One of the best ways to explore new areas of the country and soak up the sun in the great outdoors is camping. One summer, I was working for a company that traveled to a new city each week and I would camp most of those weekends rather than paying for a hotel. Campsites ranged from free to $30 a night, a hard rate to beat compared to hotels.
To prepare, I spent less than $100 on some basic supplies, including a small tent, sleeping bag, air mattress, lantern and small cooler. Three years later, all of those items are still going strong.
Additionally, I bought them on a whim, which is never the best way to make a purchase. With a little preplanning, you can buy them online using recycled gift cards from sites like Raise or Gift Card Granny and then use a rebate portal like eBates to stack up your savings even higher.
Camping allows you to control how expensive a trip will be. You can stay in a fancy private campground that has lots of amenities like pools, social activities, playgrounds and even mini-golf. This kind of campground is going to be more expensive. Or, you can rough it in a public campground in the middle of nature for something closer to $15 to $30 a night.
One time I even slept at a campground in Nebraska next to the interstate. It was one of the weirdest campgrounds I’ve ever seen. They just had a box for a suggested donation of $5 at the entrance. Lesson learned: Don’t try to sleep next to an interstate.
If you’re looking for summer fun with kids, I have very fond memories of camping at Jellystone National Park, a campground chain geared towards folks with young children. If Jellystone sounds familiar to you, you might have been a fan of Yogi Bear while growing up. Even if you’re on a major budget, checking out one of these resorts gives you access to activities like small scale waterparks, mining for gems, wagon rides and all sorts of other activities that vary across the franchise.
Another big budget buster for vacations besides accommodations is food. Your budget is entirely up to you when camping, since you purchase the food in advance. There’s nothing to say you can’t live off of peanut butter and jelly for the weekend, supplemented by whatever fish you manage to catch. On the flip side, a quick Google search will also turn up an unending list of ways to cook pretty much anything over a campfire.
Activities are another line on the vacation budget and when you’re camping, those activities usually cost a lot less. Compare the entrance fee to a theme park to the cost of a fishing pole and bait or a new book to read while sitting by the lake. Other wallet-friendly options you can do while camping include hiking, biking, bird watching and stargazing.
As a city (or suburb) slicker myself, I know just wandering out into nature and staring at some birds doesn’t mean you’re going to be able to recognize them. Fortunately, like so many things, there’s an app for that. Merlin (which is my favorite price, free) and Audubon Birds ($9.99) can both help you learn how to identify birds in the wild. They prompt you with questions about what type of bird you’re looking at and help you find out more about it from there.
Star Chart (also free) lets you hold your phone up to the sky and it recognizes what you’re looking at. It will outline the shape of the constellation for you and also has a cool little bonus that goes forward and backwards 10,000 years in time to let you see what the night sky looked like there then. Night Sky Lite (free) also suggests great locations to check out the stars and keeps you up to date on the evening weather, so you know whether or not it’s worth it to even try to find those stars that evening.
Finally, you can add the ISS Detector to your app arsenal (free), which tracks the International Space Station and gives you a five-minute warning before it flies overhead. If you want to spend a few dollars, there are in-app purchase options available to track other satellites and comets.
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How to Take a Frugal Camping Vacation originally appeared on usnews.com
