Tag Archives: budget travel
If I show you my vibrating alarm clock will you think I’m getting fresh with you?
Packing makes me happy and after last week’s picture deleting debacle I sure needed cheering up, so I got busy packing for our next trip. Packing light is one of those things that’s great in theory but in practice I want to stuff too many things in my backpack. Here’s what I’ve learned is worth schlepping around […]
Visiting the country of Georgia: advice for independent travelers and an attempt to answer the perennial question, is it safe?
Should you visit the Republic of Georgia? Absolutely. Can you travel independently in Georgia? Yes, but only if you do your homework. Focus your travel planning on transportation, finding great guest houses, and be prepared to respectfully appreciate Georgia’s religious culture. Transportation: Before I traveled in Georgia I was confused and intimidated by the transportation infrastructure. From the outside […]
That obligatory post about my travel mistakes
It’s like this; I could stay home, or I could travel a lot and make mistakes. So yeah, I’ve made plenty of mistakes and I’m ready to own all of them. Cringe along with me, why don’t you? This coat. I visited at least four countries in this coat with it’s gigantic fur collar. These days […]
The charm of interstitial cities
Getting around by public transportation as a budget minded, independent traveler can be non-linear and inefficient; this is why I love it. The phrase “you can only get there by car” activates my travel machismo and sends me straight to the internet, since I know there must be a way. An email to a tourist information […]
Paper, plastic, and ATM machines: your plan for spending money while traveling
Shout out to all my fellow cheapskate travelers: you savvy penny-pinchers have taught me so much about budget travel. In all the focus on saving money, though, the logistics of spending money during a trip sometimes get sidelined. Every traveler, even a cheapskate—make that especially a cheapskate—should have a money plan. You’ll need a combination of cash and […]
Hey budget travelers, where do you like to sleep?
Me? I prefer a cheap, centrally located, private room. These days—thank you world wide web—finding a cheap sleep is quite straightforward if you know what you want. Most people assume that since I’m a budget traveler I use hostels. Hostels are cheap and often centrally located, but I don’t usually stay in them due to the lack […]
I (finally!) have travel gear
Let’s get right to the good part: I finally found waterproof walking shoes. My quest for waterproof walking shoes was more or less the Epic of Gilgamesh, The Aeneid, Njáls Saga and The Odyssey rendered in retail. It was not pretty. It involved a lot of returns. And yet, just at the moment I feared […]
Want to travel cheap? Stay fit.
I think of budget travel as a sort of prolonged marathon. There’s the constant walking of course—hours and hours of walking and the occasional sprint brought on by a train delay. And the climbing. If you love medieval hill towns as much as I do you’re in for a lot of uphill climbs. (Pro tip: […]
Traveling in Romania: some myths, some tips, and something about gypsies
Before I went to Romania several people warned me it might be dangerous, that I should look out. Oh man were they right–why just the other morning a calf escaped and took off down the dirt road with his new wobbly legs splayed all about with dad and granny chasing after him. I mean, who […]
Immersed in the traditional culture of Maramureș
Traditional culture is thriving in Maramureș, to the point where it felt at times as if we had slipped back a few centuries. The culture is alive, though, not some kind of faux-bucolic Marie Antoinette village. Villagers driving horses on wooden carts and working the land entirely without machines use cell phones. Grampa may not […]
Picnic at the Cathedral 