Jetsetting on a Shoe String:)

Hey everyone!  So I've been writing this blog post in my head since we've been in Italy in an attempt to share the ways we manage to skimp and save on ALL of our trips.  Traveling can be a HUGE expense, but it's WORTH it to seek out the ways to slash those budgets (bonus: you get to travel moreJ)  So here are a few notoriously costly categories that we try to slash so that YOU can "jet set on a shoe string!"J

Airfare: 

1. If you don't have a specific destination in mind (and sometimes that's 1/2 the fun!), I HIGHLY recommend signing up for sites like Travelzoo, Sherman Travel & Kayak so you can get an idea of what locations are "trending lower" and when.  (it's how we ended up in Paris & San FranciscoJ)  They also give you a good idea of how much you should be spending on a certain locations.  (Vegas??  You can pull MAJOR bargains.  South Africa??  Not so muchJ)
2. If you have a specific location in mind (and it runs on the higher side, much like Italy) all I can say is RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH!!!!  It took me over a month of searching to find a price I was comfortable with spending (and about $700 cheaper than the FIRST price I saw!).  You have a HUGE advantage if flexibility is on your side.  You will find your best deals by searching various months, days of the week & times of day.  I can't even TELL you how many times I've seen locations go from "WHO CAN AFFORD THAT??" to "OH!  That's do-able!" just by changing a fly out day from a Fri/Sat to a Mon/Tues. 
3. Check if there are several accessible airports in your location or where you are headed.  We are lucky to have 4 major airport hubs in our area and for our trip to Italy, we were able to save about $500 by taking a flight out of JFK instead of closer Newark.  Yeah....it's a haul, but keep that savings in the back of your mind and you'll be jussst fineJ hahahhahahahha  (plus BONUS: by taking public transportation to the airport, you save big on a weeks worth of parking!  A HUGE savings!)

   

Hotels:

1. Again, research is KEY here.  Not only in seeing the standard costs of where you are staying, but reading reviews on sites like TripAdvisor & Booking.com will make sure your savings are worth it!  Make sure your hotel has what you want/need and THEN look at the price!  For me, the key words that I look for are: CLEAN, quiet neighborhood (cause if I'm only using the room to sleep, I want to be able to do just thatJ) and easy access to where we want to go and THEN I try to find all of those at the best price.  Knock on wood...it hasn't failed me yet and the savings can be as great as 60%!
2. Location and public transportation can help play a huge role.  For whatever reason, I wanted to be more central when we visited Rome, but you can find huge savings by NOT needing that room with the view of the Eiffel Tower or across the street from the Trevi Fountain.  If you spend a LOT of time in your hotel, maybe this tip doesn't apply to you...but if you're like us and are in that room to sleep & shower with the entire city to spread out in, then here's another place you can save big.  If you do not have a rental car (which I don't recommend in a huge city ANYWAY...there's NEVER parking and if there is, that's more $$) and you are in a city with a great public transportation system:  get acquainted!  Our VERY CHEAP hotel in Paris was just outside of the city...BUT had a metro line across the street from our hotel that could get you ANYWHERE in the city within 15 minutes.  Cheaper hotel on a hill outside of Sorrento?  Not a problem when the hotel provides a free shuttle.  The difference between $150 a night vs. $46 a night in San Fran?  A mere 15 minute walk.  Make sure where your staying is ACCESSIBLE and you can save big!
3. Think outside the box! Rome was almost a BUST as the cheapest hotel I could find was going to be over $800 for 4 nights. I just COULD NOT do it. So by randomly searching "B&B's in Rome," I came across an awesome site called AirBnB.com where people rent out their apartments (while their either out of town OR -like ours- have a spare COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT room) for a mere FRACTION of the cost of the prices I had previous seen! We had found a nice, spacious, quiet apartment about a 20 minute WALK from the Coliseum for $63 a night. It made notoriously expensive Rome go from "Ummm...I don't think so!" to "hey! I think we can do this"J Would I be careful on sites like this? Yes. Make sure it's reputable (again-researchJ), the rooms have good reviews AND they are within your criteria (private room, independent, entire home/apt) Here's a little preview of our 'cheap location':

Not too shabby, if I do say so myselfJ

Food:
One of our true joys of traveling and something I DON'T mind allowing a bit of breathing room in our budget.  That said, I don't think we've EVER spent a crazy amount of money on food and still managed to eat EXTREMELY WELL!  (too well, for that matterJ)  Here are a few random tips:

1. Breakfast:  Wherever you are, go EuropeanJ  Their breakfasts are usually small, just a pastry & a coffee, which equals CHEAP!  You can't even imagine the SPECTACULAR goodies we got to try in Paris for about 5 euros a day for the two of us.  It's a good, cheap way to go...ESPECIALLY if you're on the go and ready to start your day.  (although, I won't lie:  A nice sit-down breakfast is sometimes quite a joyJ)
2. Lunch/Dinner:  One thing we've done A LOT, be it from Philadelphia to Paris, is to have one big meal a day and to make dessert our 'other' meal.  (To die for) Ice cream for lunch in Paris?  Big BBQ lunch and ice cream for dinner in St. Louis?  It's a great way to save $$, as well as maybe a few calories (hell...your gonna eat that dessert after dinner ANYWAYSJ)
3. Never underestimate the power of the local/'on the go' goodiesJ  Sure, a leisurely sit down lunch would have been lovely in Rome (and we certainly had our share LATER!)...but since we had things to do/places to see, we couldn't have had a better lunch by snacking on those 'paninis on the go'  (not to be confused with the gross/'across the street from the Colisuem' ones!).  Food trucks are all the rage these days and you can find some really unique, delicious and cheap eats if you make them one of your meals a day.
4. With that said:  All of these tips go OUT THE WINDOW when eating and relaxing are your main focus (as was our time spent in SorrentoJ)  hahahahhahahahaha....but most of the time, they certainly can applyJ

    

Italy/Spain Specific Tips:

1. When I decided we were going to spend a few extra days and had already spent a bit more on airfare since Italy is just plain more expensive to reach, the one area where I cut our budget was in any transportation 'excess.'  Rome & Spain were easily accessible via train and metro from the airports, as well as there being enough trains & buses to get you around the countries.  Was it a pain?  Yeah...it got tiring after awhile.  But it was hard to justify a 50+ Euro taxi or  $90 airport transfer when there were 3 lines of subway that got us both to center city Madrid for under 10 Euro TOTAL.  Another example...the difference between spending 20 euros to get from Rome to Naples vs. 90?  An extra hour & 20 minutes on the train.  Again...not awesome, but there are savings if your willing to give up that little extra time. 
2. When in Rome:  Get the ROMA PASS!  It gives you 3 days of unlimited metro & bus transportation, as well as free entry to two participating locations...one of them being the Coliseum (grouped with the Roman Forum).  It costs 25 euros each, but considering the Coliseum ALONE is 11 euros each, it pays for itself rather quickly (especially if you use the metro system frequently, like we did)  And while we didn't mind spending HOURS on trains & subways in the name of savings, the one thing the Roma pass was spectacular for was saving time!  As long as you use the pass to get into the Coliseum as one of your 2 free attractions, you get to bypass the (CRAZYYYYYYY!) line.  I think that saved us AT LEAST 2 hours and LOTS of aggravation.
1. Another time saver:  preorder your tickets when you can, ESPECIALLY for notoriously crowded sites like the Vatican!  I can't even tell you the relief of not having to worry how long the line was going to be (often as long as 2 1/2 hours!!!) when we had our tickets securely in hand. 
2. Another thing I will say about Italy:  it was A LOTTTTTT more crowded than I anticipated! (and I doubt October is the hieght of the tourist season)  I went into this trip ANTI "organized tours" (another way to save money), but if you have your heart set on something (like we did with Pompeii), here's where I WOULD suggest booking a tour.  Some places were just too overwhelmingly crowded to attempt on our own.  But if you have the luxury of time: visiting some of the sites later in the day can also be helpful. (the line to get into St. Peter's basilica and up to the dome at 3pm was a fraction of what we had seen first thing in the morning) 
3. Again...the pastry breakfast & panini lunch had us almost scratching our heads by day 3 of how little we managed to spend on food during our time there.  Plus if you STAY OUT of the touristy areas and REALLY seek out the "home cooking" places, you can eat SPECTACULAR meals without feeling like your being ripped off.

* Finally, the most random best piece of travel advice I've EVER received was HOW TO AVOID JET LAG:  When you arrive at your destination, jump right into the local time ASAP.  Sure, you only slept an hour on that red eye overnight...but if you get to your hotel and nap, chances are you will find yourself up all night with your days & nights mixed up.  Do what we do and get to where you're going and get movin!  Shower, walk...do anything to wake yourself up and be on your way.  And if you can make that day stretch till 8 or 9 o'clock at night (local time) and get a good night sleep, chances are you'll avoid ANY of that "internal clock" business and suffer ZERO jet lag.  Trust me, this WORKS!     

Alright!  I think you've heard enough from meJ  Just thought I'd pass on these tips that (fingers crossed) haven't failed us yetJ  Traveling is one thing I love TOO MUCH and would rather spend my money on than any 'stuff' in this world.  But doing it for "cheap"???  Hell, that's even betterJ  Use these tips to get started booking your own adventures TODAY!  You never know where the winds may take youJ