The first couple days after returning from vacation are always a struggle—even more so when you know you’ll be jetting off to another exotic location the following week. From jet lag and slowly coaxing yourself out of vacation mode, to gauging your answer to the infamous “how was your trip” questions. Of course it’s a courtesy to ask people how their vacation went, but not everyone really cares. And even then, what part do you tell them about while keeping it brief enough for the water cooler? The food? The sights? The people? The culture? I could talk about my travels all day, but instead I’ve tried to keep it brief amongst coworkers. For the rest who are curious, I’ll share it here.
There will be more detailed posts to follow, but I just need to put it out there: Istanbul is a stunningly beautiful, almost magical city that’s really different from most places I’ve visited. In a very good way. Even though I stayed in ultra touristy Sultanahmet. It seemed like the perfect introduction to a Muslim country since they don’t seem to be very dismissive of Westerners. I don’t have any religious upbringing whatsoever so I’m fascinated by learning all about different faiths. I mean I certainly have my own beliefs, but I’ve actually managed to avoid sharing those with anyone pretty much ever. Well except for one of my exes, but that’s partially why he’s an ex.
Anyway, the city is MASSIVE. I had no idea how big it even was until I went up to Galata Tower and looked out over the city. Then I took a cruise up the Bosphorus to see it was even bigger. For fuck’s sake it spans two continents, of course it’s huge. From above it kind of reminded me of San Francisco times about 100, but with a way different culture and a lot more mosques.
Kebap. Lamb. Lahmacun. Borek. Meze. Baklava. The food was so delicious I’ve actually doubled in size upon returning to the States. Seriously though I’ve never eaten so well on a solo vacation. Usually I’m pretty frugal with what I eat, picking up yogurt and granola bars to get me through most of the day, then eating whatever random cheap dinner I come across in the evening. I usually save a ton of money doing that, but this time I just couldn’t stop myself from over-indulging every time I turned a corner. I never ate the same thing twice (except for baklava, but come on, baklava). The hotel had free buffet breakfast with a perfect rooftop view so I sampled everything they had to offer every morning. I stopped at dessert shops and street carts even when I wasn’t hungry. I splurged on dinner and I went back to the hotel full and happy (with more baklava in hand) every night.
Like most of my trips I went to Turkey alone, but I was rarely by myself this time around. In general the people in Istanbul were almost alarmingly friendly and hospitable. It threw me off a bit because I was always trying to figure out whether they were genuinely nice or if they just wanted to lure me into their family’s shop to buy something (or kill me in a back alley, you know, the standard worries). Waiters gave me free drinks and bar recommendations. Strangers on the street asked me to dinner. Others simply asked where I was from and started a conversation about the US or gave me directions. Yes, the tourist spots were loaded with hagglers and conniving salesmen, but rather than walking through the city ignoring everyone like I do in New York, I actually conversed with nearly everyone who spoke to me. Hell I even approached people myself and made a few friends. In fact I think this was the most “unplugged” solo trip I’ve ever taken, meaning I didn’t walk down the streets listening to my headphones so that strangers wouldn’t talk to me. I made small talk. I listened to everything. I met locals and I hung out with them. I went to Taksim at midnight, which some US news sources have recently portrayed as the “dangerous” part of the city. It wasn’t very dangerous at all. Probably because on this particular night at least, the protests had been replaced by a bunch of drunk kids partying. And a Shake Shack.
The call to prayer is a really beautiful thing to hear. One guy told me that Istanbul has over 2,000 mosques, so to hear these calls come over the loudspeakers and echo throughout the city during the day was absolutely surreal. My first day there I woke up sometime in the 4am hour to hear the first one of the day which completely blew my mind because it was still dark out. Another local later told me that the morning call to prayer has an additional line in it to say something about how God is more important than sleep. I’m guessing that prayer is for the truly faithful Muslims. And right in the middle of the day, seeing men shutting tourists out of their shops in the Grand Bazaar to pray was a sight to see. I mean I’m used to America where capitalism usually trumps religion, so to see people with such a devout religious culture is truly mesmerizing.
Sorting through my 1000+ photos is already leaving me with a serious case of wanderlust. How many days until I go back?
Luckily flights during the off-season are actually pretty cheap (under $500 RT!) to Istanbul, so the likelihood of me going back is actually pretty good. Except next time I’m stopping off in Cappadocia and Pamukkale. Who’s with me?
“You’re so lucky.” “Do you ever work?” “You must be rich.” “How do you have so much time off work?”
These are just a few of the questions I hear every time I jump on a plane, so please, allow me to answer.
Yes, I’m fortunate to have been given certain opportunities, but I also work my ass off and make plenty of sacrifices to put myself in those positions. Yes I work, all the time actually. And when I’m not at work, I’m likely at home working on my blog. I’m far from rich, but I am single and child-free, which means all of my money goes to me (and my least favorite uncle, Sam). And lastly, I guess I’m lucky enough to work for an employer that gives me a decent amount of vacation time, and I take full advantage of those days.
Basically, I’m not making a ton of money that allows me to live lavishly in New York and jet-set around the world every chance I get. It all comes down to the simple fact that I’m selective, decisive, and strategic about how and what I spend money on. And as a result I’ve reached a happy medium where I’m able to pay my bills, work full-time, and travel the world whenever I can.
So maybe some of these tips I use will help you get on the road or in the air a bit more while still working full-time.
Maximize paid time off. That means utilize long weekends, summer Fridays, holiday breaks, personal days, whatever your company gives you. Fly overnight, leave right after work, land two hours before going into the office, do what you’ve got to do. And don’t think that you can’t go some place awesome over a two or three-day weekend. I spent three months taking weekend getaways all over Europe—flying out at 6pm on Friday, and coming back at 8am on Monday morning—and saw so many amazing cities. Just be realistic with how far you can go, and go for it!
Negotiate vacation time. I’ve heard stories of people negotiating extra paid time off upon hiring into a new job, or even when they couldn’t get a raise yet at their current job. And seriously, to hell with employers who don’t give their employees proper paid time off.
Stop taking your job so seriously. I’m not by any means trying to belittle anyone’s career, but sometimes people simply think that their company will crumble or their employer will look down on them if they take a week off of work. If you have vacation time, USE IT. And use it wisely.
In 2013 my company paid for me to fly from New York to London, so I booked through IcelandAir because they were offering the option to add a multi-day stopover in Iceland for FREE on any flights from the US to Europe.
Cut out unnecessary expenses. My travel lifestyle certainly has its sacrifices, but I still live comfortably in Manhattan of all places. I spend more time at home, I grocery shop and pack lunch whenever possible, and I’ve really scaled back on how much money I throw away when I do go out. Save money wherever you can and it will all add up. Bike to work to alleviate the cost of transportation AND double as a workout rather than joining a gym. Choose an appetizer rather than a huge entrée. Don’t buy another round of drinks. Stay home once in a while. Don’t buy a bunch of useless shit just because it’s on sale. Stop shopping for clothes every week. Claim 0 on your taxes and spend that hefty tax return on a big trip. Cut down your cell phone plan or join a family share plan. Ditch the TV/cable/Netflix and watch your shows online. Stop being such a lush. Stop smoking. Basically, anything you can cut down on, you should. And it doesn’t mean you have to stop living your day-to-day life, just see where you can cut back a little.
Set up a bank account strictly for travel. If you’re anything like me and have a high rent/mortgage plus several student loans and bills to pay each month, finding spare cash to travel with can seem impossible. That’s why I set up a separate bank account so that $100 from each paycheck automatically gets deposited. Before you know it you’ve got some spare cash to put towards a flight, hotels, or spending money. (Bonus points for an account with a feature like the Bank of America Keep The Change program, that rounds up every purchase you make and puts the change into your account.)
Find a good rewards card and pay for everything you can with it. I’ve got the Capital One Venture Rewards card which gives me 2 points for every dollar I spend. I put most of my purchases on it each month, then I only touch my checking account when it’s time to pay the balance. Put all of your big purchases on there too, especially flights and hotels. Plus when you travel abroad, having a good travel card can keep you from paying foreign transaction fees. Check out thepointsguy.com to compare cards and see which is best for you.
Pay off your credit cards. While we’re on the topic, keep your credit card balance in check. Based on your income and free spending money, develop a plan to rack up points with it while paying it off immediately. That means DON’T CARRY A BALANCE. That also means spending within your means—if you don’t have the cash, don’t do it. You don’t want to be paying down $2,000 on your card and spending $700 on a flight.
A trip across the world might make for an expensive flight, but the points/miles help cushion the blow. Plus once you figure out how cheap it is to actually travel in places like Southeast Asia, you realize the bulk of your trip has already been paid for.
Go with your gut. What I mean is don’t go crazy with the planning. I’ve had some pretty great experiences by just booking a random getaway on a whim. Last week I booked a random flight to Istanbul in March knowing nothing about it because my gut was telling me to go for it. So if you see a deal, you can afford it, and you’ve got an inkling to travel there, just go for it. Book it and then figure everything else out later.
Never fly without getting frequent flyer miles. If possible, stick to one airline and their partner airlines just to keep racking up the points. But sometimes plans won’t allow you to do that, so make sure you sign up for whatever new program just in case. For example, my round trip flight to Thailand on Cathay Pacific in 2012 almost gave me enough points to fly NYC to Brazil one-way for free because I signed up for Asia Miles. A year later my flight from London to NYC on Aer Lingus (a partner in the Asia Miles program) gave me enough points to get me to that one-way ticket for free.
Sign up for hotel rewards programs as well. If your rewards program doesn’t let you redeem for hotels, consider joining a hotel rewards program as well. This might not be the best option for everyone, especially considering how often you can find much better deals by booking directly through a hotel, hostel, or Airbnb. But I signed up for hotels.com when I was traveling around Europe a lot because I got one free night for every 10 nights booked. Over the course of the year I managed to get two free nights which I just redeemed for that random trip to Istanbul. And I’m only two nights away from my third free night.
Plan wisely and look for money-saving alternatives. Okay stay with me on this one, because explaining my logic is not my strong point. The Galapagos have always been on my “I wish” list because I’d always heard they were so expensive. And yes, they’re a few thousand dollars if you do the traditional week-long island hopping cruise experience. If you actually stay on the islands, however, you can stay in a private room at a hostel for like $15 a night. Then you can barter with the park guides there and go on day trips to the other islands for like $70-$100. So here, the only real expensive part is the flight. And as mentioned above, I’ve been planning a trip to Brazil using my Asia Miles to get me there for free. So I looked up flight prices and realized that what I’d pay to travel ROUND TRIP to the Galapagos was only slightly more than what I’d pay for that ONE WAY flight back from Brazil. On top of that, if I booked a flight to the Galapagos through American Airlines, it’d give me enough AAdvantage points for a one way flight BACK from Brazil to NYC. Since American doesn’t fly to the Galapagos, but LAN, their partner airline in South America does, that’s who I booked through. So once I complete the trip I’ll have enough points to get me to and from Brazil for nearly free.
Choose cheaper places to sleep. Often times hotels are damn expensive. Look into bed and breakfasts, hostels (you can get private room hostels too if you’re beyond that stage in your life), or even couchsurfing. There are tons of people all over the world who love to travel and love to welcome people into their home and country. I’ve stayed in a few Airbnb apartments and met some pretty amazing people who included me in their dinner parties, homemade brunch celebrations, and nights out.
The view of the light from the Eiffel Tower from my Airbnb digs in Paris
Follow travel deal sites. I’m going to do a proper post on these soon because I’ve been hearing of so many new sites lately, and some that I’ve grown to love have recently started to suck, but The Flight Deal is a good one, as is Airfare Watchdog. I hear Skyscanner is as well, though I’ve never used it.
By following TripAlertz, I nabbed this 5-night getaway to the British Virgin Islands for only $300, flight and hotel included.
Search flexible dates. We all know that searching for flights over a couple of days, or even hours can give way to some serious savings. So try out various flight combinations before booking the best deal, and use a site like Kayak and their price trend predictor to get a feel for normal prices. Don’t be afraid of the overnight flights, the early morning flights, the (reasonable) layovers, or shifting your vacation by a few days. So what if you’re tired at work the day you get back? It’s one day of being a bit sleepy in exchange for a great vacation.
Don’t be afraid to go alone. If I passed up every trip that I didn’t have anyone to go with, I’d still be sitting on my ass in Ohio, having never left the States. Traveling alone is truly great, and though some people do prefer to travel with someone, I’ve never met someone who’s regretted traveling alone. If you’ve never done it, you might be surprised at just how enjoyable your experience will be. (And no, it’s not a big deal to eat alone in public, seriously.)
Think local. Don’t have the time or money to take off across the globe just yet? Hit a few places that are close to home to tidy you over, but keep saving for your big adventure.
While living in London I set off on a super cheap flight from London City Airport to Schiphol Airport, and stayed with a friend for free. I basically spent the same amount of money that weekend as I would’ve just staying in London.
Just book it. Making the decision to go somewhere can sometimes be the most difficult part. But once you book that flight, you’re going.
I could easily double or triple the size of this list, but the most important thing I can tell you to do is just do research. Don’t assume a place is too expensive and out of reach until you actually look into it for yourself. Travel isn’t nearly as expensive as many people think it is. And more often than not, it’s only as expensive as you make it. You’d be surprised how far your money can go in most places, especially where the exchange rate is favorable. Plus, walking around a new city or town on your own two feet is always free.
What other advice do you have for making travel affordable and doable outside of your 9-5?
Sometimes I amaze myself with my process behind booking a trip. Sometimes I plan the hell out of it. Sometimes the planning overwhelms me to the point where I actually get bored with that destination so I randomly go somewhere else at the last minute.
Booking this latest trip was no different.
Lately I’ve been keeping things pretty low-key, only doing a couple of brief domestic trips here and there. I had some bills to catch up on, a new apartment to enjoy, and a scuba certification to complete. But I knew that as soon as 2014 hit I was going to be hopping on a plane.
I welcomed the new year with five rollover vacation days I had to use up in Q1. So since I have a huge, almost sexual obsession with volcanoes, Central America shot to the top of my list. I researched, and researched, and researched, yet nothing felt quite right. Sure I wanted to do it all—exploring rain forests at Arenal, swimming in Lake Atitlan, volcano boarding at Cerro Negro, hiking on Ometepe. But I was also being teased to test out my new diving skills in Belize or Honduras. With the extensive travel time and distances involved trying to squeeze that much activity into a long week, it was proving difficult or more expensive than it seemed worth. Plus I wasn’t ready to settle on “just the rainforest experience” or “just the diving.” So after weeks of endless searching and the February 7th departure date looming closer, I scrapped that whole plan and went all in on another in a matter of hours.
I’m going to the Galápagos Islands from March 28 – April 7.
HELL. FUCKING. YES.
I pushed the date back a bit for several reasons, but mostly just to give myself a little more time to get my shit together and make sure this trip is as awesome as it should be. But on Sunday morning when the idea came to mind, I instantly knew this was where I was going. Further research only solidified this. It has everything I want—volcano hiking (albeit, no lava, but that’s another trip in the works), nice beaches, awesome scuba diving, and an extra bonus: cliff diving. Plus, AWESOME WILDLIFE! Sea lions, blue footed boobies, penguins, flamingos, giant tortoise, iguanas, hammerhead sharks, etc. etc. etc.! And despite what you’re probably thinking, it’s actually very affordable. But more on that later.
So yeah, 72 days until I’m in paradise, wrestling a giant tortoise and diving with sea lions. I’m only half kidding there.
Travel is a weird thing. Everyone knows what it means, yet it still means something different to everyone.
There’s the overworked people who travel for relaxing getaways, saving money and vacation days all year to splurge at a five-star resort. There’s the fanny-packing, camera-toting, big city tourists who plan every detail of their trip with a guidebook in hand.
There’s the thrifty backpacker who wings it on the cheap, throwing some stuff in a bag, hitting the road, and playing it by ear. There’s those who travel with a mission, whether that’s to volunteer, climb Everest, or just pursue a passion like surfing in a new spot. There’s people who spend years traveling with no physical address to call home, working remotely while jumping from one place to the next.
Then there’s people who, personally I’ll never understand, have zero desire to explore the world outside of their zip code. But those people are irrelevant because I’m convinced they aren’t really people at all.
Kanchanaburi, Thailand
And those are just a few “stereotypes.” Point is, there are tons of reasons to travel and it’s personal to everyone.
For me, I travel to expand my knowledge about this amazing planet, from the people and the cultures to the natural beauty. I know that sounds vague but it’s true in so many ways. I travel to learn more about myself. To wake up in the morning and wander outside of my comfort zone. I travel to remind myself that there’s way more to life than spending every day in an office, and that people all over the world are fascinating beyond comprehension. And I can only hope to one day answer that I also travel to help people in other parts of the world, however that may be.
But without getting too sappy, I also travel to visit friends, eat and drink delicious things, take pictures of pretty places, and blab all about it here in hopes that I inspire others to do the same.
La Boqueria, Barcelona
The funny thing is that growing up in small-town Ohio, my family was actually considered well traveled because we vacationed in Florida every spring and Las Vegas every summer. Hell, when I moved to New York at 21 I thought I had an impressive travel resume even though I had no stamps in my passport. But it quickly became obvious I was nothing more than a sheltered suburban girl whose idea of traveling was limited to domestic hot spots. I met kids whose parents took them on African safaris instead of the local zoo, or whose families had a second vacation home in Paris or Italy. People who studied abroad more than once, or took a gap year in Australia. And here I was, with travel still a privilege and luxury in my mind, and certainly something I couldn’t afford while attending a college that was more than my family’s total combined income.
Somewhere along the line after I graduated that began to change, and I decided to make travel a priority. I’ve started figuring out how to make it work with my life and my income, so that I get the absolute most out of each trip. Yes, I’m still shelling out a few roundtrip flights each month towards student loans and rent, and no, I’m not quite living my dream of getting a paycheck while trekking around the globe with a computer and a backpack. But a girl can dream!
Those three months I spent living in London earlier this year helped me feel like I’d finally caught up. Or have at least come close to catching up. I finally got to visit all of those European cities my classmates went to after high school, and now I’m free to set out for those lesser-known places that REALLY excite me. And if I had the chance to do Thailand all over again, believe me I would. But that was my first big solo international jaunt, booked as a last minute trip during Monsoon season. Of course I missed out on a lot. But you can bet I’ll be going back to Southeast Asia soon enough.
Bristol, England
Anyone can be more than one type of traveler because we all visit new places for different reasons. But, at least in my experience, you’ll always find that some of those trips are more fulfilling than others. While I still enjoy visiting big cities, I no longer find nearly as much satisfaction in skyscrapers as I do visiting remote areas of natural beauty. Plus I’m getting to the point where I don’t necessarily want to travel just for the sake of traveling if I have the opportunity to accomplish something or make an impact there. Unfortunately that’s still a bit difficult to do when you can only get a week or two off work.
So, why do you travel, or what do you find fulfilling when you visit a new place? And what trips are you looking forward to next?
I’ve never really had travel buddies and I won’t hesitate to go wherever I can, whenever I can. So it truly amazes me how many people won’t travel alone since it’s pretty much the only way I know how to travel. After returning from my 37 day AYCJ journey around the US, I was surprised that the most common question I was asked was not “what’d you see? What’d you do?” but rather “weren’t you scared?”
I think the fear to travel alone comes from the fact that people are afraid of the unfamiliar—what they don’t know. Here are some tips to get you over that fear and psyched up to enjoy just how amazing solitary traveling can be.
If this is your first time traveling alone:
– Choose a destination you’re comfortable exploring on your own.
– Learn how to enjoy your own company. Personally I look forward to me-time on the road so that I can reflect on the experience and absorb it all in my own way.
– If you’re afraid that you’ll get lonely don’t worry, you won’t be alone for long. In fact you’ll probably end up meeting more people than you would traveling with others, assuming you’re engaging in friendly conversations with those around you. Locals love to take an out-of-towner to their favorite spots, you just have to hint that you’re interested.
– Get over your fear of eating alone. Seriously. Just enjoy the food, enjoy the atmosphere, and enjoy yourself. Quit worrying if people are looking at you.
– Many times the price of traveling solo can be daunting because there’s no one to split the price of the hotel room and meals with. But a little creativity can make the trip affordable on a single budget. For starters, you can set your exact dates and travel times without accommodating for anyone else, so you’re more likely to get the cheapest flight possible. For lodging just break it up a little. Instead of booking a hotel room for a week, stay there just a few of the less expensive nights (usually during the week) and check into a budget place or a friend’s house the rest of the week. Also you’ll probably spend less on food since you won’t be dining out as often. (Don’t miss out on the food though! Saving money while experiencing the local cuisine is an entirely different topic in itself.)
– Look on sites like craigslist or CouchSurfing for free to cheap lodging with random people. Always have a backup plan in case that doesn’t work out, that way you won’t get suckered into dropping a ton of money on the first place you see if the situation arises.
– As always, do your research to find the cheapest accommodations. Even if you’re not interested in a hostel, searching for them will bring up deals on cozy bed & breakfast-style accommodations as well.
– If you’re still a little skittish, it never hurts to leave your itinerary and contact information with someone back home should there be any any problems.
Traveling alone just means you’ll have to get creative in how to include yourself in the pictures
And a few reasons why traveling alone is awesome:
– You’ll enjoy 100% of your vacation because you can spend it doing your own thing at your own pace.
– You’re free to change up the itinerary as much as you want, even at the last minute.
– There’ll be no one to mandate a pit-stop back at the hotel because their feet hurt, no one leaving their stuff scattered around the room, and no one forcing you to skip over a great restaurant because it doesn’t sound good to them. You’re on your own watch and what you do is entirely up to you.
– You’re more likely to explore even further outside of your comfort zone, and possibly experience more spontaneous spur-of-the-moment decisions since you won’t be locked into any plans. In my experience those decisions have always led to the most memorable stories.
– Let’s face it—a night out with a bunch of people you just met can be way more fun than a night out with the same friends, hearing the same stories over and over.
– There’s nobody to limit your travel plans, dates and times. I’m a huge fan of getting the most out of my vacation time (even if that means taking a red-eye that lands at 7am when I have to be to work at 930), but most people I know need an entire day to recoup.
– If you do choose to reach out to a friend, or a friend of a friend for a place to crash, it’s definitely more appropriate if it’s just you.
– You can use transit time to study up on something you don’t have time for at home— brush up on a foreign language, read a book, organize files on your laptop, or just catch up on sleep. For the music lover, an MP3 player is crucial in transit.
– You can literally leave everything behind while on the road. That shouldn’t be intimidating, but extremely liberating.
But perhaps the number one best tip for traveling alone, just do it, as Nike would say. The thing to remember is that traveling in itself gives you both options and freedom. After all, isn’t that what travel is all about?
