Even with the best intentions, sometimes we can’t afford a long trip. We either don’t have enough money or time, much too often we lack both.  This leaves us with two options: sulking at how unfair it is and un-friending all the friends who travel on Facebook, or find ways to get away that don’t cost an arm and a leg or take too long. We share 5 tips to travel cheaply and quickly.

We love to travel, but we would have to file bankruptcy by now if we flew half around the world every time we want to get away. But it doesn’t mean we stay at home either.

Kids taught us that everything can be turned into an adventure.

With kids there are many small things that sound mundane to us but are exciting for them: local bus ride can be as exciting as being on a plane, jumping puddles better than any ride in the amusement park, a dinner in the Japanese restaurant as intriguing as a trip to Japan.

It’s all about the perspective, like the glass is half full.

We drop the excuses, and make the best out of the lemons we got served. Isn’t there a saying, if life serves you lemons, make a lemonade. We do our best.

Going to a local market might not be a grand affair, a visit to brag about,  or post on FB, but we are doing it for us.  I have always believed that you have to know how to find pleasure in small things, to appreciate the big ones. I can’t make my kids understand it unless we show them.

Here are 5 ways to travel cheaply and quickly.

beCOME a local tourist

Forget about your daily chores, look up when you walk your hometown streets. Notice the buildings, benches in the park, check out the local museums, galleries, events or climb the hills nearby.

For example our home country of Slovenia is amazing. It took me years of going away to realize that what I have right in front of me is worth taking time to explore in depth.

Just a short ride away from the capital and Slovenia makes me feel completely different. Here are 50 places to visit with kids.

Go find out what is around the corner, there are countless travelers coming to your country too, isn’t it time to find out why.

go to an ethnic restaurant

Let’s be honest, food is usually the best part of any trip. In a restaurant in your home town or close by you get to indulge in it without any hassle. Imagine no packing, catching flights, time zones, just the delicious food…

Eating out at ethnic restaurants is also an easy practice for kids: they get their first insights into a different culture while practicing their table manners.

Ljubljana has great many restaurants: we love the Chinese, Thai, but our favorite is Open Kitchen, a Friday food market, where hubby can dive into Indian, girls chose Egyptian and I can get the best burger.

Though it is worth keeping in mind that ethnic food served in our restaurants is most often adapted to our tastes and the original for example Thai food might be somewhat different. Still, it’s a break from the food we make at home (aka me cooking).

Howdy neighbors

Slovenia is lucky to have plenty of neighbors just a short drive away. You can be in the Austrian Alps or on the shores of the Italian lake Garda or explore the thermal baths of Hungary in just a couple of hours. It doesn’t take a lot of money or time, if you keep it simple.

Here are 5 great day trips from Slovenia.

DIY fun at home

When nothing else works you can still use your imagination and pretend you are somewhere else.

We organize a five o’clock tea party as if we were in the English countryside, make decorations for Chinese New Year, carve a pumpkin for Halloween, cook Asian…

The two of you can put the kids to sleep (early), open a bottle of some French wine, light the candles, have Edith Piaf sing in the background and you could be in the heart of the romantic Paris.

Read books or watch movies

There are plenty of those and they can take you away to great many places.

When I was a kid I loved reading folk tales from different countries, I know read them to my kids. Every night we travel to enchanted forests of Finland, monasteries in Japan, French castles… We learn about their culture and values and it gives us a lot of ideas for our future trips.

How about you, what do you do when you get itchy feet but can’t get away?