In my effort to shop local, I’ve been striving to keep my family’s entertainment local as well. Gas, admission fees, and food are the expenses I look to minimize. With the tagline of “consume less, produce more,” this post fits well with Simple Lives Thursday.
I value quality time — doing interesting things and having experiences with my family. These are the times that I want to produce more of. If you are familiar with love languages, you know what I’m talking about. My family is a blend of all of the love languages, so it can be a chore to get everyone out the door and in the van! However, after we’ve spent time at our destination, during the ride home, everyone tells me they’re glad they went.
Our experiences include topics that most towns also offer. Sometimes you have to dig and get out of your comfort zone. In addition to visiting parks in areas of town that we’re unfamiliar with, we have also taken trips to learn more about the following:
- history
- 2-D visual arts — if your town does not have an art center, many business and education buildings have temporary art exhibits
- 3-D visual arts at a sculpture park
- religion, without attending a service, you can have tours
- architecture, with local architects
- nature and nature walks and more difficult hikes, and just picking mulberries in the parking lot
- rocks (as well as the “washout sites now fossil displays” from our not-fabulous Iowa flooding)
- rural life and most states have a barn foundation
- government — federal, state, and city. The U.S. Postal Service and many government funded offices give tours, such as the waterworks, the public health lab, and police and fire departments
If you were a travel writer, what would you choose to experience? Now, go find it…in your hometown!
This is also going into the linky’s at Works for Me Wednesday and Women Living Well. Because this works for me and helps with living well.
Oh, I love this! I have to admit the geocaching part of your name brought me to your blog! But I love all things frugal. And travel. And geocaching. And using geocaching to explore parts of my city that I never knew existed.
I it were me, I think I would like to explore the hidden parks in our city. My friends would actually post some pictures in the park, then when I ask them, they would say that it is just a 30 minute to 1 hour ride from our home. I would love to run or do biking with my kids once in a while and I think that a park is a perfect place to bond. Thanks!