All you need is your car, GPS, and some gas money and you are set. Go in a group of friends, and everyone can pitch in for gas money.
You can drive from national park to national park or city to city or a combination of both. You can find cheap places to eat or pack some granola bars to fill you up.
Sleep in your car, tents, or cheap hotels/ hostels. You are in control of the wheel, so go wherever the road takes you.
2. Go camping/ backpacking
This is probably the cheapest thing you can do if you have some gear. The basic necessities of what you need is a tent, sleeping bag, knowledge of how to start a fire (or youtube), food, and friends. Make sure you go with at least one other person, don't go alone, please. Just pick a mountain and go!!
3. If you are trying to really get away, use Next Vacay to book a plane ticket
Next Vacay is a system created by a husband and wife to get you to your destination in the cheapest way possible. They are travel junkies who found a way to get cheap airplane tickets, so they decided to share it with the world. For example, right now they found round trip tickets to Hawaii for only $291 (that is a FAT BET). All you have to do a pay the member fee of $25 a year, which is nothing compared to what you will have to pay buying a ticket from an airline, and you can cancel your membership if you don't want to pay again the following year. You tell them where you want to go, and they do the work. Click here for their website: https://nextvacay.com/
4. Stay in Hostels (they are not as sketchy as you may think)
This is probably your cheapest option for lodging. (If you have seen the movie series "Hostel," it is not actually like this). Some places come with great amenities of ways you can explore your destination. It is also really cool to meet other people around your age, and get further ideas of other things you could do. The website I usually use for finding hostels and has yet to fail me is https://www.hostelworld.com
5. Reach out to that "friend of a friend" who lives in a cool destination
If you know someone who lives by the beach in Florida, in an apartment in New York, or somewhere in California, reach out to see if you can sleep on their couch. Odds are they will say yes and if not, at least you tried. If you don't know anymore, ask other people if they know anyone who does. I went to 5 countries in Europe last summer and 3 out of the 5 places we knew somebody who lived there; therefore, stayed for free and has some meals for free. Connections people, makes a huge difference.
6. Visit your family (free place stay and usually free food)
If you have family from out of town, I am sure they would love a visit from you. This is a great time to do so, and it is a free place to stay as well with some free meals.
7. Rent a cabin with a group of friends
If you have a big group of friends who will split the cost, this can be a fun and inexpensive way to spend your spring break. Usually cabins come with a hot tub, which is always fun at anytime of the day. Go exploring/ hiking whatever trails are nearby. Sometimes you can find cute downtown areas with antiques, ice cream, restaurants, or even drive in a movie theatre. If there is a lake, you can most likely rent kayaks or paddle boards, or just bring some tubes and you can just chill in the water. Also, the stars are beautiful out in the mountains, go stargazing. Just be with nature!
8. Explore whatever city you live near
If there is a big city 10 minutes or 2 hours away from you, go adventure all of the wonders that it has to offer. Grab a friend or go alone and meet new people. One day you can go coffee shop hopping and see how much coffee one can consume in a day. You can seek out all the thrift stores and hopefully get some good finds. Visit whatever attraction your city has to offer. Go for a walk in the park or just down the streets of the city. Take a ride on the subway system and go from there. Find a cheap concert to go to from a local and growing band. Go for a night on the town. Take a yoga class at a trendy studio. Have a photoshoot with some people on top of a building or parking deck because that is what all of the cool kids are doing these days. The city is a "concrete jungle" full of endless opportunities. Go explore it.
9. Do local stuff that you have always wanted to do, but have not done before
This is everyone of us whether you know it or not. You might be the one who doesn't live far from that river everyone goes tubing down, but never have done it. So now is your time, go do it. Go hike that mountain. Go to that rock climbing gym even though you've never tried rock climbing before. Go to that painting or pottery studio. Go try a new work out class. Google/ Yelp what is around you and go try new things. You might be surprised what your area has to offer that you were unaware off how great it is.
10. Volunteer at work at a church camp
Most churches do middle and/ or high school trips over spring break. You can volunteer to be a leader (usually leaders get a discount). Or volunteer to do whatever local project the church is currently working on. This could also potentially lead to further involvement and relationships.
