5 Ways To Find Experiences On A Budget
While leading a minimalist lifestyle isn’t about living in poverty, many practitioners are nonetheless careful about how they spend their money. Cutting down on excess and waste also translates to how you choose to spend your money. As such, travelling and finding enriching, rewarding life experiences, while important, doesn’t have to be costly.
Let’s look at a few ways you can find experiences without having to break the bank.
Connect With Mother Nature
The great outdoors are all around us. You may be surrounded by tall buildings, gas stations, and fast food restaurants, the truth is this: you’re outdoors. Mother nature might be kept at bay by modern civilization, but make no mistake; it’s out there.
You’re never too far away from reconnecting with the great outdoors. Campsites and national parks are all around us. Many of these are only a short road trip away. Campsites often require a fee to spend the night, more so if you’d like to rent a cabin. However, the fee is typically nominal and many areas may allow you to camp without charge as well.
In a world with so much noise, it’s nice to get out into the wilderness to reconnect with nature every once in a while. Bring a few friends and make a weekend out of it!
Try Volunteering
For many, there’s no greater experience than lending a helping hand to those in need. If you’re looking for an experience, try volunteering with a local organization. Food pantries, shelters, soup kitchens, animal shelters, the list goes on.
Almost every town or city has local organizations that provide these opportunities. So get out there and see what’s available! Local churches or religious institutions will often have these opportunities, so that’s a good place to start. If religion isn’t exactly your speed, try starting with a community center or town hall. Opportunities may be found on their website, or just start Googling “volunteer opportunities in my area” and see what you come up with.
Finding great experiences isn’t always about entertaining yourself. Sometimes, even often, truly enriching experiences come from giving back to your community.
Look Outside Your Area
If you have the opportunity, look further outside your local area. There are several international organizations such as Habitat for Humanity which allow you the opportunity to volunteer while travelling across the country and even around the world.
Of course, such an obligation is a big task to take on. However, if you’re able to spare a year or so, you may not find a better time or opportunity to do important work as well as enriching your own life in the process.
Join A Local Club or Organization
From community athletics to local grassroots organizations, there are a lot of things you can join out there. Find out what’s available in your community and make an effort to get involved. Whether it’s canvassing the neighbourhood to raise awareness of a local issue; or an afternoon chess club at the local rec center; there’s a whole world available outside of your bubble so get involved!
Find the things you enjoy doing, or are passionate about, and discover outlets that accommodate them. From there, new opportunities may arise, including travel or the opportunity to take on a larger role in the group.
Expand Your Network
As the saying goes: “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” While some people may have this notion that leading a minimalist lifestyle means living a solitary life, this is not the case and it doesn’t have to be either!
Make new friends, connect with co-workers, forge relationships via volunteer work or community service. Get involved in community events such as fairs or festivals. Basically, get out there and meet people. In case you missed it, there are a lot of people out there! All have their own connections, their own experiences, and their own passions. Make connections and a world of opportunities for fun, travel, and more will open up to you.
Experiences Are Key
Everyone wants the opportunity to expand their horizons and enrich their lives. However, not everyone wants to spend a ton of money to have them. The good news is: you don’t have to! There are plenty of ways to go out there and have real, awesome experiences without breaking the bank.
There’s a whole world out there to explore. Some of it might be closer than you think!