols to maximize safety for tourists.

In addition, attending an event for a mini-vacation can be a once in a lifetime experience. Though events happen every year, the crowds are different, the people you meet are from every walk of life, and overall the experience of an event will change with the times. Planning a vacation can be as complex, or simple, as deciding what day in history you want to be a part of.

3. Take a Helicopter Tour in your City

Nowadays, helicopter rides are available in every major city, and even for major tourist attractions such as the Grand Canyon, for lower and lower prices. Helicopter tours can range from $99, up to $500. The price is not bad for a unique, stunning view of your city. Some helicopter rides even include landings in luxurious places, such as Malibu and Beverly Hills in Los Angeles. Make no mistake, helicopter rides that are done through a reputable company and using the best pilots are completely safe, and don’t require passengers to have previous flight experience. Helicopters themselves were made with safety in mind. For example, the Hughes 500D made famous in the television series Magnum P.I. has originally developed about 50 years ago for military purposes. Helicopters have come a long way with technology, and now being able to see your city from a bird’s eye view can be done in style, luxury, and with safety in mind.

4. Plan a Trip to your Local Lake

For those of us that live inside the mainland United States, being able to experience the beach, sands, and cool water seems like only a luxury dream. However, more and more people are starting to experience the relaxation that comes with traveling and vacationing at their local lake. Lakeside resorts are a great option and provide the best views and accommodations possible. The most famous lakes that already have established tourist accommodations are Lake Tahoe in California, the Great Lakes in the mid-western United States, and lakes dotting Florida. However, virtually every state in the U.S. has either man-made, natural lakes, or reservoirs, and so even for those living inland, a trip to the water is not too far off.

If you prefer to do more outdoor activities while vacationing lakeside, fishing with a license, power-boating, and swimming are all great options. Power-boating, in particular, has the potential to mix both leisure and excitement and can be a great couples activity. Renting a powerboat could be an option for those who couldn’t otherwise store a powerboat. For those that have room to store a powerboat, the past-time activity is one that is filled with adrenaline, speed, and power, and could be an essential part of every vacation. In fact, sales of new powerboats were projected to have increased between six and seven percent over 2016, showing just how much people are beginning to enjoy powerboating.

5. Take Days Off to go Camping

Similar to vacationing lakeside, camping involves being intimate with nature, experiencing the best of your backyard, and learning how to let go of urban stress. With camping comes a newfound form of respect, admiration, and closeness with nature that could otherwise have remained ignored with other forms of vacationing. Camping can be done almost anywhere, and there is a multitude of tools, equipment, and stores like REI and Big5 Sporting Goods designed with campers in mind. There is also a wide array of websites, blogs, Youtube Channels, and forums that are specifically geared towards new campers. These websites make camping less intimidating and can keep you informed on local conditions.

Camping is one of those activities that, though only done for a matter of days, has the ability to quickly recharge your spirits and have positive effects on mental health. More and more research is showing that camping is connected to positive effects on memory, decreased levels of anxiety, and decreased levels of depression. In addition, for children that go camping, a getaway can help improve their cognitive functioning. Finally, camping has been shown to have a restorative effect that brings people back from the busy urban environment, and into the calm hands of nature. For a mini-vacation, camping is not only essential to do at least once, but can also be done as a weekend getaway several times a year.

Takeaways for Mini-Vacations

When it comes to vacationing, the most popular tourist attractions are obvious. Las Vegas, Hollywood, New York, Miami, all these cities have readily available tourist attractions, accommodations, and night-life. However, sometimes the vacation itself can prove to be more tiresome and stressful than originally planned. The purpose of a vacation is not to stress over finding a hotel, battling traffic and crowds of people, and paying outrageous prices for food and Ubers. Vacationing doesn’t have to be difficult, or tiresome. The point of a vacation is to be able to escape from your daily stressors, be it work or home, and have time to gather your thoughts and re-charge for the upcoming year.

Unfortunately, many people do not realize there are fantastic resources available to them to make the most of a short vacation. As mentioned earlier, some don’t even take the opportunity and make use of all their vacation time. From taking a train ride cross-country, riding a helicopter, experiencing nature, and finding a new exciting activity like power-boating, vacationing can be both simple and exciting. In addition, being able to find the time to vacation can be a feat all on its own, and can prove to be a deterrent from vacationing at all for some people. With these mini-vacations, you can still have a chance to visit that unique destination, or camp for a couple of days, without worrying about getting your vacation request denied. With these five ideas, you can make sure those limited vacation days pack a punch and get you back on track to a stress-free mind.

With spring break right around the corner, many families are scrambling to find the best possible vacation spots that work for their budget. The good news is that a great spring break vacation doesn’t need to break the bank.

In fact, many Americans are looking to save money on travel this year. According to a recent report on spring break travel by Allianz Travel Insurance, domestic travel during spring vacations has increased by 24% since last year.

Whether you’re looking to lounge on the lake or beat the winter blues, here are four affordable spring break destinations for 2020.

1. Cocoa Beach, FL. Florida is one of the biggest vacation destinations in the U.S. and with good reason considering 87 million Americans participate in recreational boating when the weather’s warm enough. Cocoa Beach is not only an iconic surf town but it also happens to be an affordable family destination with budget-friendly hotels and family-run inns. There are plenty of family-friendly activities, too, including boogie boarding and the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. The Cocoa Beach Trolley is also free for kids under five.
2. Blowing Rock, NC. If you’re looking for a warmer destination that isn’t as tropical as Florida, Blowing Rock is a mountain town in western North Carolina with plenty to see and do. Blowing Rock offers independent shops, restaurants, and mountain hikes. Blowing Rock is also home to Tweetsie Railroad, a family-oriented Wild West theme park. At the center of the park is a 3-mile ride on a train, which is pulled by Tweetsie Railroad’s two historic narrow-gauge steam locomotives. About 15 miles west of Blowing Rock is Sugar Mountain, which has ice skating and ski slopes open through March.
3. Jamestown, VA. Jamestown is a great family-friendly vacation destination with plenty of U.S. history to learn about. Jamestown is home to the first English settlement in North America and offers kids the chance to visit the original settlement along with a Powhatan village and 17th-century forts. There are also kayaking adventures the family can enjoy along the James River. Jamestown also has budget-friendly chain hotels, so you don’t have to sweat the length of your stay.
4. Blairsville, GA. Blairsville is a friendly mountain town with plenty of space for outdoorsy fun. Located just two hours north of Atlanta in Georgia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, Blairsville offers hiking along the Appalachian Trail and adventuring in Wolf Creek Falls. You can even take your family horseback riding along the trails.

Not every vacation needs to break the bank. There are plenty of adventures out there for you and your family to enjoy on spring break.