The United States dollar isn’t what it once was. Though it has gained strength recently because of the ongoing debt crisis in Europe, it has fallen against the Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian dollars as well as just about every other major currency in the world. (It dropped greatly against the Swedish Krona while I was there this summer!) As a constant traveler, I worry about currency moves like only a Wall Street trader would. Small changes in the value [...]

Even with the falling Euro, traveling around Europe can still be fairly expensive, especially if you are traveling long distances or miss out on that killer fare from Ryanair. I sometimes get sick to my stomach at how much transportation can cost even for the shortest distances. But, despite the high valued Euro, high transportation costs, and general expensiveness of Europe, there are still many ways to travel around Europe affordably: Megabus Megabus is a cheap way to get around [...]

Let’s start this blog post with a short exercise. I want you to get out a sheet of paper and write down all your set expenses. Write down how much you pay for your rent (mortgage), your car payments, cable bill, cell phone, insurance, and the like. Tally them up. Then write down all your discretionary spending. This is what you spend on food, movie nights, drinks, shopping, that daily coffee from Starbucks, cigarettes, sports tickets, and other similar things. [...]

When I was a kid, I was a boy scout. I made it pretty far too but then I became a teenager, decided it was “lame” and quit. As a boy scout, I learned how to tie knots, camp outdoors, be a good citizen, play with knives, and got to have cool sleepovers. One of the most important things you learn as a Boy Scout is their motto to always “be prepared”  and as I’ve grown up and traveled the [...]

While many of us dream of world travel, or, at least taking a few months off from work in pursuit of adventure, for many it’s not always feasible. While I frequently talk about long-term travel and round the world trips, I know that realistically, not everyone can travel that way. I don’t think traveling the world is hard, but I also know that what I do isn’t for everyone. For a number of reasons, people just aren’t able to do [...]

Lately, a lot of short-term rental companies have been asking me to stay with them. These companies offer furnished apartments for rent as an alternative to hotels. I’ve avoided them for a while as I generally like the social atmosphere of hostels. And, when I do want something non-hostel or hotel related, I usually just Couchsurf or stay with friends. But the email barrage finally wore me down and I figured I would give this whole short-term apartment thing a [...]

Travel Hacking is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot these days. You see it on many travel websites that seek to explain how to become a travel ninja or ultimate traveler. Travel hackers are the people constantly chasing miles, rewards points, and elite status. They are looking for every possible way to game the system. Most travel hacking is about using miles and rewards to get free flights or accommodation. True travel hackers accumulate points and status like [...]

While you might never know it from my body mass, I love to eat. A lot. In fact, eating is one of my favorite activities, and also one of my favorite aspects of traveling. Food is such an integral part of so many cultures that to skip out on meals when you travel is to miss a huge part of traveling. I’m always disappointed when I meet travelers who cook all their meals in a hostel kitchen. Why come to [...]

Banking overseas is more than just putting your card in an ATM. When you travel abroad, you want to avoid paying bank fees, foreign transaction charges, and get a good exchange rate. In fact, if you are on the road for a while, you want to have your money work for you. Banking when you travel requires thinking and a bit of planning. Here are some tips and trick I use to reduce my bank fees when I travel overseas: [...]

Good hostels are always hard to come by. Places can be very hit or miss and usually, the reason a hostel is good has more to do with the people staying there than the physical place. I’ve stayed in dumps where I had fun in because of the people there and amazing hostels that bored me to death. Hosteling is, after all, about the people you meet. However, staying in a place that knows a traveler’s needs is always better [...]