Planning a vacation close to home is a great way to have a relaxing, affordable vacation. Each state has a tourism board which acts as a clearing house for low cost and free vacation opportunities.The state board of tourism for your state will provide free tourism guides on attractions, along with special deals, offers and coupons. Special Events Make For Easy, Relaxing Recreation Many states have a variety of events year-round that you can plan your vacation around including festivals, fairs, sporting events and special shows like an air show. This is in addition to all the museums, parks and historical sites located nearby. Daycation Means Lodging Is Free! You will find that many of the vacation opportunities are within driving distance so you can take the whole family and save money by being able to use your own home for lodging. If you prefer to find lodging closer to your destination, the state tourism guides will have information on special deals and offers for lodging or camping. Involve Kids In Researching Getaway Ideas An in-state vacation can be educational for children and young adults. Consider getting your children into the planning process by having them research destinations and events on the state tourism web sites which they would like to visit. Also, you can use the opportunity to have your kids use the library to find books and magazine articles about the areas you might travel to. By making your children part of the planning process you will create learning opportunities for the entire family. Easy 3 Minute Vacation Plan Our research team created a sample vacation itinerary for the state of Indiana, in just 3 minutes. This was especially easy because we used the trip planning guide on the visitindiana.com web site. By choosing the type of activity we were interested in (we selected family fun) and then selecting the region of Indiana we want to visit (we chose East Indiana ), we were presented with 16 great location options and 10 things to do in each of those areas. In addition we received free lodging offers and dozens of discounts on food and shopping, gift cards, museums and much more for our family fun vacation. Free tourism guides for all fifty states are easy to access and require just a few minutes of research on the computer to find the link for your state tourism board. Happy Daycation!