Going more for less

For the past decade or so, I have prioritized making a pilgrimage out West each year. And believe me, that’s not an easy thing to commit to.

Growing up on this side of the Mississippi River meant summoning a concerted effort to avoid falling into typical “vacay” migration patterns. Summers always meant Myrtle Beach or somewhere near there, outdoor vacations were reserved for the Smoky Mountains, and then once or twice per childhood families would save their money for a trip to Disney. Outside of a few local lakes and theme parks, those were the options.

As much as I loved my home state, a lot of these national parks and mountains I kept seeing in the magazines….well, they were far away.

Really far away.

But I knew I wanted to go, so I just had to figure out how. So, I started the plans. After deciding that we were going to venture out to the Grand Canyon, my wife and I mobilized. We booked a guide, booked a flight, booked a hotel room, and booked it down to Phoenix. We were gone for a week, three of those nights in a tent below the rim. It was everything we thought it would be. We returned home tired, weary, and blissfully happy.

We also returned home broke. One other thing we quickly realized – the trips were expensive.

If we wanted to make a habit of the travel we loved, we had to find other ways. And we did.

Since then I’ve been back every year, sometimes twice a year. In preparation, I’m reminded of some pointers I read in an article about getting outside more – 1) save your money for plane tickets, 2) trade going bigger for going more often.

I set the price limit at $300 if I was going by myself and $500 if we took the whole family. Setting those limits makes going more obtainable, less audacious. When we first started trying to plan and stay under those budgets, the travel mostly included cross-country drives. Although I still love to do them and I’ve endured several of them, time spent driving is definitely a trade-off. It means less time outside “doing” things. Also, there are those that don’t (always) enjoy the vast amounts of time on the road. That can drain the spirit of a trip quickly.

Now with the expansion of offerings from economical airlines (i.e. Frontier, Allegiant), flying is firmly back in play. With regular flights to outdoor western hubs like Denver and Las Vegas, one can easily find round-trip tickets for less than $150.

With a little research and reading, one can find out nearly everything they need to about an area or a trail before heading there. One can also read first-person accounts and learn common pitfalls, thus making them avoidable. It’s all out there and the ability to access it means you can be good at being your own guide. (Guide or No Guide – that’s a conversation for another time) Although there are certainly times where I have needed a guide and enjoyed what they offered, there are also times where I thought, “If I do this again, I can do it on my own.” For me, guides have either added a level of security (on technical trips or ones into unknown areas) or added a layer of comfort (on groups trips).

The goal was always to go more often and learning to reduce the financial need was one big key to that. When I got back from my second trip to Colorado this summer, folks I talked to thought I had saved for years to go. Going twice in one summer seemed unfathomable. Then I explained my upcoming mountain-climbing trip with friends like this:

Airfare to Denver - $175

Campsite - $35 each person

Car Rental - $45 each person

Gas - $20 per person

Food - $25

They are always stunned at how inexpensive it can be.

And so am I, really.

-       JW