Traveling on a Budget

Traveling on a budget can some times be hard; when you're on a vacation you want to splurge, relax and not have a care in the world. But you also don't want to come home with a bill the size of a small mountain either. Here are some tips on how to travel on a budget.

Rent a home/condo

There are so many other options when it comes to a place to stay other then the major hotel chains. For our next trip to the Hawaiian Islands we plan to use HomeAway or some of the condos listed on Trip Adviser. We saw a deal just the other day for a studio condo in Maui; they had a July special for $50 a night! Yeah, its only enough space for two people but you cant deny how awesomely cheap that is!!!

Saver tip: Don't rent any sort of sporting equipment from your hotel, they are going to over charge you! Rent it from the local surf or ski shop.

Hawaiian Style Cafe...yum!

Eat where the locals eat

When we went on our last vacation (the Big Island aka Hawaii) we ate at this awesome local restaurant called Hawaiian Style Cafe. Their servings were big enough for 2 people to share and the prices were really reasonable. Research these places before you go and map them out, it will be worth it! Again, use a search site like Trip Adviser or Yelp to find local hang outs. These websites will also let you  know how expensive the venues are.

Saver tip: If you're traveling to Hawaii you can pick any fruit you find on the island. We were told anything you find you can eat. And we happened to find pineapple, guava, limes, and passion fruit and we ate them all! YUM!

fresh out of the ground

Pack some snacks

This can be a real wallet saver! When I studies abroad I packed the instant oatmeal packs, peanut butter, and granola bars for my stay. I still continue to pack some small snack items when I go. A) you never know when you might need them and B) some times that's all you need to get you going in the morning. A granola bar form your local grocery store vs. the $15 per head breakfast the hotel is offering...granola wins!

Plan your vacation during the off season

This can really help you get those great deals! Most airlines and hotels will have sales to destinations during the off season. So instead of traveling to Paris in spring try the winter, or instead of going to Hawaii in the summer try November - March, the weather is better and you might see more marine life since the humpbacks are there from December to March. 

Enjoy what the destination has to offer

When we went to Hawaii we were able to enjoy beaches and waterfalls for free! Look for state or national parks that can offer you some amazing sights for little or no charge. Do some research before you leave and you're bound to find something fun for free.

Saver tip: Check out Groupon and living social for local deals for your destination. We did this when went to Las Vegas and saved $50 a person for night club/party bus tour.

Kekaha Kai State Park --- FREE

Pololu Trail --- FREE

Travel Insurance: To Buy or not to Buy

So about a year ago when we started planning our trip to Hawaii I started seeing friends on facebook and people at work talk about getting jury duty and hoping it wouldn't mess up their travel and/or wedding plans. It really got me thinking. Also, we were going to be traveling to an island with a valcanon on it and part of its coat line was hit by the tsunami that hit Japan.

photo credit 

I had always thought that travel insurance was kind of a scam; just another way for them to make money off of you. Whit this in mind, I went ahead and asked my travel agent about it. She gave me the full coverage price for 2 people and it was going to be ~$300 per person!!! ($600 is a big deal when you're planning/budgeting for a vacation). And then she gave me option 2 ... 80% coverage should we for some reason have to cancel our trip for only $154 for the BOTH of us! That I could live with. When she emailed me the paper work I began to look at it and it covers so much more! Which made me kind of relieved. Below is the list of things our insurance covered.

• Lost Baggage (very important!)
• Baggage Delay ($300 a day)
• Missed Connection ($800 for any fees the airlines try to slap on you)
• Emergency Medical Transportation
• Emergence Medical and Dental
• Trip Cancellation Protection
• Trip Delay
• Trip Interruption (should you need to rush home for something)

All of these things make sense and it made me feel so much better about having all our bases covered. Look at your vacation like an investment, would you protect your investments? Yes! So why not protect your vacation, your personal belongings, and family while you are an adventure!  Here is a link to good travel tips from my favorite financial guru.

World's Most Popular Landmarks

Empire State Building

Landmarks have piqued our interest for years and some are the reasons why we travel to the cites the reside in. So when I stumbled upon this article written by Sarah Spagnolo about the most popular landmarks in the world I thought it would make a good blog post. Enjoy! Highlighted in purple are the ones I have been to :)

No. 1 Statue of Liberty, New York City
More than a century after France gifted this 151-foot copper sculpture to the United States, three million–plus visitors head to Liberty Island each year to admire it.

No. 2 Empire State Building, New York City
Manhattan’s classic skyscraper soaring 1,435 feet above 34th Street is widely considered the quintessential Art Deco landmark and currently holds the record as the city’s tallest building.

No. 3 Golden Gate Bridge,  San Francisco
Spanning 4,200 feet across Golden Gate Strait, the structure’s dramatic setting, orange color, and sheer size have made it one of the world’s most recognized bridges since 1937.

No. 4 Eiffel Tower,  Paris
Gustave Eiffel’s 984-foot monument of open-latticed wrought iron wowed the 1889 World Expo, instantly becoming a Paris icon—despite initial resistance from Parisians themselves.

No. 5 Big Ben,  London

Though the name refers exclusively to its 13-ton bell, the world’s most famous clock tower has helped keep Londoners punctual since 1859.

No. 6 Colosseum, Rome
When construction finished on this 513-foot freestanding amphitheater in A.D. 82, 50,000 Romans could pack in to ogle gladiator death battles and mock naval combat.

No. 7 Millennium Park, Chicago
The standout features of Chicago’s 24.7-acre Millennium Park include Anish Kapoor’s jellybean-like Cloud Gate sculpture, Frank Gehry’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion, and various outdoor art exhibitions.

No. 8 St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome
It took a star-studded team of Renaissance masters—including Raphael, Michelangelo, and Bernini—more 
than a century to complete the Vatican’s magnificent, art-filled cathedral.

No. 9 Swiss Re Building, London
Nicknamed The Gherkin, the 2004 glass-paneled, rocket-shaped office tower in London’s financial center was designed by Norman Foster using 10,000 tons of structural steel.

No. 10 The High Line, New York City
Flower beds, day loungers, even a bar occupy this once-abandoned elevated rail bed—reconceived by Diller, Scofidio, and Renfro—that now threads through buildings from the Meatpacking District to West 30th Street.

Big Ben

Swiss Re Building 

St. Peter's Basilica 

The Colosseum

Sin City

So this past weekend we took my little (well not so much anymore) brother to Las Vegas for his 21^st birthday. I decided to do this for him because when I was in college I never really got him anything great for Christmas or his birthday since I didn’t really have money to spend…So I guess I was trying to make it up to him. This would also be my husband's first trip to Sin City. I booked the trip online at aaa.com and got pretty nice deal (or I'd like to think); we got 2 round trip flights and a stay at the Bellagio for 2 nights for $1200. The Bellagio is nice and in a great location right in the middle of the strip. My only complaint was I had ordered my brother a birthday cake and it arrived about 45 minutes late, the wrong flavor and they didn’t give us any forks! When we called to see where it was at they said it was on the way and would be there any second…it was there about 10-15 minutes later so I am thinking they forgot. Of course we didn’t have to pay for it.

For our first night there I had bought a groupon for a Club Party Tour. We got on a party bus and went from club to club and had free drinks on the bus (good things because drinks were crazy expensive!). We left that scene before the tour was over because it's not really our thing. The next day we woke up and headed across the street to the Mile Mall (Planet Hollywood) to get breakfast and bring some back for my brother before we headed to the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop, famous from the TV show Pawn Stars. Sad to say that the "Pawn Stars" weren’t there…that was a waste of $40 cab ride. Then they guys did some gambling and I took a nap because all the cigarette smoke everywhere was giving me a HUGE headache! Then we just wondered around before dinner at Serendipity 3 at Caesar's Palace and it was sooooo good! I was so excited to eat there because I wasn’t able to go to the original the last time I went to NYC. The food was good and so was the dessert! YUM! Then we decided to go see Peep Show staring Holly Madison, to be honest she really had nothing to do with the show, she seemed very shy and nervous and you're pretty much paying just to see her topless.

After that it was off to bed to check out and catch our flight in the morning. Vegas is always a city for a quick trip away; hope you had a great birthday little Bro!

Rick Steves: Study abroad is necessity, not luxury

So to continue my one post a week trend I will now be talking about travel instead of sharing my stories…because I have no more (until Vegas next week). I was surfing the web and saw this article written by Rick Steves, a travel expert of sorts, about study abroad and how it is something US students MUST do to keep up with the world. Typically when you meet someone from a different country they know 2, maybe 3 or 4 languages verse the typical American that only knows one…English. Steves says, "Ninety-six percent of humanity lives outside our boarders – and we risk being left in the dust if we don’t know how to effectively engage the world."

photo credit

Being a part of the only 2% of American students that were able to study abroad, I too think studying abroad is a must for this country's future. I only studied abroad for six weeks and I sure wish it had been more! I became who I am today in those short six weeks and I grew up so much as a person (as crazy as that sounds). Unfortunately my degree program didn’t offer any study abroad programs so I took one through the business school in International Marketing and Management. I did what I had to do to study abroad and make myself stand out to future employeers. While I was there I met some local people and they are some of my best friends now! Checkout Rick's article HERE!

Saying Goodbye, Day 6

Well day 6 was our last day on Hawaii's Big Island :( We had to be out of the hotel by noon but our flight didn’t leave until 10pm! We had  A LOT of time to waste! We had a booked a submarine tour with Atlantis Submarines at 2pm so while we waited for that we had a few cocktails and just walked the streets in Kona looking at some Historic buildings and popping into stores. We both thought that after snorkeling the submarine ride was pretty lame! I would only recommend doing the sub to someone that is afraid to snorkel or doesn’t have 3-4 hours for snorkeling. Atlantis is really there for the cruise lines that come to shore. But now we can say that we have been in a submarine and not many people can say that. After that it was only 3 o'clock so we still had plenty of time to roam around before our dinner reservation at 5. So we walked around some more and headed in the direction of the restaurant. 

Once 5 hit we were ready for some dinner on the patio of Huggo's to watch the sunset (and to be perfectly honest, with nowhere to go we were ready to go home). The food was wonderful! We finished up there and just decided to head to the airport. Once our luggage went through the agricultural screening we went to check in, first question they asked, "would you like to upgrade to 1^st class?" Our response, "YES!!!" American Airlines was the cheapest airline to fly with but I have to say their seats were very uncomfortable! Glad we were able to bump up to 1^st. They didn’t seem to have their $h*t together at the airport (mostly to people bringing on too much or too big carry on items) and we ended up taking off almost an hour late! But we made it to LA in time and caught our flight to Houston without a hitch. We were so happy to be home but we missed the island life already. Can't wait to visit the other islands!

on the sub

crazy trees

Sunset at Huggo's

Hawaii, the Big Island, Day 1

The Whole Island Drive, Day 2

A View from the Top, Day 3

Waipio Valley, Day 4

Under the Sea, Day 5

Under the Sea, Day 5

The morning of our 5^th day in Hawaii was one of the best, at least I think! We started our morning with a drive down Alii Road and ended up at our meeting point for our snorkel adventure with Sea Quest. I was really scared to go because I have silly fear of the water (and not knowing what is in the deep blue) and sharks! When we got to our first snorkel spot at Honaunau Bay or Place of Refuge I told my husband to hold my hand and don’t let go! The tour director said, "you say that now but in 5 minutes you'll be off doing your own thing!" She was right! It was so awesome to see all these crazy cool colorful fish! Including the humuhumunukunukuapua'a, Hawaii's state fish! After only about 30 minutes in the water our waterproof camera broke!!! Thank goodness we had some waterproof disposable cameras with us! We spent about an hour here before we headed for Kealakekua Bay and Capitan Cook memorial. This area was very unique; the reef comes out about 50 feet from the shore (about 6-10 feet deep) before dropping off to 100 feet deep!!! Man I was kind of nervous! I felt like Bruce from Finding Nemo was going to just pop out and say, "hello!" All along the coast they showed us the old lava tubes and lava flows from over the years which was really neat. Apparently some you can even dive into! We got back to the dock but not before seeing a pod of dolphins that seemed to be sleeping (based on what our Capitan said).

"Hello, names Bruce!"

After this we drove into Kona and parked and went to the little farmers market and bought some homemade and home grown jelly and some local art. There were tons of tropical flowers there for sale too! Some I had never seen before! Check out our video on youtube you'll see the humuhumunukunukuapua'a!

colors not altered 

Hawaii, the Big Island, Day 1

The Whole Island Drive, Day 2

A View from the Top, Day 3

Waipio Valley, Day 4

Saying Goodbye, Day 6