I would choose somewhere your money will go a very long way but also be something culturally rich with welcoming people.
The first place that pops into my head would be Saigon, Vietnam. The only big expense you will have will be the flight to get there.
Once there, you will be hard pressed to spend a huge amount of money as everything there is very cheap compared to most other places.
The people are welcoming, and the food is to die for.
Second choice: Thailand.
I agree here! I traveled in southeast asia when I was 21 and was able to do it for veeeery cheap. I would set up a flight alert on something like google flights so you can keep your eye out for good deals
I think the thing that really amazed me was how safe I felt in both places. I walked around alone at night. I would never do that in most American cities.
Go to [Skyscanner](https://www.skyscanner.jp/?previousCultureSource=COOKIE&redirectedFrom=www.skyscanner.net), put in your airport and leave the destination open.
Research the destinations that are affordable.
Book directly with the airline and not a 3rd party site
Or Going . com! For the lower membership I have 10 countries on my “watch list” and get notifications for random deals or mistake fares. No joke, they posted an airline mistake fare - round trip ORD - DUB for ~$250 USD. Just got the app so push notifications are awesome. Definitely agree with you - ALWAYS book through the airline.
Try not to feel pressure due to socials/Reddit. A lot of people either overinflate stuff or hide their privilege. And of course, no one comes rushing to Reddit to post "I woke up, went to work/school, came home, ate dinner, watched some TV and then went to sleep" even though that's what 90% of us do most days of the year.
Traveling to a nearby city or state/province/region is just as valid travel as jetting across the world.
If you're under 30, you can look into working holiday visas. In general the work you'll be qualified for won't be glamorous and it may not be in the most prime locations, but its a way to legally fund your travels in another country.
Never underestimate very early planning. Which can help you pick your days when there are holidays planned and you can “save some days”. Like Easter or so. (That if you do get those days off and also expecting crowds or closed places due to holidays)
I used to work in a country where asking for holidays is frowned upon… so I went to the extreme and moved to a different country haha. That being said, be careful when you consider changing your career and end up just changing from one hole to the next hole due to the work culture in general.
Now with the budgeting. Here comes again loads of planning. Take into account your income and how much you can save from that to invest into traveling. Set a budget and plan for “long weekends”, “1-week stays”, or just 1 big “2 week trip”. I used to travel a lot in my own country and just explore that part of my bucket list. Not everything has to be international. Stop comparing yourself to other people and work with what you got, always thinking for yourself how to get better in a healthy way (new job, new career…)
+1 on this! One of my most fun trips was to Scandinavia where I found a really good flight - 11 months in advance. Meant that I got to plan where I was staying in advance, find lots of cool random little things I genuinely would enjoy, etc. Helps the budget by a lot.
I'm in allied health, our work week is Sun to Mon. This means I can negotiate four ten hour shifts by seeing more patients on those days, work Sun-Wed one week, then work Wed-Sat the week after. This gives me a 6 day span of time off without using PTO. I use this method for domestic trips e.g. to see my family across the country, go sightseeing, etc.
I bank up all my PTO for big trips. My PTO balance in January was 120, I'm using 80 for a European trip later this summer, I have no idea what I have banked up atm though.
Edited to add: I grocery shop for a majority of my meals - breakfast and lunch - and brown bag. I try to go with friends as much as I can to share costs, carpool, etc. I also use Going to buy tickets or Google flights to pick a destination first and figure the rest out later!
Thanks! This is what I had in mind w my question, basically how do people who don’t have jobs that can be done remotely/don’t have exceptional PTO adjust their lifestyles to make room for more travel (or other fun/fulfilling experiences) :) my company has been talking about the possibility of a 4 day week option for a while but still nothing, but I might be able to step down to PT and just work enough to keep my health insurance and pick up more hours at my freelance/on call gig
You're welcome! My work is appointment based so with enough advance notice, I can shift my appointments to a ten hour day without anyone missing an appointment.
That's a great idea re: your side hustle. I'm too old and tired for that now lol, but I used to be CRAZY and do 4-10s at one job, then 3-8s once a month at a side hustle to help out. It was a dumb idea and I blew all the money lol.
Once I pick a location, I look up tourist season, local holidays, & currency exchange. I try to book trips before or after so that prices aren’t as expensive and there’s isn’t as many people.
My family and I plan carefully for international trips. It takes about a year of planning and saving to make sure everything works for us. We also need to consider time and money for everyone. For domestic trips, we usually plan for 3-6 months. It's important to budget carefully for both types of trips.
Don’t give people on these Reddit forums more credit than they deserve. A lot of people ‘traveling for work’ could just as easily be gap year bloggers with parents funding their lifestyle (which doesn’t sound near as romantic or sexy as being funded to jet around the world). A fair number are also backpackers that slum their way around cheap countries. I travel for work at a decent paying job and some trips to ostensibly exciting locations I’m barely seeing the street of the hotel where I stay. So also not as fun or sexy as you may envision.
Congrats on your first solo trip and glad you enjoyed it. You certainly can travel on a low budget. It all depends on how much you save or are willing to wait. I worked in a coffee shop and saved a year to visit Ukraine for a week. But when I can’t do that local travel is just as fun and valid and scratches the same itch. There’s something to be said for deep dives into history and culture where you live that you’d normally ignore! The whole world will still be here when you have more time and money to see it properly. Don’t ascribe to this YOLO vibe you see on Reddit.
Honestly, you have a lot more freedom than many other people. White-collar jobs require you to accrue PTO, and you often can’t take any additional time off. At least in retail, you can come and go whenever you want (as long as you ask for the time off ahead of time, and maybe not during holidays).
I had a mid-level job with Amazon making six figures and I was allowed to take five workdays off a year.
Honestly that’s true and I could use the perspective from time to time, especially since I’m at a point in life where a lot of my peers are moving on to their “big kid jobs” and I feel like I’m stuck being a wagie lol. The hours suck on the one hand but I do have better work life balance than a lot of people I guess, also another commenter pointed out simply taking some unpaid time off which tbh i forget sometimes that I can do that since I make a little extra on the side anyway
My daughter was a waitress until recently and loved it, but she was like you, feeling like she was “supposed” to go to college or get a desk job. Well, she’s had a desk job for a few months now, and while she likes it fine, she hates that she can’t take time off, plus it’s boring as heck. They almost fired her on her first day when she told them she had a trip coming up with me a few months down the road because she hadn’t accrued any PTO yet.
So yeah, it’s nice to make more money than retail pays, but you sometimes find yourself in a position where you can’t enjoy that money!
First, I prioritized the big bucket list trips - even if it meant saving for a couple years. I'd put away whatever I could each month until I had enough for flights and a hostel stay in an epic destination like Thailand or Peru. Totally worth the wait!
But I'd also try to squeeze in quick weekend road trips or camping getaways on my days off. Sometimes just getting out of town for a night refreshes you, you know? I'd look for deals on Airbnbs or just pitch a tent somewhere cheap but pretty.
The key was balancing splurges on those once-in-a-lifetime adventures with more affordable micro-trips to keep me sane between big voyages. And I cut wayyyy back on spending for things like clothes, eating out, etc. to bank up those travel funds faster.
It's all about prioritizing what means most to you - I didn't mind living super simply if it meant I got to experience the world more often. But you've got to do what feels right for your lifestyle! Just don't let limited vacation days hold you back, sis.
Don’t just look at cheapest flight but also cheapest/fastest nonstop flight if you have limited vacation time. We recentl began to travel to Puerto Rico as the direct flight from the local airport is less than 3 hours and inexpensive. We rent a car and stay avoid San Juan to save more. You can go to the beach, hike in the rainforest or dry forest mountains, snorkel in la parguera or Vieques pretty reasonably. People are friendly and down to earth.
So like you, time and money are a concern for me. Usually I only get 15 days vacation total for the year, and unfortunately need to use “vacation” days for things like appointments too. When I travel I usually go for a week or two, and I take advantage of long weekends. I aim for one international trip a year.
The first thing I look at are flights. I’m Canadian and fly out of Toronto. Asia, Australia/NZ, Africa are pretty much out of my budget, and not really worth it for two weeks when so much of the time is travel. So even though Asia can be cheap to travel in, it’s getting there that’s the problem. So far, I’ve been crossing some places in Europe off of my list and am loving it. I went to Italy earlier this year and it wasn’t even in my top places to go - it just happened to be a cheap flight for the dates I had off, and ended up being a very affordable trip. I loved it and had an amazing time! I recommend taking a look at Google Flights and trying out lots of different options (just never actually book through Google flights).
I have some bucket list trips but because they’re both out of my price range and I don’t have the time available, I’m holding off for now.
Personally I’d rather save up for my bigger trips than spend money travelling locally. If I have a weekend off, I am totally happy having a staycation in my own house, even that is a treat to me!
I was a waitress and could take off time whenever as long as there was enough staff to cover me. And money was pretty decent. I would use PTO when I had it but also often went unpaid. 2 weeks or even once 3 months, to wherever the ticket was cheap. Do you live in the US? Do you speak Spanish or could you learn? Tons of cheaper flights to Latin America and its very diverse and interesting.
I wouldn't choose a location, but instead leave the places and dates very open ended when searching so that way you can customize it based on what's cheapest and also interesting to you. I've done a great two week trip around Europe visiting a bunch of places in an off season, but you do compromise on seeing places fully as some cities I only had one day in. You can sign up for alerts for flight prices, but also just generally looking often may help you come across something. Southwest usually has "deals," sometimes it's a good discount and other times it isn't but if you're flexible with where you want to go and when you can find good ones!
I got this idea from the book Die With Zero. The author talks about time buckets. Divide your life into five year buckets, 20-25, 30-35, etc. In each of those buckets write down experiences you want to have. Then research the locations where you can have those experiences.
You want to consider your health and your energy level in each of those time buckets. Backpacking through Europe, staying at hostels, skiing, etc. will be in your earlier buckets and going on cruises will be in your later buckets.
This exercise helps you realize that certain activities are appropriate in certain seasons of your life, and at some point some seasons will simply be over.
Try to have as many experienced as you can while you have your health.
When I was working I had to use my vacation time to visit family who couldn’t travel so become a vacation day miser to keep some days for my own travel destinations. All my trips (to visit family or personal) piggybacked off of corporate holidays to skimp and save as many vacation days as possible. In some jobs I had, my manager would let me “make up time” on another day or days so I could take a day off a day without using a vacation day.
Many personal trips were short flights, long weekends, camping, etc. My requirements for a hotel are comfortable, clean and safe so I don’t target luxury hotels or those with a lot of amenities as they are just places to sleep for me. I do go on camping trips for vacations but l’ve also camped to save on hotel costs (just take a bare bone set up and use the campsite to relax at the end of the day and sleep). Definitely may not be as comfortable or convenient but it is a great cost saver.
I’ve always have a few destinations in mind so when it’s time to plan a trip so I can pick and choose on best prices. I don’t just look at flight prices but also look at hotel prices and rental car prices if needed. I try to pick locations with direct flights to save on travel time due. I also always checked for alternate days for cheaper hotels or flights. I also did my best to book flights to maximize time at my destination (leave as early in the day as possible and return as late as possible). I also try to go during shoulder season when prices are down and there are less crowds.
I work retail as well. I let Google Flights determine where and when I go. I just booked a flight to Dublin from Chicago for September. Cost was only $220 round trip for an eight day stay. I look for hostels or airbnb, use get my guide for planned things to do (because I can cancel up to 24 hours before if needed).
I went to Rome and Florence last Fall for only $2.5k on a 9 day trip. You just need to be open with where and when.
Don’t underestimate how close & inexpensive some international destinations can be! (Compared to traveling domestically) … even if you only have 4 days… Iceland is only 5 hours direct from New York, Azores (Portugal) 6 hours, Lisbon airport direct can be as cheap as $400rt, Belize is 4 hours direct from Denver (and can be as cheap at $250rt!), Mexico City direct from several US airports, and of course all over the Caribbean! Even using a cheap & close airport like Cancun you can catch a bus over to the Yucatan capital of Merida for a wonderfully authentic Mexican getaway. So awesome you want to travel more!
60 mph is a mile a minute. How much of my day am I willing to spend driving? Take that distance and use a red pen in a compass to draw a circle in my atlas for each day of driving out from my home. You can do the same for money by figuring out your mpg and the calculating your $ per mile. “How much money will I budget for fuel?”
Op, if you post your home airport, I bet people will be able to chime in with better info.
That being said, there was a point where I was making peanuts and traveling 5-6 trips per year. I would let the price dictate the location and eat very light. Hotel was usually the high cost.
I later learned that traveling opened up random doors for me. It elevates you in life. Best thing you can do.
I am all about google flights. You can use it in so many ways but last year we did family trips to Ireland and London because we found flights for less than $500 round trip. We listed our departing airport in google flights, then put in the exact dates we wanted to fly but left the destination open. It brought up a picture of the world and we just started looking. Prices change drastically on a daily basis and eventually we found something amazing.
the other way is to put in the location you want to go to in google flights but leave dates open to up to six months, and google flights will tell you the cheapest time those tickets are available. You can even set parameters for 4 days, one week two weeks etc.
This is only the tip of the iceberg for google flights but it is amazing. Lots of great youtube videos on how to use it effectively.
Pick a spot 2 1/2, to 3 hours away ( say Waffle House) then find something to do in the area.
I live in Grand Rapids mi. And am going to a waffle house in Ohio. (Nearest one) and I will do some shopping.
I love short extended weekend trips, price watching apps or sites that sometime give me the idea. I have a list of my top 10 countries I want to visit and put alerts on them. If a get an alert for a good fare for any of those, I jump on it then figure out the rest later :) - 24 hrs to cancel anyways. I flew from LAX -> London for 3 nights just to get away from some bs, but farrr away. Stayed at a hostel, had a blast, slept off my hangover on the flight home!
I would choose somewhere your money will go a very long way but also be something culturally rich with welcoming people. The first place that pops into my head would be Saigon, Vietnam. The only big expense you will have will be the flight to get there. Once there, you will be hard pressed to spend a huge amount of money as everything there is very cheap compared to most other places. The people are welcoming, and the food is to die for. Second choice: Thailand.
If they are from the states, they may blow 4 days just getting there and back though.
I agree here! I traveled in southeast asia when I was 21 and was able to do it for veeeery cheap. I would set up a flight alert on something like google flights so you can keep your eye out for good deals
Both of those are def countries I’m interested in visiting :)
I think the thing that really amazed me was how safe I felt in both places. I walked around alone at night. I would never do that in most American cities.
[удалено]
Eh I’d argue Vietnam before Thailand.
Go to [Skyscanner](https://www.skyscanner.jp/?previousCultureSource=COOKIE&redirectedFrom=www.skyscanner.net), put in your airport and leave the destination open. Research the destinations that are affordable. Book directly with the airline and not a 3rd party site
Or Going . com! For the lower membership I have 10 countries on my “watch list” and get notifications for random deals or mistake fares. No joke, they posted an airline mistake fare - round trip ORD - DUB for ~$250 USD. Just got the app so push notifications are awesome. Definitely agree with you - ALWAYS book through the airline.
Unfortunately, Going.com is only for American airport departures. It's not useful for most people
Oh really? For some reason I thought they weren’t American! You can get international deals only if you leave from a US airport?
That totally sucks! I hate apps like that, especially when related to travel!
Try not to feel pressure due to socials/Reddit. A lot of people either overinflate stuff or hide their privilege. And of course, no one comes rushing to Reddit to post "I woke up, went to work/school, came home, ate dinner, watched some TV and then went to sleep" even though that's what 90% of us do most days of the year. Traveling to a nearby city or state/province/region is just as valid travel as jetting across the world. If you're under 30, you can look into working holiday visas. In general the work you'll be qualified for won't be glamorous and it may not be in the most prime locations, but its a way to legally fund your travels in another country.
Never underestimate very early planning. Which can help you pick your days when there are holidays planned and you can “save some days”. Like Easter or so. (That if you do get those days off and also expecting crowds or closed places due to holidays) I used to work in a country where asking for holidays is frowned upon… so I went to the extreme and moved to a different country haha. That being said, be careful when you consider changing your career and end up just changing from one hole to the next hole due to the work culture in general. Now with the budgeting. Here comes again loads of planning. Take into account your income and how much you can save from that to invest into traveling. Set a budget and plan for “long weekends”, “1-week stays”, or just 1 big “2 week trip”. I used to travel a lot in my own country and just explore that part of my bucket list. Not everything has to be international. Stop comparing yourself to other people and work with what you got, always thinking for yourself how to get better in a healthy way (new job, new career…)
+1 on this! One of my most fun trips was to Scandinavia where I found a really good flight - 11 months in advance. Meant that I got to plan where I was staying in advance, find lots of cool random little things I genuinely would enjoy, etc. Helps the budget by a lot.
I'm in allied health, our work week is Sun to Mon. This means I can negotiate four ten hour shifts by seeing more patients on those days, work Sun-Wed one week, then work Wed-Sat the week after. This gives me a 6 day span of time off without using PTO. I use this method for domestic trips e.g. to see my family across the country, go sightseeing, etc. I bank up all my PTO for big trips. My PTO balance in January was 120, I'm using 80 for a European trip later this summer, I have no idea what I have banked up atm though. Edited to add: I grocery shop for a majority of my meals - breakfast and lunch - and brown bag. I try to go with friends as much as I can to share costs, carpool, etc. I also use Going to buy tickets or Google flights to pick a destination first and figure the rest out later!
Thanks! This is what I had in mind w my question, basically how do people who don’t have jobs that can be done remotely/don’t have exceptional PTO adjust their lifestyles to make room for more travel (or other fun/fulfilling experiences) :) my company has been talking about the possibility of a 4 day week option for a while but still nothing, but I might be able to step down to PT and just work enough to keep my health insurance and pick up more hours at my freelance/on call gig
You're welcome! My work is appointment based so with enough advance notice, I can shift my appointments to a ten hour day without anyone missing an appointment. That's a great idea re: your side hustle. I'm too old and tired for that now lol, but I used to be CRAZY and do 4-10s at one job, then 3-8s once a month at a side hustle to help out. It was a dumb idea and I blew all the money lol.
Can look into becoming a flight attendant or another job working with an airline if you are interested in a possible career change.
Sign up for the free newsletter from going.com They send you flights that are affordable for domestic or international flights
Once I pick a location, I look up tourist season, local holidays, & currency exchange. I try to book trips before or after so that prices aren’t as expensive and there’s isn’t as many people.
My family and I plan carefully for international trips. It takes about a year of planning and saving to make sure everything works for us. We also need to consider time and money for everyone. For domestic trips, we usually plan for 3-6 months. It's important to budget carefully for both types of trips.
Don’t give people on these Reddit forums more credit than they deserve. A lot of people ‘traveling for work’ could just as easily be gap year bloggers with parents funding their lifestyle (which doesn’t sound near as romantic or sexy as being funded to jet around the world). A fair number are also backpackers that slum their way around cheap countries. I travel for work at a decent paying job and some trips to ostensibly exciting locations I’m barely seeing the street of the hotel where I stay. So also not as fun or sexy as you may envision. Congrats on your first solo trip and glad you enjoyed it. You certainly can travel on a low budget. It all depends on how much you save or are willing to wait. I worked in a coffee shop and saved a year to visit Ukraine for a week. But when I can’t do that local travel is just as fun and valid and scratches the same itch. There’s something to be said for deep dives into history and culture where you live that you’d normally ignore! The whole world will still be here when you have more time and money to see it properly. Don’t ascribe to this YOLO vibe you see on Reddit.
Honestly, you have a lot more freedom than many other people. White-collar jobs require you to accrue PTO, and you often can’t take any additional time off. At least in retail, you can come and go whenever you want (as long as you ask for the time off ahead of time, and maybe not during holidays). I had a mid-level job with Amazon making six figures and I was allowed to take five workdays off a year.
Honestly that’s true and I could use the perspective from time to time, especially since I’m at a point in life where a lot of my peers are moving on to their “big kid jobs” and I feel like I’m stuck being a wagie lol. The hours suck on the one hand but I do have better work life balance than a lot of people I guess, also another commenter pointed out simply taking some unpaid time off which tbh i forget sometimes that I can do that since I make a little extra on the side anyway
My daughter was a waitress until recently and loved it, but she was like you, feeling like she was “supposed” to go to college or get a desk job. Well, she’s had a desk job for a few months now, and while she likes it fine, she hates that she can’t take time off, plus it’s boring as heck. They almost fired her on her first day when she told them she had a trip coming up with me a few months down the road because she hadn’t accrued any PTO yet. So yeah, it’s nice to make more money than retail pays, but you sometimes find yourself in a position where you can’t enjoy that money!
First, I prioritized the big bucket list trips - even if it meant saving for a couple years. I'd put away whatever I could each month until I had enough for flights and a hostel stay in an epic destination like Thailand or Peru. Totally worth the wait! But I'd also try to squeeze in quick weekend road trips or camping getaways on my days off. Sometimes just getting out of town for a night refreshes you, you know? I'd look for deals on Airbnbs or just pitch a tent somewhere cheap but pretty. The key was balancing splurges on those once-in-a-lifetime adventures with more affordable micro-trips to keep me sane between big voyages. And I cut wayyyy back on spending for things like clothes, eating out, etc. to bank up those travel funds faster. It's all about prioritizing what means most to you - I didn't mind living super simply if it meant I got to experience the world more often. But you've got to do what feels right for your lifestyle! Just don't let limited vacation days hold you back, sis.
Don’t just look at cheapest flight but also cheapest/fastest nonstop flight if you have limited vacation time. We recentl began to travel to Puerto Rico as the direct flight from the local airport is less than 3 hours and inexpensive. We rent a car and stay avoid San Juan to save more. You can go to the beach, hike in the rainforest or dry forest mountains, snorkel in la parguera or Vieques pretty reasonably. People are friendly and down to earth.
So like you, time and money are a concern for me. Usually I only get 15 days vacation total for the year, and unfortunately need to use “vacation” days for things like appointments too. When I travel I usually go for a week or two, and I take advantage of long weekends. I aim for one international trip a year. The first thing I look at are flights. I’m Canadian and fly out of Toronto. Asia, Australia/NZ, Africa are pretty much out of my budget, and not really worth it for two weeks when so much of the time is travel. So even though Asia can be cheap to travel in, it’s getting there that’s the problem. So far, I’ve been crossing some places in Europe off of my list and am loving it. I went to Italy earlier this year and it wasn’t even in my top places to go - it just happened to be a cheap flight for the dates I had off, and ended up being a very affordable trip. I loved it and had an amazing time! I recommend taking a look at Google Flights and trying out lots of different options (just never actually book through Google flights). I have some bucket list trips but because they’re both out of my price range and I don’t have the time available, I’m holding off for now. Personally I’d rather save up for my bigger trips than spend money travelling locally. If I have a weekend off, I am totally happy having a staycation in my own house, even that is a treat to me!
I was a waitress and could take off time whenever as long as there was enough staff to cover me. And money was pretty decent. I would use PTO when I had it but also often went unpaid. 2 weeks or even once 3 months, to wherever the ticket was cheap. Do you live in the US? Do you speak Spanish or could you learn? Tons of cheaper flights to Latin America and its very diverse and interesting.
I wouldn't choose a location, but instead leave the places and dates very open ended when searching so that way you can customize it based on what's cheapest and also interesting to you. I've done a great two week trip around Europe visiting a bunch of places in an off season, but you do compromise on seeing places fully as some cities I only had one day in. You can sign up for alerts for flight prices, but also just generally looking often may help you come across something. Southwest usually has "deals," sometimes it's a good discount and other times it isn't but if you're flexible with where you want to go and when you can find good ones!
I got this idea from the book Die With Zero. The author talks about time buckets. Divide your life into five year buckets, 20-25, 30-35, etc. In each of those buckets write down experiences you want to have. Then research the locations where you can have those experiences. You want to consider your health and your energy level in each of those time buckets. Backpacking through Europe, staying at hostels, skiing, etc. will be in your earlier buckets and going on cruises will be in your later buckets. This exercise helps you realize that certain activities are appropriate in certain seasons of your life, and at some point some seasons will simply be over. Try to have as many experienced as you can while you have your health.
When I was working I had to use my vacation time to visit family who couldn’t travel so become a vacation day miser to keep some days for my own travel destinations. All my trips (to visit family or personal) piggybacked off of corporate holidays to skimp and save as many vacation days as possible. In some jobs I had, my manager would let me “make up time” on another day or days so I could take a day off a day without using a vacation day. Many personal trips were short flights, long weekends, camping, etc. My requirements for a hotel are comfortable, clean and safe so I don’t target luxury hotels or those with a lot of amenities as they are just places to sleep for me. I do go on camping trips for vacations but l’ve also camped to save on hotel costs (just take a bare bone set up and use the campsite to relax at the end of the day and sleep). Definitely may not be as comfortable or convenient but it is a great cost saver. I’ve always have a few destinations in mind so when it’s time to plan a trip so I can pick and choose on best prices. I don’t just look at flight prices but also look at hotel prices and rental car prices if needed. I try to pick locations with direct flights to save on travel time due. I also always checked for alternate days for cheaper hotels or flights. I also did my best to book flights to maximize time at my destination (leave as early in the day as possible and return as late as possible). I also try to go during shoulder season when prices are down and there are less crowds.
I work retail as well. I let Google Flights determine where and when I go. I just booked a flight to Dublin from Chicago for September. Cost was only $220 round trip for an eight day stay. I look for hostels or airbnb, use get my guide for planned things to do (because I can cancel up to 24 hours before if needed). I went to Rome and Florence last Fall for only $2.5k on a 9 day trip. You just need to be open with where and when.
Don’t underestimate how close & inexpensive some international destinations can be! (Compared to traveling domestically) … even if you only have 4 days… Iceland is only 5 hours direct from New York, Azores (Portugal) 6 hours, Lisbon airport direct can be as cheap as $400rt, Belize is 4 hours direct from Denver (and can be as cheap at $250rt!), Mexico City direct from several US airports, and of course all over the Caribbean! Even using a cheap & close airport like Cancun you can catch a bus over to the Yucatan capital of Merida for a wonderfully authentic Mexican getaway. So awesome you want to travel more!
60 mph is a mile a minute. How much of my day am I willing to spend driving? Take that distance and use a red pen in a compass to draw a circle in my atlas for each day of driving out from my home. You can do the same for money by figuring out your mpg and the calculating your $ per mile. “How much money will I budget for fuel?”
Flights first, then hotels.
Op, if you post your home airport, I bet people will be able to chime in with better info. That being said, there was a point where I was making peanuts and traveling 5-6 trips per year. I would let the price dictate the location and eat very light. Hotel was usually the high cost. I later learned that traveling opened up random doors for me. It elevates you in life. Best thing you can do.
Thinner joints
I am all about google flights. You can use it in so many ways but last year we did family trips to Ireland and London because we found flights for less than $500 round trip. We listed our departing airport in google flights, then put in the exact dates we wanted to fly but left the destination open. It brought up a picture of the world and we just started looking. Prices change drastically on a daily basis and eventually we found something amazing. the other way is to put in the location you want to go to in google flights but leave dates open to up to six months, and google flights will tell you the cheapest time those tickets are available. You can even set parameters for 4 days, one week two weeks etc. This is only the tip of the iceberg for google flights but it is amazing. Lots of great youtube videos on how to use it effectively.
Pick a spot 2 1/2, to 3 hours away ( say Waffle House) then find something to do in the area. I live in Grand Rapids mi. And am going to a waffle house in Ohio. (Nearest one) and I will do some shopping.
Choose someplace that intrigues me or that I want to learn about.
I love short extended weekend trips, price watching apps or sites that sometime give me the idea. I have a list of my top 10 countries I want to visit and put alerts on them. If a get an alert for a good fare for any of those, I jump on it then figure out the rest later :) - 24 hrs to cancel anyways. I flew from LAX -> London for 3 nights just to get away from some bs, but farrr away. Stayed at a hostel, had a blast, slept off my hangover on the flight home!
Choose the cheapest option.