Category: Travel

In case I seem like I’m posting a little less over the next ten days, I’m currently on a trip through Europe with my little brother. He asked me to show him the ropes of travel on the cheap through Europe, at which point I get to return to the US for some cool trips to Montreal and New York City with the girlfriend. Iceland is synonymous with quality, a point that was driven home for me when we were walking down the street this morning and I saw one of the most beautiful public vehicles I had ever seen. The trash trucks in Iceland are Mercedes, and little facts like this provide me with enormous amounts of free entertainment even when I travel to the most expensive countries in the world.  Continue reading “Of Course the Trash Trucks in Iceland Are Mercedes, Yet I Love It Still”

Like most Americans, I had no idea that Guatemala was a hotbed of volcanic activity. For less than $20, you can obtain a private guide to Pacaya, an active volcano with flowing lava fields. I had no idea that this kind of experience existed, and it’s something I hope every person gets to do at least once in their life. Continue reading “See Pacaya, a Giant Active Volcano in Central America”

For those who are unaware, I’ve been journeying around Latin America for the past couple months as part of my trip around the world. I discovered a fascinating bit of knowledge the other day in the central market of Antigua: Guatemala is where America’s old school buses spend their golden years. Nicknamed “chicken buses,” the locals turn the boring school buses of the early 90s into some of the most pimped rides I’ve ever seen. Their creativity has lots of implications for how we treat out own personal finances and combat America’s throwaway culture. Continue reading “Where America’s Old School Buses Go To Retire”

When random things happen while traveling, you should generally jump at the chance. You will get stories that are so absurd, you’ll be impressing friends at cocktail parties for years to come. The biggest surprise I’ve had this week was going to my first Mexican wrestling match at Arena Mexico, total cost ~$6. Continue reading “When Two Irish Guys Invite You to a Mexican Wrestling Match, Say Yes”

Thursday night here in Mexico City started out rough. We were supposed to be going to a free salsa class on the rooftop overlooking the national square, but the class got canceled. A group decided to go out on the town, so I thought, “why not?” We started walking several blocks south and walked into the Regina bar, which is easily has the sketchiest entrance I’ve ever been to. Imagine a NYC multilevel building lit up on the first floor with graffiti all over the stairway. I was a little weirded out at first but everyone was going in so again I thought, “why not?” We walked to the top of the building, and the bar was beautiful. There were paintings covering the walls and a group of friendly locals who started speaking to us about what to do in Mexico. When the bar closed down after getting some beer made from corn, they walked down the stairs with us. One of the local Mexicans gave me some great advice I wanted to share with you. He looked me dead in the eye and said in English, “Don’t go to the Caribbean and spend dollars, come to Mexico and spend pesos!” Let’s think about how true those words really are.  Continue reading “Don’t Go to the Caribbean and Spend Dollars, Come to Mexico and Spend Pesos!”

It’s here!! Millennial Moola trip around the world part 2! I took advantage of a non stop flight with Jetblue from Orlando to Mexico City for $73 to explore Latin America for two months. People ask me sometimes if I run out of things to write about, but traveling really has a way of obliterating writer’s block. I thought I’d share with you the insane value of the Mexican Metro system, created from the drastic rise in the dollar and overall affordability of Mexico City. In fact, the trip from the Mexico City airport was the cheapest I’ve ever experienced. I’ll hold the surprise on how much I paid until the end, but so far I love what I’m seeing in one of the biggest cities in the Western Hemisphere.  Continue reading “Traveling From Mexico City Airport Is Dirt Cheap”

Now for what you’ve all been waiting for. To wrap up the this week’s series of “Europe on $__ a Day,” I will introduce you to the frugal superstars of international travel. These folks make my $40 a day budget in Europe look like Rolex level ridiculousness. Somehow they have less money than anyone with a steady job can imagine yet still seem to wander Europe for months at a time. How do they do it? How are they are able to be tourists in one of the most expensive places in the world without ending up cold, wet, and hungry in a ditch somewhere?  Their secret is that almost nothing fazes them. Because of the scarcity they must endure, they are some of the most relaxed and confident people I’ve met in Europe. Here are their tricks and how they travel Europe on 10 a day. Continue reading “Europe on $10 a Day”

Yesterday you might have seen my post “Europe on $150 a Day” about a standard two week Euro trip by an Average Joe young professional. To be honest, I was kind of trolling. I got a couple of responses from readers saying things like “Wait seriously? That’s like my weekly budget.” Truly many of you are built from the hardiest frugal stock ever to exist this side of the 21st century. I hope to regain some of your trust and credibility today because I’m going to talk about my own budget while traveling Europe on 40 a day. I’ve been on the road since July 8 and to date I’ve spent $4,090, which includes the cost of my round trip airfare from the US to Europe. This amount works out to just above $40 for each day I’ve been over here. So going on my fourth month in Europe, how have I managed to spend a similar sum to the hypothetical young professional on a two week vacation from “Europe on $150 a Day” ? Continue reading “Europe on $40 a Day”

I decided to start a new series this week called “Europe on $__ a Day.” For those that don’t know, I’ve been traveling around Europe for the past 3 months and have noticed a huge variability in people’s daily budgets. I’ve been in the Ukraine where a hostel is $5 a night and I’ve been in Munich during Oktoberfest where a hotel room was $300. I think if you asked the average 20 something American worker right out of college if they could afford to wander the world, they might say no. Hence, I thought it would be useful to show you, the reader , different standards of living while on the road so you can decide if your dream trip to Europe is within reach. Today we’ll look at a normal but quite luxurious budget of Europe on 150 a day, Wednesday we’ll check out my own budget and what that looks like, and Friday we’ll examine the budget of a true frugal traveler. Continue reading “Europe on $150 a Day”