Super Useful Travel Posts 8.17.12

Happy Friday, my budget travel friends! In my journeys on the interwebs recently, I’ve come across some fun stories. Possibly they don’t qualify as useful, unless you are bored and need something to pull you out of your funk, but you may learn something about how airlines work or places you want to visit in the future, so I share!

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How come nothing exciting like Flavor Flav or dancing flight attendants never happens on my flights? I guess I’ll just have to travel more and cross my fingers. I’d even take crazy guy stripping and running down the aisle…or not. I suppose I should be lucky that my flights are pretty much uneventful and get me where I want to go.

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Would you stay on hold for 15 hours? I stayed on hold for 3 hours once and thought I was going to hang myself with the phone cord…you know, if my phone had one. I was getting a countdown of my number in line, which I’m sure is more than this crazy guy got and by the end he probably wished his only problem was a swarm of bees.

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I don’t know about you, but I’m always fascinated when they make a hotel or a restaurant in a building that used to be something totally different, like a jail or a factory or a school. VirtualTourist brings you the World’s 10 Best Converted Hotels, which are super cool and will make you want to stay there just to say you did! Imagine the fun pictures you would be able to show your friends and family when you came home.

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Have you heard of the Museums on US program from Bank of America? Over 150 participating museums worldwide offer free admission on select days to BofA card members. That’s sure to save you some bucks at home and on vacation. Just a few of the institutions you can visit on the first full weekend of each month: Children’s Museum of Phoenix, Birch Aquarium at Scripps in San Diego, Museum of Discovery & Science in Fort Lauderdale, Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and the Houston Zoo.

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FareCompare has found the worst airlines ever! Well, at least the worst for 2012. Based on a number of factors and customer complaints, they have come up with the least loved airlines and those that have come up on top…though maybe only due to lower expectations among customers.

I hope you are all enjoying what’s left of your summer and this gave you something to think about for your next trip. I’m definitely always thinking about these things I read and how I can include them in my future vacations.

Have you heard anything fun or informative in the travel world lately? Link us up!

How to Amuse Yourself on the Airplane 8.15.12

Unless you find yourself on some super short flights, chances are you are going to find yourself getting kind of bored flipping through SkyMall for the third time on your trip. That is, if your flight even has SkyMall. Or you have that same shopping addiction that Jonathan Coulton sings about. That’s definitely not going to save you any money, even if it saves your sanity. You want money left to be able to go on another vacation, so let’s look at some affordable ways to amuse yourself en route.

Solo amusements:

Low tech     

·         Bring along a good book or a few magazines. They won’t take up that much space and they will certainly keep you busy for a while, including those dreaded times when you must switch off all electronic devices.

·         Puzzle books are fun, can keep your brain active and can last for minutes or hours, depending on your attention span. I always have one of theseposh logic problem books with me, but they also have them in Sudoku, crosswords and more. They are compact and totally full of fun.

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Mid tech

·         Play games on your phone on airplane mode. This may or may not take you through your whole flight unless you have some back-up battery for it.

·         Watch a movie on your laptop/netbook, catch up on homework or do some regular work that doesn’t require the interwebs (because we all know that in-flight WiFi is crazy expensive for what it is).

·         Bring your favorite handheld gaming device – I’m partial to the Nintendo DS, but I’m hoping to also get a PS Vita at some point – and a few of your favorite games. This works for kids and husbands!

High tech

·         If you read a LOT, invest in an ebook reader like the Kindle or KindleFire. I am never sure what exactly I want to read or find that I finish a book in the middle of my trip, so I can carry thousands with me, as well as magazines, graphic novels and blogs in the space of a regular paperback.

·         Watch movies, play games or journal on your iPad/iPod. These are multipurpose gadgets that pretty much do everything to keep you entertained forEVER…or until your battery runs out.

Couple/Group Amusements

Low tech

·         A good deck of cards is versatile. Play rummy, go fish or any other number of games with your travel companions. There are also:

·         Card games. My favorites are Fluxx – it’s the game with ever-changing rules! – WeDidn’t Playtest This at All – a completely ridiculous and awesome game for up to 10 – and Zigityby Cranium – a game with multiple ways to win and great for little ones, too.

·         MagicInk activity books hold a special place in my heart. When I was little, my mom and I traveled often and always bought these for our plane trips. As an adult, I still think they are fun, but probably kids will like them more than adults. Purchase them before you get to the airport and you’ll save. While you can do them alone (hence the magic ink), they are always more exciting with more, especially if you get the one that is trivia or games.

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Mid tech

·         Another vote goes to watching a movie on your laptop or netbook. Two to three people can watch it if it is situated in the middle. It also eliminates having to watch the crummy movie they may be playing on the overheads.

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High tech

·         Go head-to-head in a heated Mario Kart race or similar when you use the WiFi connectivity of two or more DSdevices. You don’t need actual WiFi, just to be close enough together for each device to detect the other.

Of course, there are a billion other ways to amuse yourself on the plane, but these are inexpensive (unless you don’t own a laptop/iPad/handheld gaming device, though they make great investments) and are easy to pack, too. We have done all these things in our travels and find them to be tried and true ways to keep from becoming bored and have also started some good conversations with other travelers.

What’s your favorite way to pass the time on the airplane?

It’s Our Second Birthday! 8.13.12

Yes, it’s true: Shereen Travels Cheap is TWO today. I hope over this last year I’ve been able to help you travel better, more or cheaper. Bonus if I did all three! I’ve had some fun vacations this year and am planning more for this next year including a trip to Southern California, a possible trip to Vegas and a tentative trip for next fall either to London or New Orleans. Since we don’t really know what will be coming up for us in the next year, we have a back-up plan. Although, you never know how things will turn out and both of those trips might happen. I’ve also gotten several new travel writing gigs this year and hope to have even more in the near future.

I thought it would be fun, as always, to take a trip down memory lane and check out our top 5 most popular posts this year:

Creating Your Grab and Go Travel Bag – I’m always asked about packing and how to do it better or make it easier, and in some cases I’m asked how I am able to do it so well. The answer is in this post and practice, practice, practice. You can’t be afraid to leave something at home. Think back on trips you’ve taken in the past and what items were never used or worn. Those are the first to leave out of your bag.

Morocco For Less Cash-O – All puns aside, everyone dreams of taking exotic vacations to far-off lands. I know I do. Morocco just seems like a place of magic and wonder to me, and I see I’m not the only one!

Ack! I Missed My Flight! (JetBlue is Pretty Awesome) – I guess I’m not the only one who figures that random things happen and also happen on random airlines, so marking JetBlue down for something that may have been out of their control was not necessary. I mean, all their other flights turn out just fine and I had a fantastic experience my first time out and love, love, love their customer service. It rocks.

Frugal Guatemalan Adventures – South America is always a budget traveler’s paradise. You can do more, see more, eat more, stay longer and spend so much less! You’re also guaranteed a whole new travel experience from your traditional “let’s go to Disneyland” trip.

Following the Torpedo of Truth – Yes, Charlie Sheen was everywhere this past year, including Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus and New York City. Even you weren’t sick of hearing about his misadventures and figuring out how to get tickets to his shows and where to go to save money on the rest of your trip. With his new show Anger Management doing so well, it seems he doesn’t have too much to rant about these days. You know, except for how Twitter doesn’t help him and he’s quitting it – for now. That’s not so much a rant though...

I hope you all are as excited as I am for this next year and looking forward to more awesome travel tips, destination overviews, amazing travel products and my wins and losses whn it comes to my own vacations. What do YOU have in store for yourselves this year?