How to budget for a dream vacation.

If you know me- you know I love to travel and I go to a lot of places that most would consider a dream vacation.  Lots of people I talk to , say someday I want to do that.   Well, I am here to tell you that someday could be now and give you some tips on how you can afford to travel.

First the most expensive part of the trip is getting there.  So I search SecretFlying.com for error travel fares and I also use two other search engines to look for deals too- Skyscanner and Momondo. I like both of them because they show cheaper days to fly and alternative airports to fly out of to save money but by far I have found the best deals using Secret Flying.  First the deals, most of them are not last minute but several months to 6 months out giving you plenty of time to plan your trip.
So my first step is to look for a ticket that I like.  I have a bucket list of places that I want to go but and I am on the lookout for some of those places and remain open to trying new places if the ticket is incredible. ( Last year we picked up a ticket from Florida to Iguacu Falls Brazil for 220.00 US round trip)  But this time New Zealand came up.  New Zealand has been on my bucket list for quite some time but the tickets were taking up too much of the travel budget  . So recently a deal came up on Secret flying to Auckland , New Zealand and the dates that the deal was available ran from July to end of Sept. 2016 .  I confirmed that my work schedule would allow me to go in Sept . With Secret Flying- they post exact dates that work for the ticket and you must write them down before you click on the button that says go to deal.  In this case the deal was a flight on Quantas from San Francisco to Auckland for 292.76 including taxes per person round trip.  FANTASTIC  , right?  So I booked the ticket and noted the times that I would need to fly from San Francisco.  I live in Florida , so I still needed to find a flight from Tampa to SF. So I searched flights on Expedia , Cheap flights, Southwest, Skyscanner but found my best deal on Momondo on Delta- 165. 20 per ticket.

Let's review- round trip ticket to Tampa to Sf            165.20
                      round trip ticket from SF to Auckland  292.76
 Total flight costs  from Tampa to Auckland and back home- an amazing low price of 457.96.
I have just saved 100's of dollars on the cost of the ticket .

I realize some of you may be saying but I do not live in Florida and how do I make this work for me. Well most of the good deals flying from the East Coast - fly from NYC, Boston, or Washington DC- so find out what city is the cheapest for you to get to and look for deals leaving from those cities. On the West coast flying West- I find the best deals from LA and San Francisco.  If you live in Europe- you are lucky- you have lots of major cities to choose from and I swear the best deals!

As an American- this year and next are a great time to travel because the dollar is strong and our money is finally worth something again.  I remember 8 years ago when I cried when I exchanged my money . It was a pitiful exchange!  Happy that I have some buying power again!
So here is a quick breakdown on my projected cost of this trip for 2

Airline tickets                                                                                        2 x 457.96
Rental car  for 7 days  with taxes                                                                182.21
Fuel for car                                                                                                  100.00
Used credit card points to book three nights at a Starwood property          -0-
4 nights at different Airbnb apartments ( we have the entire place)       4 x 60.00
*groceries, eating out and tours and fun                                               7 x 100.00
Total budget for trip                                            2138.13- rounded up to 2200.00
                                                                    
*( for saving money on food- I read tips on Trip Advisor, google free things to do in each town and try not to move around too much. I usually splurge on one big ticket tour item and eat on the cheap to make up for it on the other days and I pack some food items like coffee and snacks from home where they are cheap to buy)

Bascially- I am going to spend 7 days in New Zealand for about as much as what most people would pay for two airline tickets. So saving on the airlines , is the biggest way to save money.   I realize 2200.00 is still a nice vacation for some and here are the other things that I do to save money and go on this trip.
We eat out less one time a month         12 months x 50.00      ( 600.00)
I gave up pedicures                                     6  x  40.00             ( 240.00)
I buy one less bottle of wine a week      52 weeks  x 12.00      ( 624.00)
I clean my own house                            26 x 100.00                (2600.00)
I wash my own car                                 26 x 10.00                  (260.00)
I make coffee at home and skip Starbucks  52 x 4.00              ( 208.00)
                                                  My total savings per year         4,532.00

Bill and I love traveling so much that we divided up our house and rent out a suite on Airbnb to gain more travel money  - Last year  we made 14,000.00 . We clean it ourselves to keep all the money in our pocket. Airbnb collects the bed tax and turns it in to Florida for me and we keep our accountant up to date with our earnings so that we do not get hit by a big tax bill and we get write offs for upkeep to the house. Last year it bought a new screen door, patio furniture,  painted the house , bought new sheets and decor for the bedroom, new bikes for the guests and us to use, etc and of course funded more travel!

We do our own yard work, I budget shop for clothes and grocery shop at Aldis.  The point is everyone can travel and you will come up with your own way to save the money back for your dream trip where you can buy a bottle of wine at the grocery store and sit on a beach in an exotic place and watch the whales go by.  

So now you know how we do it and I hope I have given you some ideas on how to start planning your dream vacation.  If you have any tips for me- I am all ears!
   

You can never read too much!

I have always loved to read and before a trip, I scour the internet reading other blogs and doing google searches for the area I am about to visit. You can never read too much!  So last night I was surfing the web and reading about the park entrance to Machu Pichuu.  Evidently it opens at 6:00 am and that it is normally foggy until around 10:00 am. People arrive early and a line forms before the park opens and you need your passport to enter along with a properly filled out ticket. There are no restrooms inside the park , only outside the gate and you must have Peruvian money to use them. Once you enter the gate, there are luggage lockers to the left for a small fee and the park does not allow packs that weigh more than 11 pounds into the main area. So if you are hiking with a larger pack you must check it. The really cool thing that I found out is next to the luggage lockers,  you can ask for a special stamp from Machu Pichuu for your passport. No cost to do it but if you don't ask, they do not offer. Once inside the park, there are no benches and they recommend bringing something to sit on because the bugs are fierce.  I am bringing my light weight camping towel and my bug spray.  There is an additional hike that you can purchase to hike Waynu Pichuu.  Only 200 people at 8:00 am and 200 more at 10:00 each day. The mountain goes straight up and will take 90 minutes to two hours and the reward will be the view!  The description tells you it is not for people who are afraid of heights. The walk is steep and there are cables in the mountain to assist the climber and sheer drop offs. You are only allowed one walking stick in the park and it must have a rubber tip on it. Some of the blogs I read suggested you buy a box lunch the night before entering Machu Pichuu in Agua Calientes because there are no snack bars within the gates. It is a sacred area and you cannot smoke cigarettes (loved this!) and you will not be admitted if you are drunk. Probably a great idea considering all the cliffs and lack of hand rails!
Ending the day , we will board a train back to Cusco and again- small packs only weighing less than 11 pounds (5 kg). Anything larger must be put on the luggage train and collected later. You have to show id to retreive it. I also read that on the way back to Cusco,  it suggested seats on the right side of the train to get the best views of the river and scenary.
So , you can never read too much! Imagine reaching the entrance to Machu Pichuu only to discover that they won't let you in because you left your passport at the hotel/ hostel !  And knowing the bathroom needs change was an important tidbit me. Another tip- carry your own toliet paper. You will either be offered one square for your 50 cents or none at all. When I travel, I always try to assimilate their lifestyle but I bend the rule on this one!
I feel more confident when I travel if I do my own research.  I often google the area and  change my search to images. I love getting a glimpse of what the town looks like before I arrive, especially train stations.  They often look like Musuems to me .
My other tip would be to get currency for the country you are visiting. Atm machines are not on every corner and there are lots of places that will not take a credit card, for example- the bathrooms! I have been with travelers who wait until they arrive at the airport of their destination, only to find that the atm is out of money. The other thing I have learned, ask for small bills. It is very difficult to use the larger ones.  It is frustrating to have their currency and not be able to use it. The other misconception is that you will be able to walk into a bank and Exchange US dollars for local currency.  You won't.  You have to have an account with the bank in order to do that.
I always put my money in several places and never flash large bills. I have never gotten pick pocketed (yet!) but it can happen, so be smart.
That is it for today,  let me know what you found surprising or better yet- share your travel tips!

Starting to pack for Machu Pichuu and The Salkantay Trail

I leave for Machu Pichuu soon and it is time to start packing. Because this is a hiking trip, I am planning to go in one back pack and my goal is to keep it under 18 lbs.  I am packing for an 8 day trip. The temperatures will be in the low 60s during the day and a couple of nights when we are camping above 10,000 feet, the temps could drop below freezing. So I will be wearing layers that I can peel off as the day gets warmer and add back on when the sun drops from the sky. 

My packing list consists of

Thermal leggings and long sleeve shirt

Two tank tops

Two light weight dresses to wear with leggings

Northface thermal

Northface rain jacket

Packable thermal coat

Hat and gloves 

Hiking shoes, Tieks , and flip flops

2 pairs of wool socks and sock liners

Bathing suit for hot springs

Camping towel

Toiletries including toliet paper

Hiking sticks

1 pound sleeping bag with liner

Water bladder and water purifying tablets

Phone Charger and converter

Passport and local currency

Earplugs and earphones

Small journal ( moleskin) and pen

a few snacks

Packable duffel bag that weighs 1 lb. and fits in a small bag. 

Without filling the water bladder, my carry on backpack will weigh 17.5 pounds. When we start to hike, I am taking the expandable duffel bag and dividing my things into two bags . The porters will carry 11 pounds for me on their horses and I will carry 6.5 plus my water.  Keeping my day pack light is important to me because this Florida girl lives at 10 feet above sea level and I will be hiking up to 15,000 feet and then back down to Machu Pichuu which is around 10,500.  To avoid altitude sickness , they recommend staying hydrated and avoiding caffeine and liquor. I have started by giving up the liquor 30 days ago but the coffee is something I just cant do!

I have wanted to make this journey before I got too old to walk it and I am fortunate enough to be going with family and friends. 

Now that my packing is complete, I need to register with the Embassy, make copies of my passport , and download a few books to read on the plane and maybe a movie or two.

The excitement of preparing for the trip is half the fun for me. I love the challenge of packing light and really scrutinize what goes in my bag to make sure it is necessary. For me there is more freedom in taking less than lugging it all over the world and not using it! Please leave me some feed back by posting a message.  I am new at the blogging thing , so let me know what was helpful and let me know if you have questions or subjects you would like me blog about. 

Wanderlust Travel and how it began for me.

My wanderlust for travel began slowly and the desire to see the far corners of the earth has intensified. People say , all things happen for a reason and when my daughter of 21 years passed away in 2000, I was not prepared to loose her .  That set my thinking in motion about how short life really was .  Up to that point- I had married, had children , divorced and had lived my life in the shadow of others . My days were designed to meet the demands of daily life and others needs.  When my daughter passed- I began to think- there just had to be more and it was up to me to make my life count for me.  My first question was to ask myself what was my dream. I simply had never thought about it. I was adequate enough at planning meals, housework, managing the kids but had never really thought about my own dreams.  One simple question changed everything for me and that was the blessing that my daughter left me with. She lived life full tilt and from heaven- she was challenging me to do the same.  So my first quest, came to me when I was at a dinner party and I met a young woman that was about to leave for Spain to walk the Camino de Santiago.  Speaking with her that night- I had no idea what she was about to do. I had never heard of the Camino and the idea that someone was going to walk 12 to 15 miles a day for 30 days just seemed utterly amazing to me.  The idea drew me in and I knew I would someday walk the same walk.  My first trip to the Camino was only for a week but I discovered on that journey that there was an enlightenment to walking with no plans other than a daily destination.  There were no reservations to sleep each night and no real idea where I would eat,  Each step became lighter as I realized that I did not need to be in charge of everything and even what I thought I had to carry in my backpack became less important to me. I began to leave a trail of things behind- shirts, socks, books, etc ,   The less I carried , the more freedom I felt.  I walked and talked with people from all over the world . Walking was like returning to my childhood when I did not have a care in the world. That is what travel has become for me- walking and discovering the simple pleasures in life.  Having tea with a good friend in Barcelona, eating Pulpo and drinking wine at a picnic table, a bag lunch at a waterfall... walking the paths of the less traveled route and seeking new adventures, new truths, new ideas but most of all discovering who I am meant to be .