Gimme a Smile: How to enjoy summer vacation when you don’t have any money

Published 3:30 am Monday, June 29, 2026

Fuel costs are up. It costs more than a week’s worth of groceries to go out to a nice restaurant. Even the cheap hotels are expensive these days. How are you supposed to take off on a road trip, much less jet off on that ideal vacation overseas, when all your disposable income goes to daily living?

Maybe you can’t. That doesn’t mean that you have to give up on your vacation dreams. Without skipping town, you can live the life of a tourist. The goal is to trick your mind into thinking that you’re on vacation. You can pull off this mind trick in many ways:

—Visualization. Gather up all the European river cruise catalogs you’ve received in the mail. Picture yourself on deck, cocktail in hand, while you float down the Seine. If you try hard enough, maybe you can manifest this trip in reality — you just have to enter every sweepstakes giveaway. Try not to think about the fact that the only thing being given away here is your email address.

—Create the illusion that you’re on vacation through sensory details. Lather on your favorite suntan oil, to bring the scents of the beach into your workplace. Make a playlist of crowd noise, to make you feel like you’re out navigating the most popular vacation hot spots. Pile on the spices in your home cooking, to mimic the heat of foreign cuisine.

—Change your surroundings. One of the most common experiences when you’re on vacation is waking up in the morning in an unfamiliar room. There’s that split second of disorientation, when you don’t know where you are. You can achieve this hallmark vacation sensation from the comfort of your own home. Simply rearrange your bedroom furniture. Move your bed to the other side of the room, making sure to set up a tripping hazard between the bed and the bathroom. If your furniture is immovable, you can always shift your pillows to the other end of the bed to achieve the desired disorientation.

—Role play. Dust off your biggest suitcase and pack it full of your entire summer wardrobe. Leave it open on the floor for the next two weeks, so you’ll have to root through an untidy heap of clothes every time you want to get dressed. Stock up on travel-sized toiletries and squeeze them all into a clear quart-sized bag on your bathroom counter. Toss your towels into the tub after your shower. You can always throw on a pair of rubber gloves and pretend to be the hotel maid who comes behind you to clean up.

—Spend strategically. If you have any money to spend, you can elevate your faux vacation aesthetic. Buy a new bathing suit. Even if you only wear it to the municipal pool, you are decked out in the latest beach fashion. Invest in a passport. Since passport stamps are largely a thing of the past, there’s no way to know that your passport is purely for show. Buy some souvenirs online. A few well-placed Mickey Mouse figurines in your living room are just as good as a real trip to Disneyland.

—Live vicariously. Instead of zoning out, actually listen when your friends and relations tell you about their summer travels. Follow along on your Maps app when they detail their daily excursions. Grit your teeth and click on the 59 photos that they post on social media each day. If you don’t know anyone who can afford to travel this summer, you can always fall back on YouTube videos. Somewhere in this world, there is someone who can’t wait to share with strangers their travels to your dream destination.

—Mooch. As a last resort, fall back on this tried-and-true method of getting something you can’t pay for. Settle for visiting friends and family, choosing carefully who you visit based on how many guest bedrooms they have. Keep an eye out for free picnics around town, for that festive atmosphere with no cover charge.

Ultimately, there’s no need to give up on your dream of summer travel for lack of funds, as long as you’re open to adjusting your mindset. Bon voyage!

Peggy McKee Barnhill is a wife, mother, and author who writes cozy mysteries under the pen name “Greta McKennan.” She likes to look at the bright side of life.