The cold winds are here and the leaves are starting to fall reminding us that summer is truly over.  Of course, we live in California so I use the word "cold" very loosely LOL but I figured I should try to do a recap of our summer adventures since I failed to keep the site/blog active.

I was really worried that we wouldn't be able to have any adventures this year at all since I lost my job in January and Dora is still building her business but with a little tightening of the belt and imagination we were able to get some traveling in.  It's amazing what you learn when you are forced to look for alternatives to "regular" vacations.

Of course, we weren't able to take a passport trip (what I call our overseas/international travels) or visit a place on "the List" but we did take a few roadtrips and a cruise.  Which brings me to a few $$ saving tips I learned along the way:

1) Rediscover the road trip.  Even with gas prices the way they are grabbing a few friends and hitting the road is still one of the cheapest ways to travel. Especially if you use your own car vs renting (we did both this summer).  This is mostly due to the fact that you share the expenses and can stock up on food/snacks @ costco BEFORE you leave.

Turning a family event (like attending a wedding) or business trip into a road trip by extending it by a few days is great too.  You have to go anyway, might as well make a vacation out of it!  

2) Stay with family/friends. I find cramming together on a pull out bed or in sleeping bags on the floor with friends can be MUCH more fun that being holed up in a hotel room on your own. Of course, this depends on how hospitable your friends are but that's why they're called friends right? If absolutely out of the question, you can always tap into the growing network of couchsurfers.

3) Take a cruise. The cheapest trip we took this summer was a 5 day Carnival cruise.  Including a flight to San Diego and souvenirs - I spent less than $300!!! Since our vacations are usually jam packed with activities as we try to see everything, it was nice to be able to just relax on a ship for a few days. 

Subscribe to TravelZoo and Carnival's own email alerts to take advantage of the BEST deals.  Your food and entertainment (shows, dancing, etc) are included in the price of the cruise so your only extra expenses will be any of the optional excursions or souvenirs you buy.  Of course, you can skip both and save even more $$. 

A few things to note:
  1. Internet access will cost you dearly - $20 for 30 mins.
  2. Cell phone use will cost even more - with my AT&T plan $3/min for voice and $19.95/mb for data. 
  3. Drinks other than lemonade & ice tea are NOT included. If you must have soda, I suggest purchasing a "Fun Fountain Card" for $19 which gives you unlimited drinks for the duration of the cruise.
How has the economy affected your traveling? Got your own $$ saving tips? Leave a comment below. We'd love to hear from you.
 
 

I'm asking NOT telling.  It's been a while since I've blogged because, well, I have been taking any trips.   I was laid off in January and am still looking for a job so, for now, all "non-necessary" spending has been put on hold.  Unfortunately, that includes traveling. 

But as with most travelers, after a few months of not traveling, we're getting really antsy and are in need of some adventure.  I'd read somewhere that I can't remember or find again, some tips about being a tourist in your own home town.  Ardith and I are looking into doing this so we've been googling "things to do..." in our home town of San Jose, CA.  Most things include day trips to San Francisco but we'd rather stay in our home town. 

First thing on my list is to visit ALL of our museums.  Depending on the pricing, I'd like to do a couple a month.  Ardith wants to do all the parks.  But other than that, we're not really sure what else we can do.  That's where you come in. Have you ever played the tourist in your own home town?  We'd love to hear from you.  If not, do you have any ideas or suggestions on what you think would be fun. 

We look forward to your suggestions! - @Ruthe
 

 
 

We'd been itching for a trip, had some vacation time we needed to take and gas prices are lower than they've been in a long time = road trip!  However, our travel money is virutally non-existent right now so we had to find a way to do it on the cheap.  Since we have a suite at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego at our disposal, this was the obvious choice.  One of our traveling buddies (@tamtak) has joined us and kindly provided the car so here we are in SoCal on a mini -- 5 day -- vacation.  It's @tamtak's first time here so we're hoping to make it a memorable trip even though we're trying to keep to a tight budget.  Let's see how that goes.... LOL

 
 

The wonderful world of twitter just introduced me to @almostfearless - a woman who this July just sold all of her belongings to travel the world with her husband and her 2 dogs!!!

What's awesome is that I didn't have to find her or @guysaroundworld -- they found us!  That's the beauty of twitter, it instantly connects people with common interests 140 characters at a time and I for one LOVE it.  It's property tax time here at home and I am sitting at my computer living vicariously through people braver than I LOL -- all thanks to twitter. 

As for us our next trip is to San Diego but it will be for work so not sure how much "traveling" we'll get done. . .

Twittering travelers unite!!