Browsing Category Budgeting
Accommodations, Budgeting, Packing, Planning
Creative ways to find budget (and free!) accommodations
By. Heidi Papworth
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Many times I’ve sat down with my dream travel trip and my budget. I’ve then realized that I will have to survive on PB & J’s and Ramen noodles for the next year in order to pay off my airfare and accommodations! Sure, it would be nice to have a couch to crash on with a cool Aunt living in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. But alas my family lives in Central Ohio (with the exception of my favorite cousin in Michigan.) So although I have plenty of wonderful people to stay within the Midwest, I’ve had to get creative in finding affordable accommodations, and I’d like to share 3 of these methods with you today.
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Budgeting, Food, Planning
Food and travel
Food. It’s one of the best parts of a vacation. However, if anything I’ve learned from planning a budget, it’s that I almost always go over on my food budget. I guess you could say that “vacation brain” kicks in and you stop caring about how much you’re spending. The other reason is that I didn’t do enough good research to figure out which restaurants I would actually eat at.
The last few vacations I’ve gone on, I’ve carefully researched and selected restaurants that I know have good reviews and where I can see a menu posted. I can use the menu to discern about how much we will spend. Surprisingly, when you’re tired from sightseeing, you’re OK with whatever you’ve picked out. I always think I don’t want to plan, I want to be spontaneous. It’s fun to not plan and just figure it out, right? Sometimes. And sometimes you end up starved and arguing about where to find a restaurant at 7 p.m. and you don’t know what’s good or how much things cost and you finally say, “I don’t care if it’s $400, I’m just going to eat it!” Well, if you actually plan and think about where you might be at the time of day, you can at least have some options. You can still choose to do something else and be spontaneous, but if you decide you’re tired and hungry and you want to stick to a budget, better pick out some places.
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Accommodations, Booking, Budgeting, Planning
My favorite accommodation-booking sites
There are a lot of sites to choose from when booking accommodations. There are some that I prefer more than others, and I have reasons why. There are a lot of sites like Orbitz, Expedia, Booking.com, Hotwire, Travelocity, etc. There are also a number of vacation rental sites such as Homeaway.com, Airbnb, and even booking through TripAdvisor. There are pros and cons to each, and I’m not saying I’m an expert at all of the pros and cons of the sites. However, there are ones I prefer and use them on a more regular basis. I’d love to hear from you and see which sites you prefer.
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Budgeting, Group Travel, International Travel, Traveling
Hosting a travel party
A great way to get the buzz going about your next trip is to host a travel party. One of my guest writers, Heidi Papworth, hosted one and invited my husband and I to present “tips for traveling” for a few guests. Each guest was planning a trip to a different European country. We shared travel stories and other things we’ve learned to make the most of the trip. It can be a great way to get the buzz going about your next trip or even bounce ideas off some of your fellow traveling friends.
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Booking, Budgeting, Ohio, Transportation
Allegiant Air and Rickenbacker Airport… I’ll Do It Again
Written by: Heidi Papworth
When my brother called me and suggested I come home for the Fourth of July cookout at his place, I told him that I hadn’t seen any money growing on the palm trees out front of my studio apartment. After all, I don’t consider flying home to be cheap. All of my recent trips from south Florida to Columbus have been an average of $400 round trip. All of which included a layover somewhere, that made no sense, and a checked bag packed with about three coats. So when he told me to look into Allegiant Air, which flew in and out of Rickenbacker airport, I was pleasantly willing to book a round-trip and direct flight for under $200!
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