It ain’t cheap or easy.

We all know it. Travel isn’t cheap and it definitely isn’t easy. Because of that, planning is a super important part of any new adventure.

I’m a pretty avid BuzzFeed reader and they always post stuff about travel. Which works our pretty well for me.

This post is talking about apps and how they can make travel easier. And we all know we could use the help. Some of the apps are a little useless for abroad travel (outside the US) and are location specific but the others are great!

My first favorite has to be Travel Math. It’s pretty cool and will literally tell you anything about your trip that has to do with numbers. And numbers definitely aren’t my strong suit. I try to avoid math at all times so I’m probably going to download this app ASAP.

The next is Pack Point. You put in the location, the app will tell you what you need to pack. This is genius. I’ve needed this app for my entire life. I am constantly packing for the wrong weather or forgetting that I’m going somewhere fancy. I’ve actually forgotten pajamas more than once. This is the app I’ve been searching for.

Jet Lag Rooster is a pretty smart idea. The app tells you how to shift you sleeping schedule around a few days before you trip so you’re not a zombie the first day there. If you’re paying a stupid amount of money to be there, who would want to waste a day being jet lagged? Not me!

My TSA is another genius app. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve searched the Internet looking to see what I can and cannot bring on a plane, how to store certain things and what is considered a carry on. It also tells you how long the wait lines for security are so you can plan you arrival at the airport accordingly.

I’m always talking about getting the “locals experience” and Vayable will help you do that. The app gives you unique experiences for your destination offered by the locals themselves. How awesome! This is another app I need to download ASAP.

 

Don’t get me wrong there are some other great apps on the BuzzFeed list but these five I think would be the most useful to me and they are the smartest. There are some weird apps on the list also that don’t have much to do with travel, like LogMeIn, Dude Where’s My Car? (which I need for home not travel) and WiFi Finder, but they could be useful to someone who wants to stayed plugged into their home world. I, on the other hand, love the idea of using my phone strictly for pictures and staying off the grid.

 

The Infinite Wonders of the World

The world is full of so much wonder. True, we have the eight wonders of the world but there is so much more than that.

Each continent is its own world. Each continent has its own people. Each continent has many different cultures.

 

North America, for instance, has three separate countries all of which that have three separate worlds of their own.

Canada is seen as the politest country but there is so much more than that. They have the Inuit lands, Toronto, French Canada and Nova Scotia. Go to any of those places and try to tell me that they don’t live in their own little worlds. Who knows you might even find someone incredibly rude and hateful.

I don’t even know where to begin with the United States. Every region of the country is so different from the last. The West Coast and the East Coast. North and South. We may all be Americans but we all have our own subcultures that we live and die for.

Mexico is a whole other story. It is so vastly different from its northern counterparts. South of the Border means a rich and deep culture that cannot be compared to any other. Spanish speaking, agriculture working, and loudly celebrating people.

 

As of right now, North America is my expertise when it comes to wonders of the world but go big or go home right. I’m trying to learn it all. The beautiful traditions of the Chinese, the alcohol driven heaven that is Oktoberfest (which I may be attending this fall), the induction of a new Pope in the Vatican. I want to see all of the strange, different, yet amazing traditions that I only get to see on TV or in the news.

 

Each continent is its own world. Each country is its own world. Each culture is its own world. And they make up not the eight wonders of the world but the infinite wonders of the world.

Flying South for the Weekend

“Thank you for flying United Airlines. We have now arrived at South Carolina’s Charleston International Airport.” came through the intercom just as the wheels hit the ground of the tarmac.

 

All of this started when my sister told me she was going to South Carolina in May. I was pretty jealous and mad she didn’t invite me so I made some snarky remark of “Why didn’t you invite me jerk?”. This prompted her to ask if I really wanted to come.

Then last week, she texted me to ask if I was still interested in going and that she convinced mom to pay for the flight as a graduation present (I was so down for someone else paying). I obviously agreed to take my mom up on that offer and my tickets were booked the next day.

So two weeks after I become a legitimate adult (scary thought), I will be flying to Charleston, SC and frolicking around the city with my sister and her friend. My first trip of the year!

I got 99 problems and money is all of them.

Yes, I just made a Jay-Z reference but whatever, that title is nothing but the truth. I love the thought of traveling near and far but the thought of spending the money I work my butt off for is terrifying.

So here I am to teach myself and maybe some of you guys the best ways to save money for and during vacations.

Saving money kind of sucks. Especially for someone like myself. I like to splurge on myself every once in a while. I guess I could consider a vacation a splurge but that’s a HUGE one. I found this blog that talks about how to cut some things out and save money for traveling. I love the ideas he has, like cutting out Starbucks and clipping coupons, but there is no way you’ll get me to ditch my beloved iPhone. Never happening. I’d rather sell all of my furniture then get rid of my phone. Plus it’s useful overseas. Has he heard of Viber?

And now the planning process. The best part (not). This list gives “smart” tricks for saving money. I’m using the term smart only because they did. The first tip. Buy another seat next to yours. I can hardly afford the first seat, what makes you think I can buy another? All for more leg room. No thanks, I’ll take the cramped seat next to a crying baby before shelling out another few hundred. Their only useful piece of advice is to eat in.

What’s one thing you never think about before traveling? Scams? Yeah, me either. Thrillist came up with the most common travel scams. I had no idea most of these existed. Scary stuff. The craziest is probably the fake Red Cross credentials! Are people really that into stealing money that they would go that far into detail? Apparently people are getting really creative when it comes to scamming tourists. Watch out!

Let’s talk about free stuff being the best stuff. Again, Thrillist came out with a list. This time of FREE things to do around the world. The coolest of all of them. Ruin Bars in Budapest. I would totally do every single thing on this list and it’s not just because they’re free. The couch surfing may be the hardest for me to build up the courage to do but let’s go. Now.

Back to my iPhone, I’m always looking at the apps they have for travelers. Budget Travel complied the 10 best apps to save time and money. Not all of them are free but it’s only a few bucks at most. Aside from Evernote, the apps are all travel-based. I’ve never used any of them, so I can’t really give any opinion but I’ll definitely test them out when I actually start traveling.

So I learned a lot more than I thought I was going to reading all this stuff, especially the scams article. Hopefully you and I will take all this awesome information and do some traveling with it. I know I will be. Maybe not anytime soon but I’m planning, don’t worry.

Time is always of the essence.

Our lives are constantly pressured by time. Deadlines, schedules, itineraries. We are given a certain amount of time and we are supposed to make the most of it. Especially when traveling. It’s one of the hardest deadlines we have. We are only given a set amount of days in a foreign territory and we have to explore it all. Every sight must be seen and all the food must be tried. We have the briefest of times to become one with this new culture we are thrown into. Then, as soon as it began, it’s over. We’re boarding the flight back home and back to reality. More deadlines. More schedules. But we will always go back as a whole new person.

Until We Meet Again

Driving down Route 16 in New Hampshire,it’s early 2000s and I am a young girl around 8. I’m taking in everything I possibly can. The houses. The stores. The crazy amount of people. There’s one main strip of activity then all of a sudden, it’s gone. The view becomes trees and mountains, not restaurants and storefronts. A slight right turn on to Route 16A then a right onto a small dirt road and the moment is finally here. We have finally arrived at the house of my dreams. Cabin style and in the middle of no where of New Hampshire. Although it’s just about 5 minutes from the hustle and bustle of North Conway, this house is quiet and secluded.

Everything is so new to me. The smell of the air. The lifestyle of relaxed and slow-moving. We have no plans or schedule, we’re taking the day as it goes. My whole family is unfamiliar to the area so we try everything we can in one day. We walk around the outlet shops. We go swimming in the river. We eat dinner in town. We spend the week exploring this uncharted area (by Angelosanto standards) figuring out the best route home, the cheapest grocery store, and where the best ice cream is.

So we’re there in Intervale, NH and I’m officially in love. I’m in love with the mountains. The rivers. The lakes. The strange people who hang around town.

Then as quick as the week came, it is over. We have to pack up the car. Shut off the house electricity. Fill up the gas tank. And make our way back to Boston, where there is no taking the day as it comes.

A two and a half hour drive and we’re back to reality. But I’m still dreaming of swimming in Echo Lake and hiking on the Kancamangus Highway. All I can think about in school that Fall is “until we meet again, Intervale”.

Nature’s Fireworks

https://flic.kr/p/kqoVGn

 

Aurora Borealis.

The Sun’s radiation reacting with the Earth’s magnetic field, to put it in a scientific way.

Beautifully dancing lights illuminating the northern skies, to a person like me.

 

This is definitely one of my destinations. And it’s honestly not too far from New England. I’d love to go to Iceland but Nova Scotia will work for me. Anywhere I can get my eyes on it will work. I just need to see it. And soon.

 

The Ocean

A river seems to flow forever. But it has to end somewhere.

An Virtual Travel Buddy

I just recently started following this blog and did very little back tracking to find out why exactly I did. She is the type of girl I want to help plan my travels. The post that stuck out to me was “Six ways to see the world”. She just gets it. The fact that there is not enough time to see the world but you can definitely try.

Ellie, I just have a few questions.

When you worked abroad, how did you deal with your life at home? Your family? Your living situation?

I’m super close with my family and I don’t think I would be able to work abroad. It feels a little too permanent to me.

What would you suggest for an American who can’t really go on city breaks?

I wish America was like Europe where you could take a weekend off and go to a different country. I take a weekend off and hardly leave the state I’m in.

 

Thank you Ellie for your great writing and help!

And the destination becomes the adventure.

Local. Tourist. Companion. Backpack. Destination. Adventure.

You’re a human. I know this. I also know you’ve heard each and every one of those words in your life.

You may or may not have travelled before. If you have all of those words have a different and special meaning to you.

You think of the locals versus the tourists. When you’re out and about in a different country, you want to feel, think, eat, drink and every thing else like those locals. We don’t have the saying “When in Rome, do as the Romans” for no reason. You are the tourist attempting to be a local even if it’s just for the day.

Your companion at home may be your spouse or partner or maybe even your dog. While traveling, your companion is the one person you can do all and see all with. That person may still be your partner or spouse but it could also be your sister, your cousin, a coworker or even a stranger that you met on the way.

The ever loved backpack. From preschool to college, we have that bag on more than off. It carries our books, pens and pencils, and on the occasional weekend, our sleepover gear. For travelers, the backpack can be a saving grace. Luggage gets lost all the time but if you’re smart, you packed some clothes and essentials in your backpack. It can also be the only thing you use to pack.

Backpack can also be a way of getting around. It’s the typical post-graduation dream of every college student. The chance to backpack around Europe, spending nights in sketchy hostels and hardly showering. In Asia and South America, backpacking is the best way to see the landmarks.

Each destination provides the opportunity for a new adventure. We plan every last detail of our journey and wait until the day finally comes where we arrive at our destination. And once again that new adventure begins.