Weβre a married, age-gap couple with a passion for exploring the U.S., one road trip at a time! Our travels focus on national parks, scenic drives, and hidden gems, with detailed itineraries to help you plan your own adventures. While we cover destinations across the country, we have a special love for Southern California, Las Vegas, Florida, and our current home baseβDayton, Ohio.With a background in hospitality and tourism management (B.A. & M.S.) and experience in hotels, theme parks, guided vacation sales, and special events, we bring both industry expertise and firsthand travel experience to our content.Follow along as we uncover the best weekend getaways, off-the-beaten-path spots, and foodie finds across the U.S.!
Discount Travel Secret: US National Park Free Entrance Days Are Here!
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β Discount Travel Secret: National Parks Free Entrance Days Hi Reader, When JP and I first started traveling together back in 2017 we didn't have much money (I was in grad school, working 2 full time jobs, and living in the notoriously expensive area of Southern California). I wasn't sure how long I'd be living out there and I wanted to see and do as much as I could while I had the opportunity. So we started taking some overnight and weekend trips to national parks because of how inexpensive they are to visit. Historically, annual passes for the average person were $80 to visit any and all national park service sites you wanted all year long and California alone has 33 sites! I was also working for Hilton at the time, so most rooms were $35 a night + tax and we were able to stay less than 30 minutes away from just about every national park and book our stays last minute (unlike staying at national park lodges or national park campgrounds while sell out in advance pretty regularly). Since these trips were short, we usually only used 2-3 tanks of gas and I think gas was about $3.50 on average back then, but closer to the $4-$5 range near the remote national parks. Most of the time on these trips we'd go to a sandwich shop to bring in our own lunch while we were out on trails and we'd pack some drinks and snacks, so dining was pretty inexpensive as well. So the typical breakdown of one of these trips would be:
We were usually spending about $250-$350 per weekend getaway when we were visiting national parks. These were some of my favorite trips we've ever taken (you can check some of them out below - I'll be updating all of them later this year because it's been awhile π):
Even in 2026, this is still pretty do-able, especially if you can keep lodging costs low by camping in the national parks or nearby campgrounds, keep dining costs low by bringing some of your own food or getting food to go, and choosing destinations that are less than a 6 hour drive or so to spend less on gas. And of course, to save on admission, you can always visit during the Free Entrance Days (though it'll be crowded I'm sure - unless it's an off-season time for a park, then you might get lucky). 2026 Free Entrance Days in the National ParksAll National Park Service sites that charge an entrance fee will offer free admission for US citizens and residents only on the following dates:
If any parks have an additional timed entry ticket or reservation fee, you'll still have to pay for those, but general admission will be waived on these days. I've only paid like a $2 fee for these kinds of things in the past, but I'm not sure what any current fees are or where they're being used. But if you don't like the idea of visiting on a free day that may be over-crowded, 316 of the 475 total National Park Service sites are always free to visit, don't require timed entry passes, and don't have any parking or shuttle fees to get around the site! You can check these out on this insanely helpful Entrance Fees by Park page where you can filter out by whatever you're looking for:
And honestly, what better time to visit some of these lesser known sites than during America's 250 celebration? If you're planning to visit any national parks this year, reply to this email and tell us about the trip you have planned! We love to see what our readers are up to. See you next week, Eva and JP π P.S. Ready to plan your next trip? Find some of our favorite travel-related resources below. β Find the cheapest rental car rate |
Discovering Hidden Gems
Weβre a married, age-gap couple with a passion for exploring the U.S., one road trip at a time! Our travels focus on national parks, scenic drives, and hidden gems, with detailed itineraries to help you plan your own adventures. While we cover destinations across the country, we have a special love for Southern California, Las Vegas, Florida, and our current home baseβDayton, Ohio.With a background in hospitality and tourism management (B.A. & M.S.) and experience in hotels, theme parks, guided vacation sales, and special events, we bring both industry expertise and firsthand travel experience to our content.Follow along as we uncover the best weekend getaways, off-the-beaten-path spots, and foodie finds across the U.S.!
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Discount Travel Secret: Priority Wine Pass Hi Reader, Today I want to share with you one of my favorite partners that I work with, the Priority Wine Pass, because if you have any trips coming up in California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, or Texas, this little pass will save you so much money. The wineries you can visit with this pass offer 2 for 1 tastings, complimentary reserve tastings, and other perks, just for being a wine pass holder. In as little as 3 wine tastings this pass will more...