How I’m Traveling to Three Major European Cities for Less Than $200

This summer, my fiancée and I will be heading to Istanbul for four nights, Vienna for one night, and Prague for three nights. We are super excited about this trip as it will be our first taste of “free travel.” We decided on these three cities by drawing them out of a hat last summer (although I did substitute Budapest for Istanbul after the fact). Overall our cost breakdown was:

• Flight: Chicago-Istanbul-Vienna | Prague-Chicago
  • Points Used: 120,000 United Miles + ~$100 in fees
  • Cost to Buy this Itinerary: ~$10,000
  • Value of points: 8.3 cents per mile (!)
• Hotel (Istanbul): Ottoman Hotel Park – Four Nights
  • Points Used: 43,000 Venture Card points (purchased through Venture portal)
  • Cost to Buy this Stay: $431
• Hotel (Vienna): Hotel Imperial – One Night
  • Points Used: 20,000 Starpoints (SPG)
  • Cost to Buy this Stay: $402
  • Value of points: 2.01 cents per point
• Hotel (Prague): Radisson Blu Alcron Hotel – Three Nights
  • Points Used: 88,000 Club Carlson Points
  • Cost to Buy this Stay: ~$357
  • Value of points: 0.41 cents per point

The only travel purchase that we will need to make now is our connection from Vienna to Prague, which ranges around 30 Euros. This leaves us with so much more money to spend on souvenirs, tours, and, of course, the one of the top reasons to travel anywhere, food! Although all of our bookings are in coach and standard rooms, we still will enjoy ourselves – we like the adventure more than the luxury!

With all the savings from this trip, we’ll be sure to splurge at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul!

Now, how did we accumulate so many points? Credit card sign-up bonuses and total spending on rewards cards is the best way to be able to book trips like this (that is, unless you are a business traveler who racks up hundreds of thousands of miles a year a la George Clooney in Up in the Air).

George Clooney knows how to maximize his stay in Up in the Air

Breaking down how we got enough miles to do this trip:

• Capital One Venture Card: 40,000 points after $3,000 in 3 months
  • I simply used this card to pay for rent and all other purchases for about 2 months to get the bonus. At that point, I was able to book the Istanbul hotel with a few thousand points left over. I used the Capital One portal to book this instead of using the Purchase Eraser since I believe that the portal gives you a sizeable discount on hotels.
• American Express SPG Card: 25,000 points after $5,000 in 6 months
  • This card was a little tougher since I had to spend a lot more money over a longer timeframe. I did the same as the Venture card, relying on everyday purchases and rent for about four months. SPG points are some of the most valued points out there. You can transfer them to airlines and receive a 5,000 mile bonus for every 20,000 you transfer or use them to book some of the best hotels in the world for fairly little points. I used them to book one of the best hotels in Europe (and the initial inspiration for this trip – I always wanted to stay in a palace!). The interface for SPG is a little wonky, but it is still reliable and fairly easy to find and book travel.
• Club Carlson Premier Rewards: 85,000 points after $2,500 in 3 months
  • I am currently spending for this card in order to get the 85,000 points. I will need to spend $500 more than the sign-up bonus to get the 88,000 required for our stay in Prague. The great thing about this card is that technically the hotel in Prague is 44,000 a night, but with the card when you redeem two or more consecutive nights, your last night is free. A lot of people I’ve seen in the frequent flyer forums and blogs have used this to huge advantage. For example, if you wanted to book a nice hotel somewhere for six nights, you could book in two night intervals so you’re only redeeming three nights! Of course, you may need to call the hotel to see if you can stay in the same room the entire time or you may need to move three times (but, as a bargain hunter, I think that is totally worth it).
• United Mileage Plus: 50,000 miles after $3,000 in 3 months
  • After about a year of convincing, I finally got my fiancée in on the game and she immediately gets a better deal on the first card I ever took out. This card is usually 30,000 miles so if you see 50,000 miles I would snatch it up.
• Sapphire Preferred: 40,000 after $4,000 in 3 months
  • I use this card all the time (when I’m not using other card for sign-ups). It is awesome. Not only do I look super cool using it (it’s made of steel), but the points rack up so quickly. Taking a cab? Double points. Eating out? Double points. Eating out on first Friday of the month? Triple points. Buying flowers for the fiancée? 12x points (through the Chase Mall)! I’ve racked up nearly 100,000 points using this card the past year and ended up transferring a large chunk to my fiancée’s United account to top her off at 120,000 miles.

In addition to the above cards that I used, I also took advantage of United’s open jaw and stopover policy by stopping over in Istanbul (for four nights) on my way to Vienna and then open-jaw-ing to Prague. I can explain all the ins and outs of this in a future post.

Thanks to United’s open-jaw policy, we’re able to visit the Sedlac Ossuary this summer!

So that’s how I managed to make this trip cost only $200. Hope you learned something from this post or I hope I gave you some good ideas on how to utilize your miles. I’ll be returning in a bit with a few more trip reports and tips on how to properly navigate the United Award Travel tool.

Happy Traveling!

Trip Report: Italy Part Three

Liguria:

Genoa:

Genoa was my first day trip when I arrived in Italy. I was excited to escape the rather cold and dreary city for a day at the sea. First, I should note that this trip was seven years ago so I don’t remember it that much. What I do recall is that Genoa is a beautiful city with rolling hills and breathtaking vistas. The city specializes in pesto, so if you travel there, you must find some homemade pesto at a small market. Fresh Italian basil is the key ingredient! As for me, I had a pesto pizza that day which was very tasty. In addition to the great views, the only other site that I remember visiting was the national aquarium which was a good institution. By far the best part of that experience was being able to pet stingrays. So, if you are with your family, I would swing by the Acquario di Genova

Hills of Genoa.

• Recommended Destination in Liguria: Cinque Terre

Lombardia:

Milan:

Milan is the center of high fashion in northern Italy. It’s one of the first cities you think of outside the Big Three (Florence, Rome, Venice) to visit; however, I would caution people to do some research on the city. If you are in to shopping for days, I would suggest going in a heartbeat. The town center is full of high-end places to shop that will leave your wallets thinner than when you got there. As for me, shopping isn’t high on my priority list when I travel (where am I going to pack all of the buys?!).

The highlights of Milan are Duomo di Milan which is the largest cathedral in Italy and 5^th in the world (St. Peter’s is in the Vatican City, so technically not Italy). It is gorgeous inside and out. After months of seeing church after church, walking up to the piazza that this is in is still breathtaking! Nearby is the original Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci which you will need to register to see far in advance because of the decay of the painting. In addition to this stunning cathedral, the other site I would venture to is a cathedral in its own way. The San Siro, where both Inter Milan and AC Milan play their football matches is bursting with excitement during game days. I was lucky to travel to Milan on one of these days when Inter were playing Liverpool in the Champions League. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the game but the atmosphere and the fun around the stadium left an impact that I am not likely to forget. Overall though, I would forgo Milan if asked. It is a rather dirty city with not much to do. There are better choices to be made in Northern Italy (hint-hint – read my first report on Torino) and even better choices outside the country.

The Duomo of Milan.

Veneto:

Verona:

I was lucky enough to be able to go on a class weekend trip to Verona and Venice for a weekend prior to Carnevale. It was great to visit a new location in Italy and especially two distinct cities with great culture and history (history seems to be a running theme for Italian cities!). Verona is a small city just East of Venice. Made famous by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, this city also has a lot of other things to offer. We were only in the city for a few hours so I went to the main sightseeing points. Verona is home to the third largest coliseum in Italy, now an open-air music and entertainment venue. You can walk in to the coliseum and lounge on the seats or take the pit and battle it out with your friends! It’s a great landmark to see if you’re stopping in Verona and very easy to find near both the bus and train stations. Nearby, there is a largely intact Roman Wall that spans for several city blocks. This was the first thing I saw when I stepped off the bus. I was immediately in awe; finally, something that dated back centuries (there are a few places in Torino that are that old, but I didn’t see them until April and this was in March). Walking through the town was great; it’s a very walkable city. There were two choices after most of the day was spent at the coliseum and eating. We could go see “the balcony” with the famous Juliet statue, or go to the tallest tower in the city, climb it, and check out the views. I, of course, chose to go to the tower and climb the 200+ old stone steps.

Verona walls.

You’ll find out, through this blog that I tend to have a mix of touristy activities and things that you would not normally see if you went by the books. The view was great. You could see everything in the city and beyond. I love vistas like this that make cities seem smaller than they actually are and I try to take advantage of this anytime I possibly can. Verona is a great city to visit, especially if you want the Italian treatment before heading to Venice, where they will treat you, without hesitation, like a tourist. If you go to Italy, try to make it to a smaller city, it is worth it to really get involved in la vita italiana.

Verona’s coliseum.

Venice

Venice is one of the most famous and beautiful cities on Earth. It is frequently featured in blockbuster movies and mentioned as one of the most romantic getaways that you can find.  Arriving in Venice I was prepared to be amazed. The first night I thought it was alright, I didn’t do much except go out to eat at a subpar, tourist catering restaurant (beware the multi-lingual menus, readers!). The next day brought an organized tour with a Venetian who took us around the city, walking through the narrow streets and over the stone bridges. When we arrived in St. Mark’s Square, I was hooked. This place has to be a dream, right? Venice is gorgeous. Take away the whimsical gondolas and wooden boats in the canals and it would still be one of my favorite places to visit so far. The architecture is astounding. In St. Marks alone there are at least four notable things to do – the Doge Palace, St Mark’s Cathedral, the Campanile, and the two columns near the waterfront to guide sailors home. What amazed me most is that parts of the year, this area is completely flooded and planks are set out for people to walk on. Thankfully, this was not the case for us and we were able to walk around St. Mark’s that day.

The sailors needed those statues on this foggy day!

Nearby St. Mark’s Square, you can visit Harry’s Bar, a 1930s establishment which made Bellinis a hit and was a regular stop for Ernest Hemingway during his travels through Europe. Although a bit expensive and fancy, this bar should be a stopping point for any literary buff. Gondola rides are also a must for any visit to Venice. I took mine with a small group and we cruised through some of the main tourist points in Venice, from Marco Polo’s home to the Bridge of Sighs and the Rialto Bridge. It is a great experience, and I recommend it to anyone going to Venice.

The Grand Canal.

Lastly, as my time wound down in Venice, I decided to head to the small island of Murano to see glassblowing. That was a great side trip! When you get off the ferry, you see (and I notice it changes throughout the year) a glass sculpture that is just incredible. When I went it was what looked like a cauldron with flames shooting out of it. Venturing in to town, you can stop in several different shops to buy Murano glassware. I bought a few wine stoppers that I still have that are great looking pieces. Here you can also venture in to a studio and watch glassblowers construct all sorts of things. Venice is a great city to visit! The things I saw didn’t even touch some of the more major sites (I never went to a museum or toured any historic buildings), but however you plan to visit Venice, you will have a great time!

Trip Report : Italy Part Two

Piemonte:

Ivrea:

Ivrea should be visited during Carnival season. This small, mountain town turns itself in to a battle field for a week as Italians prepare for the largest orange fight in the world. Unlike Pamplona that lacks history in their famous tomato fight, Ivrea’s battle is a celebration of Carnevale in Italy spanning back hundreds of years to medieval times. There are four or five battlefields within the city, and as visitors stream in from all over the world, large carts carrying 8-10 armored people circle around the town preparing to enter the battle against members on the ground. I’ll be honest, I don’t really understand the significance or reasoning behind it, but honestly, it is one of the coolest things I have seen while traveling. I never knew someone could throw oranges so hard!

The battle commences!

By the end of the day, you will inevitably be hit by an orange or two (don’t worry; the impact isn’t too bad since they break the rind with their thumbs before throwing), and most likely try to get in on the action. Technically, I think they try to somehow keep score and present awards at the end of the battles so you may get some angry stares from participants in they catch you throwing oranges! At the end of the day, the town is an absolute mess; oranges 6 inches thick in some places are destroyed on the ground. In addition to the fun times that are had at the battle, the food is something to note. Hot wine is popular their due to the temperature being a little low (it is in February after all). With the hot wine, most food stands serve sausage sandwiches which are a perfect snack to warm you up throughout the day. If you’re up for an adventure, I would take a day trip during Carnevale to Ivrea. The closest major city is Torino and trains are pretty consistent and cheap to this small town.

The aftermath isn’t always pretty.

Asti/Alba:

Two other Piemontese towns worthy of a day trip, Asti and Alba are the home to several of the world’s best wines. The best time to go to these towns are when the grapes and ripe and the wine is ready to be poured. In Asti, you can find fresh bottles of Spumanti, a white Moscato that is one of the most popular wines in Piemonte. Alternatively, you can visit Alba and enjoy bottles of Barbera d’Alba which just happens to be my second favorite wine (Dolcetto d’Acqui being first). These wines, along with several other types – Asti and Alba are the main producers of Piemontese wine – should deserve a quick trip.

Valle d’Aosta

Aosta:

Aosta is a city steeped in history. As soon as you arrive there you notice that this isn’t just a regular small town in the Alps. Roman walls still stand with statues all around the city. At one point, Aosta was the last station of the Roman Empire, defending Rome from the Gauls in France. Besides the fantastic history of the town, the views of the Alps are amazing. Mount Blanc can be seen from a distance on a clear day, its peak imposing over the rest of the mountains. I believe the town even has buses that will take you to the Matterhorn for skiing.

City entrance…old Roman gate.

Mount Blanc looms in the distance of the city.

Being on the border of Switzerland, France, and Italy you would assume the food is great. Well, unfortunately, and this may have just been the place we went to, the food was not that tasty. Aosta is famous for the cheese Fontina, popular in fondues. We had a bowl of fonduta, the Italian version of our American fondue, and although it was hearty it lacked a lot of flavor. On the plus side, the town specializes in hot mulled wine which is fantastic on a cold winter day in the Valle.

Trip Report: Italy Part One

Piemonte:

Torino:

I spent two four month periods in 2008 and 2009 in Torino, Italy – the original capital of the Republic of Italy. This is my favorite city in the world at the moment. I fell in love with it in 2008 so much that I wanted to go back again the next year and do it all over again! Let me preface this by saying that A.) this may be outdated since I notice that the subway lines have been drastically improved since my visit there, so I may not be helpful in the public transit portion and B.) I spent a total of eight months here, traveling the city most weekends (school on the weekdays) so I would say my knowledge of the city is pretty extensive; because of this, I will just highlight some of the must see things in Torino.

Starting in the center of town would be the best option to enhance your tourist experience in Torino. In Piazza Castello, you are walking distance from almost all of the major sights in the city. Within the piazza, you can see the Royal Palace, where the Savoys used to reside as well as Madama Palace, where royalty also resided. Nowadays, Madama Palace is a museum where you can see what it is like to be royalty. The great thing about this structure is that half of it is constructed like a nice palace and the other half looks like it came out of the medieval times! You might notice, while you are rotating in awe at all the sites in Piazza Castello, that there is a very ugly skyscraper lurking over the skyline. This is “Mussolini’s Finger,” constructed by the dictator during his rule in the 30s and 40s, it is an imposing building that was an attempt to fully industrialize the city. Unfortunately, Mussolini did not last long, and this was his only addition to the Torinese skyline (thankfully!). Lastly, in the piazza, you should notice a small church off to the side of the Royal Palace – Church of San Lorenzo. If you are lucky enough (and I mean lucky, this happens about once a decade), you may be able to see the Shroud of Turin. They keep it stored so that it does not deteriorate and only show it to the public for major Catholic dates. You can go to the church still and see a replica though, along with some other cool things about the Shroud.

Piazza Castello with the Royal Palace and the Church of San Lorenzo in the background

Now that we are finished with Piazza Castello, there are three options to choose from, depending on what you want to do. You can go down Via Garibaldi and do some shopping at several large and small shops. The street is always filled with shoppers and people selling this and that. It is quite a nice walk, going for several blocks, with something new to see at every window. Alternatively, you could venture down Via Po and make your way to Piazza Vittorio Veneto. At this huge piazza, you can walk to the river and look to this hills at the church in the distance (we’ll get there eventually). If you continue along the river, you’ll notice many clubs that you can go to that are open all night long. This is definitely the party district of the city! If you are lucky, Torino will be having a festival or concert in the piazza. I would highly recommend going when the Chocolate Festival is up and running (it is so awesome!).

Nearby Piazza Vittorio Veneto is the landmark that Torino is famous for: La Mole Antonelliana. This building, what used to be an old synagogue, was converted in to a cinema museum. The museum is awesome! It has so many cool artifacts from the world of film. The crowning point of this museum though is the ride to the top of the Mole. You take and elevator “Willy Wonka” style that shoots through the middle of the museum up to the viewing platform. The view is amazing. The sprawl of city life is before you and in the background are the beautiful Alps. You can’t get a better view than the one on top of the Mole!

La Mole Antonelliana

Now that we’ve seen most of the big sights in Torino, it’s time to head back to Piazza Castello and this time head down Via Roma. On this street, you can visit the second largest Egyptian museum in the world. The artifacts in this place are amazing. They have mummies, sarcophagi, and trinkets from Ancient Egypt, as well as fully intact statues. Continuing down Via Roma you will enter my favorite place in the city, Piazza San Carlo. This piazza is a cozy place for you to lounge around and enjoy people watching. At the end of the piazza, there are two churches flanking the entrance. These used to be separate churches for both men and women. In the middle of the piazza is a fantastic statue that really caps off the beauty of this square.

Piazza San Carlo…unfortunately under construction during my visit

There are a few other major spots outside of the area I took you around. I would suggest going to as many places in Torino as possible, since it is such a great city. If you take the train to Lingotto, you can visit the old Fiat factory, now a mall, and go to the roof where a test track was made for the new cars. Nearby Lingotto, you can also visit the Olympic Village and arenas from the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. On this side of town, you can also catch a Juventus or Torino F.C. match. If you are lucky enough to be there for the derby match, prepare yourself, the town goes nuts! On the other side of town, a few blocks away from Piazza Castello, you can visit Porto Palantino. This is an old Roman gate that is still largely intact. The great thing about Italy is the mixture of so many historic periods and this landmark is probably one of the oldest in the city. Lastly, I would encourage you to take the train up to the Basilica di Superga. This gigantic church dominates the hillside of Torino. From the top of the hill you can see (on a clear day) the entire city of Torino.  I went during a cloudy day and could only see parts of the city, but it was sunset and the views were still breathtaking. If you go to the back of the Superga, you can pay tribute at the memorial for the Torino F.C. players that died in a horrible plane crash in the 1940s (they crashed in the back of the church, which is still unrepaired).

Porto Palantino

Now that you’ve done all the sightseeing, you may think I’ve forgotten something…food! Torino has a great reputation for several delicious items. As I mentioned before, there is a Chocolate Festival every year in the city. Torino prides itself on chocolate. Two of the most famous things in Torino are chocolate based: Il Bicerin and gianduia (what you might know as Nutella). Il Bicerin is a coffee drink that is part espresso, part hot chocolate, and part whipped cream. It’s amazing, and I’m still in awe that the only place that seems to serve it in the US is Lavazza cafes (Torino based coffee) and Eataly (Torino based Italian store). Gianduia is a staple to Torino. Every shop in every piazza has some sort of chocolate that you can buy, and 9 times out of 10, it will have that distinct hazelnut flavor. Other notable dishes in Torino include some of the more hearty meals Italy has to offer (since it’s a town tucked away in the Alps). I would recommend a gnocchi dish as well as a polenta dish especially if you intend to visit in the winter.

The bottom line is that Torino is one of the most underrated cities in the world and gets easily overshadowed by some of the bigger draws in Italy alone. It is worth a visit, even if it is only for a day or two (I would recommend at least three to four to really get the cultural experience). Writing this just makes me want to go back so much more…looks like I’ll be planning an Italian trip soon!

Top Five Ways to Enhance Your Travel Experience

This post is meant to be a guideline for travelers to follow when initially planning and eventually going to a new place. Some, or most, of you will already do this, but it is nice to have it written down so you can easily go step-by-step through the list in order to have a fantastic time on your trip. Because, let’s face it, for most of us, having a fantastic trip is the most rewarding part of our travel experience!

1.) Research It!

Look in to the place(s) you are planning on going. If you haven’t decided, you should consider whether one place will offer more bang for your buck than the other. This is the initial planning stage of a trip. Find prices for travel, hotels, and food and weigh those against sites and activities that you are interested in seeing. I cannot thank TripAdvisor and WikiTravel enough for this. WikiTravel, although a little outdated, gives you a full run-down, Wikipedia-style, of tourist sites and all the necessities of hundreds of cities and area. TripAdvisor can help you in so many ways. Go to the forums and other travelers can tell you their itineraries and tips, check out hotels on the site to find the cheapest and best rated places to stay, and look at the top attractions in the area you are traveling to in order to get an idea of what you want to do while you are there.  This is my favorite part of the pre-trip process! Last year, when my fiancée and I were deciding on places to go for this summer, we each chose 5 destinations and picked one each from a hat then spent the next couple of days looking up the two choices and coming to a decision. This step bleeds right in to the next one, which is…

2.) Plan It!

The next step in achieving a fantastic travel experience is to plan accordingly. This step goes hand in hand with research. You should be prepared and ready to list the major things you want to see at your destination. However, with this step, you need to figure out how to get there. I am, and always have been, fascinated with public transportation. Learn it! It is invaluable to understand public transportation in a new place. I am sometimes horrible with directions (once I get underground, and even above ground on the tracks, I don’t know what direction I’m facing!) and I can tell you that studying the different routes helps a lot when you are improvising from your initial itinerary. It is never a bad idea to reach out to someone who looks local, but if you want to avoid the tourist stigma, learn the maps, key landmarks, and streets ahead of time and not while your standing on the street!

You could go to a street festival in the summer in one of the many neighborhoods in Chicago!

3.) Book It!

This list isn’t necessarily chronological. You can absolutely book the trip first if the price or award availability. There are many different places to find flight and hotel deals on the web. Kayak is a great starting point to gauge how much your flight is going to cost. I like to see what their confidence level of buying is (located in the top right when you search for flights) to see whether or not this price is on average. I also follow a lot of flight deal blogs on Facebook for up to the minute sales or mistake fares that people find. You can get great deals from sites like Secret Flying and the Flight Deal (they even customize your posts to show your main airport hub!). Everyday I see deals sub-100 for domestic flights and sub-1000 for long-haul flights that I could have paid more than $1000 for. For hotels, check out TripAdvisor; they rank hotels in every city based on reviews and collect several websites prices (even the hotels) for easy comparisons. In addition, Secret Flying also has hotel deals, although you’ll have a small chance of getting a sale through them since they look at thousands of locations.

4.) Prepare for It!

The take-off date is looming and you still have plenty to do even if you have a minute-by-minute itinerary! For international trips, this is a very important step in order to save money. Go to your bank and ask for about $100-150USD in the destination’s currency. They will most likely need to order this money, so it may take up to a week, but the exchange rate at your bank is much, much better than the rate at the airport or at currency exchanges. Go to XE.com to see the up to date exchange rate to compare with the bank’s offer just to make sure you aren’t being duped. I would also check, if you are taking a trip to a less developed country, if they accept USD. Some countries do, but I feel like they may charge more than their own currency. On that note, if you are going to a less developed country, I would take out about $300USD in their currency since it may be hard to find places that accept credit cards. Finally, have a credit card that has 0% foreign transaction fees, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. It is definitely worth it. If you don’t have a card with this feature you could see a 5-7% charge on each transaction. The next part of this step would be to get the right power converter! This is super important if you want to charge your iPhone to take those awesome Instagram shots. Google the voltage of your destination and go out and get one. If you plan on doing multiple destinations throughout your life (UK, Europe, Japan, Australia), throw in some extra money for the multiple converter. Lastly, although this list could go on for days, check the weather and weather patterns of where you are going and pack accordingly. This one is super obvious, but you don’t want to be walking the streets of a city at night in shorts when the weather dips to about 40 degrees after an 80 degree day!

5.) Enjoy It!

This is the best part! Enjoy your trip; remember that itinerary I suggested you make? Well, you’ll almost certainly change it up once you get there. Talk to people on the street, engage in the culture, and ask for off the beaten path location and just have a good time. For example, when I went to London last year, we ran through our itinerary so quick that we had about three extra hours to do whatever we wanted. We took that extra time, and spent a day in Brighton, a nice beach town on the coast of South England. Thanks to our host, we were convinced to go there and it was a great experience to be outside a big city in the U.K. Be adventurous! Don’t just stay in the tourist areas of the places you are visiting; go outside these areas and check out the real culture of the country and/or city you are visiting. The one thing that grinds my gears about people coming to Chicago is that they stay in the Downtown Loop area the entire visit. We have awesome neighborhoods with great character that can be visited easily by public transportation. It is up to you of course if you want to stay in the tourist areas, which may be a good idea if you’re only there a few days, but trust me, you’ll have a great time once you wander off that beaten path.

Head out on a day trip to a smaller city like Brighton! You’ll enjoy the rest and relaxation of smaller towns.

Welcome to My New Blog!

Hello and welcome to my new blog!

For the most part, this blog will cover topics regarding travel. From travel planning and money-saving ideas to trip reports that I have written from my years of traveling. I plan on keeping up on this blog for most of the year; we’ll see how big it becomes and I’ll reevaluate probably towards the end of 2015.

I am extremely passionate about traveling. I think the best thing you can do is to immerse yourself in another culture, to escape your ordinary day-to-day interactions with the same people. Whether that involves going to the next state over or traveling to the far reaches of the globe, I encourage everyone to take at least one trip per year. It is fun, fascinating, and you’ll probably learn something new and exciting. With this blog, I hope to assist with your trip planning. I know trips can be expensive; with plane ticket prices continuously on the rise, even after fuel price has dropped drastically, and hotels that may suit your need but not your budget. My goal is to both get you excited about traveling and make the planning process stress-free and under budget.

I’ll have a few different types of posts throughout this blog. Personal trip reports will be the first several posts here since I want to include as much of the world that I’ve seen to this blog in order for you to have an idea of where to go, and most importantly, what to see when you get there. Next, I will have a few posts that are my handy tips and tricks to touring the world. These range from packing to dining out to finding the best deals. Lastly, I want to include some posts that will teach you how to get the most out of booking things online. This will include how to properly utilize search engines, sign-up bonus deals, trip alerts (airline sales), and managing miles and points.

I hope you enjoy this blog and get something out of it. If you have questions that you would like me to discuss or other suggestions, let me know if the comment section.