How to Travel & Save $$
I think by now you know that I love to travel. I also love to be home. Traveling is fantastic, but also stressful. There are times, like now, that I am away more than I am home. I miss my fur kids and I especially miss my bed. I've taken to traveling with a topper for a mattress to help ensure that I can get a good night sleep. Right now I have a pup to my left and a cat to my right, Rocky's tail is under my arms and he is purring away. Then again, when I am traveling I don't have as many distractions as I do at home. These fur kids make it difficult to ignore them. :)
I'm traveling by plane tomorrow to Philadelphia for my (another) nephew's wedding. I know that Philly has a decent amount of vegan food so that part will not be an issue. I have a feeling I will be ordering food to my hotel if the family events are not very vegan friendly. If I was renting a car, I'd go to Vegan Treats in Bethleham, but I'm ride sharing my way around on this trip. The hotel charges $75/night to park your car. It's outrageous, but I am also staying in the middle of the city.
The cost of the travel can be a burden. I use points to fly. I use points for hotel rooms as well. This trip I was able to get my hotel (Hampton Inn) on Airbnb for three nights, I am paying maybe 1 1/2 of what others are. It was a blessing to find this option. I did the same thing for the Atlantis. I found a listing on Airbnb and saved over $400.
I drove to Syracuse instead of flying and you might think, but what about the cost of gas? It did go up right before I left, but I drive a hybrid and I believe I filled my tank two times to get back and forth between my house and Syracuse (and all the other driving I did). It was a significant savings over flying and Frannie got to join me. I used points for the hotel going up and paid for the hotel coming back, both times in Frederick, MD. Side note, Frederick is super cute and I highly recommend going there. You must check out a place called Ekiben. It's not all vegan, but what they do have is incredible. I'm inviting them to come to all our festivals in the MD/VA/DC corridor.
For upcoming travel to Asheville and Marietta, I'm using Airbnb. When I stay at a place I really enjoy, I will build a relationship with the owner and if they offer their place off of Airbnb, most of them do, I'll book it that way the following year and save hundreds of dollars. I'm doing this in both these cities and I intend to spend a night in Greenville, SC and will stay at another house where I got to know the owner off of Airbnb. If you can build trust and show the owners you'll take care of their home, then everyone will save and they will make more. Airbnb takes a lot of fees and charges a lot of fees as well.
As long as everything goes smoothly, travel is fun. When things start going awry, well then you have to learn to go with the flow. Always remember there are typically good reasons for plane delays, traffic in a hybrid gets you better mileage, and hopefully, you get to your destination safe and sound and then the same for returning home.
Question for you, for this week, is it better to be delayed going away or going home?
I'm on the fence on this one because I usually am ready to get home after a trip, but sometimes (on super short trips) the delay eats into your plans, almost making the trip not worthwhile. Let me know how you feel about this and travel in general.
Have a great week and take a look below at two travel opportunities. Additional details further down in the newsletter, as well.
Unruly Travel is hosting a trip to South Africa with limited spots left and a short time frame to book.
Vegan Squad Retreats is hosting a late Janaury all vegan retreat in Florida, close to Orlando and I will be there. I'm working with Uprooted Vegan to help serve you delicious food. There's an incredible offer until Friday, 10/16 where you can save $500. Use the code VEGFEST and click here to join us.
| 
