Posted by Lending Club :: July 31, 2008 @ 8:40 am

Largely attributable to rising gas prices, and the perceived cost of travel as a result, many families are forgoing traditional vacations and are opting for something closer to home, the staycation. The results are more than just the enjoyment of taking in the local sights, but also lower costs and a renewed appreciation for where you live.

You might not think of your hometown as a tourist destination, but an outsider would probably find many exciting things to do when passing through. A visit to your local Chamber of Commerce (yes, even your little town has one) should give you plenty of ideas of what there is to do. If you need other ideas, think back to where schools take their field trips. You’ll probably appreciate many of the same destinations, perhaps more than you did as a child.

We often take “local” to mean boring, but that is certainly not the case. More exotic locations may sound more impressive at your next dinner party, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t have a good time at local attractions. There was so much to do near my wife’s hometown that we actually stayed at a hotel and truly were tourists in her own town. By thinking of our time there as a vacation, which it was, we finally had the time to see all of the things we had always meant to see, but never seemed to have the time to do. Entertaining visitors is another way to see the local sights. By finding ways to entertain them with local attractions, you will remind yourself of the many things to do.

Most of my favorite memories were formed locally, surrounded by family and friends. It’s no wonder that the investment of my time towards rediscovering local points of interest would be any different. The best part about finding things to do locally is that it’s so easy to do them again and again. Far off locations are great, and should probably be visited as well, but for the budget-conscious and world traveler alike, taking a staycation can be just as rewarding.