NIFTY THRIFTY

Tasty Toronto

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Sun, 12 May 2013 23:35:00 +0000

I'm heading to TBEX in Toronto in a couple of weeks, and I'm already getting excited about the food! Living in Vancouver, it's not like we don't have amazing restaurants of our own, but exploring the offerings in another city is always pretty fun. I love seeing what new trends are popping up - sometimes they're well ahead of what we're seeing in Vancouver (this year, lots of cool Korean influences in casual joints), and others have been around here for ages (let's just say I'm finding it hard to get excited about all of the new izakayas in Toronto).

But if you don't get to go to Toronto very often, there are some fantastic spots that will give you a real taste of the city without breaking the bank. Here are my five picks:

Pizzeria Libretto - 221 Ossington
This place is loud, squishy and you'll need to get there early to have any chance of getting a table. But it's worth it for excellent certified "Real Neapolitan Pizza" yes, but also their Italian appetizers, which in my opinion steal the show. At lunch, $15 gets you a three-course menu, and pizzas are between $10 and $17.

The Atlantic - 1597 Dundas West
In an area that is still known as Little Portugal, The Atlantic throws back to its roots with a menu that includes a lot of fish in dishes like a Salt Cod Brandade, but also reaches for the future with locally-sourced ingredients and some interesting techniques. Plan on sharing everything, with dishes averaging around $12 or $13. The cocktail list is also excellent.

Bellwoods Brewery - 124 Ossington
Microbreweries are really strong in Ontario, and Bellwoods is a good place to start exploring them. This is a fairly small spot, but downing a beer will help you make friends. They also have a good kitchen with better-than-average nibbles to help soak up some of the ale.

The Black Hoof - 928 Dundas West
The Hoof makes the list because it's been open for five years and still packs them in. The menu is meaty, and probably includes bits that you don't usually indulge in. Do yourself a favour and try them because they're really, really good (as long as you're not vegetarian.) This place will make you feel cool and in the know, and you'll also love the really smart wine list.

WVRST - 609 King Street West
I'm including this place because it reminds you that you're in a big city. It's basically a beer hall with two choices for food: sausage on a bun, or sausage currywurst-style, both from $6. You do, however get to choose from over 20 varieties of sausage, including a load of vegetarian ones, and the selection of microbrews on tap is impressive. I'm also including WVRST because its on the edge of downtown, and is actually an acceptable place to end up late on a Friday night.

You Write The Book - Building Your Own Travel Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 23:03:00 +0000

As I've often mentioned, I like to do my own research before a trip. I love a knowledgeable travel agent, and a good hotel concierge is a life-line in an emergency, but when I get to a place, I want to have a clear idea of what I should do while I'm there. I want to know what the options are, and why I'm choosing (or not choosing) a particular restaurant/hotel/market/tour.

It used to be that the best you could do was to find a trusty guide for the particular city or country, leaf through it's pages until they resembled semi-transparent onion skin, and then, if you were a super-keener like me, you would go to the library to photocopy newspaper travel articles that you found on microfiche. (I know what you young 'uns are thinking: "There were travel articles in newspapers?" Ha!)

The good ol' internet has changed all that - not only do I not have to head to the library to collect magazine articles on a destination, I can post questions in forums, I can read blogs by any traveler-type I dare imagine, and I can compile all of these to either read offline or access from one place on my iPhone. Here are some of my favourite research tools.

Evernote

Services such as Evernote are great if you're compiling a mix of types of info. You can include links, whole web pages and articles, photos, etc. and then pull them up offline using search terms. Because Evernote works on multiple platforms linked by the one account, you can save info on your iPhone, and then pull it up on your desktop or tablet. So if you tag all of your trip research as "Spain 2014," a quick search will bring everything up at the same time.

Delicious

Delicious is fantastic for bookmarking your links, tagging and then allowing you to share them with others. Perfect if you're planning a trip with friends and you want their input on, say, accommodation options that you've been researching. Here's some research that I did for a trip to Berlin a few years ago - the links are tagged as "Berlin" but also further categorised by tags such as "Accommodation." The only drawback is that you have to be online to access your research.

AFAR

This is technically just the (beautiful) website for an amazing travel magazine, but the interactive nature of AFAR's site makes it so easy to compile your own lists of highlights and inspirations. Articles from the magazine are included, as well as dispatches from their "Ambassadors" and "Local Experts," but also from readers just like you. Once you go through and save these highlights to your "Wanderlist," you can then also access this info offline through their iPhone app. Love it! You can share your list through a link, like this one that I'm creating for a possible trip to Paris. There's also a board for Q&A. The only downside is that you can only use it for info on the AFAR site.

Of course, if these are all too complicated, just cut and paste everything into a Word document. It's ugly, kills trees and takes up precious room in your luggage but it works!

The $8 Tasting Menu

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 19:31:00 +0000

Every so often, I read a travel story, usually involving food, and it makes me want to chuck in my job and go travelling RIGHT NOW. This piece by the New York Times' "Frugal Traveler" Seth Kugel is one of those stories. I am a natural born sucker when it comes to street food, and this post on Kugel's nibble through a Wuhan alley is evocative, exotic and affordable ($8 for eight "courses.") I especially love that Kugel admits that he still doesn't know what some of the thing were. Sometimes, you just have to acknowledge that what you put in your mouth was damn tasty, and leave it at that.

Photo by Tricia Wang via Flickr

TBEX Toronto!

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 21:01:00 +0000

I'm heading to TBEX for the second time this June. The first time was when it was held in Vancouver a couple of years ago, and I was working with a local hotel. This time, I'm heading there as a blogger, albeit a lazy one.

TBEX is a conference bringing together travel bloggers for seminars, workshops and events. They haven't announced the program yet, but expect everything from inspirational panels for those looking to enter the travel blog arena, through to workshops on blogging platforms and smartphone photography; and presentations on monetizing and publicizing your blog.

They have announced some of the speakers, and I'm really looking forward to hearing Tim Leffel from Perceptive Travel (also my budget travel guru), the hilarious David Farley, and a host of other bloggers and online experts.

If you're interested in travel writing, setting up a travel website, or even just curious about this whole online business, it's a good opportunity for professional development at a decent price (blogger registration starts at USD $127). I should also say that I'm glad to see that the conference is being held in Toronto. Although I'm based in Vancouver, Toronto is like my second Canadian home and I'm pretty fond of it. It will be great to witness travel bloggers from around North America discover it as well.

To Paris? Potentially...

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 20:20:00 +0000

I've never been to Paris. I know, it's a bit shameful when you're a person who professes to live to travel, and yet you haven't even been to Paris. I have been to France, but it was the south and I'm really only telling you that to try and make my admission less uncool. I know that it does no such thing.

But recently, it has looked like this might change. There's a chance I could find myself eating pastries in classic Paris tea salons this fall. A chance. I don't want to get my hopes up, but I know that I will. So I might as well make the most of it, right?

I have always felt that the excitement you feel before a trip is part of the experience. I love the planning, the research, the "should I book the flight now or will fares be cheaper next week," and the "Is this the neighbourhood I want to stay in?" When you're planning a trip, there's all this opportunity that buoys my spirit and makes my heart beat just a little bit faster. This is why I'm a poor candidate for cruises and all-inclusive resorts.

But for this (potential) trip to Paris, I may be travelling with others and will have my agenda pretty much taken care of. So what to do? I'm taking French lessons! Like most "New Canadians," I didn't study French at school, but it's something that I've thought about for a long time. There are plenty of excellent reasons to learn French (or indeed any second language): enhanced job prospects, increased brain-power and memory, and even increased proficiency in your first language. But my reason for learning French is simple: I need to be able to order a croissant without embarrassment. Bonne chance!

Air BnB - Five Tips for a No-Surprise Stay

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 20:20:00 +0000

An apartment in the heart of a city, for less than the price of the average hotel room? Count us in! I've always loved staying in an apartment when travelling. Along with the extra space, I'm one of those people that likes to have a kitchen, mainly to justify buying way too much food at alluring food markets. But there are other advantages too: you get to stay in a "real neighbourhood" as opposed to a tourist ghetto, and you get to do your own laundry - especially important when you're away for a while.

A recent trip to Spain was the perfect chance for us to try out AirBnB. We had three cities to explore and between three and seven days in each place. AirBnB is an online service that allows people to rent out space in their own homes - from a spare bedroom in their apartment, through to full run of a sprawling mansion. What makes AirBnB so popular is their user-friendly interface, and the security measures they have in place to protect both the homeowner (known as the "host") and they guest. Both parties have the ability to comment and rate each other, so unscrupulous owners and slovenly guests will be unceremoniously revealed to future potential matches. A growing number of offered accommodations have "Verified Photos," but the best feature is that when you pay your money upfront, the funds get transferred to AirBnB, and then released to the renting party 24 hours after you check-in, giving you time to contact the company if you find yourself in something less than what was promised.

But right now, the company features accommodation in 37,703 cities in 192 countries. That's a lot of rooms - how do you find the right fit?

DO YOUR LOCATION HOMEWORK

AirBnB lets anyone sign up, no matter where their home is, but that doesn't mean it's in the right neighbourhood for you. The website and the app for the service let you see all of your options on a map, so do some homework on what you're going to want to do in a destination and then zero in on the area that you'll be spending most of your time in. An easy check (although not foolproof) to see if a neighbourhood is tourist-friendly is to search areas around a hotel that you would usually be interested in. Make sure that you also check out things like access to local transit - is the place close to a subway station or bus stop?

CONSIDER THE FEATURES YOU REALLY NEED

You might insist on a dishwasher, gas stove and ensuite bathroom in your own home, but chances are you don't need that for a week away. We could never live in 300 square feet, but that was plenty of space for our Barcelona pad. For us, wifi was a non-negotiable, but a bath was something we could do without. Remember that many older places in Europe are multi-storey but don't have an elevator. If you're the kind of person who has problems with your knees or is a stranger to the concept of packing light, a third-floor apartment might be a non-starter.

READ THE COMMENTS

AirBnB links reviews to both the specific accommodation being offered, and to the host's profile, meaning that if a host has a couple of places on the site, you can read easily read comments from guests staying at the other property too. Like all online comments, it's recommended that you take things with a tiny grain of salt, but nonetheless, this is a good way of working out whether this place is for you. These can give you extra info that might not be covered in the description, such as dealing with the host, noise issues, and general comments on the neighbourhood.

MAKE SURE YOU KNOW THE RULES & ALL THE COSTS

We found that, in most cases, getting a one-bedroom apartment was a little cheaper than the hotel rooms that we were considering. But don't just look at the pink-ticket per night cost in the corner of the photos. There are also service fees, and in some cases, cleaning fees (these are sometimes waived after a certain number of nights). So make sure that you actually plug in your dates to get a true cost for your stay. There's also a list of house rules for most places - make sure you know if you can smoke, bring your dog, etc. before you book, as well as cancellation fees that will apply if you change your plans.

DON'T PUT ALL OF YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET

Finally, once you've narrowed it down to a location, the type of space that meets your needs, and hosts that you feel comfortable with, make sure that you leave yourself with a few options in case the place turns out to be unavailable over your dates, or you don't get a reply from your number one choice. But with 300,000 listings around the world, you're sure to find somewhere great to stay.

Vancouver Convention Centre: 5 ways to make the most of your break time

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 03:44:00 +0000

One great things about the Vancouver Convention Centre is that it's in a perfect spot, jutting out over Burrard Inlet, with floor-to-ceiling windows that give you a great view of the North Shore mountains. The bad thing is that you are all too aware of what you're missing out on while you're sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in yet another seminar. Which is really all the more reason to make the most of your break time.

Whether it's a 15-minute coffee break or an hour over lunch, here are five Vancouver experiences worth skipping the buffet line-up for.

1. The Seawall - Vancouver's seawall is legendary. Most people will tell you to rent a bike and follow it around Stanley Park. If you don't have that kind of time, VCC luckily sits right on the seawall so you can run downstairs and get a breath of fresh air as you walk around the outside of the building. You'll even find info signage around the perimeter so you know what you're looking at.

2. Flightseeing - You've probably heard the floatplanes taking off and landing in the harbour all morning. You don't need to be heading somewhere to experience one of these 'craft - both Harbour Air and West Coast Air offer 20-minute "flightseeing" tours, taking you over Vancouver with a spectacular view of mountains, city and water. You'll need to check in about 25 minutes in advance so this is really a lunch break option. Bonus: you'll get access to free wi-fi, 49th Parallel Coffee, newspapers and snacks before you take off. (Map here)

3. Bella Gelateria - As good as the coffee and pastries might be during your conference coffee break, they probably won't be as good as the gelato at Bella Gelateria across the street from the VCC. They use only the best ingredients and they usually have at least five different chocolate choices. For those with dietary restrictions, they have soy milk, yogourt and coconut milk options. As a bonus, if your session gets out late, they're open until at least 10:00 pm. (Map here)

4. Tickets Tonight - The Tickets Tonight booth in Tourism Vancouver's Visitor Centre is Vancouver's version of the TKTS stand in the middle of Times Square in New York. Offering half-price, day of performance tickets for arts and culture events in the city, a trip across the street to this spot could cheaply solve your question of what to do tonight. The Visitor Centre in itself is more than just a brochure distribution point - purchase sightseeing tickets here and enjoy a discount for most attractions. (Map here)

5. The Marine Building - In a city as young as Vancouver, the Marine Building qualifies as a bona fide historical landmark. Built in 1929, it's a shining example of Art Deco design. True to its name, the designs on the outside include crabs, fish, boats and starfish. Make sure you push through the revolving doors and have a look at the embalmed lobby. (Map here)

Travel traditions

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 02:14:00 +0000

I saw this slideshow on World Hum and had to post it. It's on "eight endangered travel traditions" and it really made me smile because on our last trip we sent postcards for the first time in ages and they were a hit! I forgot how satisfying it is to sit down with a beer, a pen and a handful of postcards, scratch out some kind of "wish you were here" update, and stick them in a mail box. (Actually, it was kinda difficult to find in a mail box in Manhattan of all places. Weird.) Anyway, people loved them.

The other one I love on this list is the guidebook. True, I do a lot of my planning and research online these days, but when I'm on the road, it's the guidebook that keeps on getting pulled out. When we were in Boston, we had an iPhone and a Blackberry between us, but our Moon Guide is what we relied on. And yes, they make pretty great souvenirs after the fact.

I don't know about the journal though... I've never been able to keep one for more than about four days. Sigh.

Hoarding those pennies

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:58:00 +0000

I've always felt that, for most of us, travel is a choice and not a luxury. Years ago, when my husband and I quit our jobs to travel for six months, people were constantly saying, "Oh, I wish I was lucky enough to do that." This annoyed me no end! We weren't handed an inheritance or a winning lottery ticket. We saved up, went without things we enjoyed and managed to find enough money to go and do it. We also had to quit our jobs, give up our apartment and put everything we owned that didn't fit in our backpacks into a storage locker.

We chose travel over career advancement, stability and material possessions like cars and stereos that had two working speakers. AND IT WAS WORTH IT!

We can all do with a little shove in the right direction when it comes to finding our travel budget, so I was thrilled to find this travel savings calculator from TravelMuse. It goes through your spending to find things you can save on this year, giving you more money to travel, and all in a user-friendly, non-spreadsheet-y format.

All I can say is that after using the calculator, I have NO excuse for not travelling this year...

Twitter Takes Flight

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:49:00 +0000

I will admit that I'm new to Twitter, but I like to think that I've embraced the technology wholeheartedly. I ended up joining because (a) even my bank is on Twitter, and (b) I'm a sucker for peer pressure, even from a bank.

There are lots of great ways the service can be used for travel. I've heard of one mother getting her travelling college-age daughter to tweet every four hours so she knew she was OK. The girl got back home and realized her timeline served as a great "diary" of her trip.

But following specific tourism industry suppliers is probably the most obvious way. Visitor bureaus in a lot of city's now tweet, giving you up-to-date deals and ideas for things to do in their destination. Hotels have also taken up the Twitter challenge.

WorldHum reports that a number of airlines have also taken up Twittering - some successfully, some not so much. United Airlines have been advertising "twares", which are short term seat sales, through the medium. So it makes sense that if you're planning on heading to a particular destination sometime soon, it could be worth following specific airlines and hotels to see if you can catch a break. Me, I need to wait for Air Canada to get on-board. Sigh.

Photo by Cristian Ghe via Flickr

Vermont

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:35:00 +0000

I posted a few times here and here about the trip we were taking in April: New York, Boston, Vermont, Portland, Cape Ann, and then back to New York via Boston again. I even managed to squeeze in one post about Boston food before I went "off air".

So let me quickly tackle Vermont. The Vermont leg was spent in and around Hardwick - a place that Kurtis' cousin says used to be known as "Little Chicago" (Diane, I hope you don't get shot for saying this). Lots of family time was garnished by farm visits and a fantastic brunch at Claire's, a co-op restaurant that has now been recognized by Conde Nast Traveler. My frittata is in the photo.

It was fantastic to spend time getting to know parts of Kurtis' family that I had never met before, and be introduced to a place on a very personal level. Often when you travel, you're meeting a town or city for the first time in the most impersonal way - hotel rooms, group tours, tourist attractions and guide books. But the way we were introduced to Vermont was through a wooden canoe kept in the loft space, meeting the very cow that produced the milk in our coffee, and having someone point out their favourite creemee stand.

I won't go into any more detail because there's already a fantastic blog post about it here. A big thank you to Diane, Lucian, Emmett, Miss Beazy and all of their friends and family for their hospitality.

Boston bites

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 20:17:00 +0000

When you look at the map, Boston looks spread out and a little ungainly. I mean, Harvard is not even IN Boston - it's in Cambridge. But in fact, a short walk takes you virtually anywhere. All the better for working up a thirst and an appetite.

The main attraction in Boston is free (almost). It's called the Freedom Trail and it's essentially a self-guided walking tour of historic sites, mainly relating to the American Revolution. Having not grown up in North America, I've found it very educational (Samuel Adams - not just a beer guy, it turns out) but I've since found out that Canadians don't necessarily know much about US history either.

The Quincy Market is conveniently located in the middle of the trail. Perfect for a lunchtime chowdah. Yes, Bostonians like to make fun of their accent before you do. Finish the trail and you'll be in the mood for a solid dinner. Located just over the bridge near Pier 4 is Sportello, Barbara Lynch's counter-style spot. We had seen a piece on the restaurant's gnocchi in Saveur magazine, and while it lived up to the food porn photography from the article, a chicken liver tortellini really took us by surprise. A shared appetizer, main and dessert, three glasses of wine and two coffees (and two really full bellies) set us back about $30 each, plus tip.

Photo by Kristie Wells via Flickr

The Bruising-full Game

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:32:00 +0000

One of the best ways to get in touch with a culture is go and see a game. In most of Europe, that would be soccer (yes, I know, they call it football) as it would be in South America. In the US, you have quite the selection: baseball in the summer and either football or basketball in the winter. In Canada, there is no doubt that it's hockey that you have to see.

There is a National Hockey League team in most of the country's larger cities, and if you can get a ticket, then you're in for a slick, action-packed evening of entertainment. But it can be hard to get tickets, and even if you get them, they're plenty expensive. The Vancouver Canucks have sold out about eight seasons in a row, and you can not purchase two seats together anymore.

So what's the alternative? A couple of weeks ago I went to see the Vancouver Giants play and remembered how fun it was to see a game at this level. The Giants are part of the Western Hockey League, a feeder league for the NHL. The players are young and they play like they have nothing to lose. The 14,000 seat arena was packed with vocal fans of every age, but because the best seats in the house top-out at CAD $19.50, there are loads of families and school groups in there too.

So it made me think about experiencing these sports on a more local level when I travel. I'll be in Boston net month and would like to see a baseball game, but the Red Sox are playing the Yankees, and, well, good luck getting tickets for that. But there must be a Minor League team that we could catch somewhere. In India, we're going to try to find a cricket game, and if you're ever in Australia, I highly recommend an Australian Rules Football game, especially those played at the regional level (like the mighty South Fremantle Bulldogs).

After all, what makes a sport quintessential to a nation is not that it is played at a professional level, but that it is played at every other level as well.

(Photo by willowbrookhotels via Flickr)

Table for two?

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:41:00 +0000

One of my favourite parts of travel planning (and you know, I have a lot of favourite parts) is deciding which restaurants I want to hit while I'm in a city. And with a trip to NYC less than a month away, there is some planning to be done. In general, I'm looking for a cool place, great food, but not too pricey. It doesn't have to be fancy - in fact, it's sometimes better if it's not fancy at all as I am not a very fancy person.

Last time I was in New York was a couple of years ago and I went to the Spotted Pig, which is a good example of the kind of place I like. It was also fun to see some of my dinner companions' eyes widen when they saw "faggots and peas" on the menu!

This year I'm hoping to try the Spotted Pig's sister restaurant, The John Dory. I'm also interested in a place called Olana which really seems to focus on seasonal ingredients from the Hudson Valley. Looks a little swank, but I can probably forgive them.

Photo by frontlineblogger via Flickr

Your dream vacation, my pie-and-chips nightmare

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:48:00 +0000

Most North Americans would be surprised to know that Australians and Brits think of Mexico and the Caribbean as dream destinations. You know, the kind of place you would go on your honeymoon or when you retire, and even then, only if you were really shelling out the cash.

In other words, a little like the way North Americans see Bali or Thailand.

From the west coast of Australia, Bali is little more than a 3 1/2 hour flight - closer than Sydney or Melbourne by a long shot and a lot cheaper too. Which is why I went to Bali for the first time when I was 10. And you better believe that it was a long way from being some kind of "Eat, Pray Love" yoga fest. Think Cancun, but overrun with package deal Australians demanding meat pies instead of this crazy foreign food, and watching football on television.

So when people tell me that they want to go to Bali, that's what I picture, not island waterfalls and spiritual awakenings.

Of course, it works the other way too. I'll be heading to the south of India at the end of the year - to me a fairly ambitious trip, to be sure. But when I tell my British cousins, they will likely shrug their shoulders, unimpressed, because they did a week all-inclusive in Goa five years ago.

But if you're looking for deals, the good thing is that while a destination may seem to be exotic to you, there's a chance that someone else has already discovered it and put a package together. So if you're looking for a deal on staying on a beach in Spain, have a look at British sites. If you're looking for a cheap Phuket hotel, check out Australian websites. If nothing else, they'll tell you where all of the package-deal Aussies are staying so you can get out of their way.

Introversion on the road

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:40:00 +0000

I've just read a great blog post by Sophia Dembling on World Hum, where she outs herself as both an introvert and an avid traveller. I thought it was really interesting because when you say you like to travel, people automatically assume that you're one of those people who loves striking up conversation with the stranger sitting next to you on the bus, or partying hard with your new friends from the hostel.

I don't. I am none of those things. Like Dembling, I am happy to talk to strangers if they make the first move, but for the most part, I am happy to explore a city alone (or at least with my travel companion of choice) and prefer, as she says, "sitting, eating, watching. Conversation optional." It's not that I don't want to interact with the locals, it's just that I'm not good with small talk. Hell, I'm not good with small talk at home - why would that change because I'm living out of a backpack?

Peach of a Beach

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:47:00 +0000

I grew up in Australia, but until I was about 24, I had never been to Sydney. And if there's one thing you hear about Sydney, it's about the beaches. Bondi, Manly, Coogee - I knew all the names but had never been. They sounded amazing, and I couldn't wait to experience them.

So imagine my surprise when I finally got there and realized, finally, that my own hometown of Perth had beaches that were 10 times better! We're always a little deluded (and dubious) about the charms of wherever it that we grew up, and I had never thought to myself, "Oh yeah, these are great beaches." But they are. They're long and wide, the sand is pale and fine, and you often have to walk through some dunes to get to them. For the most part, they're devoid of commerce, except for the odd kiosk selling cold drinks and hot dogs gritty with sand, and maybe, if you're lucky, a casual cafe restaurant that will make you a mean espresso if you happen to be by in the morning.

Since then, I've been to many countries and found myself thinking, "Nice beach. Shame it's not as good as the ones in Perth." And it turns out that I'm not the only one. Some people in Spain thought this too. Except they run the Catalonia tourism marketing board and accidentally used a photo of a Perth beach to represent the Costa Brava. Oops.

(Story here in The Independent)

(Photo of Floreat Beach in Perth by Allan Rostron, via Flickr)

Priceline High

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:43:00 +0000

In these "tough economic times" just about the only buzz you can brag about acquiring is that from scoring a kick-ass deal. And it has to be something that you were going to buy anyway. Like accommodation in Boston for your upcoming vacation, say, for instance.

I managed to score three nights at the Courtyard by Marriott in downtown Boston for $55/night on Priceline last night. I am euphoric! Boston accommodation is notoriously expensive - even the dorm beds in hostels were going to cost $60/night for the both of us, so $55 for the Courtyard is quite a steal. The Courtyard is not the coolest hotel on the block, but I don't care. I expect to spend my time (and my money) getting out and seeing Boston. Expensively cool hotel rooms are great in places where (a) I can afford it, and (b) there's nothing else to see.

How did I do it? It wasn't my first bid, and I think the trick with Priceline is to start bidding a while before you leave. That way, if your first bid doesn't get accepted, you have time to up it by $5 and try again. I also had a good idea which property it would be as I searched some other hotel sites and saw that the only 3-star property from a chain in that neighbourhood was this one. I also saw that the hotel looked curiously under-priced on other sites, leading me to think that a tour operator had cancelled a room block, or a convention had pulled out, leaving the hotel to suddenly fill a large number of rooms.

In other planning news, we've decided to take the bus from New York to Boston instead of the train. It's $18 each versus $62 each. We might consider taking the train on the way back, though.

Our trip is roughly mapped out like this - three nights in Boston, a couple of nights in Vermont with family, a night in Portland, then four nights somewhere on the ME/NH/MA coast before dropping the car in Boston and heading back to NYC.

Next challenge, finding somewhere on the ME/NH/MA coast that's not too WASPy.

Number Five, Come On Down! India

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:34:00 +0000

At the beginning of the year, I posted my five travel resolutions. Coming in at number five was India - a place that I conceded probably wouldn't see my travel dollars in 2009, but I added it to the list in hope anyway. Well, it turns out that good ol' number five will indeed be achieved this year! I'm going to India!

I'm travelling with a friend and we've decided to stick to the south, from Mumbai down. We'll only be there for three weeks at the end of December, and since it will be a little chilly in Vancouver at that time, we're looking for a little bit of beach time in with everything else that India throws at us.

It's still over eight months away, but I've already started doing some planning (of course I have!). Booking flights is one of the first things - it's expensive to get there, over $2,000 at the moment, but we're hoping the cost comes down a little before we book. I've set up a Kayak fare alert, which sends me a daily email telling me what the cheapest flight for my dates is today.

And of course, I've already gone out and bought Lonely Planet's South India so that I can make sure that I meet as many other backpackers as possible...

Welcome back

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:27:00 +0000

I know, I know. I should have said something. Somehow a whole month passed without me posting once. Actually, I know what it was. It was this. The one-year countdown threw me for a bit of a loop, let's just say. It also means that Nifty Thrifty will likely be on hiatus at the same time next year!

Road Games

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 04:46:00 +0000

After a bit of talk over drinks tonight, we decided that 2009 was going to be the comeback year for board games, y'know, what with "these tough economic times" and all. But it got me thinking about traveling, and how important games are to traveling. Not vacationing, but "traveling".

With traveling, there is assumed downtime. Time where you are stuck in a particular place longer than you would have liked because of a bus schedule. Or maybe you just finished your book quicker than you thought, and all of the magazines the hotel has are in German. Or perhaps your dinner is just taking longer to come out of the kitchen than you thought.

Seasoned travelers are always packing a deck of cards at the very least. Do yourself a favour and learn more than two card games. This will help, believe me. A friend of mine loved backgammon - a game that she had played with the bare essentials of a board scraped into the sand on a Thai beach, and some malaria pills.

Here are a few of my favourite traveling games:

- Card games: not just limited to regular playing cards, but what about old favourites like Uno?

- Scrabble: sure, a little unwieldy, but there are travel versions available . I must admit that I am coveting the travel version for my purse just to take down the pub.

- Dice games: sure don't take up much space. Yahtzee is probably the most obvious one, but poker dice are pretty awesome too.

- Connect 4: I admit that this is purely the result of being stranded on a beach with no reading material (other than in German - I wasn't making that up), but with a lone Connect 4 game. We played it so much that we started in on Connect 5, Speed Connect 4 etc. I bought a key-ring version for my husband once we got back, and even that got a work-out.

Photo by Andy Siitonen, via Flickr

Get it cheaper

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:29:00 +0000

Tips and tricks for getting flights (hotels, rental cars, whatever) cheaper fascinate me. That idea that you may in fact turn out to be smarter than everyone else and beat the system. Love it! Might not work, but I'm going to have a go anyway - I'm a tightwad!

Just lately, I've been seeing a few new tricks turn up online, and I almost want to book something so that I can check if they work. One trick involves clearing your cookie cache before checking whether the price of the hotel you booked has come down. Apparently, if you've already been to the site, the price for the same date will automatically stay the same. If you clear the cookies, the price goes down.

And today, there's this one on Concierge.com (via Gridskipper). Apparently there are some deals that won't even come up when you search a site like Orbitz. You have to go all the way through to the last part of the booking process for these deals to appear.

Let me know if you have tried either of these and if they work.

Photo by Vanessa (EY) via Flickr

Book 'em

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:27:00 +0000

In my own city, I can easily spend a couple of hours in a bookstore. So it's no surprise that given the leisurely pace of a vacation, I can double that browsing time, easily. Especially if there are magazines and cushioned seating.

As I've mentioned before, we're planning on doing a little roaming around Vermont in April, so I was thrilled to read this article in the Boston Globe (via World Hum) that there are four independent bookstores in downtown Montpelier, VT. That's four between a population of just 7,495.

The article made me think about some of my favourite bookstores I've encountered while travelling. Great places to spend some time and pick up some souvenirs that actually get used and mean something to you...

- Elizabeth's Bookshop (Fremantle, Australia): This is in my home town and I spent way too much of my teenage time at Elizabeth's. On a recent trip back I did duck in there once again, and it's still a great place to pick up a secondhand bargain.

- Kramerbooks (Washington, DC): When I'm in Washington, DC I usually find myself popping in here for a browse. It would be a great place to pick up a political biography. Kramerbooks also has a full cafe and bar called Afterwords. I've never been there early in the morning, but I think next time I'm there, I'm going to take them up on their offer of "breakfast and the morning papers".

- City Lights Bookstore (San Francisco, CA): City Lights is an attraction in its own right - it was founded in 1953 by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and was a hub for beat writers. Many beatnik-worshipping tourists make a pilgrimage to City Lights. The great thing is that it doesn't disappoint - it's a fantastic bookstore, even without all of the history.

- Libreria Rosario Castellanos (Mexico City, DF): You know it's a good bookstore when all the books are in a different language and you're still transfixed for an hour. This bookstore is in the funky Condesa neighbourhood and situated in a beautiful Belle Epoch landmark building. (in photo)

- Tale of the Raven Bookstore (Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba): I know, this last choice is a little quirky, but we spent a good hour in this small bookstore in a little lakeside town. Many of the books are secondhand, and they seemingly accept anything to re-sell. Lots of old cookbook series from the 1970s, books on Polish immigration (in Polish), and instructional wood craft manuals. But the best bit was all the old junk lying around the place - garage sale meets decrepit public library.

Destination weddings

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 05:26:00 +0000

With all of the pontificating about flowers for the church and what colour the sugared almonds should be, it's easy to see the appeal of a destination wedding.

There's something to be said about deciding, "To hell with all of that. We're eloping to Africa." Especially if you happen to be six-years old and your bride's five.

I especially like how they were ladden with swimming year, and they even thought to bring a witness for the wedding.

Mika and Anna-Bell, this one's for you.

More Cheapo Vegas Ideas

noreply@blogger.com (Wendy) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:47:00 +0000

Before I took off for Vegas a few months ago, I posted about the site Cheapo Vegas, and then after I got back, posted some more thrifty Vegas tips. Seems that ideas for saving money in Las Vegas are in high demand... check out this great post on Gadling, which is then offers a link to the LA Times.