Travel Tips : Making Connections at London Heathrow

May 13, 2016

If you’re headed to Europe, chances are you’ll probably transfer through London Heathrow at some point. As one of the largest and busiest airports in the world, London Heathrow is a thorough-fare for millions of people every year. In all our years of traveling to Europe, we often find ourselves transferring through this airport and making connections at London Heathrow and we’ve picked up a few tricks and tips to make this easier along the way.

Heathrow is a huge airport with multiple terminals, as well as being the entry point to the UK so even when transferring intra-Europe, it’s still more time consuming since you have to redo the UK security checkpoint. When all is said and done, it’s not super easy to transfer at Heathrow, but it’s doable with the right preparation and knowing what you’re doing. So if you have travel plans making connections at London Heathrow, here are my best tips:

Give yourself at least 90 minutes, no less.

I’m always trying to shorten our layover times in airports because really, who wants to sit for 5 hours waiting for a flight? But in truth, sometimes and at certain airports it’s necessary to give yourself ample time to connect to another flight. (LAX is the same as this by the way.) At Heathrow, you’ll need NO LESS than 90 minutes for connections. And seriously, don’t try to book a connection with less time than that… you’ll miss your flight.

So when booking connecting flights from Heathrow on to wherever else you’re heading, be sure to plan into your itineraries at least 90 minutes to change planes. That way you’re safe even if you’re flight is late and you won’t have to be sprinting through the terminal!

Know if you’ll need to change terminals.

Be aware before you land if you’ll need to change terminals as this will greatly impact how much time you need to connect at Heathrow. For example on this past trip, we arrived on American Air but flew British Airways to Paris, landing in Terminal 5 and departing from Terminal 7. If you’ll need to change terminals for your connection, you have to take a bus which takes about 20 minutes to get you from point A to point B. After the bus drops you off, then you’ll need 45 minutes or more to get through immigration and security checkpoints and on to your gate.

Try not to check luggage… of if you do, your connection time shouldn’t be less than 2.5 hours.

A trick at Heathrow, don’t check luggage if you’re connecting. Or if you have to, you’ll need to add time to your layover. I would suggest no less than 2.5-3 hour layovers at Heathrow if you’re checking luggage. The reason for this is that if you are checking luggage, land at Heathrow, you’ll have to collect your luggage, check it back in and then go through all the immigration and security checks on top of that. So if you can, do carry on only if you’re connecting through Heathrow or add time to your connection.

*Update on this point : It seems this depends on country you arriving from and which airlines you are flying… so be sure to do your own research on this before traveling!

Know you’ll have to go through security again.

Because you’re going through the UK checkpoints, you’ll have to clear a quick immigration (just quickly looking at your passport) and security again once landing in the UK before continuing on. And this can take a ton of time so be aware that you’ll have to clear security again before your connection.

Ask to use the FastTrak lane at immigration and security if you’re running late.

If you’re running late (like we were recently) and might miss your flight, you can try to speed up your connection time by asking to use the FastTrak lane although in our experience it didn’t do much for us and we almost missed our flight anyways. But it’s worth a shot if it looks shorter than the regular lines for immigration and security.

Check out Duty Free if you have time.

If you have time, Heathrow has some of the best shopping of any airport in the world and their Duty Free shops are particularly great. I never miss the opportunity to pick up my favorite Fortnum and Mason tea while at Heathrow as well as so many other amazing British and International products. But make sure you have time and won’t miss your flight to stop and check out Duty Free!

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What to Do with 6 Hours in New York

May 11, 2016

When we booked our flights for this trip, we used American Air miles to fly business class to Europe. That meant however that we couldn’t fly our normal routes, due to having to choose routes available with miles. Usually we like to fly directly from the West Coast of the US to Europe, but this time, on the way there, we had to stop in New York at JFK Airport before continuing on to Europe. And… the catch was, we had a little over 6 hours there as a layover.

When we saw that, we started looking into options of how to spend that time instead of just sitting in the airport for half the day, so if you have a lot of time at JFK Airport due to connections, here’s what to do with 6 hours in New York!

Drop off your luggage to be stored.

In the arrivals terminals of most the terminals at JFK there are luggage storage counters. We flew into the American Terminal, so ours was right in the baggage claim area. It only cost $18 dollars for them to hold our luggage for the 6 hours we were gone.

Grab an Uber.

The taxi situation at JFK is a bit of a nightmare, so we opted to get an Uber. Our driver was there within minutes and we jumped in, headed for New York City.

You can also take the Air Tran public transport and then connect to the subway, but when we arrived, the time estimate for that was a total of 1 hour and 10 minutes. To drive into the city was shorter at 45 minutes and since we only had a limited amount of time anyways, it was the better option for us to Uber. With that in mind though, it’d be a lot cheaper to take the train and subway, so choose which works better for you.

Head to the Brooklyn Bridge Park.

We had our driver head to the Brooklyn Bridge Park. The reason for this was two-fold: we know that area a bit from past trips and it was enough into the city that we felt like we got the NYC experience, but also way less time than getting into Manhattan from JFK.

Eat at Juliana’s Pizza (or Shake Shack).

We knew of Juliana’s from a recommendation we had gotten and were craving pizza, so we headed straight for this amazing pizza spot right near the Brooklyn Bridge Park. Needless to say, it was amazing and I’d highly recommend it!

Or if you’re in the mood for something different, there is also a Shake Shack right next door!

Take in the Views.

After dinner, we spent some time just taking in the incredible views of Manhattan from the park near the restaurant. It’s the perfect spot to get your dose of NYC without having to go into Manhattan, which would take that much more time.

Grab an Uber back.

About 3 hours before our flight time, we grabbed another Uber to go back to the airport. It was rush hour, so the freeways were jammed but Apple maps had a path through Brooklyn that got us back to JFK in 40 minutes with way less traffic, so we actually have time to spend in the American Airlines lounge at the airport as well!

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How to Travel to Europe for Under $3,000 (for 10 days)

May 10, 2016

When planning a trip to Europe, this was a bit different than our usual travels and when we were planning this one, we used more points and got more hotel stays for free than we ever have before. Usually when we plan our trips to Europe, we are gone for about 10 days and in general I’d say that those trips cost around $4,000-$5,000, including airfare, hotels and spending money while there (if we’re paying for everything out of pocket). This time however, we spent a long time planning it to use as many points and miles as possible in order to really cut that cost back.

Now, we aren’t budget travelers by any means. I like a good hotel and we don’t skimp on food, but I was curious this time around to challenge myself and see how cheap we could do a really amazing trip, without skimping on the nice things we wanted. Now let me preface this by saying not all of these might be possible ways to save money for everyone and many of these things are for bloggers and influencers, for ways to cut cost traveling. But, if you’re willing to plan in advance (we started planning all of these things about a year in advance to build up the points necessary and such) and willing to do your research and make an effort, it’s very possible to spend 10 days in Europe for under $3,000, staying at great hotels and not skimping on expenses. So if you’re interested how to travel to Europe for under $3,000… here’s how we did it.

Airfare

-Main Airfare: We flew in Business class the whole way this trip on American Airlines, with fully lie flat seats to Europe and back, which made the trip even better. And we flew the whole way on miles, only paying around $300 total in taxes in fees out of pocket. Now you think that’s amazing? It’s totally and completely doable! We planned this ahead and both Nick and I got the AAdvantage credit card through American Airlines. Through opening bonuses and careful spending planning to make the most of the card, we were able to rack up enough points for both of us to fly from Portland to Europe and back all in business the whole way!

I also use my Alaska Airlines credit card points often for flights to Europe for very little out of pocket! Pick an airline that you can rack up points with and you’ll find it’s fairly easy to get around the world on points and pay very little for your airfare!

-Auxiliary Airfares (w/in Europe): Now once in Europe, we went a lot of places (Paris, Rome, Vienna, Santorini, and London), so we needed a way to get from our first stop at Heathrow upon entering Europe and then on to our other destinations. This trip, due to timing and other reasons, we flew everywhere instead of taking trains or other transportation. For 75% of these flights we used miles and paid only around $50 in taxes and fees. My favorite points system for intra-Europe flights is British Airways, of which I have their credit card as well to rack up points. I also booked quite a few of our intra-Europe flights on my Chase Sapphire points, which is another favorite of mine.

For the few flights we paid out of pocket, we flew budget airlines like Vueling or EasyJet where fares are really low. Just be sure to factor in cost for luggage and any extras on those budget airlines.

Rental Cars

The only place we rented a car was in Italy on this trip. We rented the car in Rome at the airport, drove up through Tuscany and Umbria and then returned it the following day. I tried to use points for this but it wasn’t available so we paid this out of pocket. In the end, the car rental, plus gas, plus wifi through Hertz and full insurance coverage, this cost came to right around $400.

Hotels

This particular trip I really challenged myself to see how much we could get for hotels without paying anything for our stays. I’m pretty particular about the hotels we stay in and I have a number of requirements that I look for and it’s not an area that I skimp on when we travel. So with that said, all the hotels we stayed at were great, amazing boutique hotels and here’s how we saved:

Paris – All 3 nights here were completely free through my blog. I reached out to a shortlist of hotels about 8 months before our trip to see if any hotels were willing to offer me deals to stay at their properties in exchange for social media and review posts on Land of Marvels. I found 2 hotels that were willing to offer me complimentary nights in exchange for my review of the hotels. We stayed one night at one, then 2 nights at the other all complimentary. (This obviously only applies to travel bloggers, but if you’re willing to do the work to reach out, it’s amazing what’s available to bloggers.)

See where we’ve stayed in France!

Rome – We spent 2 nights in Rome for no charge at all, all through my Chase Sapphire Points. We stayed at the Hotel Indigo which I couldn’t recommend enough, it was a superb stay. And the best part, we paid absolutely nothing out of pocket.

See where we’ve stayed in Italy!

Tuscany – We were originally planning to drive to Florence and stay the night there through my blog, however when our flight the next day got moved up by 3 hours, we changed our plans and stayed closer to Rome in Tuscany. We opted for a lovely property in the hillsides of Tuscany and paid out of pocket for our stay which I found on Tablet Hotels, around $200. (Also note though, whenever I pay out of pocket I use Hotels.com to rack up free nights).

See where we stayed in Tuscany!

Vienna – I was pretty particular about choosing the hotel we stayed at in Vienna and I couldn’t have been happier with it! We paid for this out of pocket for this hotel that I found on Tablet Hotels, around $250. (Also note though, whenever I pay out of pocket I use Hotels.com to rack up free nights).

See where we’ve stayed in Austria!

Santorini – When we added Santorini to our itinerary, I reached out to a number of hotels on the island to see about working with Land of Marvels. The hotel we ended up with offered us 2 complimentary nights in exchange for social media and reviews on Land of Marvels, so we paid nothing for our nights in Santorini. I didn’t end up loving our hotel in Santorini but since we hadn’t paid for it out of pocket, it wasn’t as bad! But if you’re headed there, I think it’s worth noting to stay in the main town centers so it’s easy to get everywhere. We were in a weird location and it made it more difficult.

London – Our final night in London, which was added only a few weeks before our trip due to a schedule change in our flight home, was booked late in the game so we opted for our go-to spot at the Hotel Ampersand and we paid out of pocket for this hotel, around $250. (Also note though, whenever I pay out of pocket I use Hotels.com to rack up free nights).

See where we’ve stayed in London!

Spending Money

Before we left, I got $1000 USD worth of Euros from my bank and 200 British pounds for our trip. We try to pay for everything with cash while traveling so that when we get home we don’t have a big credit card bill and it’s easier to monitor how much you’re spending while traveling. So in total, we took about $1,300 in cash and that covered all our expenses for 10 days in Europe, without skimping.

*Update – While we used to do all cash when traveling, we’ve found on more recent trips that most of Europe works with Apple Card on our phones now, so that’s another easy way to pay for everything without having to take a bunch of cash and credit cards!

Don’t Waste Money on Tourist Traps

Another way to save money on so much while traveling in Europe is not to spend frivolous money on tourist trap things. We eat in more local areas where prices are lower, don’t do tours and generally wander on our own. The extra money that comes with buying tickets to things and paying tour operators adds up quickly. Walk everywhere on your own, take public transportation and stay in the local areas of European cities – that will save a ton of money!

Final Costs

When all is said and done, we spent around $2,750 on this trip through 5 countries, 7 cities and 10 days of traveling through Europe. This amount, below $3,000, included amazing 4 and 5 star hotels the whole time, incredible food, and amazing experiences. With that said, obviously, you could do this cheaper, but for the way we traveled, all in business class on flights, high-end hotels and no skimping on food or activities, this is an amazing deal and totally doable for anyone!

Favorite Moments : Europe in the Spring

May 9, 2016

We arrived home last Sunday night from our trip through Europe and last week consisted of catching up on work, unpacking and getting everything back in order for a crazy month ahead! But as I started reviewing our trip and as I start recaps here on the blog, I always love doing these Favorite Moments posts from our travels. There are always amazing moments that evoke a place, produce amazing memories and keep travel at the forefront of our minds when traveling. This trip was one of the best we’ve had and we saw so many amazing places, had so much amazing food and came home with lots of amazing moments to remember. So without further ado… my favorite moments from our travels through Europe in the Spring!

Paris in Bloom

We started out our trip this time with 3 days in our favorite city of Paris and after over a year and a half since we were there last, we reveled in exploring the city again. We’ve never been in April so we loved the fact that all the beautiful blooms on trees and flowers were out in full force this time of year in the city. From the cherry trees next to Notre Dame to the poppies in bloom in the Jardin des Plantes, Paris was in full bloom and we relished every second of it!

Falling in Love with Rome

As I mentioned before our trip, we added Rome to this trip in an effort to “redo” it and see it from a different perspective from our first trip there a few years ago. This time around we spent 2.5 days in this famous city just wandering, with no real schedule, just taking it all in and enjoying the moments. And I can honestly say after this time around, we fell in love with Rome. The city is a million times better if you stay away from the tourist spots, wander for hours stopping only for gelato and long meals. I can’t wait to start sharing our time in Rome and I’m so glad we gave it a second chance!

Orvieto and Montepulciano

After leaving Rome, we rented a car and drove through Umbria and Tuscany. We stopped at a few towns along the way, but our favorites were by far Orvieto (in Umbria) and Montepulciano (in Tuscany). Both hilltop towns were unbelievable and we fell in love with the Italian countryside as we explored! Our day driving around Italy was one of our favorites of the trip!

Vienna’s Food

Vienna, oh Vienna. We just had a night here due to flight connections that were necessary to fly directly to Santorini and it was never high up on my travel list. But… sometimes with no expectations come amazing things. I fell hard for this city and told Nick numerous times while there that I could move there in an instant. The city was amazing itself, but the food… where do I even begin? We laughed with our hotel concierge upon check out at how much I had eaten while there and how all the food in Vienna is completely my type of food: meat, potatoes and sweets. And no joke, it’s all I ate while there! From weiner schnitzel bigger than my head to incredible coffee and pastries, to Viennese chocolate cake and warm apple strudel. I think I ate more in the 14 hours or so we were in Vienna than perhaps the whole rest of the trip!

View from our Hotel in Santorini

While Santorini was in truth our least favorite stop on our trip (and I’ll explain more on this later when we get to our Greece posts), upon arrival at our hotel, we couldn’t help but stop and revel in the incredible view from our hotel balcony. And while we didn’t love Greece, you can’t help but be amazed at how they’ve built Santorini, at the views and the expanse of the caldera views!

Running into Selena in London

On our way home, our flight from Athens was canceled a few weeks before our trip and we ended up having to be re-routed through London and spend a night there. Honestly, it didn’t bother me one bit because I love London and any excuse to spend a night in one of my favorites cities, I’m on board. Anyways, we ended up getting an earlier flight from Athens (about 3 hours earlier than our scheduled one) and arrived in London mid-afternoon on Saturday. We got to our hotel and then wandered down through South Kensington and Chelsea to find a pub for dinner. One of our requirements of where we ate was to have sticky toffee pudding as that’s a favorite of ours and not to missed in the UK! So we headed towards the King’s Road and randomly saw a cute little pub on the corner of a random street called the Queen’s Head. It looked cute, had Sticky Toffee Pudding on the menu and so we headed in, sat down at a table and were looking at the menu when someone came up to our table and said, “Casey?” I was sort of blown away at first, because really “who would randomly know me in a random pub in London?” It happened to be Selena of Oh , the Places We Will Go!, one of the travel bloggers I’ve followed for years! We chatted for a while and couldn’t believe what the chances were that we would choose that pub at that time and that her and her husband happened to be there at the same time!!! It was so lovely meeting her and totally reinforced the fact that the world is so so small!

Quiet Early Morning Walk through London

Our final morning before heading home we woke up early due to still being 2 hours ahead on Greece time, so we headed out of our South Kensington hotel (the Ampersand, which has become our go-to in London) and wandered toward Hyde Park. The sun was bright and shining, the streets were empty due to it being early Sunday morning and the city was sparkling. It’s mornings like that when traveling that just keep me going, moments when you seem to have a city to yourself, moments when you’re just wandering foreign streets with someone you love, when the world seems to be an incredible magical place, when everything seems to fit into place. Those are the moments, like a quiet early morning walk through London, when dreams come alive!

How to Document Your Trip : Travel 101

April 29, 2016

Part of traveling is also being able to document it, so that when you get home, you have lots of great memories and photos to remember it by. It can often be a daunting experience though thinking about how to capture your trip the best, so today, here’s my best tips on how to document your trip the best way for you and the easiest way possible!

Pick a camera (or cameras) to take with you.

For us, Nick is the photographer mainly but I do like to snap photos here and there as well. We take more camera equipment than most, but if you’re curious what we use, here’s what we have in our camera bag and take with us when we travel. All of these items get used at one point or another when traveling though and all have definitely pros and cons.

Know what lens to use.

Nick has favorite lenses he travels with and it’s important to know which lens to use for which location. For example, when you go to Peru and Machu Picchu, you’ll need specific lenses to capture this amazing monument versus more of a city location like in Rome or Paris.

Try to work in taking photos part of the experience while traveling.

One of the things to get in the habit of is to just work in taking photos or the time it takes to take nice photos into your travel schedule and experience. This makes it easier to not be overwhelmed as much by trying to take photos while exploring. We have a routine now that just includes time for Nick to stop and take photos or for me to stop when I see something interesting. Be sure to work that into your schedule and it will be a lot easier. Here’s Nick’s pre-shot checklist that you can use while on the go!

Don’t forget about your iPhone.

Most of us have iPhones these days and Nick and I rely a lot on them when we travel. It’s easy to go overboard with DSLR’s and all the up to date camera equipment but truthfully, at the end of the day, we’ve gotten some incredible shots on our iPhones. Be sure to keep them handy so when you see something, you’re ready to document it.

Don’t let photos take over though, keep it balance and see everything with your own eyes as well.

One lesson I’ve learned though over the years is to not let your taking all these photos affect how you really see a place with your own eyes. Be sure to find that balance of both actually seeing and taking photos because what’s the point of a photo if you can’t even remember what it looked or felt like in person? So be sure to stop and take in the moment as well as photographing and documenting it!

How to Enjoy your Trip : Travel 101

April 28, 2016

We are currently exploring some of favorite (and some new) spots in Europe this week, but while we’re away, one of the goals of Land of Marvels is to offer advice to those of you who want to travel in order to get to that dream destination yourself. So this week, in Travel 101, we’re touching on the basics of how to travel, what to do once you get there and everything in between. So follow along and welcome to Travel 101!

So you’ve booked your trip and you’ve planned it out and now you’re there… how do you really enjoy all that travel has to offer? Here’s how!

Keep close neighborhoods together on days you’re exploring.

When you’re on the ground exploring, make it easier on yourself and don’t jump from one side of the city to the other… keep your exploring relative to areas. Explore a few neighborhoods that border each other one day, then do another area the next… that way you aren’t exhausted from going everywhere!

Don’t overbook yourself.

As mentioned yesterday, don’t overbook yourself. I’ve learned this lesson the hard way and believe me, it’s well worth keeping some time on your itinerary to just have nothing planned. Whether that means you can lay around your hotel and nap after a long morning or go out and just wander and explore, keep some time open for whatever comes up.

Catch famous sites early before the crowds.

Skip the long lines and the crazy crowds and do yourself a favor and catch the famous spots at a destination in the morning before everyone else is there too. Whether it’s the Colosseum or the Eiffel Tower, even though you might miss some sleep, get up early and get to the destination before everyone else does… it will be so much more enjoyable!

Get full night of sleep.

One thing that’s really important to me is my sleep. And being jet lagged definitely doesn’t agree with me. So getting a full night of sleep each day while traveling will make a huge difference for how much you can do during the day.

Take it all in and create moments.

The great thing about travel and what makes it so special is to take it all in around you and create moments while you’re there. Whether that’s sitting on the banks of the Seine in Paris and just watching the world go by or seeing the Taj Mahal in all its glory, find a way to really “see” what’s in front of you and remember that moment and how it felt. That’s where the magic of travel really is, in creating moments you’ll always have with you.

How to Plan out Your Trip : Travel 101

April 27, 2016

So you’ve booked your trip, now what? Once you hit that “book” button, now your trip is real and you have to make the most of it. So how do you do that? Everybody does it differently, but for me, I’m a planner. I like to have a layout of the trip and how everything fits together, how you get from A to B and an idea of timing for specific things that it’s necessary for. So here are my best tips for how to plan out your trip!

Do the research.

Research is a huge part of having a great trip. If you don’t know anything about your destination or how to get around, it’s likely you’ll waste a lot of time and money figuring it out on the go. Research everything from language to customs to maps of the city to restaurant recommendations to tourist destinations. Figure out which items you’ll need more time for and which can have tickets bought in advance instead of waiting in long lines when you arrive. All of that take research, so take the time and do the research first.

Make a day by day itinerary.

Because I’m totally Type-A and I need to have somewhat of a layout when we travel, I start during the research phase making day by day itineraries of what each day might look like. On here I include flights or connections, or maybe ideas of which areas of a city we might explore that particular day. Having that layout, helps me have a place to put anything I find in my research or help me figure out when we might have to be at a specific place at a specific time. We might not always necessarily follow this to the letter, but at least it’s a starting point while on the go when traveling.

Book flights first, hotels next, activities last.

As you’re filling out your itinerary, you’ll also simultaneously need to be booking all of the miscellaneous items that need to be booked for a big trip. Personally, I book flights first, then hotels, then activities last. That way, flights book you in the most with it being harder to cancel or change, so get that set on your schedule and itinerary at the beginning.

Then go through and book your hotels. I’ve talked before about how I select my hotels for trips, but I make a shortlist and then see which ones are the best prices and availability and then book for each night of the trip.

Finally, after my flights and hotels are booked, then I jump into the activities realm of a trip. This usually happens closer to travel dates so you can be sure of what your schedule looks like, but many places allow you to book tickets for tourist spots ahead of time which can be nice or you might want to plan out any special day trips or things like helicopter rides or what have you.

Leave some time to wander.

The most important thing when planning out travel, no matter how Type-A you are, leaving some time that isn’t planned or time to just wander or see whatever is around you. Sometimes over planning a trip can actually leave you feeling exhausted and overwhelmed, rather than just enjoying the beautiful place you find yourself in. So leave some spare time too… even if you’re an over-planner like me!

How to Plan out Your Year : Travel 101

April 26, 2016

One reason that we’re able to travel as much as we do is that we are very specific about our travel plans and maximizing time off. We do that in a number of ways which I’ll go over below, but if you want to travel often, with jobs and time off and finances, it’s often only possible when planned well in advance. So for us, here’s how we plan our our year to travel as much as we can!

Start in January and figure out when large trips will be.

Our year revolves around generally 2 bigger trips, when we’re gone for 7-10 days. We usually do one larger trip in the Spring and one in November. By doing these larger trips in the off/shoulder seasons, we’re able to save money rather than traveling during peak periods. It’s also generally quieter and cooler, which we like. So schedule-wise, we sit down in late December or early January at the beginning of the year and look at specific locations and dates that we’d like to do for our larger trips.

For example, this year we’re doing Europe (Paris, Rome, Tuscany/Florence, Vienna and Santorini) in late April as opposed to our usual March trip because Santorini warranted a later trip this year. So sometimes destinations will change your schedule a bit. But generally we usually do our first trip in March or April. Then later in the year we always travel over the Thanksgiving week and we’ll be venturing to China and Japan in November this year.

Once you have your large trips set, you can plan the rest of your travel year.

Request time off of work or work around big projects.

One of the things that really relies on us choosing our dates for the larger trips is how much time we can take off of work or working those dates around big projects. For example, for me, my busiest times of the year are January-August, so the Fall is much quieter for me to travel. For Nick, we try to work around his time off as it’s a little more strict than mine.

So you’ll want to sit down and figure out exactly how much time you have off, then request that time off when booking a trip. We like to make sure our travel doesn’t impact us in our jobs, so working these priorities in can really help.

Add small trips into weekends and holidays.

We usually also have a handful of small trips we’d like to take, whether near our home or somewhere closer to home in the US or neighboring countries, so for these, we plan these around weekends throughout the year. After we have our larger trips on the calendar, I’ll go through the other months of the year and figure out how to maximize our travel days. Often this means using long holiday weekends to take time to travel or working them into other opportunities.

Leave some time open for spontaneous travel.

One thing I’ve learned in the past few years is that it’s also important to leave some room open in your schedule for spontaneous travel. Some of our favorite trips have been ones that came up spur of the moment and I love leaving certain months of the year open so that if things come up, we can jump at them!

How to Save and Pay for Travel : Travel 101

April 25, 2016

It’s no secret that Nick and I travel a lot each year and that travel costs money. And while we’ve gotten really good at using points to travel all over the world, there are still a lot of trips we pay for in full. It can really add up if you’re traveling a lot and for us, we don’t enjoy travel as much when we skimp on it, so it’s worthwhile for us personally to spend a little extra for an experience we enjoy. So what does that mean? It means we’ve gotten really good at saving money to be able to pay for travel. And today, here are my best tips to help you save and pay for travel as well so that amazing trip is within your reach!

Start early.

One thing that really helps us is to start planning and saving for trips way ahead of time. In general, our big trips are planned at least 6 months ahead of our travel dates, so that gives us a full six months to get everything paid off and save for money while traveling. When we book a trip, if we don’t have the money saved yet, I’ll put the flights and hotels on one of my travel rewards credit cards (my favorite is my Sapphire Visa), and then every month I’ll pay it off as I can. This makes it really nice because once that trip does come around, all you have to worry about paying when you get home is any expenses during the trip. But by starting early and planning ahead, you can have the majority of the trip paid off before you even leave.

Don’t touch that fund.

Once you start saving, don’t draw from that fund. Personally, I have a separate travel savings account and whatever money goes in there, is ONLY used for travel. I don’t grab money from that account for anything else. It helps me to have a separate account, but however it works for you, keep an idea of how much you have saved for travel and don’t touch it until you’re planning a trip!

Put big chunks away at once.

For me, a lot of my side jobs (which we’ll talk about next) pay be in large amounts all at once instead of salary type increments, so another great way to save quickly for travel is to put large amounts away in savings all at once instead of saving a little at a time. If you’re able to, big chunks of money can go a long way quickly, but make sure you can afford to be putting that much away and not hindering your daily expenses.

Get a side job.

I’ve mentioned this multiple times here on LOM, but Nick and I both have day jobs as well as multiple side gigs. I have my own design business plus part time teaching in addition to my day job and Nick does photography in addition to his full time job. The money we make from those side jobs primarily goes to our travel fund and is what we use to fund the trips we take each year. I always like to stay a year ahead, so when we can, I like to have the next year’s worth of travel money in my savings account by the end of the year, so we’re always saving for future travels.

Auto transfers into savings.

Another great way to make sure that you can save enough money for a trip is to set up auto transfers through your bank. Maybe you save $100 per month or perhaps you can do less or more, whatever works for you, every little bit helps! And this way you won’t even have to worry about doing it yourself, the bank will auto transfer it however you set it up.

So how much should you save?

Many of you reading this are probably wondering then, “ok, so how much do I need to save?” For us, a good rule of thumb for a 10 day trip overseas (including hotels, airfare and daily expenses) is between $3,000-$5,000. We are not budget travelers, so this is including nice hotels, good airlines and eating out a lot during our travels. So if you want to cut that back by doing a more “budget” trip, you very well could. But for a good starting point, I’d say the above should be a good figure to go with to get started!

Europe on a Budget : The Inexpensive Alternatives

April 22, 2016

As we’re in Europe for vacation right now, I got to thinking about ways to cut cost if you really want to visit Europe. I often hear that many people don’t travel across the pond because it’s expensive, and while it definitely can be, there are a lot of cities that are great inexpensive alternatives to the larger spots you might be more familiar with. And while all of these cities are beyond worthwhile to visit and see for yourself, sometimes you’re wondering which to choose. So if you’re wanting to travel to Europe on a budget, these city alternatives might be perfect for you!

Choose Edinburgh over London.

While I adore London, Edinburgh is an amazing city in its own right and everything will be way less expensive. Where in London a good boutique hotel will set you back $250 USD easy, we stayed at the hip and trendy Hotel Missoni in Edinburgh for around $150 USD. Food also will be a lot less and the old world culture in Edinburgh will make you fall in love with it for its own charm.

Choose Nice over Paris.

While I crave time in Paris every year and it’s become a tradition for us to stop over in our favorite city at least once a year, Paris can get expensive as it’s a large European hub. But if you’re craving that French feeling, but still want to be based in somewhat of a city with a cheaper price tag? Nice is your go-to spot on the French Riviera. You’ll get everything we love about France but prices will be quite a bit cheaper. For a nice boutique hotel in Paris you’ll be looking at around $300 USD per night, in Nice… we stayed at the Le Meridien in a room with an open view for somewhere around $200 USD per night. Food will be similarly less, particularly seafood as much of it is local!

Choose Lisbon over Barcelona.

Looking for a vacation somewhere by the sea with an eclectic charm and amazing food? Both Lisbon and Barcelona will fit this bill but when it comes to budget? Lisbon is one of the most inexpensive cities we’ve visited in Western Europe. But charm? It has plenty! And while Barcelona is a fabulous city in its own right, if you’re on a budget, Lisbon is the place for you!

Choose Bruges over Amsterdam.

Let me start by saying I LOVE Amsterdam and it’s become a go-to for us when we just need a European escape. But… if you are on a budget and you want that Northern European architecture and food, Bruges, Belgium is a great choice. It has a small town feel, the incredible architecture you expect of this area, canals to wander along and incredible Belgian waffles made fresh in local markets. You’ll also see a lot lower prices on everything in Bruges over tourist-heavy Amsterdam. The good news is that you can easily do Amsterdam as a day trip from Bruges, so two birds, one stone!

Choose Verona over Milan.

Looking for a Northern Italian dream vacation? While Milan is the center of fashion and acts as Italy’s big city in the North, Verona offers a budget friendly option while still being incredibly scenic, old world, and oh so Italian.