We picked up a copy of How to Travel the World on $50 a Day a few weeks ago because we like Nomadic Matt’s blog. Matt’s blog is one of the reason’s we are planing on going to Budapest this year. I was planning to write a full review, but Tim Leffel over at the Cheapest Destinations Blog beat me to it and did a better job that I would have done […]
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It’s tough to divorce yourself from your cell phone. It’s an all-knowing security blanket, and a lot of us would both like to use it while we travel and be entirely free of its interruptions while we travel. I can’t help you with the second one — you’ll have to figure out how to turn the thing off yourself — but I can help you with the first one — […]
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Life on the road can be expensive, so start thinking about your budget early. When you know how much you need to save, you’ll be less tempted to draw down your savings account balance for goal-hurting purchases. Your budget is going to be unique to you, your tastes and preferences, and what you prefer to spend money on. We hope that using us as an example helps you think through […]
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Once you’ve saved enough money to take a road trip, how do you make that money last as long as possible? Set a daily budget The first lesson of a daily budget is that you’ll often exceed your daily budget. Our daily goal was to spend a maximum of $100 ($75 in cheaper areas) on discretionary items (camping, hotels, gas, food, drinks, supplies, and shopping). Some days will be more […]
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If you’re embarking on a long-term trip and selling your home or moving out of your apartment, you’ll need to find a new destination for your mail. You might be tempted to think that you can go without mail during a long-term trip, but you still need an address, even in this age of paperless statements, to receive critical pieces of mail – especially around tax time. First: reduce the […]
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We’re still getting flack in the comments on our posts about cities that didn’t resonate with us: Austin, Salt Lake City, Savannah, Provo, the Salton Sea, Portland. The intense anger that others feel, just from knowing that two people — two strangers whom they probably wouldn’t like anyway — didn’t like their city continues to strike me as odd. This passage from The Best American Travel Writing (2000 edition), by editor and […]
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On the road, we often spent a large part of our day figuring out where we’d stay each night. Sometimes it was stressful – if a planned campground didn’t work out, we’d need to start our search over at the beginning. We learned that it was helpful to always have a backup plan – and to have a backup plan for your backup plan. We prefer to camp in public […]
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A year on the road means a year of campground showers. Most campground showers are coin-operated, time-limited contraptions. They generally run for three to five minutes for a few bucks a go. That time goes fast — especially when the water starts out ice-cold. Through much trial and error, we figured out how to optimize our short showers. How to shower in three minutes, flat: Do a quick snake/rodent/spider/other gross bug […]
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It’s hard to stay inspired. I’m working on a book about our trip (it’s going to be more of a how-to guide and less of a memoir) but I promised myself I wouldn’t give in to the old cliche and complain about how hard it is to write. So that’s why I’m saying that it’s hard to stay inspired. When working out of your own head, it’s such a challenge […]
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Why is it that people feel the need to post signs in restrooms telling you how to use the bathroom? We spotted so many — here are some of my favorites. 1. Rest area in Oklahoma: 2. Passive-aggressive note in a coffee shop in northern Wisconsin: 3. Campground in Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado: 4. Public toilet in downtown Taos, New Mexico: 5. Olympic National Park Hoh Rainforest visitor’s center, […]
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