Simpson’s spring break is this week, and my roommate and I just got back from our trip. Rather than going to Cancun or Florida to kill some brain cells, we opted to head west, driving through Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and South Dakota before arriving back in Iowa. We were definitely in the small minority of college students who headed for colder climates over spring break, but it was well worth it.
I used my ING ‘trips’ account to fund the adventure. I’ve said it many times before, but it’s so incredibly beneficial to save for specific purposes this way. I transferred the money out of ING a few days before we left, then I knew exactly how much I had to spend. I had absolutely no worries in the back of mind about the financial effects of the trip; as long as I stayed under-budget, I could spend 100% worry-free.
The trip itself was extremely cheap. We stayed in discount motels, ate mostly from food we brought with us, and benefited from gas under $2.00 and a Civic that averaged between 35-40 MPG. I ended well under my budgeted dollar-figure, so I’m simply putting the extra money back in ING.
The picture up above is me in front of Mt. Rushmore. Although it was really cold at times, it was awesome to see everything blanketed in fresh powder. Plus, it was really neat to travel through the mountain passes, Grand Teton National Park, and the Black Hills area when tourists are few and far between.
It felt really good to get back after putting 2,900 miles on the car in under 5 days, but now I’m already trying to think of what I’ll do next year.
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