Everybody wants to go on vacation, and seniors always plan to go on some sort of senior trip with their friends before they each start the next chapter of their lives. However, I was once a senior in college and the one thing seniors are not... is rich. But have no fear! I have a few cheap ideas that could help some seniors, or even just some families who wish to save money this vacation, save some money and make the most of their time.

1) Ocean City, Maryland

My friends and I went here for our senior trip, so I'll have the most information on this (as well as photos). For starters,

the four of us booked a hotel room in the Tide's Motel which is a small room, but was reasonably priced for four people in one room. The rest of the hotels were large and fancy, so they cost nearly five times what we paid for a room at this Motel. We were also about a five minute walk from the main reason we came to Ocean City: the beach. The water is cold, but the view is beautiful and it's just so much fun when finding crabs in the sand and sea shells by the shore. Besides, why pay a large price for a large hotel room when you're not going to be in the hotel much anyhow? But back to the beach, you can do numerous things from building sandcastles to flying kites to boogie boarding or skim boarding on top of the waves.

And just down the road (about a five minute drive) is the boardwalk with a few rides, a fishing pier, and carnival games. The Ferris wheel is a nice place to go and look upon the ocean. Not into carnivals? That's alright! Along the road there are multiple other things to do such as different mini golf set ups, a small water park, laser tag, go karts, and parasailing. My friend and I went for a morning walk and found a place called OC Parasail on 54th street; it's behind a few gift shops beside a restaurant. Anyways, we found out about this deal where if you reserve a time slot for 11 a.m. or sooner you only have to pay $90 for the both of us, which is less than the price if you only want to go up 400 feet ($60), and we sailed 800 feet in the air. You also have the option of going up 600 feet for $70 and you can buy a photo disk with up to 30 photos for $30. I recommend doing the early time reservation and go 800 feet (but it's per person) and everyone split the cost of the disk so they can share the photos. Three people can go up in the air at once.

Did I mention there are some amazing restaurants nearby? Some are really fancy, then some are fun such as the one I have above. Finally there's Assateague Island. Sure it's a drive away, but there are wild horses and they are just so beautiful. Note, you can't pet them and they will cross in front of your car, but they can be found all over the island.

2) Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

I have also traveled here, but I was younger at the time and prices may have gone up (but based on research it's still much more affordable than most places). My parents and I stayed in these beautiful cabins with a master bedroom, a master bathroom, a ceiling bedroom with a private bathroom, a hot tub and a porch, a kitchen, and a living area. We stayed through Twin Mountain, and although the stay was nice they could be a bit pricey for some. So if Twin Mountain is not for you, I would recommend booking with Creekstone Inn where the price is about $103 per person if you choose to stay for a week. This includes breakfast, free tubing, and you can feed the ducks that are nearby and buy food for $1.

As for things to do, there is Dollywood which I would have to say is an amazing theme park. For one day admission the price is $67 plus tax, Splash County is $49 plus tax, and it's said that if you pay for admission after 3 p.m. you get to re-enter the park for free the next day. There's also the dinosaur walk museum which is okay, but more for little kids.

There's also multiple places to play mini golf, go kart, and even take a helicopter ride. Some helicopter rides can be very pricey and cost as much as $700, but I did some research and found some cheaper one's. There's French Broad River Helicopter Tours which cost about $28 per person, and there's also Scenic Helicopter tours where you can choose how far you go whether it's two miles for $10 per person, 8 miles for $25 per person, 12 miles for $35 per person and so on.

Pigeon Forge is also home to the Titanic Museum which actually looks like the Titan ship on the outside. It's a lot of fun. You are now one of the passengers or crew members as you are given your back story and get to explore the ship and artifacts that were retrieved. Adult tickets are about $23 while children tickets are about $12. (If you're parents to four children however you can get the family pack for around $72, and no seniors you can't have two of you pretend to be the parents while the other four are kids. It would be obvious).

3) Camping

You don't have to leave the state to have a good time with friends, and this idea you don't have to spend a ton of money. One fun activity for many people would be to unplug and enjoy nature. With this you can go camping the old fashioned way in the words or you can be a bite more modern and reserve a spot on a campsite. Nothing says rest and relaxation like sleeping under the stars.

And with camping there are so many different activities one can do. There are multiple parks around or sometimes a quite small one inside the campground. There's always some sort of bike trail, and sometimes just taking a hike through the woods is a good way to clear your mind. If you stay at a campground there are normally swimming pools and other activities such as mini golf, Frisbee golf, sometimes concerts, and around the fourth of July concerts. You could even go tubing in the river. Some campgrounds will rent you tubes for loads of fun.

If you do plan to go tubing, I have some advice for you. First, bring a lot of water balloons and some "gadget" to fill them with because you will get into a water fight with others. If you don't have any water balloons or any way to fill them up, quickly buy a squirt gun. It's your last hope. Second, beware of snakes especially in murky waters. Also, beware of leaves that look like snakes or else one of your friends will grab your raft and yell at you to run so it doesn't get them...just a hunch. Finally, you might want swim shoes. Some areas the rocks are rough on your feet and will break them open.

Those are only a few suggestions I have for you guys, but there are many other places you can go and other activities you can do. I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful summer!