The great part about a domestic trip is that you don't have to worry about passports, visas, vaccines, and other regulations and fees. Just jump right into the trip-planning! And for the time I want to go, I will only have to take one day off of work, (and I don't even have to do that if I decide to leave a day early), because I'm going on Labor Day weekend. For those of you who have Labor Day off of work, this is a great time to take a long weekend trip!
If you have a place in mind like I do, or if you don't, you can always check out different airline websites for daily deals, subscribe to their email list to get notifications on special deals, check out the domestic deals on www.clarkhoward.com, and download the Hopper application to your phone to get notifications about flight price spikes and drops. I checked out Spirit Airlines's website and found a blowout sale with incredible deals to many cities all over the country, for prices as low as $35 one-way if you travel within June 28 and November 11, 2016. You can even cut those prices down a little bit if you become a member of their $9 Fare Club ($5 off each flight), which costs $59.95 to sign up. This is a good deal if you fly with Spirit and take on the deals from this club often, but I don't usually fly Spirit, so I'm not going to worry with that. That being said, I'm pretty set on going to Chicago for this trip, and there's good news! I found a discounted ticket to Chicago and one back home to Atlanta. Each one-way ticket is $53.09 for me. Usually I'd recommend just bringing a carry-on bag with all of your clothes, so you don't have to pay for a checked bag, but with Spirit, carry-on bags are typically more expensive than checked bags, so I will check my bag for $26 each way. That's $158.18 total roundtrip!
What do I want to do in Chicago? I will have 4 full days to play around in the city, so I have plenty of time to explore. I have always wanted to do indoor skydiving, which has never made it to my city, but there are 2 iFLY locations in Chicago. The iFLY Chicago, Rosemont is right by the airport, so I can do that right when I get off of the plane. The cheapest package for when I'm going to be in Chicago is $69.95, but if you choose different dates and take your flight by August 31, 2016, you can get your flight for $20 less. I definitely want to check out the Skydeck Chicago at Willis Tower. It is an overhang made entirely of glass all around, jutting out of the side of the building, so you can walk into the glass overhang and see everything around and below you through the glass. Don't worry, the glass is very thick, and you're safe! It costs $22 per person or $49 with a fast pass. And if you do early bird admission (meaning around 8am) to bypass all of the tourists, then you pay $65. I don't mind waiting, as I have plenty of time on this trip, so I'll pay the regular $22 ticket price. I also want to, of course, see the Chicago Bean (correct name: Cloud Gate), which is on public property, so it's free. Other than that, I really just want to explore the city, mostly the downtown area, because that is the safest area, and I don't think there's much to do anywhere else. I will explore the Chicago Riverwalk, Navy Pier, and the Chicago Theare (a beautiful theatre, but no shows going on while I'm there).
The first place I always check for accommodation is www.couchsurfing.com to see if anyone would mind housing me for free on my trip, but you can always go onto www.airbnb.com to find people who rent out their homes or rooms in their homes for various price ranges, or you can find a hostel. Hostels are expensive in Chicago, so I found a couple of promising people who live about a 20-minute train ride from downtown Chicago and might let me stay with them as a couch surfer. Usually I like to stay in the heart of all of the excitement of a city, but Chicago has such good public transportation that it's typically quick, easy, and cheap to utilize these resources, My accommodation will be free for this trip!
I checked out the cost of living in Chicago on www.numbeo.com, and it seems to be about the same as where I live. I expect I'll want to eat at some inexpensive restaurants, but I can also buy some groceries to keep my food budget low. I expect to spend no more than $80 on food on my trip.
If there's anything you feel you should buy before you leave for your trip, add that to your budget. If you like to do extreme sports like I do (indoor skydiving, for instance), then I recommend a GoPro camera. I will certainly be bringing mine on this trip!
Itinerary:
9/3/16 - Fly out of Atlanta; arrive in Chicago at 8:20am;
9/4/16 - Visit the Chicago Theatre and Chicago Bean; do the Skydeck at Willis Tower
9/5/16 - Explore the Navy Pier
9/6/16 - Explore the Chicago Riverwalk; fly out of Chicago; arrive in Atlanta at 10:54pm
You may be worrying about how safe Chicago is. As long as you stay away from bad neighborhoods, keep to yourself, and stay in the crowded areas where tourists usually are, you should be perfectly fine. If you couch surf or stay with someone from Airbnb, your host can give you insight on the dangers of your destination and places to avoid, and some of them are even willing to offer you transportation or even accompany you on your adventures while you are staying with them. Just use common sense, which applies where ever you go.
Altogether, this can be a very inexpensive vacation. Chicago is a place to see things, rather than do things, so that makes this vacation much less expensive than a lot of others. My total trip cost is $330.13. This does not include public transportation, last minute expenses, last minute activities I may decide to do, expenses for emergencies that may arise, or souvenirs, so to add some cushion, I'll make my budget $450. This is not bad at all! I think I'm ready for my long weekend Chicago trip. Are you ready for yours? Have fun, and stay safe!
If you have a place in mind like I do, or if you don't, you can always check out different airline websites for daily deals, subscribe to their email list to get notifications on special deals, check out the domestic deals on www.clarkhoward.com, and download the Hopper application to your phone to get notifications about flight price spikes and drops. I checked out Spirit Airlines's website and found a blowout sale with incredible deals to many cities all over the country, for prices as low as $35 one-way if you travel within June 28 and November 11, 2016. You can even cut those prices down a little bit if you become a member of their $9 Fare Club ($5 off each flight), which costs $59.95 to sign up. This is a good deal if you fly with Spirit and take on the deals from this club often, but I don't usually fly Spirit, so I'm not going to worry with that. That being said, I'm pretty set on going to Chicago for this trip, and there's good news! I found a discounted ticket to Chicago and one back home to Atlanta. Each one-way ticket is $53.09 for me. Usually I'd recommend just bringing a carry-on bag with all of your clothes, so you don't have to pay for a checked bag, but with Spirit, carry-on bags are typically more expensive than checked bags, so I will check my bag for $26 each way. That's $158.18 total roundtrip!
What do I want to do in Chicago? I will have 4 full days to play around in the city, so I have plenty of time to explore. I have always wanted to do indoor skydiving, which has never made it to my city, but there are 2 iFLY locations in Chicago. The iFLY Chicago, Rosemont is right by the airport, so I can do that right when I get off of the plane. The cheapest package for when I'm going to be in Chicago is $69.95, but if you choose different dates and take your flight by August 31, 2016, you can get your flight for $20 less. I definitely want to check out the Skydeck Chicago at Willis Tower. It is an overhang made entirely of glass all around, jutting out of the side of the building, so you can walk into the glass overhang and see everything around and below you through the glass. Don't worry, the glass is very thick, and you're safe! It costs $22 per person or $49 with a fast pass. And if you do early bird admission (meaning around 8am) to bypass all of the tourists, then you pay $65. I don't mind waiting, as I have plenty of time on this trip, so I'll pay the regular $22 ticket price. I also want to, of course, see the Chicago Bean (correct name: Cloud Gate), which is on public property, so it's free. Other than that, I really just want to explore the city, mostly the downtown area, because that is the safest area, and I don't think there's much to do anywhere else. I will explore the Chicago Riverwalk, Navy Pier, and the Chicago Theare (a beautiful theatre, but no shows going on while I'm there).
The first place I always check for accommodation is www.couchsurfing.com to see if anyone would mind housing me for free on my trip, but you can always go onto www.airbnb.com to find people who rent out their homes or rooms in their homes for various price ranges, or you can find a hostel. Hostels are expensive in Chicago, so I found a couple of promising people who live about a 20-minute train ride from downtown Chicago and might let me stay with them as a couch surfer. Usually I like to stay in the heart of all of the excitement of a city, but Chicago has such good public transportation that it's typically quick, easy, and cheap to utilize these resources, My accommodation will be free for this trip!
I checked out the cost of living in Chicago on www.numbeo.com, and it seems to be about the same as where I live. I expect I'll want to eat at some inexpensive restaurants, but I can also buy some groceries to keep my food budget low. I expect to spend no more than $80 on food on my trip.
If there's anything you feel you should buy before you leave for your trip, add that to your budget. If you like to do extreme sports like I do (indoor skydiving, for instance), then I recommend a GoPro camera. I will certainly be bringing mine on this trip!
Itinerary:
9/3/16 - Fly out of Atlanta; arrive in Chicago at 8:20am;
9/4/16 - Visit the Chicago Theatre and Chicago Bean; do the Skydeck at Willis Tower
9/5/16 - Explore the Navy Pier
9/6/16 - Explore the Chicago Riverwalk; fly out of Chicago; arrive in Atlanta at 10:54pm
You may be worrying about how safe Chicago is. As long as you stay away from bad neighborhoods, keep to yourself, and stay in the crowded areas where tourists usually are, you should be perfectly fine. If you couch surf or stay with someone from Airbnb, your host can give you insight on the dangers of your destination and places to avoid, and some of them are even willing to offer you transportation or even accompany you on your adventures while you are staying with them. Just use common sense, which applies where ever you go.
Altogether, this can be a very inexpensive vacation. Chicago is a place to see things, rather than do things, so that makes this vacation much less expensive than a lot of others. My total trip cost is $330.13. This does not include public transportation, last minute expenses, last minute activities I may decide to do, expenses for emergencies that may arise, or souvenirs, so to add some cushion, I'll make my budget $450. This is not bad at all! I think I'm ready for my long weekend Chicago trip. Are you ready for yours? Have fun, and stay safe!
One perspective of the Skydeck Chicago.
A second perspective of the Skydeck Chicago.
The Cloud Gate, or Chicago Bean.
Two indoor skydivers at iFLY Chicago, Rosemont.
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