This past weekend I took a little trip to D.C. for my friend’s birthday. We were going to be staying at her sister’s place, which is actually in Alexandria, a town right outside of D.C.
Can I just say—I’m definitely no stranger to bus travel. When I was living at home and commuting into the city before I actually moved here, I took a bus each and every morning into good ole’ Port Authority, and then back home again at night.
I’ve taken buses to Boston that cost about $15 per ticket AND had free Wi-Fi, and comfy seats with tables and cup holders.
With that recent trip to Boston in my head, I was a little surprised when I discovered that the bus we would be taking to Virginia was in fact $30 per ticket. No biggie, though, for double the price, it’s got to be a decent bus, right?
Need to use one of these? I'd hold it if I was on Ryanair.
While we are still on the subject of money, I received my Frommer’s newsletter today, chock full of fabulous info, like it always is—but there was one item in particular that really caught my attention.
On the heels of my post the other day about how Spirit Airlines is charging for carry-on bags that don’t fit under the seats comes this, even more absurd update—Ryanair’s announcement that it is making a move to charge £1 (or approximately $1.50) for the use of the toilet on their planes.
Add this to the growing list of other things we already have to pay for on flights—extra baggage (or any baggage at all, in some cases), headphone usage, overhead carry ons, etc.—what will they think of next? Does an action like this by an airline company—which seems to be so desperate and made with complete disregard for its customers—deter you from flying with them, even if their flights might be a bit cheaper? Do you think this type of change shows that they are in no way concerned about customer satisfaction?
Heading off in one of these? It might be easier (and cheaper!) to just buy all new things when you get there instead of having carry ons.
A friend of mine over at Her Two Cents posted an interesting little morsel of information today about how Spirit Airlines is apparently now charging $45 for carry-on bags that are big enough that they need to be stored in overhead bins (one personal, under-the-seat-fitting carry on item is still allowed for free). Oh but wait, in an effort to appease us, it’s only $30 to carry-on if you book it online.
Given my prior (and only) experience on a cruise ship, when I first started reading thisNY Times piece about the popularity of couples getting married on the high seas, I thought I’d never in a million years be interested in something like that.
But then I kept reading.
Besides the fact that some of these couples then disembark on the cruise ship for their honeymoon WITH their family and friends still on board (not a fan of that idea), everything else seems like it could be quite the deal.
Consider this: According to the article, Norwegian Cruise Line performs more than 400 weddings annually, with prices ranging from $1,850 for an on board wedding to $2,450 for an on shore wedding by a canal in Venice, or other ports of call.
I mean, HELLO! Obviously you would need to buy the ticket to get to the departing port for the cruise line to begin with, but still, even with that expense factored in, it seems like a wedding on board a cruise ship is still WAY cheaper than what the average wedding is going for these days.
In fact, one couple in the article opted for a basic wedding package for 50 friends and family members that included the venue, an officiant from the local port of call, flowers, music, a strawberry and Champagne toast and an hour at the bar—ALL FOR $1,500! Then the couple got to stay onboard for an additional $5,000 for their honeymoon cruise. Too easy.
Now, I’m sure that planning a wedding on a cruise ship comes with its fair share of drama and issues, but what wedding doesn’t? In the end, it seems to me like having a wedding on board the very same cruise ship that is going to take you and your new spouse off to your honeymoon seems pretty romantic (assuming you don’t get seasick, of course).
I never did enough research back when I was a student to jump on the discounted student travel bandwagon, but I wish I had. There are tons of companies out there, like STA Travel, that offer great prices for students who want or need to travel.
Turns out, I may not have missed my chance. According to thisNY Times piece, student travel agencies are actually looking to nonstudents and older travelers to share in the discount fun.
The down side? According to the piece, discounted trips seem to be an appeasement in an economy where travel costs are rising. In fact, according to the article the average ticket for the most popular spring break travel itinerary with a Saturday departure and Sunday return is $418, which is up $57, or 16%, from last year.
Good thing I have no plans to travel with the student break crowd this year.
I have this one friend (the one who I went to visit in Hawaii), whose life I covet. I mean, I love my life, but she’s really got it down when it comes to traveling. She studied abroad in Europe in college, moved to Hawaii when she graduated and did tons of traveling around there, went to South America last year and now, she’s quit her Hawaiian job and is taking 6 months to travel around Asia, which will culminate in a month-long volunteer job in Vietnam where she will be working at a hospital teaching the PTs there (she’s a physical therapist) about the methods and techniques she’s learned in her years working at the hospital in Hawaii.
Not too shabby!
At our recent meet-up during her week home before she returns to Hawaii before she and her travel buddy jet-set off to Asia, she gave me her (relative) itinerary so that I could pick and chose a place and time to meet up with her, should I feel so inclined (the answer is yes, friends, I do feel so inclined). Here’s what it looks like:
Japan for 1 week
Vietnam for a few days
Cambodia for 1 month
Nepal for a little over a month
India for 1 month
Thailand for 2 weeks
Vietnam again (where she will be volunteering) for her final month
I asked her how her family felt about all her traveling around, especially after having lived in Hawaii for the past little-more-than-2-years. She sort-of laughed. “They’re wondering when I’ll be done,” she said.
I don’t know if one ever feels totally “done” when it comes to traveling, but maybe things just tend to die down in scale? I know recently I’ve felt a travel itch to up and move from Manhattan, take to the road or air or sea, see wherever I land and start new.
I probably won’t do it, though. My friend will. That’s the difference.
So I envy her, but for now, the least I can do is watch and live vicariously through her (and beg her to send me updates of her travels every few days so I can post them here).
Oh, and the other thing I can do is visit. With London and Rome in May and Oktoberfest in September, I’m not so sure how feasible it will be, but my friend promises me that they are traveling on the cheap, and that once I’m there, even if I stay for a week, I can expect to spend not much more than $100.
Really?!
That I could do. I’m thinking Thailand might be the perfect place and time for me to visit her. Plus, there’s no Visa requirement. I’ll have to look into it.
Although she did also leave me with a note of all the shots I’ll need to travel there— Hep A,B and C, tetanus, Malaria and Typhoid. Oh my.
This year I spent Valentines day at my mom’s house, planning an upcoming trip to Europe with my sister. Last year, however, Chris and I were on a boat heading out to snorkel in the Bahamas.
There’s a lot to be said about this. For our first Valentines day when we were actually physically together (the first year we were dating he was in Banff), it was pretty great to be in the Bahamas. On the other hand, we learned a pretty valuable lesson on that trip—if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
What do you do when you come into a little bit of money?
This is not a blog about money, by any means. To be clear, I certainly don’t make a ton of the green stuff, and so that has led me to be somewhat money savvy about travel—at least I like to think so. On my meager salary, I’ve been able to do tons of fun travel stuff, including a trip to Hawaii, a ski trip to Banff, a toilet-of-the-sea cruise to the Bahamas, Christmas and New Years in Australia, and an up-and-coming trip to Italy with my sister this year, and Oktoberfest with a friend in September.
To be fair, every single one of those trips (with the exception of the Bahamas), I was able to do without needing to book a place to stay because I had friends/family in those locals.
Yes, I know, how can I brag about being so money savvy about travel when I didn’t have to book a hotel, which saved me hundreds? I still say, what with living in New York city and not making a ton of cash, it was equally as important for me to be careful with how much money I was spending when I traveled, even when staying with friends and family. In Hawaii, I coaxed my friend into going grocery shopping so we cooked a lot of meals at home and didn’t go out to eat quite as much. Our tickets to Australia, which were purchased at the peak of their summer (and therefore the peak of the airfare ticket pricing, as well), ended up being around $3,000 for the both of us, which isn’t that bad for that time. Getting that decent price was a combination of luck and dogged tracking of sites like Kayak and Bing every day for the lowest fairs.
Then, there’s also those two months a year that I look forward to. It’s the two months a year when I get paid THREE times in one month, instead of two. While money bloggers might encourage you to invest said extra money in something for your future—stocks, chip away at credit card debt, or just into a plain ole’ savings account—I say, where’s the fun in that?!
And so, again this year, when those two months roll around, I will be socking away a little extra padding for Italy and Germany. And any extra money the tax man gives me? Yup, you can guess where that’s going as well.
So, until next time, think money thoughts, my friends, and bis bald…see you soon!
