Traveling on A Budget - A Last Minute Vacation to the Oregon Coast

When I found out that a musician's last concert of his tour was to be taking place (only) nine hundred and some plus miles from my home, I took a risk and bought those tickets, not realizing that an upcoming loan payment and inevitable negative housing situation would soon follow. But still being here and able to reflect on that once in a lifetime, weekend, strict budgeted vacation with such fondness now, it made me realize that money doesn't always matter in this world - it helps, don't get me wrong. But traveling on a budget can really help you garner a sense of respect and gratitude for the things we do have on this beautiful planet that don't require money to find a sense of fun within.

The weekend of October 22 came and went in a flash - a high budgeting, quick and humble flash (because my fiancee was due back to work on the twenty-fourth). With a full tank of gas in our , we loaded up our Ford Focus Thursday night after he got off work and headed on our way to the beautiful state of Oregon; not a dime to our name until the following day, but we took it in stride and drove until his paycheck hit the bank account. I listened to what seemed like the same music throughout Montana and Idaho, boring drives for me because I had traversed them for years upon years, the same scenery and boring mountain ranges keeping me sleepy, but my internal drive begged me to make it to Spokane before I kicked back for a bit of sleep.

Once we hit Washington, though, the bustle of the big city and beautiful atmosphere kept me awake as I drove by the interstate at a peaceful sixty five miles per hour. Still being early morning, the array of lights and passersby of state designated vehicles of people cruising to work delighted me and brought me a sense of urgency and joy at finally being out of a state that confined me with a great reassurance of comfort, yes, but that was nothing but the same hustle and bustle daily that got old. For a young, aspiring artistic like myself, this is what I wanted - a new change of scenery. A new breath of fresh air unlike anything I had ever experienced before. It was divine.

Before I go on, I do want to say one thing about myself that also helps with the enjoyment of being able to travel on a whim: I'm very impulsive. If I strive for a goal, I will aspire to achieve it, no matter the cost or consequence (it has gotten me into trouble, on occasion). I admire those with the ability to leave their comfortable confines for greater pastures. Huh, maybe it's these sentiments here that push me towards that drive of wanting to be one of those aspiring artist types who moves to Los Angeles to become famous (but that's another story for another day).

Taking my chance, I strove to be able to experience Oregon for the first time in my life (I had been to Washington as a young child for a major surgery for my father, at the time). I decided to drive reasonably and pull off at a rest area if need be, but my internal joy at being hundreds of miles from home pushed me with a sort of "mega-adrenaline" that kept me pushing that gas pedal through the morning, striving to hit Portland by noon. Once the twist and turns of interstate folded into the beautiful, scenic drive that divided Oregon from Washington, I knew my decision was not made in vain and drove in awe through the gorgeous divide.

Portland was absolutely huge. The interchanging inner subside that became one of the largest cities in Oregon filled me with so much overheigtened ecstasy that I wished I never would have to leave. I adored the dream of big city life, living overhead in a gorgeous apartment or home hundreds of miles from the comfort of my small town life in Montana. Comfort gets boring after a while. Once you're so invested in comfort, it can be hard to leave. Little getaways such as our trip can give a new enlightenment to your life and have you realize that there is so much more to this world than satisfactory comfort.

Deciding on a detour, we contemplated getting a hotel for the night (which was not within our planning). Either way, we took the risk and got a beautiful hotel room with an ocean view of the coast ($160 roughly with tax). It was also out of the way as we had initially planned to stay in Hillsboro (where the concert was) or Portland, but figured that you cannot plan a trip to Oregon without seeing the beautiful Oregon coast at least once. Well, once turned into multiple trips upward to Long Beach, Washington, across the exhilarating Wisteria Bridge, down into Seaside, and staying at the hotel in Rockaway Beach. Beautiful trips up and down into multiple beach areas where we found plethora of sea shells and gorgeous views of the (then fairly calm) ocean. Not to mention the excess amounts of rain we experienced while there.

The day after leaving the hotel led to more beach exploration as living in a state with nothing but mountain view across the entirety of it, visiting a luscious state known for its ocean views was nothing more than exhilarating. The poor seagulls got more than their fair share of rowdy tourists from me blatantly calling out to the innocent creatures, and seeing a beach side dance taking place in Seaside was pretty amusing of its own right (and adorable seeing all of the different couples try their hands at different dances throughout). We walked piers, visited the far, far tip of Oregon at the Jetty Observation tower (which was sadly closed for repairs at the time). The beauty of every different location was phenomenal to behold and far more beautiful than could be experienced by pictures alone (I really do suggest going yourself, the beach is much more wonderful in person). I do regret not having the chance to see a black rock beach this time around, though.

The concert was met with quite some exhilaration and fun, with my fiance being lucky enough to be photographed in a picture and me relieving a hug from the artist himself during one of his more emotional tracks. With less than $20 being spent on alcohol that night, it showed that fun could be enjoyed in multiple ways besides needing to drink to get your fill.

I'm not sure if the excitement from the two days had gotten to me or the dread of going back home, but I slept ten hours in the car just outside of Portland before leaving, was crabby for most of the ride back to Montana, only to be met with snow back in our home state and having faced a slight accident on a dangerous pass outside of Bozeman (the car and us were okay!). Maybe the thought of needing to leave such a beautiful memory behind was frustrating to me. I enjoy adventure. Needing to go back to everyday routine is boring to me, so maybe I just felt drained at having to go back to what I was used to.

Either way, a beautiful three day trip of fun and adventure only took a little over $500 out of our pockets. Stressful at times? Yes. Living off of McDonald's for those three days get old quickly? Absolutely yes. But it shows that with the right vehicle and time, money, and a little bit of risk and thrill, you can travel to beautiful locations on a budget, and in a short amount of time if work is also something you need to be cautious of so you can make it back without angering your boss. But sometimes it's the little things in life that make the biggest impacts, and I'm certainly honored to say that this short, beautiful trip has definitely left a greater impact on me the longer I've been gone.

And I'm so ready to go back.