Budget Travel for Dummies (Americans)

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” — Mark Twain

If you’ve read any of my other posts, you’re probably wondering how in the world I have the money to be on a 10 day backpacking trip between two European countries. Well, you’re in luck. I’m going to share with you some tips for cheap travel that I have managed to acquire in the last couple years. Hopefully you will be inspired and pursue your own sense of wanderlust.

First, I’m going to shock you with a disgusting statistic: less than 20% of the American population owns a passport. When I read this I thought it must be a joke, a misprint, SOMETHING. But the fact of the matter is, most Americans seem to be pretty content with their homeland, and don’t see much reason to journey beyond this sense of ethnocentricism. I know most of you are thinking, “Oh not me, I’d love to travel. But I don’t have the _______.” Fill in the blank: time, money, energy, courage– whatever it is, you have the power to change it, and you have the ability to take a risk, jump in head first, and find your truest inner strengths through the wonders of travel.

Before I get into the nitty gritty, I’m going to shock you again. In the last 10 days, five in Budapest and five in Rome, I’ve spent a grand total of $400. This is including airfare (three separate flights,) accommodation, tours, activities, food and wine– all of it. How did I do this, you may ask? Well fortunately I was able to stay with family in Budapest, which saved me a lot of money on accommodation and food expenses. I filled my time in Budapest with mostly free or dirt cheap activities. In fact, beer was probably the thing I spent the most on during those 5 days. So in total my expenses from Budapest included: $30 for a train ticket to the airport, $14 on airfare (no, that is not a typo, I’ll explain later,) $40 on food, wine, and beer, $10 for travel passes on the metro, and about $15 on contingencies. So that adds up to $109, if I’m not mistaken. Now onto Rome, one of the world’s most touristy cities– where it’s so easy to spend a fortune (but you really don’t need to!)

My flight from Budapest to Rome came to $22 and then I caught a bus from the airport into town for $6. I had pre-booked a cheap hotel, but was trying to find someone to stay with for free through a website called http://www.couchsurfing.org ( i’ll expand upon this in a minute.) None of the users I messaged were available this week, so I ended up at a cheap hotel called Colors; which is a 3 minute walk from St. Peter’s square. Having never really travelled alone before, I’m happy that I was able to meet other travelers with similar interests at the hotel. In total, for 5 days at Colors, I paid $160, so about $30 a night. Not too shabby! I saw St. Peter’s Basilica– which was worth the €5 euro ($8) to climb to the top, but otherwise all the tourism I explored has been free. I’m going to choose either the Colosseum or Sistine chapel tomorrow– both of which cost around $30– so unfortunately on this trip it’s gotta be one or the other. I treated myself to two dinners out because that’s one of the most important things to do in Rome. The two combined were a bit pricey, but definitely worth the $45! As far as other meals, I stopped in various cheap grocery stores and picked up baguettes, cheese, and usually some type of fruit for other meals and snacks, spending about $20 for the entire 5 days. That puts the total at around $370. I found myself a cute jacket from a street vendor for $15 and as of right now, the only expense that is absolutely imperative is my $6 bus ticket back to the airport. The flight from Rome to London cost around $18– so slightly over $400 for the whole shebang.

Alright folks, here are some of my secrets.

1. Find flights through cheap sites like http://www.ryanair.com or http://www.easyjet.com. These are the two I use the most when traveling in Europe. In the US, check sites like kayak or skyscanner for discounted prices. The drawback to these companies is that they charge disgusting amounts to check a bag– so pack like you’re in the military and only bring the essentials, as you will be carrying them around with you quite a bit.

2. Book travel to the airport in advance. You can often find cheap train or bus tickets online to purchase and print out and it’s rather expensive to book the day of.

3. Look into alternative accommodation. Travel isn’t always luxurious; sometimes you have to sacrifice things like personal space and optimal comfort for affordable or cheap places to stay. Www.hostelworld.com allows you to explore different hostels, hotels, apartment rentals, and B&B’s around the city you search. As I mentioned earlier, couchsurfing may sound a little like the premise of a horror film, but sometimes lending people that extra ounce of trust exudes the most rewarding experiences. I know the idea of sleeping on a stranger’s couch in a foreign country, never having met them is a little unnerving, but I’ve utilized this site a handful of times and have had nothing but good experiences. Any person who hosts surfers must be verified by the website, and other users who have stayed with them leave comments, ratings, advice, etc. The setup is very similar to Facebook– you create a profile, fill in information about yourself (interests, where you’ve traveled, where you want to travel etc) and people who you request can view your profile and decide if they are able to host you. It’s also a wonderful way to meet travelers even if you don’t want to leave your house– you can sign up to host people from all over the world. I encourage you all to look into it– because I guarentee some of you are having reservations about such a leap of faith. But CS is not just a free place to stay, but rather a cultural exchange. If someone agrees to host you, generally you would bring them some type of gift reflecting your culture, or (as I did,) offer to cook a meal that reflects your corner of the globe. It’s an amazing experience and I have made a lot on really good friends through couchsurfing.

3. Don’t feel like you need to go out to eat for every meal. I’m not saying don’t go out at all, obviously immersing yourself in a new culture involves checking out the native cuisine, but budget for a couple nice meals and then find some cheap groceries.

4. Along the same lines, find restaurants and bars that are further away from big tourist areas. You not only get more authentic food, but also aren’t being ripped off by tourist prices– which are generally about 25% higher than restaurants outside of high tourist traffic areas.

5. If you are going to stay in the same city for awhile, look into getting a train or metro pass that will last a couple days. This is MUCH cheaper than purchasing individual tickets, and it is less of a hassle. Renting a car is convenient– but absolutely an unnecessary expense.

6. Research free or cheap attractions before deciding to drop a bunch of cash on anything. For example, in Rome you can pay €15.50 to get into the forum, or you can climb palatine hill and see an arial view of the entire thing FOR FREE! Pick maybe one or two of the most important sites you want to see and spend your money on those.

7. Don’t buy t-shirts, key chins, coozies, I heart Italy shirts or anything like that. Firstly, they’re expensive, and second of all they are cheesy. I used to buy all sorts of dumb tourist stuff– and most of it is long gone. Also, to maximize space, keep any purchases you do make to a minimum so you don’t exceed the carry-on size limit.

This is by no means an extensive list– just a couple tips that have helped me to explore the world on a budget. Traveling doesn’t necessarily mean going on vacation. Its often times stressful, but in the end it’s always worth it.

“Explore, dream, discover!”

The Dichotomy of Sex in America

“It’s ironic that [the] more open societies have fewer problems associated with adolescent sexual activity, because much parental resistance to sex education in the United States is predicated on the notion that it will lead to more teen sex. American parents fear that if teachers talk to teens about sex in a classroom, the information will somehow trigger their interest in it–as if teens have not heard of sex before taking a health class on it.”

DAVID WALSH, Why do they Act That Way?

         Why is it that in a country so driven by sexualized media, topics such as safe sex, birth control, and the sex education of our youth have become taboo and uncomfortable to discuss? Sexual imagery pollutes almost every aspect our consumer lives. Billboards, internet, commercials, magazines, movies, television; all of which are progressively becoming more overtly sexualized; and yet as a country, America leads the polls in teen pregnancies, abortions, and reported cases of sexually transmitted diseases. Perhaps the problem lies in the approach to sexual education in young adults; a topic that remains controversial despite the growing epidemic of sexually active teens.

It’s a shame to see this dichotomy take its toll on our nation. Over-sexualizing aspects of everyday life, while maintaining the stigma that talking about sex and promoting safe sex somehow increases the prevalence of teen sex. The fact of the matter is that teens are going to have sex whether or not they understand the risks, so why not make preventive measures more readily available instead of ignoring the problem in hopes that it will go away? The US has three times as many teen pregnancies per year than any European country. I believe the reasoning behind this is the liberal attitude that Europeans have in regards to sex. It’s a topic that is open for conversation, as it should be. Sex is one of our most basic human practices—so why the embarrassment and the need to hide it? In an article called Sex in the Media, Sarah Gilbert notes, “There is a major disconnect between what mainstream media portray — casual sex and sexuality with no consequences — and what children and teenagers need.” Unfortunately, since we no longer live in the 1950s,  abstinence-only education is no longer the answer.

While remaining at the top of the charts for issues such as teen pregnancy, HIV prevalence, and abortion rates, the only category that the US scored the lowest on was condom and contraceptive usage; explicitly laying out the reasoning behind the other statistics. But what’s being done about this? Rather than providing the facts about sex (the anatomy of it, how to be safe about it, as well as the risks,) society keeps spitting out more junk in the media about an idealized version of it. More and more shows are entering the mainstream media such as Jersey Shore, The Bachelor, The Real World: all showing unrealistic sexual scenarios in which there are no explicit consequences following. As Gilbert mentions in her article, these shows “corrolat[e] with beliefs in a double standard—that men are sex driven and women are sexual adversaries.”

Another shocking statistic shows that 61% of adolescent females in France use a form of contraceptive birth control, a fifty-percent increase from the 11% of teen girls in the US.  Also, studies show that a sexually active teen who does not use a contraceptive has a 90% chance of becoming pregnant within a year (If the US offered teens more access to sexual health information and services, perhaps the number of girls using birth control would increase and correlate a decrease in teen pregnancy. Until the US admits that sex is a normal and healthy part of being a human, and addresses it in such a way to promote good sexual health—these numbers will continue to increase.

The epitome of stupidity in regard to birth control was so elegantly delivered in a speech by presidential hopeful and public lunatic, Mitt Romney. Perhaps confused about the purpose of contraceptives, Romney wants to cut off funding to organizations such as Planned Parenthood; whose mission includes pregnancy prevention, birth control, counseling, and family planning. Suggesting that birth control accessibility somehow encourages teens and young adults to be sexually active, he naively responded to a question on this topic, “If you want access to free birth control, vote for the other guy.” Well said Romney, well said.

Unless there is a dramatic change of pace in the sexual education of our youth, these numbers will continue to climb. The more sex is thrown in our faces through the media and advertising industries, the further the gap between idealized, consequence-free sex, and our youth’s perception of a healthy, sexual relationship.