The reasons I hear the most about why people don’t travel are usually: It’s too expensive; I don’t have the time; It’s too hard to travel with a family of five. Seeing what the world has to offer can take a lot of money and time for sure, but don’t let the lack of either keep you from exploring it’s beauty.
My first response to any one of these complaints is to look in your own back yard. I grew up in a rural town with a rich historical culture and recreational areas dedicated to the memory of that history. To this day I enjoy spending a day at Borderland State Park, reminiscing about my childhood trips or just enjoying a warm spring walk around the pond. I used to believe I was lucky to live so close to such beauty.
As I got older and began to explore my surroundings more, I discovered that most of us live close to places like this. Some we know of and take for granted, while others we never knew existed. We simply need to know where to look for them and appreciate them for what they offer.
Tripadvisor has a wealth of knowledge to offer travelers. I rely on it heavily to plan my trips, domestically or abroad. In fact it’s usually where I start my planning process. I create a trip on the app, search the location for nearby hotels, restaurants and things to do, which includes local tours and outdoor sites like parks, botanical gardens and the like. The results are crowd sourced, rated and reviewed by members, and often include traveler photos. When you find something you like, hit the heart button and it saves it to your trip plan. When you view your trip plan, you can see it in map view which shows you the locations of each of the favorited items. This can be helpful to allocate time to different activities by location. You can even add notes to each item, maybe a tip you read in one of the traveler reviews that you want to remember. Try it for your own back yard!! You may be amazed at what you find!
You might also try taking a page out of your child’s playbook. If you need answers, ask Google. Or better yet, YouTube!! I have found these to be great resources for finding local things to do and places to see and often use this method for scouting local photography locations. Execute a Google search for local places and then search images for any results you find interesting. You can also search for them on YouTube to get an idea of what others have recorded in those places. These are the tools I use as a next step in planning for all of my travel research. And it led me to my most treasured tool of all.
There is a fabulous site called Only In Your State. You guessed it!! One stop shopping for all those unknown places in your own backyard that you never knew existed. I found a state park with natural arches, a mini=Grand Canyon, and the US version of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft (if only it were real and not literary). Who knew all these fabulous places were in our tiny, boring state of Massachusetts? Maybe not so boring after all? I also found a real life version of Rivendell in upstate New York, just a few hours drive away, 19 waterfalls in one park?? I couldn’t believe it!!
Only In Your State offers multiple articles illustrating special features for every state. Looking for a road trip to find Hole-In-The-Wall BBQ Restaurants? What about a haunted fortress? Looking for the best flower fields this spring? You can also find lists for the best family hikes or the best places to go in winter. Take a look at your own state and see what’s there. I promise you’ll find something you never knew you needed to see! After starting with your own state, take a look at what your neighboring states have to offer and I bet you have enough weekend trips to fill to your travel plans for some time!
Traveling to see the world’s beauty may be just a car ride away with only the cost of a picnic lunch and gas for admission. I would love to continue this conversation in the comments! Leave a reply with the coolest thing you found in your state or think others may not know about!! Are there other resources you use for finding hidden gems in your back yard?
Seas The Day Blog 