Procrastinate much? Have you procrastinated booking your family vacation this year? Um, we did, but mostly because we thought we couldn’t afford it. Now that summer is here, of course we’re having second thoughts. We long for leisure, we want to relax, we want the kids to have an amazing experience, and let’s not kid ourselves: we want a killer tan. It turns out that booking a last-minute family vacation is a chance to actually get rewarded for your procrastination. What?! Seriously.
If you can be a bit flexible with your location and your itinerary, you could still create one of the most awesome summer adventures for your family yet. And you don’t have to be the Pinterest-perfect mom to do it. There are all varieties of last minute vacation deals out there—you just have to be savvy and proactive enough to find them. To help you scramble to put together something really great, we’ve rounded up 10 last-minute summer family getaways you can actually afford. And if you’re still torn about making a trip happen, remember the wise words of the great poet, Rumi: Travel brings power and love back into your life.
1. Road Trip
A road trip is perfect if you’re on a budget. Make sure everyone understands that the journey is the point of the trip, not the destination. “A road trip is the perfect family vacation,” says Tamela Rich, an author who spends much of her time on the road. “It’s not about going to a destination and forking over money. It’s what you do on the way.” Along the way to wherever you end up going, go to local farmer’s markets and other quirky attractions you can only find on the open road.
Read Related: 10 Reasons to Take a Spontaneous Weekend Road Trip
