Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to become an expert on free adventures.
Speaker 1: By figuring out the cool and low cost stuff in
Speaker 1: your community, you can save yourself some money and invite
Speaker 1: other people to do things in a very inclusive way.
Speaker 1: My first year after college, I did a year long
Speaker 1: internship in Washington, d C. It was a great experience,
Speaker 1: but I also earned very little. Consequently, I made a
Speaker 1: point of seeking out free adventures. I'd pick up copies
Speaker 1: of the free city papers from newsstands. These often had
Speaker 1: lists in the back of concerts and fairs and other
Speaker 1: happenings and a course. Washington, d C. Also has world
Speaker 1: class free museums in the form of the Smithsonian Institutions.
Speaker 1: Add in hikes and parks accessible by public transit, and
Speaker 1: I was rarely bored. When I moved to New York
Speaker 1: City without a job. After that year, I definitely felt
Speaker 1: the need to find free adventures, so again I'd look
Speaker 1: in the city papers and got on various email lists
Speaker 1: and such. If a bar was running a cheap drink special,
Speaker 1: I just might find out about it now. This obviously
Speaker 1: had the upside of allowing me to do fun things
Speaker 1: for cheap, but I soon realized it had other upsides.
Speaker 1: If I had found a bar with really cheap specials,
Speaker 1: I could invite people to join me with no concern
Speaker 1: that they would either spend more than they wished or
Speaker 1: have to decline the invitation because of a lack of funds.
Speaker 1: Free and cheap adventures can be more welcoming than the
Speaker 1: price the kind. The good news is that almost any
Speaker 1: community has some number of cheap and free adventures. I
Speaker 1: was kicking myself the other day when I drove past
Speaker 1: a community fair not too far from my house. No
Speaker 1: doubt the kids would have loved the sites and performances
Speaker 1: and the free samples. There are festivals and parades and
Speaker 1: outdoor performances. Some businesses offer open houses or freebees as
Speaker 1: a way to get people in the door. You just
Speaker 1: have to be on the lookout for these things. Your
Speaker 1: community's free paper or e newsletter if you have one,
Speaker 1: is a good bet. Check the listings in the back
Speaker 1: or online. Another great resource is your local library. Yes,
Speaker 1: your librarian can direct you to events and may even
Speaker 1: have passes to museums. That you could check out. But
Speaker 1: beyond that, many libraries have a bulletin board somewhere near
Speaker 1: the front where anyone can post about events. This is
Speaker 1: how you can find out that a local gallery is
Speaker 1: having a student art reception with free wine and cheese.
Speaker 1: This is how you learn about the festival at a
Speaker 1: local orchard with free hay rides and cider samples. Then,
Speaker 1: of course, once you start finding things you get on
Speaker 1: email lists associated with these venues or organizations, you start
Speaker 1: hearing about other free stuff. It all feeds on itself.
Speaker 1: Once you start to see these things, you can plan
Speaker 1: for the fun and start anticipating it. That orchard, no doubt,
Speaker 1: has a festival every year, so you begin letting friends
Speaker 1: know about it a few weeks ahead of time, which
Speaker 1: brings us to the point about becoming an expert. Being
Speaker 1: in the know allows you to help other people figure
Speaker 1: out what to do. Many people struggle to figure out
Speaker 1: activities beyond the usual, particularly if funds are tight. Inviting
Speaker 1: people to the free fun you've found allows you to
Speaker 1: extend an invitation to basically anyone. There are no weird
Speaker 1: feelings or expectations or worries. Now obviously, spending money is
Speaker 1: a perfectly fine thing to do, and there are lots
Speaker 1: of great things in life that will cost cash. I
Speaker 1: know that what we don't spend in money, we often
Speaker 1: spend in time. But my experience from my intern days
Speaker 1: is that it doesn't take that much time to look
Speaker 1: for free fun stuff. I look at the paper on
Speaker 1: my lunch break and have some idea in mind for
Speaker 1: the weekend. Most times by the time I started work again,
Speaker 1: not every weekend, but enough to enjoy the place, which
Speaker 1: can be true of almost any place if you look.
Speaker 1: In the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod
Speaker 1: that's b the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from
Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app. Apple podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.