Shop “Local” on Small Business Saturday 11.23.11

This Saturday is Small Business Saturday. You are encouraged to frequent independent stores, restaurants and other merchants. I try to do this as much as possible, at home and on vacation. Why should you stay, dine or shop local instead of sticking with brand names you know? Let’s talk about “Small Business” in relationship to travel and you can see how it correlates to your hometown. 

What are the advantages? There are so many, it’s hard to list them all, but I’ll definitely give you the biggest ones. See how it can save you money and immerse you in a new culture. When faced with new names and new places, I get a jolt of excitement, because I love new things. I want to stay somewhere cool and unlike other places I’ve stayed, eat new, delicious food and shop in family-owned stores that have totally unique merchandise. I know I’m much more adventurous than a lot of other people, but I think if you make the commitment to travel to new and exotic places and want to have a whole new experience, cut your ties with your normal life and psyche yourself up for doing something different and potentially life-changing.

I bring my comforts of home with me (travel blanket, Kindle, iPod, netbook), so if I need to just get back in my own familiar mode for a bit, I totally can when I get back to my room at the end of the day. Not sure you’ll love the food in a foreign land? That’s okay. Nobody else is either. Throw some snacks from home in your bag that you know you enjoy. It also helps when you’re walking around getting all that exercise and start to get a bit hungry in between meals. This happens to me all the time on vacation and I tend to want to eat all day long, so keeping a stash of goodies in my day bag is a good idea wherever I am.

Shop Local (or small). I’m sure you hear this all the time where you live. Shop local and support your local farmers, other workers and economy.  Makes sense. Shopping where you live can be beneficial to yourself and others in your community. Well, the same goes for travel. Shop local grocers, farmers markets and family-owned shops. Not only will you be helping the local economy thrive, but you’re also going to get better deals on local foods, engage with the locals, find authentic merchandise that is likely handmade or, at the very least, made in the area and go home with memories of the quaint stores you shopped in, instead of memories of wandering the endless aisles of a Wal-Mart (or similar).

I can help you shop Small this Saturday, too. I consider myself a small business and if you want to get a copy (or three) of Shereen Travels Cheap, I’ll give you a code for 20% off! Purchase the book through my page on CreateSpace and use code BBGHV9F8 and purchase an ebook through Smashwords and use code CL73Z. I’ve already had several people I know buy two or more copies as holiday gifts, so I know travel is a great gift to give. These codes will be good through Cyber Monday (November 28).

Eat Local. With the same premise as shopping local, eating local is even better. When you go out to have a nice meal, ask the people who live in the area that you come in contact with where they recommend. They aren’t going to point your towards McDonalds (I hope). Likely, they will send you to one of their favorite dining destinations that has local and, likely, more affordable fare. When people come to Portland and ask where a nice place to have dinner is, I don’t point them immediately to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, even though it’s delicious. I can’t afford to eat there, though, so I give them directions to places that I love to eat at, like Seasons & Regions, and can do so without having to save for three weeks. Travelers always appreciate suggestions for restaurants that are tasty and they don’t have at home. And just like with shopping, the food will probably be much more authentic than those that you see on the main street that cater to tourists.

Eating local also ensures that you find new and different foods. Those restaurants that have the local cuisine are going to be less expensive than others that have to order their food from other regions. If you’re visiting Germany, you’re always going to get a better price on German cuisine than if you went hunting for an Italian eatery. It just makes sense. Check out TopTable for listings of restaurants in the area you’ll be traveling. You can read reviews, book a table and get big discounts. You can also check out TripAdvisor and find diner reviews on hundreds of thousands of eateries worldwide.

Stay Local. I know this sounds odd, since you’re obviously going to stay local, but the point is that many chain hotels are still owned by other countries. You can also save money by not staying at big brand hotels, because the smaller ones have really competitive rates. Plus, many are more “traditional” to where they are located and can offer more personal service. While you probably won’t get a hotel with conference rooms and a gym, how many times have you ever used those things on vacation anyway? They still offer breakfasts, WiFi, pools and many other amenities you’re used to and will actually take advantage of. 

The employees of any hotel should be able to give you tips on where to eat, play and shop, but locally-owned hotels can give you the inside scoop and don’t get kick-backs for their suggestions. (Not all hotels do this, but many brand name hotels often get comped in some way for pointing hotel guests to certain establishments. Make sure to ask hotel workers that don’t work the front desk or concierge for their ideas, because they don’t have any affiliations.)

Choose carefully, just as you would any other lodging. You aren’t going in blindly, though. There are so many review sites to read up on hotels worldwide that it’s almost impossible to not find any reviews of almost any accommodation. Ask your friends and extended social network where they stayed when they went and then check out sites like TripAdvisor, Venere and Travelocity for traveler’s comments.

So again, shop, eat and stay small and local for these awesome reasons:

·                     Help the economy

·                     Get to know the locals

·                     Find more authentic food and merchandise

·                     Get immersed in the culture

·                     Try new things and find new favorites

·                     Get out of your “comfort zone”

·                     Eat where the locals do

·                     And, as always, save money

Your local shops and eateries will thank you, as well as all those independent merchants on your trips and you'll find brand-new places, food and things you may love that you will return to when you make it back to that destination. Small Business Saturday is waiting for you. Make it a Small Business Year.

Go Dté Tú Slán to Ireland

I’ve been reading some of the great comments you’ve been posting on the book launch party on Facebook – which is still open until the end of the day if you want to join and enter to win a book copy – and I love the destinations readers are coming up with. Since I always want to show people how they can reach their travel goals, I have chosen Dublin to write about today. Those words in the title of this post are actually Gaelic for "May you go safely". Many people I’ve talked to have the desire to vacation in Ireland, and with it being so affordable to travel to, I’m surprised more people haven’t gone yet. Check out these ways to save getting there and sightseeing.

Get yourself a Dublin Pass. As always, I am recommending the city pass for those visiting Dublin. Not only is it a great deal if you plan to do a fair amount of sightseeing on the Emerald Isle, but it also it lets you skip the queues at the ticket booths. Your Dublin pass comes with an airport-city center transfer, entrance to over 30 top attractions, the Croke Park Experience (for those of you who are sports lovers), discounts on dining, shopping, etc. and even unlimited public transportation! Purchase online before you go to save 20% off. Your Dublin pass is valid for 12 months from purchase and “activates” upon your first use.

My Goodness My Guinness! Do you love Guinness like I do? How would you like a FREE pint? If you’re in Ireland, take a walk through the Guinness Factory and see how it’s made, enjoy a free pint at the end of your tour and take in all of Dublin from the 360 degree view in the Gravity Bar on top of the factory. Before you leave, make sure to stop into the visitor centre and museum to view old adverts and pick up some souvenirs. Here’s a good tip: purchase your entry ticket(s) online to bypass long queues and get 10% off (the not-so-cheap admission price of 14 Euros) or use a Dublin Pass that includes admission.

Do you prefer Jameson whiskey? You can take a distillery tour of their factory as well! Again, your tour ends with a good size “sample”. You can volunteer to do a taste-test, and if you are chosen it includes 3 Irish whiskeys, a Scotch whiskey and an American Whiskey and then a fancy diploma saying you took the taste test. Take a trip through the gift shop and buy a nice bottle for the rest of your trip or send some home for you, family or friends. The tour lasts about an hour and the distillery is open 7 days a week, but you can make reservations online and save 15% off the admission price of 13.5 Euros.

It might take a bit of luck to find a great deal on travel, but if you know what you’re doing – or you have me! – then it’s not so much luck as it is brains. Leprechauns are known to be crafty little guys, but you can outsmart them by turning the tables and not letting them find your pot of gold. In other words, don’t part with everything in your wallet trying to find them. Instead, find big savings with these great travel sales.

Sceptre Tours has Europe on sale. Tour packages generally include round-trip airfare, hotel and car. 

• Save $400 off a 4-night Dublin getaway from New York. Book by November 30 for winter travel starting at $559 per person. More departure cities available. Add the Ultimate Dublin Experience for $99 more per person which includes a 3-day Dublin Pass, 1-day Hop-on Hop-off Dublin Bus Pass and Dublin Literary Pub Crawl. 
• Explore the Ireland countryside for $799 per person. Stay 1 night at the Ritz-Carlton, 4 nights at a B&B, 1 night at the Academy Plaza hotel, a weekly rental car, round-trip airfare, a Glimpse of Ireland discount book and a tour of the Waterford Crystal factory.
• Save $900 off a 5-star 6-night vacation. Spend 2 nights in each of 3 hotels (including the Ashford Castle) in each Wicklow, Clare and Ashford. Drive yourself to each amazing destination in your rental car and enjoy the diversity of Ireland.

Groupon wants to you stay in Ireland for cheap! Groupon Travel offers one or three night stay for two from £19 at choice of UK or mainland European hotels with Holiday Plus. You have your choice of over 1,600 3- to 5-star hotels.

Be a Travel Winner 11.16.11

While everyone is making plans for Thanksgiving and stressing out over making dinner and spending time with family, I thought it would be fun to bring you some great giveaways you can enter and dream about getting away from it all. The best budget travel is free budget travel, so buy a couple of bottles of wine to get through Thanksgiving and cross your fingers that you win one of these awesome vacations.

I can’t do a giveaway post without listing my own giveaway here first. Do you want to win a copy of my fabulous budget travel book and also a $100 credit for BookIt.com? Well, why wouldn’t you? Join my online book launch party on Facebook and comment on the event. The topic: Where have you always wanted to travel, but haven’t made it to yet?  I love hearing about everyone’s travel dreams. Saturday will be the last day to “enter” and then a winner will be chosen from those who’ve commented, using Random.org. Make sure to share with your friends to help me get my book info out to a wider circle.

Win a trip to Australia to watch the Australian Open of Surfing, sponsored by Hurley and Billabong. It takes place on Manly Beach in Sydney February 11-19, 2012. Winner will receive a trip for two to Sydney, including round-trip airfare, accommodations, VIP passes to the Australian Open, $500 Hurley shopping spree and $1,000 in spending cash.

Air New Zealand would like to spread the word of their new LA to London route, by giving away a trip to London from Los Angeles. If you win, you’ll get round-trip airfare for two and two 3-day London Passes. It does not include accommodations, but you get access to over 55 attractions with your London Pass, so you’ll save a ton by having airfare and activities paid for.

Enter to win a 4 day, 3 night trip to Walt Disney World, where you will stay in a Downtown Disney Resort Area Hotel, get breakfast each morning and transportation to all Disney theme parks.

Tucan Travel wants you to join their Facebook page and win credit to take one of their tours. They offer hundreds of group tours, packages and even cruises that are luxury quality at affordable prices. When you win, you can choose your OWN vacation.

One of my favorite magazines, Travel + Leisure, really knows travel. Subscribe (or don’t) to enter for a chance to win a Spain and Venice dream vacation worth $25,000, sponsored by American Express. I do recommend T+L if you are on the fence about subscribing. It’s a fantastic travel resource. I find all the great places I want to vacation in and also find some fun places to splurge on for dining.

Every day you can enter to win a family cruise for four from Frigo Cheese. 5 entrants will win a 7-night cruise on Royal Caribbean departing from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Choose from sailing on Allure of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas or Freedom of the Seas ships in 2 double-occupancy staterooms.

MTV and Dove want you to party on the island of Ibiza, Spain for 5 awesome nights for you and 2 friends. Win 3 round-trip tickets to Ibiza, accommodations in a first-class hotel and $500 spending money.

Choose your own destination with the Chicago Tribune and Navy Pier’s Passport sweepstakes. You and a companion will win round-trip tickets to a destination American Airlines flies to which could be in Latin America, London, the continental United States, Beijing, Caribbean and more. You’ll be responsible for the rest of your expenses.

Upload an original photo that says “Hi to Taiwan” and win a trip to Taiwan worth $3,300. You photo will be available on the site for you to send your friends to and vote for you to win! Three teams will win this grand prize.