Day trips will become a way of life for vacation starved people burdened by soaring gas prices.
With gas prices sky high and airfare following, day trips might be the only way some of us will be able to vacation for the foreseeable future. Not only are they cheaper than typical extended vacations, but they could be more relaxing if planned just right. Knowing you will only be gone one day leaves us more time to plan the trip instead of worrying about pets, kids, mail, and packing. Also, regardless of where you live, there are thousands of places nearby just waiting to be discovered.
You can find a list of all the coolest day trips by region here, but if you want to plan a completely unique vacation tailored to you, here’s everything you need to know about making the most of your twenty-four hours. Follow these guidelines to curate a trip that provides you with all the fun, relaxation, or titillation you are looking for, in some cases, all three.
Step 1: Decide who is going on the trip
Before deciding how you are getting there or where you are going, determine who is going. It seems like an obvious step, but it is often the most overlooked. The type of trip you take depends on who is coming along and what they want out of it. Ask yourself, will there be kids, older adults, people with dietary restrictions or sensory triggers? Make a complete list of who is coming and what their challenges are. For example, if you are bringing kids and one has a dairy allergy, a trip to the local dairy farm is probably a bad idea. Start a simple spreadsheet and begin with the most critical information first.
Step 2: Ask everyone what are the top three types of things they want to do or see
Find out what everyone wants out of the trip. Some may want to focus on museums, while others want to relax at a vineyard with a good bottle of wine. The great thing about day trips is they don’t cost a ton and are close to home, which means you can afford to go on several throughout the year. It’s virtually impossible to give everybody everything they want, but you can give everyone something they want with some planning. Use the list you already started and add everyone’s want list ranking them. Where there is overlap, highlight those ideas. This is your jumping-off point for your vacation.
Step 3: Decide if how you travel to your destination matters
Do you want to drive, fly, take a bus, or ride a train? All of these things matter and might be used to frame the trip. Taking a train takes a little longer, but the journey is well worth it. You will see parts of the country you may not otherwise, and you benefit from doing it all while relaxing. Let someone else do the driving and navigating. A full train schedule can be found here and used to develop a trip plan.
Some flights are still cheap enough to make a trip to a nearby city possible. Flights under an hour are inexpensive and won’t suck up too much of your day. Southwest and Allegiant have a lot of these kinds of flights available to nearby cities you may have overlooked. Driving offers the most flexibility but requires more focus. A tour of the local wineries is much harder unless you have a designated driver.
Step 4: Research things to do, concerts, and happenings within a day’s drive
Use Google maps and decide how far you are willing to travel. Day trips are designed to be complete in one day. This means that an overnight stay is possible, but twenty-four hours is the longest this type of vacation will last. If you want to be gone for just a few hours, research what is going on in your area. If you are looking for a slightly longer trip, draw a circle with your home at the epicenter extending several hundred miles in all directions. This will give you a list of all the cities you could go through. Then, using your transportation preferences, you can begin narrowing down where to go and how to get there. Start with simple searches of cities’ and regions’ social media and websites.
Step 5: Use unusual keywords to find exactly what you are looking for
Is your group looking for a ghost hunting adventure with downtime to decompress? Are they into oddities and curiosities, or are you looking to attend a spooky convention? You won’t always find things by looking at the city page. Sometimes you need to be more creative to suss out the more weird and unique travel opportunities. Join social media groups of the area you are going. If you are looking for haunted locations or supernatural sightings, there are groups ready and willing to give information and feedback on their experiences. Sure some of it is too fantastical to be accurate, but if enough people say something spooky happened, you can bet it probably did.
True crime, scary, haunted, ghosts, spirits, creepy, unusual, weird, and eerie are all excellent words to try. If true crime is your thing, entire websites are devoted to murderous encounters. Search for conventions and conferences by searching for the type of event you are interested in. If you are looking for a ghost hunters convention(yes, that exists), input those specific keywords.
The Worldwide Horror Convention Schedule can be found here. A large but not exhaustive list of all spooky conventions and festivals can be found here. Think outside the box. Often, something that one vacationer wants seems diametrically opposed to another. Still, when you examine the location’s website, you will find they have events for the entire group. For example, wineries and ghosts don’t always go hand in hand, but some are so old they mix both well. The Belvoir Winery and Inn in Liberty, Missouri, is one example. In addition, they offer paranormal investigations tours of their extensive grounds, including the Oddfellows Asylum and a cemetery. Cross-reference your spreadsheet with your research and input the places that fit one or more of your group’s needs and wants.
Step 6: Use your spreadsheet to prioritize and make decisions
Simply compare the group’s needs with the events in the area. Where they overlap, you have a winner. Using the ranks you applied when setting up the spreadsheet, find the destination that meets the highest rank of the most people and build the trip around it. If most people want to hunt ghosts, but a few less brave would enjoy a more low-key experience, a haunted restaurant might be the way to go. For example, The Whitney in Detroit, Michigan, is chock full of apparitions and gourmet food.
If you have nothing but hardcore fans, book a group tour at one of the many real haunted houses scattered around the world. You can find our lists of all the scariest real haunted houses you can visit here. The final step here is to check every destination website and call them when possible to ensure the information on the web is accurate. There is nothing worse than planning a whole trip and finding the place closed.
Step 7: Map and schedule your trip
Now that you know how you are getting there and where your primary destination is, overlay lines to and from your home and the primary location. Everything near this route is perfect for adding to your trip. Make sure you allow plenty of time for stops and eating if it isn’t going to be the trip’s primary purpose. If you want to visit the many haunted cemeteries or battlefields around the US, pack a themed picnic basket to eat on location.
Revolutionary War era-themed trips might serve Molasses Bread and a meat and cheese board. If you are attending ghosts and crime bosses tour, pack an antipasti tray and overstuffed sandwiches with red checked napkins. It’s all about the tiny details. If you prefer to take a hands-off approach, we can plan the theme and provide you with a complete list of options.
With a little planning and a lot of enthusiasm, day-tripping can fill the void that a bigger vacation would. It can be challenging for those of us with more adventurous appetites to balance everyone’s expectations with what is possible. However, anyone can create a one-of-a-kind experience that fulfills everyone’s desires using the tools above. Day trips are supposed to be fun, even for those that like the macabre as much as the comfortable.