Overworked, overstressed? Unwind with a trip to Ojai, Calif. Courtesy: Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce.

By Erik Torkells

There’s still time to enjoy a summer vacation, and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Consider these 4 affordable ways to squeeze the fun out of the season.

1. Go back to school. College towns such as Ann Arbor and Charlottesville make for great affordable destinations year round. You might think that they’re dead come summer, but there are always a certain number of students who stick around, and the offerings—museums, art cinemas, funky restaurants, festivals—can rival those of a big city (at a small fraction of the price). Hotels are also cheaper in summer.

2. Follow the surfers. When it comes to cool on a budget, you can’t beat surfing: Surfers take real pride in style without expense. In the U.S., most of the places they hang out—or should I say hang ten?—have been developed as tourism destinations (and therefore not necessarily a bargain), but the stretch of California coast north of San Diego has some laid-back towns, including Carlsbad, Encintas, and Del Mar. The north shore of Oahu also has wonderful towns like Haleiwa that are totally chill. You can find amazing little surf towns in Mexico: Troncones, about 50 miles from Ixtapa, is a prime example. And while you’ll have to pay more to get there, countries such as Peru and Costa Rica have cool, undiscovered beach towns (Mancora and Dominical, respectively, to name two) that draw surfers from all over. At any of these places, it’ll be easy to find someone to give you a surfing lesson.

3. Visit a ski resort. You’re not likely to get much skiing done, but there are activities aplenty—hiking, biking, kayaking, and more—and even better, they tend to be inexpensive. Ski resorts are doing a lot these days to appeal to off-season visitors, planning concert series, food festivals, and so on. You can up the cool quotient by visiting the nearby town where workers can actually afford to live (most major ski resorts have one—such as Carbondale, outside Aspen). Moreover, restaurant prices there are pretty much guaranteed to be lower.

4. Slow down. A few years back, I went to Ojai, Calif., and it was one of the best trips I’ve ever taken. Some of that had to do with Ojai being a neat place (there’s even an outdoor bookstore, Bart’s Books), but it was also because I slowed way, way down. Most visitors to Ojai probably go for a weekend, maybe three days, but I went for a week—and as a result, I was able to linger over meals, go on a four-hour hike, take a long bike ride, kayak on a nearby lake, check out a winery, and—most important—strike up conversations with locals. Engaging with other people is never as easy as most of us would like it to be, but it usually ends up being the coolest part of any vacation. And it’s cheap.
Related resources

• Ann Arbor hotels
• Aspen hotels
• Charlottesville hotels
• Oahu hotels
• Ojai hotels
• Troncones hotels

Formerly the editor of Budget Travel magazine, Erik Torkells has written for many other publications, including Travel + Leisure, the New York Times and T Magazine. He has appeared on MSNBC and “Good Morning America” on Orbitz’s behalf.

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