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The myth of travel hacks, debunked<\/p>\n
There’s no secret formula for cheap flights. Here’s the truth about travel “hacks.”<\/p>\n
Cruising Altitude<\/p>\n
\u201cExperience America\u201d is a five-part series showcasing often overlooked destinations and experiences in our backyard. If you’d like to contribute to our future reporting and share your experience as a source, you can\u00a0click here to fill out this quick form<\/a>.<\/p>\n I woke up to the waves crashing beneath my Airbnb<\/a>. Stepping onto the porch of the Leucadia house, north of downtown Encinitas in San Diego County, I watched the water lap the sandy shore down the hill in late January, before returning inside to get dressed in a sleepy haze.<\/p>\n I hopped in the car for a short drive down the road to meet my family for breakfast at Atelier Manna<\/a>, where we sat on the porch and ate croissant breakfast sandwiches with smoked ham and herb cheese. It was the ideal lazy beach town morning, just minutes away from a major metropolitan area and tourist hub.<\/p>\n According to Expedia, 2025 has been the year of \u201cdetour destinations<\/a>,\u201d or places that are off the beaten path to help travelers get a variety of different experiences on the same trip. A detour doesn’t mean a traveler has to skip out on the main destination altogether, but it can open up opportunities to visit new places and unlock new experiences without having to stray too far from tourist hotspots.<\/p>\n \u201cI think this whole North County Coastal area is very quiet and quaint, especially compared to a lot of the energy that you might see around South County San Diego,\u201d Marisol Ortega, a communications coordinator with the San Diego Tourism Authority, told USA TODAY.<\/p>\n The Southern California city features renowned attractions, such as Balboa Park and the San Diego Zoo<\/a>. But the area is also home to many smaller, beachside communities that are destinations in their own right. Here\u2019s what to know about three of them.<\/p>\n Beachside destination #1: Del Mar<\/p>\n Del Mar is the first of the three that travelers will encounter when heading north from San Diego proper. The upscale area has an \u201cold Hollywood, classic San Diego vibe,\u201d Ortega said, with houses built on cliffs.<\/p>\n There are luxury resorts, boutiques and dining, as well as the Del Mar Fairgrounds, which hosts horse racing and the San Diego County Fair. Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve<\/a>, where visitors will find the rare Torrey pine tree and one of Southern California\u2019s last salt marshes and waterfowl refuges, is also located between Del Mar and La Jolla.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, that’s a great beachgoing experience (and) it also offers hiking,\u201d said Ortega. To the north, there is also an off-leash dog beach<\/a> \u201cfor the fur babies to go to,\u201d added Amanda Becker, branch manager of AAA\u2019s San Diego and Del Mar offices.<\/p>\n