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Travel Blog

The worst part of going on a huge trip is the traveling. If you’re doing this on a budget you are going to be riding a lot of busses. There are ways to make sure you have the best buss experience you can.

1) Get night busses. Nothing better than leaving Panama at 8 in the night and waking up on the borders of Costa Rica the next morning. Sleeping on the bus avoids all potential annoying problems.

2) Bring a portable DVD player. Have nothing more to talk about? Want to forget your going to be on a bus for the next 7 hours on a great day? Watch a DVD and time will fly by.

3)Bring a notebook and write down all the funny things that have happened. You’ll be happy you did when the trip is over. You’ll be surprised of the inspiration you get while on a bus.

4) bring a game of chess. Exercise your mind a bit. Passes time greatly

Follow these tips and your sure to enjoy your time!

Just Go!

The hardest part about traveling is the actual traveling part. Its easy to plan, to look up where you want to go and even research prices. But when it comes to actually deciding to quit your job, take a semester off from school, or missing the NBA playoffs – it suddenly gets hard to go.

My whole purpose for this post is to get you off your lazy ass and go! Stop worrying about what will happen, make a simple plan and then make the decision to go. 

The first time I really experienced another culture was from 2005 to 2007. I was 19 years old and decided to be a missionary in Taiwan. I didn’t speak Chinese, I knew nothing about Taiwanese culture, and I hated seafood, but for some reason it seemed like a good idea.

The two years there cost me $10,000 total. I gave up a high paying job (I was about to be promoted to an account manager making around $100,000 a year), I left my friends and family, and just went.

Taiwan wasn’t what I expected it to be… it was MUCH better! The food was amazing, the people the kindest in the world, and the weather beautiful. It took me about a year to feel really comfortable with the language, but by the end I was fluent in Mandarin. Some of the food was weird (below is a list of the food I ate), but hardly impossible to eat. And possibly the best part was how kind the people were there. Maybe it was because I looked different from everyone, but I was treated like a celebrity. Everyone wanted to talk to me and learn more about my culture. The only exception being the children… when you are 6’5” they tend to think you are a monster.

Back to my point. When I returned home, I went to college and passed off all the beginning and intermediate mandarin classes – it took me only 2 years to complete a major in Chinese (and you know how much tuition costs nowadays…). During that time I had government scholarships because of my experience in Chinese, I received job offers working as a consultant for new companies working with China and of course, used my new found Chinese food making experience to score a couple of hot dates.

That two-year experience completely changed my life. It wasn’t easy saving the money or giving up a good job and my time. BUT, so many more opportunities have opened up for me.

So again, stop making excuses. Your life will be enhanced in ways you don’t understand right now if you are willing to go out there and travel like you have always dreamed.

Weird foods from Taiwan:

Fish Eyes

Solidified Pig Blood Blocks

Octopus Testicles

Dried fish snacks

How to get cheap airline tickets anywhere in the world

I’m a college student who makes about $10,000 a year, if I’m lucky. Most students my age who want to travel beg there parents to pay for a trip to Cancun, take out huge loans to do a study abroad in a single country, or simply stay close to home and never see the world. Needless to say, when I tell fellow students I have travelled to over 18 different countries in the last two years without breaking the bank or begging my parents for money, they are shocked. They often ask “how did you do it?” In this artcile I will share the number one secret to inexpensive travel – how to find cheap plane tickets.

Last year a close friend of mine and I decided to travel from Panama City to Torreon, Mexico. We wanted to see every country in Central America in six weeks and we wanted to do it for as little as possible. The first step in this trip was finding inexpensive airline tickets. We were based in Salt Lake City and could not find round trip tickets for under $600 dollars. However, after spending weeks searching we found round trip tickets for only $230 – and literally saved ourselves $470. I used the same process to find round trip tickets to England for under $300, China for under $350, and countless other states and countries. Here are the methods for finding inexpensive tickets:

1. Choose a website (I prefer www.kayak.com) and select the dates you would like to leave. Get a general idea on how much it should cost. A general rule is to find out what the average price is and cut it in half – that is how much you should be able to find tickets for.

2. Be flexible with your dates. Most websites allow you to search 3 days before and after the date you want to leave. Prices often are slashed by as much as $400 depending on the day and time of day you leave on. Again, as a general rule Weekdays (Monday – Thursday) are generally the most inexpensive.

3. Check out other airports. I departed from LAX when going to Panama – I drove with a friend from Salt Lake City to his house in LA. We split the gas – it cost about $30 each. Saving over$ 300 (cost of the plane ticket if we had left from Salt Lake City).

4. Check multiple times daily. Airline ticket prices constantly fluctuate . Decide the price that you are willing to pay and do not buy tickets until you see it drop to that price. This process can take up to weeks, but is well worth it.

5. Buy tickets as far in advance as possible. Airlines have the cheapest prices 22 days before the flight. They raise prices at 21 days, then again at 14 days, then again at 7 days. They know that many business people have to book tickets just days in advance. This is a huge advantage to people who have months or even weeks to plan ahead. The farther in advance you plan, the more time you have to find the price you want for your ticket.

6. Give up you seat. We have all been at the airport and heard over the loudspeaker someone say “flight ____ is overbooked, we are offering an incentive to volunteers willing to give up their seat.” If you ever hear this, and are able to, give up your seat. You will be able to fly on the next flight and will get usually between $100 and $400 towards a flight. A ticket you paid for can literally be free if you give up you seat.

In my experience, the above steps will help you get the cheapest ticket possible. If you use the above steps you will finally be able to visit that country or culture you have always wanted to. It will help you get out of the monotony of daily life and bring a passion and fire to it.

Food and Board on a shoestring – How you can travel for less than $5 a day.

Everyone travels for different reasons. Some people travel for leisure, other people for business, and some for research. Once while in Italy I even ran into two Danes who were in Italy purely for the food! But if you are like me, you travel to experience new cultures, open your mind, get out of the monotony of daily life, meet new people, and visit the places you have always dreamed of seeing. Unfortunately, we all aren’t Donald Trump. Most of us simply can not afford to stay in hotels, eat out every meal, and take taxis everywhere when we travel. I am writing this for the people who have always dreamed of seeing the world, but don’t have thousands of dollars to spend. If this is you, pay close attention, because you can travel anywhere in the world, for as little as 5 dollars a day.

The first and most important way to save money is to either not pay for housing, or find the cheapest around. Often upon hearing this, people assume that means you will be staying in disgusting and dirty places. However, in my experience this is not always the case. There are many websites that help people find quality places to stay for free. www.couchsurfing.org is currently the most popular website. On this website people from all over the world offer to have you stay with them when you visit there city. Before you stay with them you can see what other people who have stayed with them have said about their stay. Some people worry about safety issues, but couchsuring.org does everything they can do to insure peoples safety. Furthermore, I have couchsurfed in many different countries and have always had amazing experiences and made great friends. You can stay with both men and women, old and young, rich and poor – but no matter where you go, it is FREE!

In addition to couch surfing there are other websites such as Stay4free.com, homeexchange.com, and hospitalityclub.org that advertise free accommodations. However, if you are not comfortable with this sort of living you can always check out hostels. www.hostelword.com is my recommendation for finding hostels worldwide. Some hostels have prices as low as $3 a night and many include a free breakfast. Otherwise, if you travel with one or more friends, you can find hotels for a low price and then split it. www.kayak.com is a great website for finding cheap hotel prices. Nevertheless, I would still strongly suggest you check out couchsurfing.org. Not only does it give you a free place to rest, frequently the people you stay with will make traditional food for you and take you out to see the sites. You can get free tours around the city from a native for free.

Once you have your room and board figured out, you need to start thinking about how to pay for food. Eating out every meal is fun, but is also extremely expensive. However, I do understand that part of the fun of traveling is tasting the local cuisine. I would suggest choosing one day a week to go out and have a nice meal. This will give you the opportunity to enjoy the food, without breaking your budget.

In order to find cheap food consider how you buy food when you are not traveling. The best way to get cheap food is to head over to the local grocery store or market. Once while in France, I ate out 3 days in a row and therefore had only $5 for the rest of the week. I proceeded to head over to the grocery store, buy peanut butter, jelly, and a loaf of bread. It wasn’t the most pleasant experience, but I was able to make it to the end of the week without starving. If you plan ahead you can eat extremely well simply by heading to the closest markets or grocery stores in your area.

Another great option for saving money is by checking out the local dollar store. Not every country has these, but if you are traveling in the US you can definitely find them. Furthermore, I have seen them all over Europe (the 1 euro stores) and Asia. Most of them have food you can buy for a very good price! In addition, you can literally save yourselves hundreds of dollars by purchasing food and other materials at these stores. Most of the natives will know where these stores are so do not be afraid to ask!

By following these guidelines you can easily travel within any country in the world for as little as $5 a day! There are other methods and country specific rules that you can see on my website. Please take some time to check it out, and good luck travelling!