Tips for Summer TravelWritten by Melanie Breeze
The summer is right around corner, and thousands of Americans are planning vacations and trips. Traveling on a budget can be tricky, but it is not impossible. The key is to plan ahead, and try to make most out of what you have. Contact your credit card company beforehand to find out what kind of deals they have to offer. Many have rebate programs for travel expenses. If you are using a rental car, find out if your insurance covers you in case of an accident. You can save quite a bit by forgoing car rental insurance policy. The following is a list of tips and tricks to make your summer vacation best ever. 1.Get a good deal on a hotel. Unless you are staying with friends or family, you will probably be in market for a good hotel room. Normally, you can spend your entire budget on hotels and motels. I suggest trying a site like priceline.com. You can name your own price, and get some really great deals on rooms and car rentals. 2.Plan your trip out beforehand. Spend some time mapping out your trip, highlighting areas that you plan to visit. There will most likely be a few pit stops along way. Planning ahead will help ensure that you have enough money to cover all of your activities. Don’t forget to factor in souvenirs and snacks.
| | Wal-Mart Camping - Parking Lot PleasuresWritten by Steve Gillman
"Do you know about Wal-Mart camping?" We didn't know, but old man at campground in Florida insisted WalMart not only allowed RVs and vans to park overnight, but encouraged it. "Free camping," he told us, and we didn't wait long to take advantage of this new knowledge.Somewhere in northern Georgia we pulled into a Wal-Mart, and sure enough, we saw some RVs off to one side of parking lot, looking like they were there for night. We were heading back to Michigan in our conversion van, and free camping sounded good to us. We parked, plugged in our 5-inch T.V., and settled in for night. Nobody bothered us. In morning we used bathrooms inside, and bought some orange juice. The next night we camped for free again, this time at a "Flying J" truckstop. There were RVs camping there as well. You'll find Flying J Truckstops all over, and they actively court RV crowd, counting on gas and other sales. We filled our tank there in morning, and bought some food as well. As long as campers stay out of way of truckers, free camping is likely to continue. Other Free Camping Places Generally, you can camp free on any BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land, unless it's specifically forbidden in an area. This is also true of National Forest lands. In both cases you're limited to a stay of two weeks in one place, though this rule is not always enforced, and next two-week place might have to be only a hundred yards away. State forest lands are usually open to free camping without permits, but policies vary by state (The two-week rule seems to be common).
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