At the beginning of a new year, everyone seems to have the traveling bug. The New York Times has posted their annual list of places to visit, blogs and businesses alike are jumping on to the top 16 of 2016 bandwagon, and if you live in the Northeast winter has decided to finally make an appearance. As the mercury begins its daily struggle to rise above 30 degrees, warmer locales are looking mighty fine these days. Mighty fine. Travel isn’t cheap though and if you are like us (adequate but decidedly not fancy pants income + living in ridiculously expensive city + must go to all the places), you may find yourself with limited means to fund your latest weekend escape. Here are some principles we follow to in order to indulge our winter wanderlust.
- Find the Cheapest Seat -
I am an equal opportunity traveler meaning I will take trains, planes, and automobiles as well as use my own two legs to get to where I need to be. Usually to find the best deal, you need to be flexible with your travel dates. Unfortunately with my current work/school schedule, this is not an option. Instead I explore all my options before settling on one. Kayak is great for flights (just don’t forget about Southwest) and I use Google maps to figure out what my public transit options are. If you have some flexibility in when you are traveling, I highly recommend setting up airfare watchdog notifications for your intended destinations. I’ve been able to book $130 round-trip tickets to Dallas this way. NYC also has great bus options to semi-local cities, e.g., Boston, DC, Philadelphia. If booked early enough a ticket can cost as little as $1. Mind you time is money to me so maybe the cheapest method is taking a bus but it would require me to take a half-day of work off due to the extra travel hours. If that's the case, I’m booking the flight or taking Frida out for a spin.
- Be Open to Creative Housing -
I have surprisingly low standards when it comes to where I will lay my noggin to rest. My criteria are basically no bedbugs and I have to feel safe (I know, vague…). This has led to a variety of lodging locales when traveling. If possible, I crash with friends or family because a free place to stay will trump all other options – also bonus points for seeing people I love. When Grace and I took an impromptu road trip to Montreal last January (how has it already been a year), we ended up crashing at a friend of a friend's sister's apartment and then Grace returned the favor during their visit to NYC. My friend and I plan yearly getaways and take advantage of the cheap housing offered through her parents' timeshare. This has translated into a two bedroom condo for a week at only $300 or so. It requires a bit of flexibility in the travel location – our original plan to party up in Northern Idaho has been traded in for a desert destination – but the accommodations have always been perfect, i.e., hot tub on premise for soaking our tired post-hike bones. Other more standard options include checking out what's available on AirBNB/VRBO-type sites or staying at hotels that are farther out from your intended place of stay. A hotel in Brooklyn is cheaper than Manhattan and a hotel in Queens will almost always be cheaper than anything you can find in either of those boroughs.
- Know Your Weakness -
The last two times I have been responsible for picking up the rental car I have royally screwed it up. As in having to call upon returning home and beg to have charges removed that I never intended to purchase (I'm looking at you overpriced and oftentimes unnecessary insurance). There are things in life that I will never excel at – renting a car is one of them. For all future car rental endeavours I will gladly hand off the responsibility to someone else, whenever possible. I'm pretty good a procuring a cheap meal or finagling low cost flights so I'll save my energy for what's most helpful. Recognizing what one's shortcomings and strengths are can go a long way in keeping travel costs low.
- Save Your Pennies -
There are no short cut around this - if you know you want to go away a few times a year, set aside money every month to fund your getaway. It may sound simple yet it can be quite difficult to let your extra hard-earned cash just sit by its lonesome in a savings account. I mean there are coffee dates to be had and bourbons to sip not to mention the late night I-don’t-want-to-make-anything-so-I’ll-just-order-sushi habit. My current tactic to avoid spending my spare funds is to pretend that whatever is in my savings account doesn't exist. That is barring a financial emergency what goes in does not come out until it is used for its intended purpose. If transferring that money over from your checking requires too much willpower, you can set up an automatic transfer each month or have a separate savings account just for traveling. Also, in the literal sense of saving one's pennies, I am a big fan of the putting pocket change in a jar travel fund. It's like Christmas when I get to exchange all of those rolled up coins for paper currency to be used however I please on holiday.
Anyone else fully consumed with planning this year's getaways? How are you planning on funding your wanderlusting habit?
notes:
apparently we are not the only ones with budget travel in mind. the ny times has this handy article on ways to save for travel. it would have been a helpful read before i booked a trip to vietnam during tet. oh well, you live and learn. also, who knew the times had a frugal travel blog? you probably knew this but in case you didn’t you can find it here.
you may notice that credit card miles/points didn't make the cut for this list. frankly, it's just too much of a hassle for me. one credit card is more than enough for my brain to manage on a monthly basis. however, should playing the rewards game be more your style, there are plenty of resources to help you out. the points guy and nomadic matt are two relatively well-known blogs pertaining to these matters just perhaps pay attention to when they are being paid to espouse the values of certain cards. cheers to capitalism.