Road Trip
Travel is a great way to broaden the mind and break up the rut. When budgets are tight, day trips are a nice option since they cut out hotel costs. Another way to cut out the hotel is to stay with friends, which is what I'll be doing on this trip.
The Canada portion of the trip I was planning kept getting whittled out until it was gone, so no Niagara this month. I'm gonna try later this summer, maybe with my mom. I mainly decided to cut Niagara because the things I wanted to do there (like the boat that takes you right up to the falls) didn't start until April. But cutting it out is going to help a lot money wise too, and it'll make for less driving.
I'm also cutting costs by using the buddy system. It's safer to travel with a friend, and we'll be splitting the gas.
The friends we're visiting will provide a few meals, but we borrowed my parent's cooler and are packing it with some drinks, sandwhiches, and snacks. That should help us resist the temptation to stop at restaurants and convenience stores during our long drives. We're driving up to Cleveland tomorrow and then down to D.C. on Sunday. At least that's the plan unless we're thwarted by bad weather.
This is my first major road trip like this, so I'm not sure how well I'll handle the long drive, but we don't have any critical times to make and can stop as we need so I'm not too worried. May not have net access until I'm back.