Cut Vacation Gas Use, Costs
10 Tips for Conserving Money and Fuel on Holidays
A guide to reducing your gas consumption during summertime getaways.
Gas prices, already historically high, tend to rise during the summer travel season. So you're likely to feel the pinch if you're planning a warm-weather vacation this year.
How can you tame your fuel costs, limit your impact on the planet and still enjoy a summer getaway? Following are 10 tips for helping to keep your gas tab manageable:
- Plan a cycling vacation. Trek Travel offers cycling tours for a variety of destinations across North America, Europe, Central America and the Asia-Pacific. Its U.S. offerings include trips through California's wine country, a tour through Georgia and family getaways through Yellowstone or the San Juan Islands.
- Visit a local bed-and-breakfast. You can find a bed-and-breakfast destination almost anywhere using BedandBreakfast.com's map search. A number of B & Bs across the U.S. are even offering special discounts or gas/car rental promotions to help guests offset their fuel costs. You can also search for bed-and-breakfasts that qualify as green destinations using the Green Hotels Association's member directory.
- Rent a fuel-efficient car for your travels. If you choose one of the big car rental agencies, ask for a model with high mileage. Or, check out some of the companies that specialize in fuel-efficient or hybrid vehicles, including EV Rental Cars and Bio Beetle (only in Hawaii). You can also read the latest news on hybrid car rentals at Rent a Hybrid Car.
- Explore your own backyard. Maybe you live in a big city where you haven't explored the museums, zoos and parks since your last grade-school field trip. Now's the time to reaquaint yourself with some of the attractions in your own neck of the woods. Even smaller towns and rural areas offer plenty of interesting history and natural beauty for exploring. Try searching the National Park Service's Website to see what promising locations might be near your home.
- Map out the cheapest gas. If you're traveling anywhere in the U.S. or Canada, you can use GasBuddy.com to find service stations along your route with the lowest gas prices.
- Practice "hypermiling." Hypermiling means driving your car in a way that pushes your mileage to the max. You can find 100 tips for hypermiling at GasolineCreditCards.com's EcoTrekker.
- Cut costs elsewhere. Shop for the cheapest hotel rates you can find, or consider hostels or campgrounds to control your vacation expenses. And check with your destination's visitor center for special offers, discounts and travel coupons.
- Visit walkable destinations. According to PBS's "America's Walking" program, some of the most walking-friendly big cities in the U.S. include Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C. Plenty of medium-size and smaller destinations qualify, too: Savannah, Georgia; Naperville, Illinois; Dunedin, Florida; Austin, Texas; and Madison, Wisconsin; to name a few.
- Enjoy a stay-at-home vacation. If you're just looking for some downtime from the daily grind, you might find it easier, more relaxing -- and cheaper -- to simply stay home and treat yourself in other ways for a week: order out or grill every night, rent a stack of DVDs, catch some sun in your backyard and sleep in as much as you like.
- Take a group trip or tour. If you join an organized bus tour, you won't have to worry about driving at all -- and the increased gas costs are shared by all your fellow travelers as well. And if touring with strangers isn't your thing, consider renting a small RV or van and hitting the road with good friends or close relatives.
The copyright of the article Cut Vacation Gas Use, Costs in Green/Simple Living is owned by Shirley Siluk Gregory. Permission to republish Cut Vacation Gas Use, Costs must be granted by the author in writing.
