Seven Ways to Globe-Hop in Your Backyard

The grim news: A tight budget means no international trip this year. The good news: You can still enjoy an international experience. With some creative sleuthing, you'll find unique, cheap cultural activities in cities across the U.S. that offer the chance to "travel" without crossing time zones. Go on an "Olé-cation!" and learn to dance Andalusian flamenco. Soak up Russian culture at steaming banyas. Explore Italian history through glassblowing. Over half of U.S. travelers may be skipping the big foreign trip this year, but no matter: Globalization, it seems, has made it a small world after all.

The "Olé-cation!"

Shimmy into a new culture by learning the regional dance. Plenty of studios and gyms, on the constant search for the next unique workout, have gravitated towards international dances, and offer a wide range of classes and workshops. Follow the sounds of rapid-fire clapping, clacking castanets and foot-stamping to find flamenco, which dates back 500 years to the steamy south of Spain. Like many of Spain's pastimes -- grazing on tapas and swilling sangria -- flamenco is enthusiastically participatory, with musicians and onlookers whistling and shouting approval. Check out the Carla Luna Dance Arts Company in Los Angeles and Flamenco Vivo in New York.

Celebrate the Middle East and North Africa -- and discover your inner Cleopatra -- via bellydancing, one of the oldest dances in the world. Many bellydancing gestures can be traced back to ancient Egypt, from the delicate hand movements -- or "snake arms" -- to the signature swiveling of the hips while keeping the upper body elegantly still. For info on shows and classes, visit the lively group BellyQueen. Also popular is Brazil's sexy tango -- it takes two, after all -- and capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian dance of martial arts and acrobatic moves. Hook up with a tango partner at the American Tango Institute in Chicago and Stepping Out Studios in New York.