Twenty-Something Travel

YOUR Most Disappointing Travel Destinations

Steph — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:00:15 +0000

Last week I told you about my dismal time spending New Year’s in Time Square, and asked you what your most disappointing travel experiences are. I got a slew of answers! Some were passionate, some unsure and some completely contradicted each other. Bottom line: you guys have a lot of complaints!

Some of your complaints were pretty straightforward:

My worst travel experience was visiting London for a week in 2009. I was disappointed by the lack of late-night public transportation and spent much more time walking than I was accustomed to. The London Eye was terrible and the weather was gloomy everyday. To make matters worst, bed bugs came back with me which just completely ruined the entire trip.

- leslie

Toronto, Canada. It felt so run down in much of the downtown area. I was staying next to the harbor near the convention center and felt like 2 blocks in any direction quickly became sketchy. The museums were nice. The rest, not so much. Windy and rainy didn’t help.

- ehalvey

The Cu Chi Tunnels in Vietnam is surely my biggest travel disappointment. They have been transformed into a little Vietnam War Disneyland, complete with firing range and what our guide termed “VC KFC” – aka a place to eat the cassava plant that Viet Cong soldiers lived on for months at a time. At least the tour only cost $5…

- Jess

A lot of your complaints seemed based on mitigating factors:

My biggest travel disappointment was the whole city of Dublin…nothing felt Irish about it at all and people were rude as hell. BUT I’m willing to give it a second chance…a lot of my feelings probably stem from the fact I picked up a stomach bug while there and I was miserable. If I do ever make it back to Ireland though, I want to see much more outside the city.

- Candice

My biggest travel disappointment was easily my hungover adventure to Rio de Janeiro. I was spending a month living with my Brazilian friend in Belo Horizonte and we stayed up until 6 AM after a long night of drinking cachaca. We fell asleep only to be woken up 30 minutes later for our trip to Rio.

We arrived tired, hungover and distracted. We were only there for 2 days and I spent most of it sucking on a bottle of life-giving H2O. Needless to say, next time I’m in Rio, I’ll do it in a much better state of mind!

- Garret

My biggest travel disappointment was when I went to Detroit (from Japan) for a weekend (yes, that’s right…. my flight time combined was longer than I had on the ground) to visit a man I thought I was in love with. Turns out, I wasn’t in love with him, he wasn’t in love with me… and I was in Detroit. Uggh. Oh, and some Taiwanese woman stole my cookies (Mint Milano cookies, mind you!) on the flight back. Bad, bad, bad trip!

- UnBraveGirl

Some of you completely disagreed: there was quite a debate going on regarding the merits of Austin, Texas:

Austin, TX. Everyone keeps raving about it. It’s supposed to be such an up-and-coming city. Well, maybe if I were 21 again and into the whole clubbing/bar scene. We did see the giant bat flight at twilight which was cool (though again with the long wait in uncomfortable…this time HOT…weather). But basically to me Austin was just another city with nothing particularly memorable about it. A college town that might be cool if I were still in college.

-Nicole

Ok so the Austinite has to chime in – Austin definitely requires a plan and that includes outdoor activities. Canoeing, seeing the 5 highland lakes, going west into the hills for camping/cookout, seeing the music and food anchors in the city, the French legation, TexMex, all 5 campuses, various spas, the bookstores and coffeeshops, the local stores…as some one mentioned, maybe Austin now requires a tourguide. I’d say try again another time, but not in college mindset. It would be disappointing if yer not 21 and trying to drink on 6th street.

-Kit

Some of you questioned the very idea of being disappointed while traveling:

I’m never really disappointed when I travel because the sheer act of traveling is always a thrill.

-Joel

There’s no such thing as a place unto itself…unless it’s a postcard. The underwhelming food, cloudy views, and boring people are still essential to the journey. It’s taken quite a few trips, but I’ve finally been able to just GO and experience without holding on too tightly to how I think everything should be. Not ALL travel is sublime. In a way, that’s sort of the point. You just do and take it for what it is. It’s never the place or the weather or the circumstances that disappoint, it’s the expectations that you bring to it.

-Cari

A lot of conflicted and conflicting opinions in the end. Actually, I think my favorite piece of advice from the whole conversation came from ReidonTravel on Twitter.

Didn’t care for Chiang Mai. Must go back. In travel we must question our own impressions too.

No related posts.

The Small Things: 9 Little Ways to Sock Away Travel Money

Steph — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 19:01:09 +0000

Spending Diet update! You can track how my own savings are progressing here.

In last month’s money update I wrote about major life changes you could make to save money. While incredibly effective, I know those aren’t always the easiest things to implement, so today I wanted to go in the opposite direction and round up some small things you can do to help build your travel fund.

None of the things I’ve listed below are huge sacrifices, but over time they can add up to be fairly significant sources of money:

Stop Buying Food- Not all food obviously (you still need to live) but you can save a bundle in the long run by brown bagging your lunches and cutting back on coffee breaks. That $3 Starbucks latte every morning is going to run you over $1000 a year.
Start Stockpiling Change- Any time I get change back from a purchase I pour it directly into my large glass change jar.
Once it’s full I head on over to coin-star and convert it back into lovely dollars. It’s inspiring to watch the jar fill up and I know from experience that once my jar is full it’s probably holding at least $100.

Creative Commons License photo credit: sciondriver
Stop paying for entertainment- There’s this really amazing place called the library, where you can borrow all the books and movies you want for free! It’s kind of amazing when you think about it.
Buy Generic- Now is not the time to be all snobby. It is the SAME STUFF, I swear. Save yourself the $2 and pick up the store brand shampoo, Advil, Tostitos, whatever.
Quit impulse buying- this has saved me a bundle. I used to spend a lot of money online (clothes) shopping. When I started my Spending Diet the very first thing I did was impose a 24-hour waiting period between putting anything in my online cart and pressing buy. The difference is incredible- I very rarely buy anything online these days. And I don’t really feel any worse off for it.
Quit the Gym- You’re leaving soon hopefully anyways, so now is as good a time as ever to start learning to live without your gym. Easy for me to say, as I’m only vaguely familiar with the idea of a workout room, but I DO know that those memberships are expensive. Make the sacrifice and start working out at home or jogging.
Become a Little Lamer- Last month we determined that the biggest money suck for twenty-somethings is nightlife. If you can find free things to do or start staying home even one weekend night month you can save yourself a bundle. One suggestion for ruining your social life? Start a blog! I’m writing this on a Saturday night right now.
Sell stuff- I’m going to be talking about this in more detail in future columns, but it’s always a good time to start looking around your house and thinking about what’s expendable. I guarantee you probably have some junk that you could pass along to another grateful owner in exchange for a few bucks.
Push yourself with a Savings Challenge these little things add up over time, but sometimes you need a surge to keep you going. If you are feeling ambitious you might try Ramit Sethi’s “Save $1000 in 30 Days” challenge, which includes a lot of great tips for how to squeeze every last cent. Or the Untemplater 30-Day “No Spend” Challenge.

In addition to padding your bank account, I think that doing these things has a positive psychological component. Just like World War Two home front efforts, making these small daily sacrifices reminds you that you’re working towards something bigger. Every day you put away a little change and bring yourself a little bit closer to reaching your travel goals.

For lots of money saving tips check out:

Dumb Little Man

Wisebread

What small things do you do to save money?

Friday Postcard: Jindo, South Korea

Steph — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:00:38 +0000

Today’s gorgoeus postcard comes from Kelsey of Drifting Focus. Kelsey is a blogger, and photojournalist who sells prints of all her pictures online. Of this picture Kelsey says:

I took this photo one day while walking to the grocery store from my apartment on the rural island of Jindo, off the coast of South Korea. I lived half a block away from these rice paddies, and I walked past them almost daily. The day I took this shot was particularly beautiful, and the man in the photo had his cow on a leash and was leading it behind his scooter. The grass on the sides of the canal is free for community use, so many farmers bring their livestock there to graze in the afternoons.

(Do you have a photo you’d like to see featured here? Email me at Steph@twenty-somethingtravel.com)

My Summer of Yes

Steph — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 07:01:29 +0000

I’ve written several times about the terrific times I’ve had in Iceland, so I enjoyed reading today’s guest post by Ashley Gunther on the summer abroad she spent there:

When I decided that I’d be spending my post-graduation summer living, and playing soccer, in Iceland I was excited to say the least! Playing soccer through college didn’t give me much time to study abroad so this was my chance to live overseas and experience a new life. My brother spent his sophomore year of high school in Belgium and I’d always envied his unique experience.

Now it was my turn! Within a week of graduation, I was on a plane en route to this very small island in the North Atlantic, knowing exactly zero people besides a friend of a friend who helped me with my arrangements via Facebook. As much as I tried to research things to do and what to expect, there was really no way to prepare for the summer I was about to have.

I wasn’t surprised to be greeted with icy wind and cold getting off the plane but it wasn’t the most pleasant introduction to my new home. In the next few days I did my best to adjust and settle in which was made much easier by my American roommate and Icelandic teammates. It continues to impress me how well the Icelandic girls speak/understand English and it definitely helped my transition.

It didn’t take long for my adventure to begin as on my second day there, my roommate and I joined a Greater Reykjavik tour. It was great to get a look at the town I was now living in (Hafnarfjörður), the capital (Reykjavik) and the surrounding areas early on.

There are so many amazing things to do in Iceland; I quickly realized I had to be active as possible on a regular basis to get it all done. I had the unusual luxury of the balance between being on vacation and living abroad long-term so I took full advantage. Between our soccer schedule of training and games, my roommates and I—and often some of the Icelandic girls—explored the island and all it had to offer.

We climbed the most beautiful waterfalls, played on incredible black sand beaches, photographed the ever-present lava rocks that make you feel like you’re on the moon, soaked in natural hot springs and geothermal hot tubs, even rafted and went glacier snowmobiling!

But those are the big things that anyone who has visited Iceland will tell you to do…and you absolutely should—the beauty of this country is unbelievable. However, I was determined to go beyond that and between my new friends and a new purchase, I had a long list of awesome things to try.

50 Crazy Things to do in Iceland turned out to be one of my best buys this summer. This small book highlights some of the most outrageous things people can do in Iceland. Its suggestions tend to be exaggerated situations taking advantage of the unique conditions that only Iceland has, and of course we did our best to accomplish as many as we could. My goal was to document my accomplishments with photos and paste them into my book essentially creating a scrapbook of the most unusual things I’ve ever done!

By the time we started our “crazy” to-do list, we’d already completed some, like (weirdly enough) “fight with birds.” We’d spent a weekend in Olafsvik visiting a friend’s family and encountered the most aggressive, territorial birds I’ve ever seen. They’re called Kria (or Arctic Tern) and will literally attack you if you get too close. Like mini missiles, they fly straight down aimed directly at you. Luckily, I just took pictures at a safe distance of our friend, Katrin, who was dared to get close.

Another crazy thing we did was #8: “Stay awake for 24 hours.” The key to this one is that in the summer months, Iceland experiences 24 hours of sunlight so at night people are able to do things they usually could only do during the day. For example, go midnight golfing. Although we did go midnight golfing at one point, we didn’t do either until after the cycle changed and the sun started going down normally and we had to complete both under nighttime circumstances.

Our 24 hours was exhausting and completely entertaining. We filled our day with shopping, sightseeing, searching for Icelandic sheep (another “crazy” thing), practice, a late movie, extra-late grocery shopping, playing outside in the rain, painting our nails, doing handstands (or attempting to), among other random things to keep the clock moving. We documented every hour with a picture and I still laugh looking through them.

“Party for 4 days and 3 nights” …check. It’s called Þjóðhátíð, a long weekend’s worth of music, partying and friends in Vestmannaeyjar (Westmann Islands) unofficially marking the end of summer. The festival was filled with music, dancing, food and friends, and it was a one-of-a-kind experience that I hope to do again. We stayed up all night enjoying all the festivities and I even had my first smoked puffin—the Westmann Islands are famous for it.

“Get a tattoo in Icelandic” …check. Less than 1% of the world population speaks Icelandic since it’s pretty limited to the people living there. I decided on a pink peace sign-inspired design with the word fegurð, meaning “beauty.” Every time I see it, I think of all the beauty that was that summer: the people I met, the country that’s now a part of me and the effect it’s had on me.

My dad is constantly reminding me that phases in my young life are relatively short and it’s important to realize there’s an ending. That way, I’m able to make the most of the time I have. I like to think that this summer was the epitome that. I’ve only mentioned a few of the “crazy 50” and from eating putrified shark, to taking natural mud baths and boiling eggs over hot springs, the summer of 2009 is something I’ll never forget.

So say “yes” to new experiences and be open to trying new things. It’s the perfect combination for an unforgettable experience.

Ashley Gunther recently graduated from California State University, Chico. She majored in journalism with an option in public relations and a minor in management of human resources. She is currently working at a tech PR agency in San Francisco and enjoying life in the bay while starting her career. She hopes to visit Iceland again in the near future and is looking forward to an Icelandic visitor, her friend Lena, this July!

Ashley’s Adventure in Iceland: http://ashleynicole3.wordpress.com/

What is your Biggest Travel Disappointment?

Steph — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:01:52 +0000

I try really hard to find the good in every place that I visit. Still, there are some place I’ve been, and experiences I’ve had which were just plain disappointing. The weekend in Prague where it never stopped raining, Saint Patrick’s day in Dublin (which involved absolutely no Irish people) and pretty much anytime I’ve ever spent in Baltimore for starters.

My most disappointing travel experience though was one that crops up on a lot of people’s bucket lists: New Year’s Eve in Times Square.

I’d wanted to participate ever since my grandmother told me she went as a twenty-something back in the 1930’s. I loved the idea of ringing in a new year in such a historic setting with thousands of other revilers. So I convinced my then boyfriend that we needed to ring in 2006 in just that fashion.

Here is what you have to look forward to if you choose to spend New Year’s Eve in Times Square

You will have to start queuing up for a spot at about 2pm, forcing you to be on your feet for 10-12 hours.

Even then you will still find yourself a good 8 blocks away from actual Times Square. The sparkly dropping ball, which is surprisingly small to begin with, will be a barely visible white dot on the horizon.

It will be really, ridiculously, painfully cold. The bright side of that is you will no longer be able to feel your aching feet.

You will feel this bone shaking cold despite being packed cheek to cheek with other disgruntled strangers.

You are not allowed to bring in alcohol. This will be a blessing in disguise actually, as there is nowhere you could even think about peeing.

The New Year’s countdown will last all of 10 seconds. The euphoria of the new year will be nothing matched to the euphoria you will feel at the fact that you can now go home. Of course it will take you another hour to pick your way out of the crowd and walk back to your overpriced hotel.

Can you see the New Year Ball here?

Needless to say it was NOT my favorite New Years. Still, 2006 would be the year I broke up with that boyfriend, found my independent self, studied abroad in England and discovered my love of travel. So it wasn’t a total write off. Nonetheless I will be perfectly pleased never ever to repeat that touristic nightmare.

I spend a lot of time here talking about all the beautiful highlights of the world. While that is obviously important, for a change I’d like to talk about all of the experiences totally worth skipping.

So I want to know…

What has been your biggest travel disappointment?

This could be a place you visited that wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, an event that fizzled or any travel experience that proved to be a letdown. Anytime that a place has dashed your hopes and hurt your soul.

Leave a comment or send your answers to Steph(@)twenty-somethingtravel.com and I will feature the best ones in a post next week!

Update and In Case You Missed it Links: February

Steph — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 13:01:16 +0000

First a complaint: Winter really needs to get over itself. I’ve become narcissistically paranoid that I’m being punished for planning to skip winter next year by being forced to slog through the worst winter in DC history. If I never seen another snowflake again I wouldn’t mind a bit.

Warmer weather is in my future though. I am headed to Tampa in a couple of weeks for work. Not the most glamorous city but if it gets me out of this snowy abyss I’ll take it. This is for my company’s annual conference, so while I won’t have a lot of time to sightsee (are there sights to see in Tampa?) I will try to make the most of the warm weather. If you have any Tampa suggestions- particularly for restaurants downtown, leave them in the comments.

In blogging news, Twenty-Something Travel was featured as a Site of the Day on TravelBlogSites.com, a nifty site that highlights independent travel blogs around the web.

I’ve also been doing a lot of guest posts around the internet this month. You can view the full list here.

Finally, here is a rundown of some of my favorite articles from the interweb this month:

Even though I am currently single, I have traveled as a couple before and I know that comes with unique challenges. I really enjoyed Uncornered Market’s article How to Travel the World Together Without Killing Each Other.

Two great hostelling articles from Nomadic Matt this month: Tips on Picking a Good Hostel and most importantly a primer on Hostel Etiquette.

Nancy the Gnomette shares her conflict with being both a world traveler and homeowner in House vs. Globe: The Vagabond/Homeowner Crisis

I’ve really been enjoying Nico’s blog at Airtreks. Especially this optimistic article on Why Round-The-World Travel Is Better Than It Used To Be

Art of Backpacking has an offbeat piece on 10 Unusual things you might want to pack and will use abroad.

A lot of people seem to have doubts about travelling alone, but Andy Hayes gust post for Solo Traveler on Why I Travel Solo might turn you on to some advantages.

Long term travel can have it great moments and it’s less great ones. Nellie Huang of Wild Junket details some of The Ups and Downs of a Nomadic Lifestyle.

New bloggers Thom and Sean tell you everything you need to know about couch surfing in What you should do if someone is trying to surf on your couch!

Joanna Haugen of Kaleidoscopic Wanderings has been doing a great series on Why People Don’t Travel. The latest post focuses on money issues.

At What Age is it Hardest to Radically Change your Life? That’s the question Corbett Barr asked this week. Terrific article and great comments as well.

A cute little piece on Matador called Ten Travel Tweeps Twittering. Recognize anyone?

Friday Postcard: Prague, Czech Republic

Steph — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:01:54 +0000

Today’s postcard, an artistic picture of the Prague metro, was contributed by Joya Anthony of Be A Travel Bee.

(Do you have a photo you’d like to see featured here? Email me at Steph@twenty-somethingtravel.com)

How to Drink the Australian Way

Steph — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:01:05 +0000

If there is one thing I learned from my time in London, it’s how to drink like an Australian. For the rest of you here is Chris from the Aussie Nomad to fill you in:

Australia is popular for a lot of things; kangaroo’s, Steve Irwin and that infamous phrase “Throw another shrimp on the barbie”. Something else most people associate with us is our love of beer, well our love to drink it to be exact.

Nobody can hide the fact Aussie’s don’t mind a drop of the amber liquid(that’s beer for all you foreigners). Records taken in 2004 had us ranked 4th in the world for consumption with the United States way down in 13th (that’s only 2 above New Zealand you know #justsaying). Blame it on our amazing weather or our laid back don’t worry about it attitude, we always know when its beer o’clock (even if it is at 12 in the afternoon… on a Tuesday).

You could be in Queensland and have a hankering for a XXXX (its pronounced four-ex don’t say X 4 times you’ll look like a dill) or be way down in Tasmania and want to try a glass of James Boag’s to see what the pure waters of Tassie can do for you. They are special, just watch this authentic video the brewery released:

Wherever you are just remember the following rules about beer etiquette and you’re sure to have a great time drinking in Australia:

Don’t under any circumstances order/speak/think of Fosters. Real Aussie’s don’t drink Fosters

Each state has a beer they are loyal too, check the logos on the beer taps before ordering

Your beer should never be more than arms length from you at all times. if you must visit the loo it must go with you

The only complaint you can make about a free beer is that it’s too warm

Never drink so slow that you let your beer get warm. You will have to finish it

Beer can only be bought in stubbies from the liquor store unless there is a possible issue with breakage in transport

If you find yourself buying rounds of drinks with an Aussie pray he has a girlfriend to go home too or you’re in for a long night

When someone says it’s your shout don’t scream at the top of your lungs. They just mean it’s your turn to buy the beer

When happy hour is on you will be expected to buy drinks in multiples

If going to visit a mate for a few drinks under no circumstances are you to arrive with less than a 6 pack

If your drinking light beer you better be of the female variety

While there are many more rules to beer drinking down under that should hopefully save you from the obvious question of “your not from around here are you mate”.

Lastly before you all turn into Aussie’s and comment the hell out of this post I wanted to tell you what beer Aussie’s really drink. After all I know from the moment I started this article you’ve all been dying to know. Well the time has arrived…

WE DRINK ANYTHING

Lastly let me leave you with a glimpse of some of our all time favorite beer advertisements. If they don’t leave your mouth dry then really you’re not welcome in Australia perhaps you should try New Zealand.

Chris is The Aussie Nomad . Your typical Aussie who loves a beer and a laugh. Burning the suit and packing his career into a backpack he’s setting off to travel and work the world over.

No related posts.

Win a $25 Gift Card From Hostel Dog

Steph — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:32:09 +0000

This week I am teaming up with awesome travel outfitter Hostel Dog to give one of you a $25 gift certificate to their online store.

Hostel Dog makes sassy t-shirts for travelers. Check out “Krakow is the New Prague” and “RTW Long Haul” inspired by the cool kids on twitter.

Here’s what you need to do to win:

Simply retweet the following message on twitter:
“I just entered to win a gift card from @hosteldog on Twenty-Something Travel http://wp.me/pAFRW-yc #HDgiveaway “

Easy enough, right?

The contest will run until March 10^th, when we will randomly pick a winner.

So go enter right now!

Fine Print:

1 winner will be chosen

Contest will run from February 24, 2010- March 10, 2010

Winner will be chosen at random

Do the Thing that Scares You

Steph — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:01:06 +0000

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about why so few people actually make their travel dreams reality. Anyone who is a frequent traveler knows the common refrain from others of “I wish I could do that!” To which I always answer that you can. For some reason people don’t seem to believe this.

A lot of it is priorities, but I think another huge barrier for many people, is fear. There are a lot of misconceptions and fears surrounding long-term travel. Among them

Fear of being unsafe

Fear of being lonely

Fear of missing out on life at home

Fear of deviating from the status quo

And maybe the biggest of all:

Fear of the unknown.

My original plan for this post was to go through these one by one pointing out the logical reasons that these fears ring hollow. It wouldn’t matter though, because fear is not a rational emotion. I have these anxieties from time to time and I have traveled enough to know the truths behind them. Instead, I want to point out something about these boogie monsters that I think a lot of people don’t really think about:

Fear can be a good thing.

Or rather, overcoming your fears can be a really good, healthy thing. Looking fear straight in the eye, taking a deep breath, and forging ahead anyways. It’s certainly not an easy or particularly fun experience, but it’s on of the most important skills you can learn.

It is important because even in life at home we often have to do things that are scary. Things like first dates, or job interviews, or having babies, or really any major life change at all. Ife we played it safe all the time nothing would ever happen to us. We certainly wouldn’t have much fun.

Moving to London, without a job, or any contacts, was absolutely terrifying to me. Of course I was excited, but in the days leading up to my arrival it was all I could do to make myself get on the plane. Still, I did it, and it’s a good thing too. Because if I hadn’t I would never have made amazing friends, or fallen in love, or backpacked through Bosnia, or flown a glider. The bigger the risks and the scarier things seem, the greater the rewards.

Now, I’m not advocating that you do things that are irrational or dangerous. There is a big difference between playing Russian roulette and learning to scuba dive even though you are afraid of fish. There is a difference between defying your fears and defying common sense, and I think if you can stay connected with the logical part of your brain it’s easy to differentiate between the two.

It’s about learning to trust yourself. It gets easier as your go. The first time you strike up a conversation with random people at a hostel you may be secretly petrified, but each time you get a little bit bolder. Suddenly you are the chatty friend who talks to random people at bars and nobody believes you when you tell them you are secretly an introvert.

I know that I will be terrified when I leave for my Round-The-World trip in September. Logically I know it will be amazing, but there are still a million undercurrents of fear in my ocean of excitement. I will go though, and I will force myself to meet people and to encounter situations that I will have no idea how to handle. I will throw myself out of plans and sleep in dingy hostels and meet random strangers. And I’ll come out on the other side better for it.

I’ll leave you with a quote from one of my favorite authors, who was a vagabond and world traveler in his own right, Mark Twain:

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.”

Keep up With me Around the Web

Steph — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 13:01:47 +0000

Even though I claimed to be severely burned out at the beginning of this month, I seem to have been popping up all over the interwebs the past few weeks! I’ve been lending my guest post writing skills to quite a few interesting blogs lately, and I today I want to give everyone a chance to catch up on what I’ve been doing when not here:

Falling in Love with Madrid (Sosauce) The awesome people at Sosauce have asked me to write a series of guest posts for them, highlighting some of my favorite cities. This month I kick things off with tips for a passionate trip to Madrid, Spain.

Europe’s Greatest Public Parks (Off to Europe) Public parks can give travelers a terrific insight into the culture, architecture and social life of a city. Here I talk about some of Europe’s most beautiful and interesting parks.

Your Wildest Adventure: Lost in the Lava Fields (Wild Junket) One of the craziest things I’ve ever done was wander around on top of a live volcano in rural Iceland. Here I recount that unnerving experience.

Great Dates in 50 States: Washington DC (Geeks Dream Girl) I may be single but if I WAS dating here are some awesome things I would do. A list of unique and inexpensive dates you can do in the District.

Creative Commons License photo credit: JustinLowery.com

Dealing with Blogger Burnout (Travel Blog Advice) Apparently one of my big tips for dealing with blogger burnout is to write a boatload of guest posts! This and other useful suggestions at the link.

I’ve got a couple more coming up in March as well, so be on the lookout. Meanwhile I’ll be keeping an updated list here, which can be reached via my About page. Additionally you can always keep up to date with all of my internet activities via Twitter and Facebook.

Update and In Case you Missed it Links: January

Friday Postcards: Kyoto and Tokyo, Japan

Steph — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 13:01:27 +0000

Today I have two beautiful pictures for you, contributed by the brilliant former guest poster and frequent commenter Aelle. In her own words:

They were both shot in the summer of 2006. One, in a very steep street of Ichgaya, a residential neigborhood in central Tokyo. The other, in Kyoto’s Nanzenji temple, at dawn, after a sleepless ride in a night bus. Imagine for the former, the hot humidity of Asian summers, the noise – trains, crickets, street tofu cart blowing their horn and calling out for clients – the first salary men leaving work, the sleeves of their white shirts rolled up, and going to relax around a glass of beer or shôchu and a plate of edamame with their colleagues. Imagine for the latter, a very quiet morning, except for chanting monks, the last cool hours of the day before sun rises for good, and a retired man going for his morning prayer – like his son and grandson probably will when they stop working or studying such crazy hours.

If you like Aelle’s prose and photography be sure to check out her neat bilingual blog Des Mots Pour Se Taire.

(Do you have a photo you’d like to see featured here? Email me at Steph@twenty-somethingtravel.com)

Friday Postcard: Prague, Czech Republic

The Mapless Spanish Road Trip

Steph — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 13:01:01 +0000

Today’s guest post come from Katelyn Davis, who spent last semester studying in Alicante, Spain. She wrote about one of my favorite kinds of trips, the spur of the moment road trip:

It was a typical Friday. Typical in the fact that I was studying in beautiful Alicante, Spain,
a smallish beach town located right on the Mediterranean Sea. Typical that we had this Friday off
from our studies (Spain has quite a few four day weekends in the fall) and typical that
I had no plans.

To put it honestly, my life was anything BUT typical. You see, most people say that studying
abroad is an eye-opening experience full of learning, loving and finding out who you truly
are. And it is, but what they fail to mention is that it’s something much simpler than that.

It’s a vacation!
This particular Friday had turned out to be just that. About halfway through that morning,
my closest friend and I had decided to do something that our study abroad directors
highly advised against…we decided to rent a car and road trip through the south of Spain.

First of all, I want to reiterate the fact that we were students, learning the Spanish language
one verb and tense at a time. So you can imagine how anxious we were when we were standing
in the car rental line, waiting to converse in a foreign language.

Turns out, we were much better than we thought and we made it smoothly through the renting process. After we crossed the t’s and dotted the I’s, we were handed our set of keys. I’d never felt so spontaneous and excited in my life.

Here’s where things started to get interesting. For those of you who haven’t been to Europe,
almost every single car on the road is a manual. And although I feel like a failed human being
admitting this, I have never mastered the art of driving a stick. Thankfully, my friend had
learned to drive on a 1950s Chevy pick-up truck and calmy stated, “It’s OK, I know how.”

Her “It’s OK, I know how,” statement eased my initial nervousness, however she failed to mention,
(until we were merging onto the freeway), that she hadn’t driven a stick in four years.
I can think of a million different ways that this could have gone all wrong, but, everything
turned out fine and we were quickly on our way…south.

I think now is a good time to mention that we really had no idea where we were going. We had
no map, no sense of direction and no idea what freeway we were on. All we knew was that we
wanted to go to Granada, which was…south.

Looking back on this little expedition, I tend to think of myself as a little bit crazy. Usually,
I’m a cool, calm and collected individual who likes to plan things out. Who likes to know where
I’m going and what I’ll be doing. Rarely, and I mean rarely, am I caught without my planner.
How I managed to get myself into this situation and stay completely sane through it all is
a mystery to me.

So there I am, completely going along with everything, listening to some great road-tripping
tunes (I suggest John Mayer because even in a different country, he’s still a solid choice)
and not caring that we were blindly driving on a foreign freeway, with cars whizzing past us
at alarming speeds. And then…another road trip miracle… we saw what we had been hoping to
see.

A very large, very readable sign saying that we were indeed going in the right direction.
In fact, all we had to do was drive on this stretch of road for three and a half hours and
we would reach our destination.

As soon as we saw this sign, we eased up, sat back and enjoyed the road trip. Every couple of miles we would turn down the music, look at each other and squeal like little girls. I mean we were road tripping through southern Spain! How could we not be excited?

As the sun started to set, I was in awe. Never had I seen these colors before. Wisps of amber yellow, rusty orange and cotton candy pink painted the sky. It was perfect and by far the prettiest sunset I had ever seen. This wonderful sunset will forever be etched into my memory (and if that fails me, I have about a gazillion pictures to remind me.)

Before we knew it, we had reached our destination. And although we had no idea which exit to take, we made it, safely and soundly. After a few treacherous roundabouts (another thing that Europe is crazy about…me, not so much) and a couple episodes of stalling, we parked our sporty little rental car and soaked up the city.

Our weekend was a wonderful experience. We ate delightful tapas (in Granada alcoholic drinks come free with every tapa you order!), saw the beautiful La Alhambra, soaked up some more Spanish culture and most importantly, SURVIVED our road trip.

I guess the moral of this too short of a story is this. Take a chance. Even in a foreign, scary, adrenaline-pumping situation. Because more often times than not, it will be an experience that you’ll remember for years to come.

Even with all the minor slip ups (driving a stick, scary roundabouts, not having any idea where we were going) it was the best road trip of my life and just like the rest of my time in Spain, I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything.

Katelyn Davis is a recent graduate from California State University, Chico. She majored in journalism with an option in public relations and a minor in Spanish. She is currently living with her parents, searching for the perfect job and writing/reading in her spare time. You can read more about Katelyn’s study abroad experience at My Spanish Adventures.

Serbia in Pictures

Steph — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:01:28 +0000

So wow, I guess my post on Belgrade last week was kind of dark. Everything I wrote was genuine, but there were also a lot of things I saw in Serbia that were downright charming. Here are some of the neat things I saw there:

The Cathedral of St. Sava. The Belgradians have been slowly building this amazing church for literally a hundred years. Construction began in 1905 and was waylayed by World War 1, World War 2 and the Balkan Wars. Although it looks complete on the outside, the inside is still unfinished:

Still needs a bit of work…

Old men playing Chess at Kalemegdan Park. I think they exist in almost every city don’t they?

Kalemegdan park is the major city park of Belgrade. The grounds are in and around the ruins of a fortress, parts of which date back to the fourth and fifth century AD. In the time since then it was built, attacked and re-built again and again. It’s been invaded something like 42 times. Now you can wander freely among the ruins along with joggers and sexy Serbian men playing frisbee.

Another famous fortress, Petrovaradin Fortress sits on the Danube in the province of Vojvodina. If you can beleive it, the area has been fortified since 3000 BC. The current buildings date from the late 17th century. It’s most famous for being the site of the annual EXIT festival, a huge alternative music festival.

A couple shots of the striking art-nouveau architecture of downtown Novi Sad. The second biggest city in the country, Novi Sad is the cultural capital of Serbia.

No Yugoslavia clip show would be complete without a snapshot of a Yugo, or a Yugo billboard at least. And yes, I did see these cute little cars everywhere.

I had to look a little harder to find the charm in Serbia; it’s not as obvious as some of the other countries I visited in the Balkan. What Serbia has to offer is a very, long, very interesting history, carefully loved and preserved and well worth seeing for yourself.

Notes from the Homefront: How much is Too Much (Planning)? Plus! My Itinerary

Steph — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 13:01:49 +0000

So I’ve been planning to take this round-the-world trip since last June, but it only occurred to me around January that I should probably start PLANNING this round-the-world trip. I was then faced with a decision: how much of this trip needs to be planned out? And how?

Obviously I will need to plan ahead of time for things like visas, immunizations etc. But I’m talking about planning my itinerary here- where I want to visit and in what order. Everyone seems to have different philosophies when it comes to trip planning. From what I see there are two basic schools of thought:

The anti- planning people- Usually confident seasoned travelers, these folks seem to abhor planning of any kind. They like to buy a ticket, roll up and see where the wind takes them. While they have maximum flexibility, they are often subject to higher ticket fares by buying at the last minute, and the lack of plan can lead to inefficiency and backtracking.
The must have a plan people- I think this is more common among newer, more nervous travelers, but it’s not exclusive to them. These people plan down to the day where they will be and what they will be doing. While this approach can mean maximum efficiency (especially if you are short on time) these travelers sacrifice a lot of flexibility. I mean what if it rains? What if you fall in love with a city and simple NEED an extra week?

Creative Commons License photo credit: johninbkk

Where do I fall? Well somewhere in the middle really. I want to be flexible and open to opportunities that may come my way. I realize that making extensive plans is probably going to lead to more frustration than anything else 5 or 6 months into my trip.

However I also really, really love planning things. Ever since I was a little girl and my dad handed me Walt Disney World for Dummies and said, “Hey, you handle this” I’ve had a love affair with guidebooks. The anticipation that comes from learning about a country is a real and big part of the enjoyment of the trip for me. I can’t really imagine showing up in a new place without any idea of what’s important there or what I might like to do. I would hate to miss out on something really awesome because I didn’t do my research first.

So trip planning has become an exercise in compromise for me. I’m buying some of my tickets ahead of time but not all of them. I’m going country-by-country and pouring over the guidebooks but I’m steering clear of itineraries or concrete plans. I’m compiling lists of things I would like to do but not committing myself to anything. I think my notes will be really useful once I’m on the road, particularly a

s I won’t be bringing any guidebooks with me. At the same time it should leave me open to decide what I want to do and see as I go along.

Creative Commons License photo credit: woodleywonderworks

When it comes to planning I think it’s important to do whatever makes you feel most comfortable. If you are a novice traveler, that may mean planning out every day of your trip. If you can’t stand the idea of concrete plans then don’t make them. In either case its important to remember that part of travel is being flexible in your plans, beliefs and practices.

So without further ado, here’s a first look at my (still evolving) itinerary:

Japan- My first stop will also be my most expensive! My target date to head out will be September 15, but this is subject to change. I’ll be visiting a friend teaching English just outside of Tokyo and seeing as many highlights as I can fit in a scant two weeks.

New Zealand- Sky diving, bungee jumping and other adrenaline thrills await me here. After a quick relaxing jaunt to Fiji it will be on to…

Australia- I’m planning to spend about two months traveling primarily the east coast of this enormous country. It’s here I will be meeting up with my travel soul mate Liz and spending some quality time with my crazy old Australian roommates (on is in Brisbane, the other in Melbourne). I suspect these will not be healthy times for the old liver.

Southeast Asia- here’s where the plans get a bit fuzzier. Sometime slightly before or after Christmas I’ll fly into Bangkok. Over the next 5 or so months I’ll be exploring this region and reviling in the lack of snow. Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and hopefully Burma if I can get a visa. Eventually I’ll head south down to Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. This area of the world fascinates me and happens to be very, very cheap- wins all around.

Egypt- Around May I will fly from one of the major city centers of SE Asia to Cairo. I’m not entirely comfortable exploring this region on my own so I will probably sign up for a group tour with Gap Adventures. Ideally, I would love to do this tour, which takes you through Jordan and Syria to Turkey, but it may be beyond my budget.

Eastern Europe- Some of my favorite places I’ve visited in the past were in this region, so I want to take some time to see more of the area. Tentative list of countries to visit includes: Turkey, Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo, Bulgaria and Romania (possibly the Ukraine and Slovakia as well) before I head up north to Poland where I fly to my final destination…

Northern England- My last stop on the trip, around August 2011, will be Hadrian’s Wall, which I hope to hike the length of along with my Dad and Step-Mom who will fly out to meet me. From there I’ll probably head down to my favorite city of London for a few days before flying back to the US.

So that’s the plan, still very much subject to change and adjustment. So far in my readings/planning I’ve only gotten as far as Australia so there is a lot still to be figured out logistically. I’m really excited about the year ahead of me! Of course any comments and suggestions are appreciated.

Your turn: How much do you like to plan?

Friday Postcard: Arlington, Virginia (Snowpocalypse Edition)

Steph — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:01:16 +0000

Depending on if you follow US news, you may or may not know that my hometown of DC is being ravaged by a never ending snow storm of doom. The snow started falling last Friday afternoon, and as I look out my window today (Wednesday) it still looks like someone gave a snowglobe a hard shake. We’ve had something like 30+ inches of snow over the past week (this in an area that gets maybe 10 inches a year on average)!

This was all very amusing for the first day or so, but overtime snow fatigue has begun to set in. It’s impossible to go anywhere, I haven’t been to work in over a week and the thought of doing anymore shoveling makes me want to die. I’ve been passing the time blogging and planning for next winter when I will hopefully be in much warmer climes.

Here’s hoping the sun comes out soon!

You can see more of my Snowmageddon pictures here.

(Do you have a photo you’d like to see featured here? Email me at Steph@twenty-somethingtravel.com)

Lonely Planet Traveler’s Pulse Panel

Steph — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:01:35 +0000

I’m a Lonely Planet addict. I love their guidebooks and I love their website. Lonely Planet asked me to pass along the following opportunity to you guys:

Calling all travelers!

Lonely Planet invites you to join our Travelers’ Pulse Panel!

Our panel is a discussion forum where we engage travelers and listen to what you have to say about travel – where to go, how to plan, and other creative travel ideas. We’ve always got interesting topics up for you to comment on, like our current survey on what you’re looking for when you take a trip to a theme park.

Joining the panel is free and if you’re accepted to be a panelist, we’ll send you a free Lonely Planet 2010 calendar as a gift to welcome you on board! Not only will you get to talk about travel, but we regularly run promotions exclusively for panelists where you can win prizes like Lonely Planet products and Amazon gift cards.

If you’d like to join this panel (numbers are limited) all you need to do is click the link below and take a short survey to register. We’ll look at your responses and depending on your age, travel experience and country of residence you might be one of the people we’re looking for! The type of people we need on the panel changes from time to time, so if you aren’t suitable for our panel this time we may contact you to participate in future.

https://www.travellerspulse.com/R.aspx?a=56&Source=BLOG

Thanks again!

Regards,

The Lonely Planet Travelers’ Pulse team

A New Zealand Bucket List for Twenty-Somethings

Steph — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:01:21 +0000

Today’s guest post was contributed by Michelle Ray of Wander There. I’ve been spending much of my free Snowpocalypse time researching New Zealand so I really enjoyed reading about the highlights of Michelle’s trip to the South Island. It definitely gave me some new ideas for my own bucket list:

There’s something alluring about an island country (or in this case, two islands) known as ‘Godzone.’ Then, you add in all of the tails of adventure, beauty, wildlife and winding roads. Oh, and I can’t forget serving as the backdrop of The Lord of the Rings movies. Who wouldn’t want to pack their bags and head to New Zealand?

I don’t know if it was my adventurous spirit or love for natural wonderlands, but I had to find a way to New Zealand in my twenties. Luckily, fate dealt me a royal flush. I found insanely cheap airfare and was able to take off about three weeks from work on short notice. In less than two months, I was eagerly boarding a plane and on my way to the South Pacific, ready for an unpredictable adventure.

For those who have not been lucky enough to visit New Zealand, it is a breathtaking country with vibrant blue skies, low-hanging clouds and lush, green hills that give way to towering, dark mountains. I almost had to pinch my arm on a few occasions, just to remind myself that I was still on planet Earth. And, the Kiwis are such kind people who get to enjoy my now favorite beer, Speight’s (which, sadly, is not available in the States). On top of that, there’s an endless list of activities that you can add to your NZ “bucket” list.

Here are some of my memorable adventures….

Swimming with Dolphins

This was a must-do while I was in New Zealand. I have always loved dolphins, so much so that I wanted to be a dolphin trainer when I was younger. And, after some research, I learned that I could swim with wild dolphins in the ocean. Sold.

With snorkeling gear in hand, we boarded our boat in Kaikoura, and then sped out to sea. Not long after soaking up the sun and searching the horizon for any movement in the water, we came upon a pod of dolphins…well nearly 250 of them! We launched ourselves into the ocean and swam towards these curious and social creatures, ready to meet them and experience the world from their eyes.

While in the water, the dolphins would swim up towards me, circle me and even show off their acrobatic skills with graceful flips. Though we were asked not to touch them, those rules did not apply to the dolphins — some grazed against me! One in particular became my shadow, following me and constantly circling me, as if teasing me to play. The dolphins danced in the water and zipped around us for what felt like hours. I didn’t want euphoric experience to end, nor did I want to stop observing and interacting with my favorite animal – the majestic dolphin!
Kayaking Abel Tasman

At Abel Tasman National Park, the ocean meets sandy beaches, rocky cliffs, coves and seals. Plus, it’s an area rich in history and folklore.

Coming around the rocks, we kayaked to seals and seal pups sunbathing on rocks and gliding in the water. Some even swam under and around our kayaks, twirling and splashing. Then, the sun dived behind heavy clouds, and the southerly winds picked up. So, we started our long, adrenaline-charged paddle back to shore with the wind and water pounding against our face and kayaks.

Abel Tasman goes beyond stunning scenery and wildlife, though. While there, you meet other global travelers from different lands, leave behind trivial concerns and just let wanderlust set in.

Fiordland National Park

Sometimes a place can make you forget about how neon signs assault your vision with their dancing lights and car fumes infiltrate your lungs and sting your eyes…and make you feel completely alive. Welcome to Fiordland National Park. Here you can sail the majestic fjords, as well as backpack the Milford Trek and other less famous but overwhelmingly scenic trails.

While Milford Sound is the most accessible fjord (and well-worth a visit), I’m thrilled that we did an overnight trip in the remote Doubtful Sound. To arrive at this celestial fjord, we had to surrender ourselves to a boat that sped across the lovely Lake Manapauri, then we stepped on land and boarded a bus to cross the Wilmett Pass, the most expensive road in New Zealand…and from there, we became the only visitors of Doubtful Sound, well alongside 65 other passengers. There were no other humans for hundreds of kilometers.

We witnessed the glory of Doubtful Sound on a sunny day, which was only dotted with clouds, as well as the forested mountains engulfed in fog on a rainy morning. We also experienced the isolated fjord from the view of a kayak, as well as encountered some of the wildlife residents- seals, dolphins, sea lions, nearly extinct birds and even the rarest penguin in the world!

As a photographer, nature lover and adventure seeker, it was almost heaven. No wonder New Zealand is nicknamed the Godzone.

What’s Still on My Bucket List

Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I didn’t get accomplish everything on my “bucket” list. So, I’m hoping to return in the next 4-5 years to do some tramping (backpacking) in Fiordland, climb Franz Josef glacier, visit Speight’s brewery, swim with seals, ski in Queenstown and attend an All Blacks rugby match. Oh, and also because New Zealand is a natural wonderland, and I like having my breath taken away by adventure and immense beauty.

What would be on your “bucket” list for New Zealand?

Michelle Ray is a 20-something travel addict and animal lover who works for homeless pets by day and obsesses about her next overseas adventure by night. Struck by wanderlust at a young age, Michelle constantly craves freedom, a difference in land and culture, a world away from the one that she lives. When not traveling, she shakes off her itchy feet through photography, writing, reading, hiking and kayaking. She recently moved to Colorado so she could wake up to stunning mountain views, pursue her passions and play outdoors more often. Follow her on Twitter @wanderstruck and join her adventures (and misadventures) online at wanderthere.blogspot.com.

Bombs Over Belgrade

Steph — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:01:27 +0000

If I were to sum up Belgrade in one word, it would be “gritty.”

After an amazing couple of weeks in elegant Bosnia and relaxing Montenegro it was a shock to the system to be dropped in the center of hot, urban Belgrade.

Also a shock:

I’d encountered my fair share of bombed out buildings in Bosnia, and was moved by the horror of the wars there, but these tall gaping monsters felt different. The dark holes, like missing teeth, seemed almost accusatory. Unlike the shattered remnants of Sarajevo and Mostar, the damages in Belgrade had been inflicted by my own country.

Well, not JUST the United States. It was actually NATO that bombed Serbia during the 1999 Kosovo War. Unfair or not, most of the Serbian anger over the Kosovo issue seems to be directed solely at the US. Just a few months prior to my arrival, riots has broken out in front of the US Embassy in response to Kosovo’s renewed declarations of independence.

I walked past the American Embassy, now shuttered and boarded up and felt a twinge of nervousness. Belgrade is the only place in Europe where I’ve actually run across anti-Americanism. I never felt unsafe; most of the jabs were harmless, despite their serious undertones. I was subject to a lot of subtle digs though (for example, locals kept sarcastically asking me if I was “looking for McDonalds.”) My friend Liz, a Canadian, managed to escape the hostility.

Needless to say, Serbia did not feel as friendly as the other Balkan countries I visited.

Although it made me squirm a bit, it did give me a picture of Serbian psychology. The people there have strong national pride as well as a remarkable respect and connection with their past. There seems to be a reverence for the “glory days” of the former Yugoslavia. This was evident when we visited the grave of Grand Marshal Tito. Even at 10am on an unremarkable Tuesday the place was buzzing.

One of the things that challenged and fascinated me most about my time in the former Yugoslavia was the rawness of history there. In the past twenty years huge shifts in culture, nationality and politics have occurred- often with terrifying force. Serbia sits at the center of these conflicts; many see them as the aggressor, they see themselves as victims. I won’t comment politically except to say that in some ways both are true.

As a result it’s impossible to walk down the street in Belgrade and not contemplate this turbulence. While not the most drastic consequences, the buildings are the ragged physical reminders of upheaval. They refuse to be ignored and refuse to be forgotten.

The Biggest Money Sucks for Twenty-Somethings

Steph — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:01:28 +0000

Spending Diet update! You can track how my own savings are progressing here.

The most frustrating thing about trying to save massive amounts of money is the unavoidable fact that you have to spend money to live. It would be so much easier to sock away money from my not-terrible job if I didn’t have to pay for costly but necessary parts of life.

Here’s a list of some of the top money sucks for Twenty-Somethings, and a few tips on how to reduce them:

Creative Commons License photo credit: kevindooley

Rent

For most people this is their biggest living expense. Rent can cost you between 30%-60% of your income, particularly if you live in an expensive area.

There is one really great solution to this- IF you can stomach it. Moving back in with my mom has saved me boatloads of money. It’s not as fun as living independently, but all of that money I would have spent on rent (probably about $1000 a month in this area) now goes directly into savings. Of course this requires willing parents and logistics, but it’s worth giving some serious thought.

If that’s not an option for you, you might consider moving to a cheaper place, or taking on some roommates. A little can go a long way in this department.

Creative Commons License photo credit: twelvizm

Car

Cars are deceptively expensive. Not only do they cost a lot to buy, as an owner you are then stuck paying for pricey auto insurance, gas and repairs (which always seem to come at the worst moment). Saving money would be monumentally easier if I could get rid of my car and solely use public transport for commuting. Or maybe by a bicycle and be richer AND thinner.

Unfortunately for me I have a long commute that is not conducive to public transport, so I’ll be hanging on to my car for a while still. I’m hoping to offset some of the costs of car ownership by selling my pretty black Jetta before I leave. It’s of no use to me while I’m abroad, and I can always buy another car someday.

Creative Commons License photo credit: Andres Rueda

Loans

School debts, car payments and credit car bills seem to bring down many a would-be traveler. As twenty-somethings we haven’t had a ton of time to rack up debt but we are vulnerable to mismanaging what we have.

The only advice I can give here is to pay down as much as you can as soon as possible. Yes it will deplete your savings momentarily, but you will make up for it in the money you WON’T be spending on interest. Adam at Man Versus Debt has some great advice on how to manage your debt and still travel the world.

Entertainment

I asked some of my buddies on #RTWSoon what the biggest savings obstacles were for them and one kept coming up:

thom_sean: FRIENDS! Easy to cut back food/phone/treats but well meaning: ‘oh come on, what difference will ONE night make?’ A LOT

shawnosaurus: Boredom

JohnnyVagabond: That’s an easy one: beer

It’s a tough one for me too. You’re young and awesome; you want to go out with your friends. All of a sudden one drink turns into shots for everybody. You don’t even think about the cost until you get your credit card statement.

Sadly the only way to combat this is that tricky thing called self-control. I do try to remove some temptations by passing on places and events that I know are going to be expensive and capitalizing on free events. I also try to avoid opening a tab at bars (even better: leave your cards at home and stick only to the cash on your person).

I know some of these measures seem drastic. But the truth of the matter is that if you are trying to massively change your life your going to have to make some sacrifices. There is no easy fix just hard work. Hopefully the end goal makes it all worthwhile.

Your turn: any major expenses I missed? How do you drastically cut down?