Affordable Dining Options 10.12.11

You know that when I travel, I love to plan my activities around food, because dining in new places and trying local cuisine is a favorite hobby of mine on trips. Of course, this isn’t always the best idea, because it means I get in the habit of eating more every day and then when I get home, I have to get back to my normal eating routines, which is maybe don’t eat dessert with two meals each day and also don’t eat everything I’m served. I know, I know. Details. Calories don’t count on vacation, but they still come back with you, unless you walk a lot while you’re out sightseeing, which is always a good idea anyway.

So, while I love to eat as much native food as possible, you can’t save money by eating out 3-4 times a day without a plan of some sort, so let’s talk about some frugal tips on how to stretch your food budget, while still eating amazing food each day of your trip.

Here we are loaded up on cereal, milk, bagels, butter, beverages and leftovers for when we decide to stay in.

My first tip, always, is to hit the grocery store as soon as you get to your destination and load up on staples. Of course, this works much better if you have a kitchen(ette) of some sort that has at least a refrigerator. I always buy breakfast items, since that is my least favorite meal and also I don’t like to get up too early to get out of the house to eat eggs. If you loooooove breakfast, then you can grab lunch or dinner foods. Snacks are never a problem for us, because we bring quite a few on the plane.

A condo, apartment or house can not only help you save money, because many are the same price as a hotel, have a lot more space if you have a family/group of 4 or more and they also have kitchen facilities where you can make your own meals. I know that cooking on vacation doesn’t sound all that fun, but saving money does and sometimes a home cooked meal gives you time to relax and catch up from the long day you’ve had. Plus, many rental properties also have BBQ grills, and grilling is ALWAYS fun. Right?

Book dining reservations through Internet sites like OpenTable (which now has international restaurant locations as well as U.S. restaurants) and Toptable, which specializes in UK and European dining venues. What makes these great? Well, the best part is that you can gain points for each reservation you complete, which you can trade for free dining.

·         OpenTable – Most reservations net you 100 points, but every once in a while you get your 1,000 point dining options. Once you accrue 2,000 points, you can trade them in for a $20 dining certificate ($26 for Canada and £15 for UK) as well as waiting until you make it to 5,000 and 10,000 point levels.

·         Toptable – Owned by OpenTable, Toptable covers top restaurants in 15 countries in the UK and Europe. You can get free dining starting at just 7 completed reservations. Each one you book garners you 200 points and you can redeem at 1,400 points on. Unlike OpenTable, you get a choice of restaurants to use them at and they are good for certain meal options (i.e., 2-course menu or 3-course menu). The more points you have, the more expensive the restaurant you can redeem them at.

Having fabulous fare at Mac 24/7

I’ve recently been told about a new restaurant reservation site called Savored. It works in 10 cities (currently) across the U.S., including New York City, Boston and San Francisco. You sign up for free and then make a reservation for $10. Once you get to the restaurant and order, they take 30% off your entire bill (including alcohol, unless dining in Boston, where they will give you 40% off just your food instead). If you don’t order at least $35 worth of cuisine, your $10 reservation charge will be refunded, so you can’t even lose money on the deal. It’s a fantastic way to try some of the best restaurants in the city for less.

Look at all this food!

Split your meal. Sometimes you just can’t take your leftovers with you (because you’re in the middle of sightseeing or it won’t keep until you make it back to your room) or you are in a country where they don’t let you take your remaining food with you. If you aren’t hungry enough to eat a large meeting, then possibly finding something on the menu that your travel partner wants and you can split is a good idea. Most restaurants serve portion sizes that are enough for 2 or 3 people anyway. If you think it might be too small, order an appetizer or salad as well.

All this food I got at lunch at Morimoto's in Waikiki for much less.

Make lunch your main meal. If you are dying to try that fancy restaurant, stop in for lunch. The portions may be smaller, but the prices will be also. You can get the same great service and food, but at a better value.

Make a meal of appetizers. Happy hour can save you quite a bit of savings. Another reason to do appetizers for dinner: You had a big lunch or you want to try a bunch of menu items at one time. When 4 entrees seem like too much (which should be always if there are only 2 of you and you aren’t at a buffet), get 4 appetizers instead. You’ll spend about the same price as you would for dinner, but get more options and not totally stuff yourself.

Eat at food carts. Not only are food carts becoming the gourmet restaurants of right now, but they can save you money and offer you so many more options for food, are less than a sit-down restaurant and can get you back to sightseeing more quickly. With the lower prices, you can treat your food cart meal like an appetizer buffet. See my Examiner article on food cart dining.

Hit up the local farmer's market. Check out my last post on why the farmers' market is awesome and money-saving.

So, now you have some ideas on how to eat well, while not breaking your budget. Food will probably always be a big part of your expenses, but you can make it more affordable and not feel like every time you sit down to a meal that there are more things you can't do. Do you save money other ways when you travel? How do you do it?

Review: Eagle Creek Pack-It™ Cubes

Do you find that even with packing advice, you still have problems with getting everything to fit in your carry-on bag? I love packing and getting everything I need into my bag, but I know that everyone is not as pack-happy as I am. I also know that not everyone wants to spend their weeks up to their vacation practicing their packing skills. Fortunately, Eagle Creek has developed the Pack-It™ Cube System, mesh cubes that hold your clothes and organize your carry-on. If you want all of your similar items to go together in your bag and then be able to quickly and easily unpack at your destination, these are definitely for you.

The concept is easy: roll your clothes as I normally tell you to do and then fit them snugly into your cube and then stack them into your bag. They are great, because they come in many different sizes and are meant to help you pack more efficiently and they can go right from your bag to dresser drawer when you get to your hotel. You’ll know exactly what is in which cube and can pack them back in your carry-on just as simply when your trip is over.

Eagle Creek sent me a set of cubes to test out at home, which I promptly and excitedly did as I was unpacking from my trip last week. I received both the double cube and the original size cube. The double fit perfectly in my large carry-on as a foundation layer. I was able to fit 75% of my items into both the double and the original (which is more than I would pack for just myself) and then strapped them down, added my shoes and toiletry bag and still had more room, both in the cubes and in the bag itself. I easily could have packed everything I took with me on vacation into both cubes, though I chose to show you how a bag could be packed for one person who routinely packs more than they need. My bag was nicely organized and everything was readily accessible. Another pair of shoes could even fit in there!

Look at this nice foundation

Enough clothes for 2 weeks, pair of walking shoes and toiletry bag

The cubes have convenient handles, come in fun colors and also have two-way zippers that run ¾ of the way around the top of the cubes. The tops are made of mesh, making them breathable instead of trapping odors, and they are soft-sided, so if you don’t totally fill them, they won’t take up more space than necessary. (Unless you need extra protection for items, in which case, there are Protect-It™ Cubes available.) Eagle Creek also makes a point to use the best materials possible, so you know your cubes will be the highest quality and highly durable. They are made to last a lifetime.

Remember the great Eagle Creek Emerson bag I reviewed last week? Well, if you purchase that or a similar bag, the original Pack-It™ Cube fits perfectly into it. You can fill it with 3 days’ worth of clothing and undergarments and be set for anything a weekend getaway throws at you. Not only will you be organized, your travel clothes will have less (if any) wrinkles, which is another great thing about rolling your items.

Tube Cube                                        Quarter Cube

Use the different sizes of cubes to make the best packing system for you and your travel needs. Maybe you will opt for two Double Cubes or four Originals or one Double and three Half-Tube Cubes. However you want to pack, Eagle Creek has a Pack-It™ Cube solution for you. Cubes range anywhere from $8 to $42 for more advanced pieces and you can buy sets for between $25 and $40.

Other stuff you need to know:

What are these bags made of? Recycled EcoLite™ Weave, Mesh Poly, Hydro-Tech™ (Protect-It™ Cubes)  

Available Colors: Bali (light blue with dark blue design), Black, Cypress Green, Elevation (grey background with black wavy pattern), Morocco (red background with subtle Moroccan pattern), Pacific Blue, Rio Red
Where can you buy them? Look on the Eagle Creek website, where you can also find retailers, both online and off worldwide.

                Expandable Cube                        2-Sided Cube                    Complete Organizer

Disclosure: I received the Emerson bag from Eagle Creek in order to write this review, but the opinions are all 100% my own. Thank you again to Eagle Creek for allowing me to tell all my wonderful readers about this amazing bag. Want a review of your product? Find more information here.

Travel Laundry Duties 10.8.11

To many of us, laundry is a four-letter word. We hate doing it at home and wouldn’t dream of doing it when we didn’t have to. Even though I can’t stand to do laundry every week (mostly, I just hate to hang it up and put it away), I always tell people to do it while on vacation. Am I just being a jerk and trying to ruin your trip? Not at all. I actually don’t mind washing clothes when I travel – probably because there is so little of it – and it helps me save money, too. And no, I’m not just telling you that to trick you. I take time out of my fun to wind down and clean some clothes every time I go on vacation. Don’t believe me? All these photos are my own.

So, how does it save money? Well, by taking less and doing laundry, I am able to pack all our clothing in a carry-on and not have to pay checked baggage fees. This can keep up to $35 in your pocket ($70 if you figure in having to check it on the way back, too) or more if you are a chronic overpacker and have to pay oversize and/or overweight fees any time you travel. Those fees can be up to $100 each way, on top of regular baggage fees, making it cost more than your airline ticket.

Do they have the kitchen sink in there, too?

We were just at the airport coming home last week and I noticed that 90% of the people checking in had several bags and most were HUGE. Either all these travelers thought they needed parkas and snowsuits to leave Hawaii, bought way too much stuff or have no idea how to pack for a trip that doesn’t require moving to another country. I mean, there are people every day that travel the globe with just a small bag full of belongings and do just fine. Why do these other people need to pack bags that wouldn’t fit in my car? I’m sure there are plenty of reasons why, but one thing is for sure, almost all of these travelers could have taken much less and been just fine.

Maybe they don’t know they can save so much money by packing fewer clothes and doing a load of wash once or twice while they are gone. There is a reason I tell you every time I post about packing light that you should mix and match your clothing. When everything coordinates, you can make more outfit combinations and take only a few key pieces.

 

See my sheet right on top of my laundry!

You don’t have to take up space in your 3-1-1 bag with laundry detergent either. One of my favorite products that I always have in my travel bag is Purex 3-in-1 sheets. They pack flat and are solid, so you can put them in any pocket in your bag. They are a detergent, fabric softener and dryer sheet in one, also, so you can use them in the washer, then transfer it with all your clothes directly to the dryer (if you are using it). It makes doing laundry way easy and it comes in scented and unscented varieties, in case, like me, you have sensitive skin.

Yup, we are having a GOOD TIME! (London)

You can always buy detergent anywhere you go, too, though you may pay more if you are in a touristy destination or have to try a new brand if you are going to a foreign country. Woolite has some great one-use packets that can be used in the sink or the washing machine. The same goes for Tide and other brand-name detergents. You can usually find them in the trial-size section of your discount or grocery store. I like to buy these types of things at Target.

Sometimes you will find yourself in a destination where there are no laundry facilities nearby or on-site (or it just isn’t cost-effective), and these are the times you will be washing your clothes in the bathroom sink or shower. If you only have powdered detergent with you, don’t worry. You CAN use it, but you can also use bar soap or shampoo to do it. If you know ahead of time that you will need to hand wash and can prepare for it, any of the packets above will work, but you can also purchase detergent leaves, like the ones from Travelon that you can purchase many places online. You will have to spend extra time rinsing the suds out and then wringing the clothing out, like a washer would do, or your clothes will take forever to dry. One of the best tips for getting as much water out of the clothes as possible is to squish them out real well and then roll up in a dry towel and stomp on it, so the water seeps into the towel.

A newly discovered (by me) product on the market that makes hand-washing a breeze is Soak Wash. It’s awesome because it requires no rinsing. I don’t know quite how it works, but it does. You can wash everything, wring it out, let dry and wear. It was developed for delicate items, like lingerie, that don’t hold up well when you scrunch it up or put it in the washing machine. Now, it’s a wonderful companion for travelers, because it makes the (sometimes tedious) task of hand-washing really easy, because the worst part of sink washing is rinsing the clothes before you can squish out the water and hang up. It can make it feel like it takes forever. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of me hand-washing clothes on the occasions I’ve had to, but trust me when I say that I have done this more than a few times and so has Eric. We did discover that you can multitask by bringing items with you into the shower and doing some scrubbing in between shampooing and conditioning. Otherwise, we just take a little time to do it in the evening while we’re winding down from a full travel day.

For those of you who DO have to hand-wash, you may want to purchase a laundry line. Not all rooms have hangers, a line in the shower or anywhere useful to hang your clothing, so my  travel bag also includes a durable braided rubber line. It doesn't require accessories, because you can easily hang the clothes by using the braids to hold them on. It stretches to 7 feet long and has velcro loops on each end, which makes it easy to hang on pretty much anything. Avoid the laundry lines with the suction cups, because 9 times out of 10, you will wake up to all your clean clothes in a pile on the floor, because one or both sides have un-sucked. Plus, you can only use them in the bathroom (when they work). The looped ends give you much more freedom and can hang out of the way of frequently used areas in your room.

There are my Purex sheets in one of the pockets

One of my other favorite travel accessories is a pop-up mesh laundry basket, like the EZ FoldR from Baijer. It folds up when not in use and then it pops open to hold a large amount of clothing. We use it everywhere as a hamper and then when it’s full (or we are running out of clean items), we grab it and do a load. The one we have is awesome, because it has wide, reinforced handles and 4 pockets, where you can stash your quarters, detergent and anything else you need (like a game or book to keep you busy). It is easy to carry whether your clothes are wet or dry. I like to keep spare quarters in mine at all times, so I don't have to worry about going to get change, too. If I don't need them for the washers, I can always use them to get a snack or soda from the vending machines!

During laundry time, Eric took advantage of the pool and I caught up on some reading!

I hope this helps you think of laundry as more of a travel adventure than a chore and it encourages you to bring less. While you may have to take an hour out of your whole trip to deal with dirty clothes, it really is worth it. We also discovered that if you travel with clothing specific for travel – lightweight, quick-drying clothing – you won't spend much time waiting for the dryer (our load was done in about 20 minutes) or will wake up to completely dry clothing you can wear! Just think of what you could spend that baggage fee money on while you're ON your trip.