• Welcome to Autism Forums, a friendly forum to discuss Aspergers Syndrome, Autism, High Functioning Autism and related conditions.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Private Member only forums for more serious discussions that you may wish to not have guests or search engines access to.
    • Your very own blog. Write about anything you like on your own individual blog.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon! Please also check us out @ https://www.twitter.com/aspiescentral

Low budget solo trip ideas.

Metalhead

Metalhead

Video game and movie addict. All for gay pride.
V.I.P Member
I am thinking of saving up for a train ride to a major city one state over, and staying a couple of days there exploring museums, gardens and live music venues. Perhaps I could arrange it so I see a concert by myself while I am there.

I also am thinking of ways to make solo day trips to Seattle on weekends that will not break my bank. Take an Uber to the next town over, catch a bus there, explore Seattle, go back to the next row over, pay a friend gas money and a meal for a ride back home.

I just talked with my sponsor. I do have some options to explore here. Does anybody have any low budget solo trip ideas to consider?
 
Seattle is so cool. I feel so unhelpful. Maybe nonprofit, maybe you can hook up something there.
 
Metalhead said:
Does anybody have any low budget solo trip ideas to consider?
Click to expand...

I've done this myself a few times. Your cheapest and best value option, in my country at least, is to fly to another city and hire a car for a week. Unfortunately you need both a driver's license and a credit card to do that.
 
If you're into Museums, many in Seattle have the first Thursday of each month as their free day. Of course the cost is that you're taking a weekday off work.

From Seattle, weekend getaways could include, if booked out in advance:
Portland, OR ($54 round trip, Amtrak)
Vancouver, BC ($90 round trip, Amtrak)
Las Vegas, NV ($80 round trip, various airlines, no baggage)
San Francisco, CA ($160 round trip, various airlines)

Portland and Las Vegas both offer cheap hotels <$100 whereas Vancouver and San Francisco are pricier. All of them have pretty decent public transit systems.
 
My "highlight of life" trip was very cheap - a bicycle tour, camping. A kayak trip can be even cheaper. There are 'driveaway" services, where you deliver a vehicle, and may get expenses too. Now, I have learned how to set up my car for full housekeeping, and could stay in homeless areas like Wal-Mart parking lots. Instructions available. If you like museums, etc, it might be a good idea to acquire a student card of some kind.
 
For staying overnight, airbnb or trying to reserve hostels way in advance could be helpful. Planning way in advance can be a big money saver. Since you don't drive, I don't like the day only trip because your day will be taken up a lot by how much time it takes you to Uber over and then bus over etc. Plan to stay overnight at least one day somewhere so that the effort you take to go to said place is more worthwhile.
 
Metalhead said:
I am thinking of saving up for a train ride to a major city one state over, and staying a couple of days there exploring museums, gardens and live music venues. Perhaps I could arrange it so I see a concert by myself while I am there.

I also am thinking of ways to make solo day trips to Seattle on weekends that will not break my bank. Take an Uber to the next town over, catch a bus there, explore Seattle, go back to the next row over, pay a friend gas money and a meal for a ride back home.

I just talked with my sponsor. I do have some options to explore here. Does anybody have any low budget solo trip ideas to consider?
Click to expand...
I have always looked to our National Parks for low budget, interesting, trips, but those would mean a level of mobility that you do not currently have. Cities were always great. Living in Detroit I would take the train to Toronto and stay at the Y ($15 at night back in the 60s - 70s). I bet Seattle would be fun. A culturally vibrant city is always fun for me. Museums, music venues, food. While not particularly budget, two years ago my spouse and I traveled to London to see Seven plays in six days for a little less than a trip to New York would have cost. You are already paying for food at home, so I rarely include that expense in my travel budget.
 
If you can handle them, hostels are a great way for inexpensive lodging, however you will likely be sleeping with other people you don't know

But it can be a fun at the same time, perhaps in a different way :cool:

And research things, events, places that are inexpensive or free, and just do lots of wandering
 
Hey @Metalhead,
This is an awesome idea… I love traveling solo and sometimes it is not only necessary but quite fun to see how simply and cheaply it can all be done.

Lots of great tips here on accommodations and such, so I will make a slightly different suggestion.

One thing that comes to mind for turning tiny adventures into something more is to have some sort of theme about it. For example, one time for a trip through New England, USA, I found an old book at a thrift store called Old Coaching Roads of New England. I was able to sort of follow the book and have a historical journey right through the middle of Massachusetts, based on the book and the little adventures that popped up along the way.

Other ideas along these lines are to have some sort of specific focus… Another trip that I loved was in Vermont, in the USA, and my focus was on broken down abandoned barns being reclaimed by nature. The trip mainly entailed driving around with my dog and taking photographs of these barns and then editing and printing them later as further fun activity.

I don’t really know what your interests are, but tapping into those could be fun - like a bridge tour or maybe you like fossils or kombucha shops. You could look up a movie that you love and check out the filming locations or something like that.
 
If you have a really good friend who lives a distance, maybe you could visit them with advance notice. Buy them a small gift for them letting you stay the night. Give them as much advance notice as possible. Depending on the friends, if you can't ask 2-4 weeks in advance, don't ask. Also, if you can't offer the same thing in return if they want to visit you, this may not be feasible either. Just another thought for now.
 
I would sure like to drive as much of Route 66 from Chicago to LA in my MR2. Sometimes I feel nostalgic, like going to the Buckley Old Engine Show. Though from Gallup, I'd take a detour to Zuni.
 
My sister lives in a studio apartment in Portland. She agreed to drive me around if I ever came to visit, even if I have to get a hotel room when I am there. I will pay her admissions to gardens and museums in exchange for that. I think that will work out well.
 
Metalhead said:
My sister lives in a studio apartment in Portland. She agreed to drive me around if I ever came to visit, even if I have to get a hotel room when I am there. I will pay her admissions to gardens and museums in exchange for that. I think that will work out well.
Click to expand...
That's a good way to do it
 
Metalhead said:
My sister lives in a studio apartment in Portland. She agreed to drive me around if I ever came to visit, even if I have to get a hotel room when I am there. I will pay her admissions to gardens and museums in exchange for that. I think that will work out well.
Click to expand...
Just East of Portland is Timberline Lodge. It is a fabulous old WPA structure - the exteriors were used for The Shining. Starting from there I hiked around Mount Hood doing some maintenance on the Pacific Crest trail. A fantastic and rugged area.
 
Last edited:
What is your interest in gardens? I like to visit botanical gardens when I travel. Entrance fees are not cheap. But many botanical garden memberships have reciprocal agreements with other gardens. You buy one membership and get admission to many gardens.
 
Philadelphia is expensive but a cheaper city for being as big of a city as it is. If you ever want to come out this way, and if you are open to doing a video chat beforehand, feel free to reach out to me.

That being said, me posting that is:
1. I'm personally open to such contact
2. It works enough for this thread, and it's an 'excuse' to post that
3. VictorR sounds like he's close enough to you. This kind of trip is worth considering as an idea as well. Communicating regularly in a forum of this nature, and having the opportunity/opportunities to meet other(s) sounds like a great, potential bonding experience. Not everyone wants to meet or feels comfortable with the in-person interaction for all kinds of reasons, but there are a few that might. I think I've met two people off this forum a long time ago. Unfortunately, I don't keep in touch with either for various reasons presently, but I don't regret my time trying to meet them either.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New Threads

Top Bottom