Travel Bargains for an Economy in Freefall
This government shit is literally breaking the bank.
Seesawing U.S. tariffs are sparking headlines — including ours! — and causing the global economy to go into fiscal freefall — then rebound, then freefall, then rebound. All this financial insecurity can’t help but make us more careful about how to spend the money we do have, especially considering that our future investments don’t look as secure as they did two weeks ago. Which may be why just about everyone we know is reconsidering how, where, and if they can (and should) be traveling right now.
For all the attention we pay to luxury hotels — and we know, it’s a lot! — we are not immune to how expensive travel can be (exhibit A: our reporting on the insanity of rising hotel prices). Today we’re focusing on a topic we like to return to again and again: the accessible weekend getaway. We’re highlighting destinations around the United States (especially those that get us out into nature) and will get to other parts of the world in future newsletters. Because while we think it’s always worth it to get out into the world, we’re feeling more sensitive about how to do it a little more frugally. Without, of course, sacrificing any of the fun.
Save your pennies:
while doing your boho thing in San Juan, Puerto Rico
finding the low-key live jazz show in New Orleans
camping in a covered wagon in Kennebunk, Maine
chomping peanut butter made by monks in Upper Michigan
stacking the freshest corn tortillas in Santa Fe
and more … in Oregon, Washington, and California
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Dreamcatcher, the island’s boho, adults-only, vegetarian B&B, offers yoga and tarot readings (as you might expect) near Ocean Park. The hotel is part of a collection of 70 affordable apartments and guest houses — all minimal, tropical, stylish — under the name Dreamers Welcome, which also includes affordable excursions (salsa nights, yoga under the stars). Spend days snorkeling and low-key chilling at the beach, soaking up the public art and lively nighttime scene on Calle Cerra, and trying out a family-run food tour or cooking class from Spoon. More than a dozen small food stands and some alfresco seating are set up at Lote 23 in the cool, working-class neighborhood of Santurce. The quiet sculpture garden in the neoclassical building that houses Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico is free, and the museum’s gift shop has a nice offering of local handicrafts and decorative objects.
New Orleans, Louisiana
The warmer the weather, the cheaper the room rates, including at boutique Pontchartrain Hotel, a nearly century-old Garden District staple that’s been revamped for the modern era. It’s right on St. Charles Avenue, the grand boulevard for NOLA’s historic streetcars. Hop on for a ride Uptown ($1.25) and hop off for breakfast at landmark diner The Camellia Grill. Or stroll a block for cheap and hearty rib-sticking breakfast platters at Please-U-Restaurant. Daytimes are best spent in a museum, backyard, or a shady park like the Besthoff Sculpture Garden (a free, beautiful outdoor exhibition space on eleven mature and manicured acres in City Park). Free Tours by Foot has a pay-as-you-wish policy for its hardworking guides. Live music is free and plentiful in the French Quarter and especially along Frenchmen Street. But you can often find a low-key, afternoon musical performance at the New Orleans Jazz Museum (tix are $8; free for little kids). Housed in the old U.S. Mint near the Frenchmen corridor, it offers a chill and air-conditioned spot to soak up tunes before heading out into the heat of the evening.
Read on for more affordable itineraries across Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, and California.