Travel Tip Tuesdays: How to Save Money on the Road

Volunteer vacation + host family with National Parks pass = happy Lisa
(Angels Landing, Zion Canyon, Utah)

What are some good money-saving tips on the road?

After getting this question from one of my friends, I rummaged through all my “Travel Tip Tuesdays” blogs in confusion. This search left me with a question of my own: How have I not covered this topic before?!

Extreme budgeting has always been one of the main focuses of my travels. On my Epic Trip Out West of 2011, for instance, I spent (including airfare and all expenses) an average of $15 a day. Now that’s budget!

I’ve danced all around the subject of budget travel in several of my blogs (and written about general money-saving here), but I’ve never tackled it head-on. So, without further ado, here are some general principles that have guided me.

Find the cheapest transportation. Getting to your destination is one of the most expensive parts, so focus on saving money on this. I’m not a big fan of price-checking a bazillion sites online, although if you find that fun, go for it (or try Expedia or Kayak). In general, you can get much cheaper flights if you travel a) on weekdays instead of weekends, b) not on or around holidays, and c) between Labor Day and Memorial Day, not the other way around. (See my blog about forms of transportation.)

Cut down on your lodging expenses. This is often the biggest expense on a trip, so if you can cut out even a few nights of hotels, you’ll save yourself hundreds of dollars. Hostels are great for the solo traveler (see safety tips here), but a hotel is often cheaper for two or more people. Hotels will often give you a better rate if you stay a week (or even if you just haggle a bit). And of course, I’m a big believer in Couchsurfing (see my blog)!

Bring your own food. Experiencing local cuisine is fun, but if you limit your restaurant meals, you free up your budget. Non-perishable snacks are great, and it’s even better if you pack some things that double as meals, such as trail mix or Clif bars. (See my blog about travel foods I like.)

I spent a whole afternoon at the free
Degrazia Gallery in the Sun.

Focus on free attractions. Taking your whole family to a museum can drain you dry in a day, leaving you no money to spend on smaller pleasures. Use the Internet to search for free days at popular attractions, be on the lookout for coupons, and seek out cheap or free things to do. Nature areas, art galleries, farmer’s markets, city events, self-guided walking tours, and festivals are usually free and fun! (I've also written about places I generally like in every city.)

Prioritize. As in any financial circumstance, the point of budgeting when you travel is to make sure that you prioritize the things that are important to you, rather than wasting money on things you don’t care about. If food isn’t a big deal, eat PBJ and use that money for something else. If you don’t care how you get to a destination, book yourself on a crammed (read: cheaper) flight. (I’ve written a couple blogs about priorities, here and here.)

With just a little preparation and creativity, budget travel can be safe, relaxed, and just plain fun. Bon voyage!

~~~

On Wanting and Doing

"Either you want to write or you don’t, and thinking that you want to write really doesn’t mean anything. There are lots of things I think I’d like to do, and yet if I don’t actually make the time and effort to do them, they don’t get done." ~John Scalzi

A good deal of my life has been spent listening to people ramble about the stories that they’re going to write. Are they interesting? Definitely. Could they be wonderful, engaging novels and plays? Of course. However, I often find myself getting impatient when I listen to them expound on all the cool and amazing things they’ll write. Very few of these people have ever actually written more than a few pages.

Although it’s fine to have pipe dreams, I get annoyed when people say that they want to do something, and then take not a single step toward actually doing it. In general, I’m very self-motivated and practical, but I too have slipped into the deadly trap of the word “can’t.” 

A life-changing moment occurred on my Epic Trip Out West. I was talking to my second cousin about how my mom wrote several books because she had researched the market and figured out what kind of book would sell well. As a creative, my mind doesn’t work that way. “I just can’t do that,” I said, shaking my head.

“No,” my second cousin said bluntly. “You just won’t.”

His comment hit me like a slap in the face (I believe my response was “Ouch”). If I really wanted to, I could become a successful freelance author. Nothing was holding me back. However, that was the moment I realized that, at this point in my life, being a successful freelancer is not my desire. No, I want to travel.

It was the first time that it occurred to me that I was not, in fact, career-oriented. And if I wanted to keep traveling, I would have to make my writing talent serve that greater passion, rather than the other way around. Fortunately, travel and writing coincide beautifully, so I’m able to sustain both passions, each one inspiring the other. It made me happy to realize that I’m not trying to be a full-time freelancer— I’m choosing to be a travel writer instead. By focusing on what I can do rather than what I wouldn’t, I freed myself and opened my world.

Too many people are stuck, as I was, in denial about the true nature of the “can't.” The number one excuse for not writing a novel is, “I can't do it; I just don’t have enough time.” This is a lie the person tells himself so he doesn’t have to hold himself responsible. It’s not that he doesn’t have time; he won’t make time. People often have this idea that things happen magically. They don’t. They happen when you realize that you truly want something, and actually do something about it.

Right now, I want to go to Europe. So I’m looking into travel insurance, reading about travel tips and stories, checking plane tickets online, working out timetables, brainstorming Europe-related article ideas, looking for phrasebooks, and trying to get myself as fit as possible. It’s a lot of hard work, but I’m working through the logistics of my trip in a tangible way. It’s not a sure thing, but I’m going to try as hard as I can to make it happen. If you have no concrete steps to accomplish your goal, it’s probably not a goal.

“I wish I could draw.” Pick up a pencil and draw.

“I wish I could take a trip.” Get out a book about budget travel and join an online travel community.

“I wish I had more friends.” Call up some acquaintances and invite them over to bake cookies or play a board game.

“I wish I was in better shape.” Find a buddy who thinks the same thing and commit to exercising together and eating healthier.

“I wish I could write a novel.” Then do it. It’s time-consuming, but if you enjoy it, it’s not that hard.

In anything you want to do, find the first step, and take it. Stop wishing, and start doing.

~~~

Travel Tip Tuesdays: Getting Started

I want to travel, but I don’t even know where to get started. How do I begin?

This is the problem with any huge project, whether it’s taking a trip, founding a business, launching a career, or changing the world: where do you even start? My answer is a rather gruesome metaphor my parents taught me. Every time they caught me wailing about how messy the room was or how long this stupid book report had to be, they’d ask, “How do you eat a whale?” I’d grudgingly reply, “One bite at a time.”

I also know how to hug a whale— at
least when I'm on San Juan Island!

That’s how you tackle any big project. One bite at a time. As a follow-up to yesterday's questions, here are seven of the first bites you can take.

Read travel guides. It sounds simple, but this is one of the best ways to get ideas. Go to your library, find the travel section, and pull out any book that looks interesting. Some of my favorites are Europe Through the Back Door, Wanderlust and Lipstick, and Volunteer Vacations. I also love books about unusual sites in different countries, hiking trails in each state, and budget books for major cities (such as the “Let’s Go Budget” series). You can learn travel techniques, destination suggestions, and all sorts of awesome new information.

Determine where you want to go. Maybe it’s a location, such as Bellingham, Washington, an environment, such as “the desert,” or an experience, such as “an organic farm.” When the place you want to travel has a name, it opens you up to the next bites.

Research how to get there. In my experience, simply getting somewhere is by far the biggest expense. Look into all the options: flying, driving, taking a bus or train, ride-sharing, ferrying, etc. Use travel guides to help you think about this step.

Figure out what’s in your way. There’s always a slough of obstacles to any big project. Find them and name them. Lack of money? Family commitment? Not enough time? Fear?

Brainstorm how to overcome those obstacles. You have to get creative. Could you save the money by taking funds from something else? Could you bring your family with you on your trip? How can you create time for your dream? How can you overcome your fear?

Start saving money. Let’s face it— it takes a lot of money to travel. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I gave up almost every luxury in order to have the luxury of travel. Even a few small sacrifices here and there can make a difference.

Do something small every day to work toward your goal. Research how to fly cheaply. Sign up for couchsurfing. Read about the homiest hotels in Peru and the best local food in Salzburg. Small actions add up, and it’s always better than doing nothing. Make your dream happen, one bite at a time.

~~~

Travel Tip Tuesdays: How Is It Possible?

Grand Canyon, Arizona, spring 2011

Have you written a blog about how you all your traveling was possible? How others could do the same? 

A Facebook friend posed this question last week, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. It’s a question that I can’t answer with, “Take these three steps and you’re good to go.” A lot of it is luck (or providence, depending on what you believe) and situation.

Still, I can share what I’ve done to be able to travel. You can’t follow the pattern exactly, but it might give you a starting point. Perhaps my path will inspire you to find your own. Here’s my method.

I began traveling when I was in a stable financial situation. I had just come out of a year where I was working several jobs. Although I hadn’t made a lot of income, I hadn’t had many expenses (see point #4), so I had about a thousand dollars in my checking account. Also— and apparently this is rare— having not been to college, I had no student debt, or debt of any kind. My only monthly bills were rent, cell phone, and insurance alternative.

I got an online job. This is the number one secret to my long-term travel: I got an online tutoring job when I was 19. When all you need is a laptop and wi-fi, the world is yours. If you can just make a little money online, it will help you sustain your travels. My job has paid for all of my trips.

Seattle, Washington, autumn 2010

I lived with my parents when I wasn’t traveling. Although this is common in my generation, that alone is not something to be proud of. I was determined not to be a total mooch: I paid them a share of rent every month and bought a chunk of the groceries. This situation allowed me to avoid the stress of a lease. When I wanted to leave for a couple months, I wrote them a check, grabbed my backpack, and left.

I ruthlessly eliminated expenses. I’ve never owned a car, and recently I gave up having a phone as well. I buy secondhand clothes, rarely eat out, and supplement my groceries with food that other people are going to throw away. It’s worth it to me, and if you want to travel, it will be worth it to you, too.

I worked a second job in my at-home time. That extra paycheck helped fund my trips, getting me “caught up” from my last one before I left on my next one. Never ever go into debt for a trip. If you don’t have any more money, stop traveling until you do.

I traveled extremely cheaply. If you want to do long-term travel the way most people travel, then you need to be independently wealthy. Even the really low budget of $60 a day will drain you dry in no time. If you’re taking a long trip, get used to the idea of working for your bed, pulling all-nighters, and eating a lot of trail mix. The big expense is the plane ticket— after that, I spent a laughably small amount of money on my travels. Help Exchange, World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, and Couchsurfing have made it possible for me to take longer trips.

I was blessed with meeting incredibly generous people. This isn’t something you can plan. For me, it’s just happened. Everywhere I’ve gone, without exception, I have met and been blessed by generous people. From random relatives to former coworkers to future-grandmother-in-law’s-neighbors’-friends, people are incredibly generous. I’ve learned to embrace that generosity and hope to pay it forward someday.

In short, to do long term travel, you need good health, a bit of money, a light backpack, a dose of common sense, a dash of creativity, a strong work ethic, an adventurous heart, a cheerful attitude, a little courage, and a lot of faith. With these on your side, it is possible— and amazing beyond all description.

~~~

Have a travel question? Leave a comment and I'll answer!

Near Poppenricht, Germany, summer 2012

How Can You Afford to Travel? (The Grand Gallivant, Day One)

Hey all!

Turns out that planning for a three-month trip is a lot of hassle. The past few days have been crammed full of logistics-working with house-sitters, yard work, packing, and a bazillion little details that need to be taken care of while prepping for a trip. Fortunately, the end is in sight! Zach and I leave for Portland this evening, and our trip out west— which I’m officially naming The Grand Gallivant— will begin. Right now I’m too distracted and detail-oriented to really be excited, but I know the excitement will kick in later.

In the meantime, here’s a post I meant to put up earlier this week, but forgot. Enjoy!

---

Yesterday, someone at Zach’s work asked him how he could afford to take three months off work to go gallivanting off on a trip. It’s a good question, and I figured some of my blog readers might be wondering as well. It’s no secret that Zach and I live on one-and-a-half Walmart incomes, but a variety of factors have made trips like this possible. 

This is not a how-to guide, since many of the circumstances can’t be replicated. But it might be helpful as an example of how two relatively low-income people are able to make a trip like this.

We’re traveling super-low budget. We’ve budgeted $20 a day for the two of us, which must include food, lodging, gas, entertainment, and incidentals. This means no hotels or hostels (at least when just we’re traveling together), and no eating out. Fortunately, I’m already pretty familiar with the whole super-budget trip thing. We’re going to be spending big chunks of time volunteering on farms (that provide lodging and most of your food), as well as camping and couchsurfing. We’re gonna buy bulk groceries in Portland and schlep them around so we’ll avoid (comparatively expensive) fast food. If you want more tips on budget travel, check out these blog posts.

We have chosen very few expenses. Some expenses are inevitable— medical bills, taxes, etc.— but most are negotiable. Some of the expenses we’ve avoided were due to huge life choices: for instance, neither of us has student debt because neither of us went to college, and our mortgage is very low because we chose to live in a low-income neighborhood in Missouri. Other expenses we’re whittling down for the summer— for instance, we cancelled my cell phone.

We’ve been saving money carefully. For the past several months we’ve scaled way back on eating out, cut back on specialty food (meat, nuts, alcohol), spent almost no money on hobbies, and taken advantage of every money-accruing benefit that Walmart offers (say what you want about Walmart, but if you know how to work their benefit program, they will give you a lot of free money!). We’re putting off home projects and anything that we want to buy until after the trip.

We are incredibly privileged. Although I’m proud of the way we’ve managed our money, I fully appreciate the privileges that we have. We’re both in good health. We haven’t had any huge repairs or crippling medical bills this year. Our car payment is $0 because my brother gave us his car. We have no children. Zach’s sister is lending us a car for the summer. We have family who lives in a neat place to visit. All these factors are not ones you can plan, but they’re working to our advantage. So we can’t think for a moment that we’re “self-made,” or that we’re able to travel simply by our own power. On the other hand, though, with planning, counter-cultural life choices, and careful saving, we’ve given ourselves good leverage to take advantage of those privileges. 

In the end, not everyone can take a trip like this— indeed, most people can’t. However, I  believe this kind of trip is within the reach of many more people than it would at first appear. 

At any rate, thanks for coming with me on the Grand Gallivant! Whether you’re here for vicarious experiences or ideas of how to make a trip like this yourself, I hope you enjoy the journey!

~Lisa

The Grand Gallivant: Arriving in Portland

(Before I get started, here’s a little preliminary info about our budget for the summer. Like my Epic Trip Out West in 2011, the basic budget for each day of travel is $10 per person. Unlike the ETOW, this budget is caused by necessity rather than choice— and as such, we’ll be willing to spend a bit more using “cheats” such as money from family and friends, old gift cards, and so on. I won’t be posting daily counts, although I hope to post a general budget at the end of the trip, seeing how our finances turned out, for those who are interested in such things. The main focus of the trip isn’t the budget, but maximizing our experiences with the resources we have.)

Our trip began with a delayed flight. We arrived at the airport in plenty of time to wade through the lines to check our bags, tossing our backpacking packs on the conveyor belt, along with two huge suitcases that we were checking on Christian’s behalf (he was flying standby, and arrived in Portland several hours before we even reached the airport). It felt weird to have so many bags! Even without Christian’s luggage, we were packing heavier than I’ve packed since I traveled solo for the first time. But our trip is going to encompass so many different kinds of activities— namely, camping and farmwork— that we ended up packing what feels like an obscene amount of stuff. But now it was all packed away, and it was time to sit in the airport and wait. And wait.

We dined like princes, budget-style: almond-and-m&m trail mix from home, quesadillas cobbled together from some of the last ingredients in our fridge, and Starbucks coffee thanks to an old gift card. 

The days leading up to our departure had been so harried that the excitement hadn’t hit me at all; I was lost in a flurry of details, just wishing that the packing and planning were over. And now at last, here they were.

Our first flight was an hour delayed, and by the time we arrived at our layover in Las Vegas (11:30pm central time), we were both exhausted. We soon realized that our second flight was delayed by an additional two hours.

And so I slept in an airport for the first time! I tied a bandana over my eyes, snuggled into Zach’s jacket (the air conditioning was blasting in there), and curled up on the carpet, tuning out the sounds of flight announcements and the rattle and bing-bang of slot machines. Turns out I was able to sleep for nearly an hour.

We arrived in Portland at 2:30am Pacific time (4:30 central), and Zach’s dad Gary woke up in the middle of the night to come pick us up. We crashed hard that night!

Yesterday, despite being kind of sleepy and out of it, we (Zach, Christian, and I) managed to pack in a lot! We hung out with Zach’s family, then took a hike up to Multnomah Falls. all the way to an outcropping of rock called Angel’s Rest, where we caught a great view of the Columbia Gorge. Christian sprained his ankle on the way down from there, but we met some nice women who gave Zach and me a hitch back to our vehicle so Christian wouldn’t have to walk the last three miles on the road. (He’s been icing his ankle ever since, and we have high hopes it’ll be back to normal in a couple days.) 

Today is our errand day, where we buy a month’s worth of shelf-stable food and some last-minute supplies, although we’re hoping to make some time to show Christian around Portland a little bit. Then tomorrow we head out for Yellowstone. I can hardly wait!

Hope you have a wonderful week, and I’ll write again when I can.

Cheers!
Lisa

Travel Tip Tuesdays: How to Make a Trip Timeline

What’s the easiest way to plan what we’re going to do when we get there? I always want to plan things so that we don’t waste time doing nothing, but I get overwhelmed trying to figure out a timeline for things.

This is a very good question, and as I was writing this blog, I realized that the subject deserves two blogs to cover it properly. Thus, I’ve divided it into two parts: timeline skills and planning skills. Planning skills will come next Tuesday, but in the meantime, here are some tips about timelines!

Spontaneity is the cause of many lovely adventures,
such as stumbling onto a nude beach, as my sister
and I did on our  first trip to San Francisco!

First of all, find a timeline format that works for you. I usually write out my plans as a list, but it might be more helpful to use a calendar, either digital or paper. When making a timeline, you might want to cover these four elements:

Transportation. Note your planned travel times to get to your destination. When traveling by plane, this is straightforward, but driving time can significantly vary. Either way, be sure to leave lots of room. When traveling from Missouri to North Carolina with my siblings, our transportation plans consisted of, “Drive a little past Atlanta and get a hotel. Drive to Emerald Isle the next day, arrive sometime in the evening.” Leave lots of room for bathroom breaks, picnics, and traffic jams.

Lodging. Know in advance where you’re spending the night. This is essential to the peace of mind that allows you to run around all day having a good time. If you have enough money, this isn’t a worry, because you can always check into a hotel. If you’re on a budget, devote a bit more time to figuring this out in advance. A hostel is a nice low-budget option if the city has one (be sure to book it ahead of time; they fill up fast). I also recommend couchsurfing. Think creatively. When I was traveling solo, I spent an in-between night at an IHOP. When six friends and I were traveling together, we threw our sleeping bags on the concrete at a rest stop on the salt flats of Utah. 

A rest stop in Utah: I had no idea I was
chatting with my future husband.

Activities. This is the most unpredictable part of planning (and something I never worried too much about, which often resulted in me wandering a city for hours trying to figure out what to do). My best advice is to research your destination(s) in advance, and make a list of activities and sights that interest you. Divide this list into “Must Do,” “Want to Do,” and “Do If You Have Time.” Group the activities by geographical location: it makes no sense to zigzag all over town.

Food. It’s a good idea to have some notion of what food is available in the various places you visit. If you have a lot of money, this usually isn’t something to worry about. But if you’re on a budget, it can be tricky. I suggest that you always carry enough food and water to get you by. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve found myself stranded in a part of the city (or in the middle of a state park) without any cheap food around. If you have to stop what you’re doing and attempt to locate food, you waste a lot of time. Snack all day long to avoid interruption. (Here are some of my favorite travel foods.)

A few other tips:

Let things take as long as they take. If you realize that you need five hours to experience this museum to its fullest, take the five hours and don’t worry about what you “should” be doing otherwise. If you realize that this park just isn’t as nice as you thought it would be, don’t feel guilty about going on to something else. 

Keep the weather in mind. “Spend day at the beach” is foiled pretty quickly when a lightning storm hits. Be sure that you have a back-up plan, or can shuffle around your schedule to accommodate the weather.

Plan rest days. If you are traveling more than three or four days, build in at least one rest day where you don’t have any big activities planned. Otherwise, you might need a vacation from your vacation when you get home!

Don’t let your schedule cripple you. A timeline is here to help, not to restrict you. I love being spontaneous, so if I find out about a neat museum, a cool little restaurant, a farmer’s market or a busker’s fair, I rush to go off and see it. If you feel obligated to stick to the things you’ve written down, you may miss something. That said, a schedule is there to help you prioritize what is really important to you, and if you follow it, you’ll end up making the most of your time instead of wasting hours trying to figure out a game plan as you go along.

Next week… more planning skills!

~~~

Have a travel question? Leave a comment and I’ll answer in a future blog.

Travel Tip Tuesdays: How to Decide Where to Go

How do you decide where to take your trips?

According to legend, some people solve the problem of where to go with a world map, a blindfold, and a throwing dart. My decisions were never that random, although they often hinged on whims: “I’m going to Arizona!” “Why?” “Because I heard it’s pretty!” Deciding where to go has never been difficult for me. However, if you’re having trouble narrowing down the options, here are five ways to decide where to go:

Some places you're just obligated to
visit, like that one canyon in Arizona.

Locate family and friends. If you’re a budget traveler, this is one of your best options. Anyone who’ll be willing to put you up and show you the sights will make your trip awesome. I’m grateful to the family who have put me up in Colorado, Arizona, California, and, of course, Oregon.

Look at guidebooks. You know that everyone wants to go to Paris and London, but is that really something you would enjoy? A good guidebook can help you figure that out. Whenever I’m interested in visiting a place (such as the Southwest or Germany), I visit the library and check out as many guidebooks as they’ll let me. This helps me figure out what is most appealing to me.

Find a volunteer situation. You knew this was coming! Volunteer travel was my preferred method in my more nomadic days. Usually I started with a general geographic region and searched for help exchange hosts in that area. 

Travel to a special event. A festival in another city is really just an excuse for you to travel. Look up event calendars of cities you’re interested in, or check out a general event calendar (for events in the United States, I like Spirit magazine’s list).

Seek out somewhere completely different. I live in Missouri, so the Sonoran Desert, the Northwestern forests, and the Alps were foreign experiences to me. It’s fun to go places that remind you of home, but it’s a lot more exciting to do something crazy! You never know what place you’ll fall in love with next.

Whatever method you decide, remember to have fun, to appreciate what you experience, and to let your eyes be opened to a new set of wonders.

~~~

Got a travel question? Leave a comment and I’ll answer!

Travel Tip Tuesdays: How to Improvise

What do you do when the best laid plans go awry? How do you regroup and and head out on another, albeit different, adventure?

Life is unpredictable to begin with, and travel just amplifies that. I generally consider myself to be a flexible person, but unexpected changes in a trip have sent me reeling more than once. 

Sometimes your show in Salt Lake City is cancelled without warning and
 you have to spend the night at a rest stop on the salt flats. (It was the
most awesome place I've ever spent the night on my travels, incidentally.)

On my first-ever solo trip, I planned to stay in Washington for two months. A couple weeks before I was set to leave, my family was unexpectedly kicked out of our house (our landlord was foreclosed and he didn’t tell us). In the scramble of finding a new place to live and moving, I had to shorten my trip to one month. Although it was annoying, it made me focus my plans a lot more and rethink my strategy, since I now had a bigger budget per day.

I could tell some version of the story over and over: an adventure to California turned into a pilgrimage for a broken heart; a fun and random summer tour became one of the best trips of my life; a grand six-week solo tour of Europe transformed into a hard-earned lesson that I wasn’t so solo anymore. Each of these unexpected changes has been difficult in one way or another, but they’ve also taught me a lot about flexibility and improvisation.

It’s hard to nail down such abstract topics, but here’s my best advice.

Get rid of the picture in your head. Everyone does this a bit, some more than others: you get the picture of the way things are supposed to be (sometimes down to the smallest details). If everything works out the way it does in the picture, everything is fine, but if things go contrary to that, your day is ruined. There’s nothing wrong with making pictures in your head, but the moment that things start going differently, banish that picture. Don’t think of what should’ve been; focus on what is happening now.

Ice cream is also helpful for making everything better.

Take a step back. Breathe. Calmly go through your options. Say your worries or frustrations out loud, and then try to come up with solutions. Think about what an awesome blog this will make when all the trauma is over. Buy yourself some tea and strategize for your next plan. More than once I’ve felt a bit stranded as night was approaching. When this happens, get yourself to a place where you can spend the night as soon as possible. (On a budget, hostels are great for this. On an even lower budget, an IHOP or Denny’s will do, too.) Things always look better in the morning.

Be proactive. In a trip, it’s best to avoid sitting around letting things just happen to you. After you’ve given yourself a moment to breathe, start working on your next game plan. Again, don’t spend time worrying about the way things should have gone: ask yourself, “How should things go now, under these new circumstances?”

Look for the good. On my first trip to California, I realized early on that I was way too depressed to enjoy much of anything. So instead of trying to be a hardcore tourist, I focused on taking walks in nature and spending a lot of time hanging out with other guests at the hostel. Even if you’re generally miserable, it’s still possible to enjoy the little things. Relentlessly seek out the good wherever you are, and don’t allow yourself to wallow in anything.

Remember, this is an adventure! As kids, whenever my mom would get lost on the way to something (as she often did), she’d jokingly say, “We’re not lost, we’re having an adventure!” It was goofy, but that motto has stuck with me all these years. And honestly, I can’t think of a better way to describe the attitude that makes travel fun, exciting, and gloriously unpredictable.

~~~

Putting the "Travel" in "Traveling Mandolin"

This was awesome. (2011)

This was also awesome. (2013)

Most of you know that I used to travel... a lot. I used to be constantly planning for the next trip, beginning at age 20 with a solo month-long trip to Bellingham, Washington, and ending at 25 with the Pacific Crest Trail. When Zach and I returned from that six-month phase of life, we were returning to settle down for real.

We bought a house. We joined the Historic Frenchtown Association, and I became the secretary. We planted fruit trees and got Internet service. I raged and wept through a lot of existential angst, and came out the other side smiling and settled. I had been a bird, I said, but now I’m a tree.

Several weeks ago when we were visiting Zach’s grandparents in Sacramento, we were talking about work or change or routine or something like that, I don’t really remember. I just remember bursting out, “We should take an epic road trip!”

Zach balked at the suggestion, out of practicality. We talked through it. We sat down and did the calculations— there’s no way we could afford this, right? Oh wait, I think we can, if we just have this budget. Twenty dollars a day for two people? Pfft, yeah, I could do that! I have done that! We can totally do this!

So in mid-May, we are throwing three months’ worth of possessions into our backpacks, leaving our house in the care of Zach’s brother, and hitting the road! The trip begins with driving my brother to his job in Yellowstone, but from there we’re ditching the rental car and hopping the Greyhound. We’re sending in applications to HelpXing hosts right now, and hoping to meet up with Zach’s dad later in the summer to travel for a while. If all goes well, we’ll be home by the eclipse in late August.

Planning for the trip— reactivating my HelpX profile after several years, figuring out free camping spots, plotting Greyhound stations, looking for volunteer opportunities— has been so much fun. I had forgotten how fun trip-planning is. I had forgotten how much I missed this.

And yet, along with that excitement, I realize that if we had decided to stay home over the summer, I would’ve been just as happy. This is somewhat of a surprise to me, but I’m okay with it. There’s so much I want to do in St. Charles— gardening, neighborhood projects, urban homesteading skills, chicken-keeping, community building— and I can’t wait to do it. 

I feel like I should feel torn between these two halves of me, this longing for travel and longing for home that have been part of me for so many years.

But I don’t. In fact, I feel more whole than I’ve felt for a very long time. I love the idea of traveling, and I love the idea of staying home— but where I expect conflict between these extremes, I find harmony instead. 

Apparently I’m a tree and a bird at the same time. I don’t question this. I simply embrace it.

In the meantime, if any of you has suggestions for places to visit or things to do in the western United States, please send me your ideas! This is an open-ended trip, and we’re keeping all the possibilities in mind. Thanks!

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Travel Tip Tuesdays: 10 Ways to Save Money for a Trip (or anything else)

Many people are baffled that I was ever able to save up enough money to travel. Although my online job was mostly responsible for my freedom, I didn’t make as much money as you’d think. All in all, the best way to get money for a trip is to save it. As my mom once pointed out to me, saving money is like earning tax-free income!

Grocery-shopping is helpful
when you're on the road, too.

If you want to save up money for a trip (or anything else), here are 10 things you can do, big and small, to make your dream happen:

1. Figure out if saving the money is worth it. If you really want to save up enough money for a trip, you can. But to do that, you may have to sacrifice an awful lot, and if you have children or a wife to take care of, then this issue is much bigger than just you. However, if you’re young, single, and healthy, there is nothing to keep you from taking your dream trip. 

2. Make a budget. My monthly income fluctuates wildly, so my plan has always been to sit down when I get my paycheck and figure out how much I have left after tithe (10% of your income that goes to charity), rent, and basic bills. Then I divided that up among savings, groceries/supplies, and spending. Creating a budget takes about ten minutes and can save you hundreds of dollars over the course of the year.

Besides, DIY dessert is much more exciting!

3. Stop going into debt. One of the biggest causes of debt is unnecessary college education. A few years ago, many of my friends and acquaintances were headed to college with no idea what to do or why they were attending. Now, many of them have dropped out, pursued other interests, or just graduated with no job, still no clue what to do, and a massive debt on their shoulders. If you don’t know why you’re going to college and you’re racking up a debt, stop. If you already have debt, make paying it off your top priority. Debt is enslaving, so only submit to it for a darn good reason. 

4. Drop your smartphone, cable TV or Internet. Yes, I know. This is akin to asking someone to cut off their limbs. Believe me, though, it can be possible. A simple cell phone doesn’t have GPS or Fruit Ninja, but the drop in price might be worth it. Maybe you can forget cable and rely on Internet TV or Netflix, which continue to improve. Maybe you can do without Internet at all, relying on texting and free wi-fi hotspots for your e-mailing needs. Assess how much these things are worth to you, and if you need to, let them go.

5. Cut down or give up expensive habits. If you like to smoke, shop recreationally, buy comic books, visit the bar, drink gourmet coffee, go the movies, or dine at TGI Friday’s on a regular basis, take stock of what you’re doing. Is it really worth the money to you? Could you cut down on the frequency of these expensive habits to save money for something else? If you stopped a habit that cost you $3 a day, such as getting a fancy beverage at Starbuck’s every day, at the end of the year you’d have $1,095— enough for a round-trip plane ticket to Europe!

6. Shop for groceries and make your own food. Even an on-the-go person who hates to cook can find cheap and easy meals at grocery stores these days. Try being vegetarian one or two days a week to avoid purchasing expensive meat. Buy food on sale and eat whatever’s cheap. 

Sharpie doodling: prolong your jeans' life and make
yourself look like a cool indie kid in the process.

7. Don’t impulse-buy. This applies to groceries as well as everything else. Impulse buying can be fun every once in a while, but never let it become a habit. Stick to your budget. 

8. Try buying used instead of new. Thrift stores and Craigslist have never made it easier to get high-quality items for a ridiculously low price. If you’re trying to save money, it’s better to spend the extra time to root through the racks or the listings for higher-quality clothes, shoes, furniture and appliances for a much lower price than you could buy new. (Cheap Wal-Mart pants that last a few months: $10. Levi’s jeans bought at Goodwill that last two years: $6.)

9. Do little things to save money. Eat leftovers. Turn down the heat in your house in winter and up in summer. Put your spare change in a jar. Don’t leave lights on. Shower every other day. Walk somewhere instead of driving. Go on a picnic instead of out to a restaurant. Borrow movies and books from the library. Buy food in bulk and freeze it for later. Share resources. Barter. 

10. Keep perspective. For some people, it’s not worth it to sacrifice their comforts for a longer-term goal. For others, it’s better to give up a lot in the present to make room for better things in the future. You have to decide what is important to you, and spend your time and money on that. For the past few years, travel was an essential part of my life, and so I was willing to give up a lot for it. I think the memories, skills, joys and perspectives I gained were well worth the little sacrifices. It’s up to you to decide what is important to you.

~~~

Travel Tip Tuesdays: 15 Ways to Make Any Trip Cheaper

Chocolate-covered pretzel: highly
recommended as nonperishable snack.

1. Travel during the off-season (after Labor Day, before Memorial Day).

2. Ask hotels if they can give you a better rate.

3. Pump up your tires and get an oil change before a road trip.

4. Fly on off days (Tuesdays and Thursdays) and at off times (early morning, late night).

5. Use GasBuddy to figure out where the cheapest fuel is.

6. Camp, couchsurf, and stay with friends as much as you can.

7. Bring non-perishable food for snacks and meals.

Inconvenient, but much cheaper.

8. Try to find free days or coupons for attractions you want to visit.

9. Take a bus instead of a taxi.

10. Try to stay somewhere with a kitchen so you can cook your own food.

11. Don’t spend money on stuff you don’t care about.

12. Plan things in advance so you don’t have to make big last-minute purchases.

13. Seek out free attractions.

14. Make a budget for the trip and stick to it (but leave some room in the budget for spontaneity).

So much better than a museum.

15. Cherish time with people above “touristy” stuff.

~~~

Have a travel question? Leave a comment and I’ll answer!