Tightwad Travel

My Broken Back Cost Much Less in France Than Travel Insurance

2025-07-08T15:29:00.000-07:00


Sweeping View of the French Riviera

In January this year, I wrote an article about how unnecessary travel insurance is if you pay for your trip with a branded credit card such as United Explorer, American AAdvantage, or Delta Sky Miles Gold. I based this article on my own research, personal experience, and the experience of a friend who broke her leg when we were traveling in the Provence region of France in 2005. Little did I know last January that I'd have a chance to update my theories this spring, sixteen years later.

What Cruise Lines and Tour Operators Don't Want You to Know

2025-01-18T19:34:00.000-08:00

I know tour operators don't want you to know because I posted some of the following information in a popular FaceBook cruise travel group, and the piece, after garnering dozens of comments, was removed by an administrator with a hand-slap for me — I was told never to supply such information again. Of course, the reason cruise lines and tour operators don't want you to have this information is because it affects their bottom line. When you buy travel insurance from them, they get a kickback from the insurance company.

Travel insurance, according to Ms. Mehta who is the chief executive of Squaremouth, a popular travel insurance company, said in The New York Times on 9 January 2025, that travel insurance costs 5-10 percent of the cost of the cruise or tour. So, a $5,000 trip might cost $250-$500 for insurance. That is, in my opinion, a totally unnecessary expense.

The tour and cruise industry would prefer I not tell you that you may not need travel insurance. But that is the truth. Let me explain why.

The Barbie Movie

2023-08-04T17:14:00.007-07:00

The Barbie movie would have you believe that the world of little girls was changed when the Betsy-Wetsy doll was replaced with Barbie in March 1959. No longer were little girls destined to be mothers caring for, feeding, and diaper-changing baby dolls when they could use all their talents and become grown-up Barbies who could be astronauts, Pulitzer prize-winners, or even presidential candidates — AND mothers.

That's a lovely dream — a pat on the back to Mattel for their prescience and feminine foresight. The problem is, it's not quite accurate.

Vehicle Blessing or Cheap Road Repair? The Choice Is Yours!

2022-05-07T16:45:00.004-07:00

While I love my Lincoln Zephyr, a model only made for one glorious year in 2006, I have never had it blessed as is the routine for new taxis in Mexico. That was undoubtedly my mistake. Maybe the "check engine" light would not have been flashing furiously last week if only I could have counted on a little divine intervention.

Blessing of the Taxi in Queretero, Mexico.

Tantalizing Travel Tips

2022-02-15T10:49:00.006-08:00

Dinan, France

This blog, Brent and Michael Are Going Places, is packed with tantalizing travel tips that may actually lure armchair travelers out of their La-Z-Boy recliners. But even if you're not ready to leave the country yet, you'll be happy to follow along in Brent and Michael's footsteps!

It's a friendly, well-written, and personable blog that contains anecdotes as well as practical travel advice. Take a look. I think you'll like it.

Travel Tip for Using Phone's GPS in a Rental Car

2020-10-08T14:17:00.002-07:00

Last time I was in North Carolina, I noticed that my son had this clever cell phone holder that mounted to his car's air vent. That seemed like a great idea, so when I was in the 99 cent store here in Tucson I found this one for just a dollar.

It works really well and is small enough to be portable so I can take it on trips when I have car rentals that are not equipped with GPS. It's hard to go wrong with a dollar investment that, at just four inches long, takes up next to no space in my suitcase!

Flying into the Heart of a Pandemic

2020-07-12T12:17:00.000-07:00

ORD Airport in Chicago has restrooms that encourage social distancing. Each sink faucet is flanked on the left by a soap dispenser and on the right by your own private hand dryer!

* (See update at end of article.) Being a human cork at the end of a bungee cord holds no appeal for me. I'd sky-dive only if someone blindfolded me and shoved me out the airplane door. Even being on a stepladder produces a frisson of fear these days. The only courage I ever exhibit is when I "forget" to balance my checkbook each month and simply hope for the best. So, it was with trepidation that I decided to fly on one of the busiest weekends of the year, July Fourth, during a pandemic when doctors reported skyrocketing cases of Covid every day.

Alaska or Mexico?

2020-06-23T20:43:00.001-07:00

Since the only traveling I'm doing during the pandemic of 2020 is virtually, I'm rereading some early blog pieces and publishing ones I think are worthy of a second look.This was my first visit to Alaska when I could not help but compare it to my newly adopted home in Mexico.

A rare sunny day in Alaska.

I leaned from the bed and stretched a hand towards the window to pull back the “darkening” shade, then plucked apart the slats of the blind with two fingers. Would I find rain or sunshine? My cousins and I planned a trip to Glacier Gardens, but it wouldn’t be much fun in a cold rain.

“You might get one day of sunshine a week,” a wizened sourdough told us when we first arrived in Alaska, “if you’re lucky.” I guess the Weather Channel web site hadn’t made a typo when the ten-day forecast for Southeastern Alaska predicted rain every single day.

I knew this part of Alaska was a rain forest, but I was hoping the rain always fell at night the way it does in Ajijic. Mexico. Actually it always did fall at night. And in the morning and in the afternoon and in the evening.

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Death on a Sunday Afternoon

2020-06-19T19:15:00.001-07:00

Since the only traveling I'm doing during the pandemic of 2020 is virtually, I'm rereading some early blog pieces and publishing ones I think are worthy of a second look.

The bull that will die this afternoon must have thought he’d survived the worst that could happen. He’d lived on a ranch for three years with no human contact. Yesterday, when he was forced into a truck, the men using metal prods remained hidden. Being shoved into a truck after a life on the open range is frightening. Bulls resist. One died yesterday as a result of the manipulation and another lost one of his horns.

Phoebe's Fun Finds

2019-10-01T09:44:00.000-07:00

One of Phoebe's and my favorite stores in Florence, Italy!

My friend Phoebe seldom sits still. She divides her time between her two houses—one in Mexico and the other in Maryland—but doesn't like to spend too much time in either one if she can be traveling instead.

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NM Vignettes--Beyond the Middle of Nowhere

2019-07-01T13:01:00.001-07:00

If you want to truly get away from it all, I think you can't do better than Silver City, New Mexico, a surprisingly metropolitan gem of a town where fewer than 10,000 people make their home.The walk-friendly historic downtown has only one flashing red light to monitor traffic, no stoplights, and lots of friendly shop owners ready to welcome you to their antique shops, thrift stores, two used bookstores, artists' galleries, and bars and restaurants.

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NM Vignettes -- Visiting the Pottery Pueblos

2019-07-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

You can go to a boutique in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and buy a three-inch Santa Clara black pot for $200, or you can go to the Santa Clara Pueblo and get it for $100. Or, you can do what David, my fiance, and I did, and buy nothing at all! We still enjoyed the hunt though, especially since the Pueblo was only a ten-minute drive from our Airbnb. Here's how to do it.

NM Vignettes -- Taos Pueblo

2019-07-01T12:58:00.000-07:00

The Taos Pueblo is the longest, continuously occupied Pueblo in the Western Hemisphere, and David and I met several of the people who still live there today.

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NM Vignettes -- Meow Wolf Interactive Art Museum

2019-07-01T12:55:00.000-07:00

We fell down the rabbit hole today but didn't mind in the least. David and I strolled through a refrigerator and crawled through a fireplace to get to the land of the dragons. If you're in Santa Fe, you'lll want to do the same thing at this interactive art museum called Meow Wolf.

David begins the descent into the rabbit hole!

NM Vignettes -- Santuario de Chimayo

2019-07-01T12:54:00.000-07:00

Holy cow, holy mackerel, holy crap, yes, but we never heard of holy dirt until today.

It seems that back in the 1800s, a priest found a crucifix on this site that he moved to a church. The next day the cross magically appeared back at its original site.

This happened three times until everyone finally gave up and decided the cross was where it was supposed to be. It was declared a miracle and the site was considered sacred ground. Believers come from around the world to pay their respects.

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NM Vignettes - Mesa Verde, Colorado

2019-07-01T12:53:00.000-07:00

One hundred steps, most of them cleft from the rock face, and four ten-foot ladders, made me wish my ancestors had been mountain goats instead of Swedes.

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NM Vignettes --Joys of a Road Trip

2019-07-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

Evidently one cannot be married, have a significant other, or be entangled in any way to get into the Sunflower Theatre in Cortez, Colorado.

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NM Vignettes -- Chaco Canyon

2019-07-01T12:40:00.000-07:00

Our GPS misled us so instead of a nine-mile rutted gravel road, we got to enjoy 21 miles of washboard that bounced our car like a bronco. We never had to worry about what was ahead or around a blind curve, because it was always more of that endless road.

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NM Vignettes -- Los Alamos, a Drinking Town?

2019-07-01T12:35:00.000-07:00

Bathtub Row Brewers might have you believe that Los Alamos is better known for craft brews than for the nuclear bomb that ended WWII, but don't fall for it. This is a town full of savvy people whose ancestors were brought here in the 1940s to work on "The Gadget."

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NM Vignettes -- A Light Sanctuary

2019-07-01T12:28:00.000-07:00

Light, like air, is one of those intangibles that we depend on even though we never see it directly. We notice its absence, but never get to feel its presence. At least that was true until Virginia Dwan found a way to give light substance in this light sanctuary in a tiny town outside Las Vegas, New Mexico,
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Get the Latest Information - Live in Mexico!

2019-02-01T19:39:00.002-08:00

If you're weary of winter and wondering how to avoid the chill next year...If you want to avoid spending the summer sweltering in the Southwest..If you're thinking of a move to assisted living but can't afford the astronomical prices...Or if you simply want to retire to Shangri-La for pennies on the dollar, this updated book is for you!

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Revolving Door for Orphans in Florence

2018-05-23T10:48:00.000-07:00

The revolving gate has been removed but there was a door, of sorts, which allowed a precious being to be anonymously given to the nuns operating the Hospital of The Innocents. These babies, born to families too poor to care for them or to prostitutes, were given a home in this beautiful building.

Orphanages are not unusual but the quality of construction in this one is special because Brunelleschi, who designed the Dome for the Duomo in Florence, was the architect in charge of this building. Even more unexpectedly, the halls of the safe haven for orphans were decorated with some of the most beautiful Renaissance art.

A Mark left with baby for future identification.

Forget Travel Insurance

2018-05-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

Phoebe has not felt well since the beginning of this trip. This morning our host insisted on taking her to the public clinic at the Red Cross located right up the street from our apartment.

Shakespeare 's Home

2018-05-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

As has been true throughout history, it paid to be a boy because you got the bedroom with a fireplace.
This was the bedroom of William and his brothers.

Shakespeare 's father was a glove maker, one of three in Stratford-Upon-Avon. His workroom and store occupied one entire side of the house.

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Cotswold Courtesies

2018-05-07T07:37:00.000-07:00

In this part of England, the pace is slow and the people are friendly.

Cotswold literally means sheep and hill, but it also seems to mean wildflowers that appear as nosegays gracing every table in a tea room, milk bottles delivered to doorsteps at 6 in the morning, and passersby who wish you good day.