How I Saved on My European Vacation...Accommodations

Traveling to Europe is not necessarily as expensive as most people think it is. When you plan carefully, it can be quite affordable. Our trip to London and Paris wasn't exactly cheap, but with a lot of research, I was able to save big all around. I'll be talking about them all in parts in the next few weeks. Right now, I'd like to talk about how I saved on my awesome accommodations in each place. 

I planned to stay in a timeshare in at least one of our destinations, but when that fell through, I started looking at lodgings with kitchenettes. My plan was to stay in the same place we stayed at in London on our honeymoon. Though it wasn't fancy, it had everything we needed and was conveniently located. They had been slowly renovating their building and rooms, so I was willing to pay a little extra for that. Unfortunately, the hotel had a fire earlier this year and they were not taking any bookings at all. 

Knowing that I wanted to stay in an apartment-like lodging, I decided to look at apartment rentals. I searched FlipKey and a few others before I remembered the great reviews I'd read from people who had used Airbnb. Not only did they have tons of listings, but I could search by amenities, price and neighborhood. After contacting many owners for my travel dates, I finally found the perfect place. A flat with a loft bedroom in a building complex with security and a store that was near a tube station. It was a little further east than I hoped to stay, but it turned out to be exactly what we needed. The place was bright and open, the kitchen was more than we needed and it had a washer/dryer. We honestly couldn't ask for anything else. Check it out:

Rate: $101/night (compare to $120/night 7 years ago, possibly $150/night now)

Savings: $19-49/night x 6 nights

While not exactly cheap, it was budget-friendly by London standards and also was even cheaper than the rates we paid at the place we stayed 7 years ago. What?? Unheard of, right? I was sold on this idea of renting from apartment owners, so I started searching for flats in Paris.

While I was looking for our perfect place in the City of Lights, I also wanted to see if I could find a hotel in the Disneyland area that had a shuttle to the parks, wouldn't cost me a fortune and wouldn't have me wasting hours on the train each day getting there and back. I had hoped to stay at a Disneyland property, but it appears the French economy has bounced back and the rates for three nights was totally out of our budget now. I hunted on ever site I could find and when I found a great rate, I cross-checked it across the board. 

I ended up finding the best deal through Expedia, where I also get points for making a reservation that I can use later. The hotel I found was the Hotel Elysee, which was right across the street from the train station, had free shuttles to the park all day and a buffet breakfast included each morning. When I say buffet, I mean full buffet! If you left there hungry, you just weren't trying. 

Rate: $95/night (compared to $85/night in Paris + ($15pp) transport each day + breakfast - approx. $30)

Savings: $50/night for two people

Since staying near Disneyland made more sense, we split out accommodations in Paris to 3 nights each. After several rounds of searches on FlipKey and Airbnb, I finally found a lovely flat in the 13th Arr. It was a studio, in a secure building with a small kitchen and a washing machine (I am serious about my laundry when I travel) and near the Metro station. The neighborhood was very quiet and the building was close to at least a dozen restaurants and patisseries, drug stores and major shopping. The flat was cozy and perfect for our needs and I wish we could have stayed much longer. The bed was even more comfortable than some hotel beds I've slept in. It was a definite gem. Look at how cute it was!

Rate: $69/night (compared to $95/night in hotel with free breakfast)

Savings: $26/night

If you add up all the money I saved just on accommodations, it comes out to a significant amount: $342-522. That money alone paid for our 3-day tickets to Disneyland ($350). Score! If we claim the high side, we could have covered much of our food there as well. I'm feeling pretty good about choices. In fact, I was so thrilled with the flats we rented, I wish I could start planning another trip back.

What's your favorite way to save money on accommodations?

Creating a Mix and Match Travel Wardrobe for Men

Last week I posted about creating a minimal, but impactful travel wardrobe.  The guys were really interested in one for them, too. As easy as it is for guys to pack light, it's not always in a way that gives enough variation if you are planning to do different types of things on your trip. On our trip to London and Paris, we had to pack for general sightseeing, fancier occasions like tea and theater and also for running around a theme park. Now, normally, we would just throw some jeans and khakis in a bag and go, but we wanted to blend in also keep warm and dry in the cold, and possibly rainy, weather. Now, I did not keep a log of Eric's outfits, nor did I make him do a crazy changing session for me for the purposes of this post, but I did get this full-length photo of him and came up with a similar packing list below.

Long sleeve shirts were imperative for this trip, as we would be spending a lot of time outside and needed a good layer under a coat. Eric chose three pair of pants to bring with him. Two of them were Bluff Works, which hold up to practically anything, are quick-drying, can work as dress or casual pants and can go many wears between washes. The other were a pair of cargo pants from GoLite. (I have replaced them with jeans, as most people are more comfortable in them.) He also wore a pair of Columbia boots and packed a pair of dressier loafers that were also great for walking. 

men's travel wardrobe 1 by shereentravels featuring khaki pants

We shopped Columbia for a shirt similar to the one above that features a zip pocket (for keeping a wallet and/or passport safe from thieves). Eric really liked this shirt and, being flannel, it was warm and comfortable and a great layering piece over a t-shirt and under a jacket. So, we bought two different colors and packed them both.

men's travel wardrobe 2 by shereentravels featuring flat front pants

Finding a sweater that he would wear was a bit trickier. Being the total opposite of me, Eric is always hot, so he doesn't often wear sweaters. Fortunately, I found one made by a company like Columbia and REI that was breathable, lightweight, but still warm. that meant it could also be layered over one of the other shirts if needed. A similar one can be found here. A sweater can be casual, but can also be dressed up with slacks and nice shoes, so it can be worn for nice activities, like lunch on a yacht!

men's travel wardrobe 3 by shereentravels featuring black chino pants

Everyone should own a polo: short sleeve and long sleeve. While these are reminiscent of dudes playing the back nine, they are also the perfect balance of comfort and preppy, so you can look put together enough for anything not requiring a dinner jacket. You probably already have one of these in your closet, but if not, Columbia has a great one that is breathable and quick-drying, making it a great travel companion. And again, can be layered under the sweater if you need to bulk up.

men's travel wardrobe 4 by shereentravels featuring black pants

Packing a jacket can be a pain, but if you plan to go out to a nice dinner or take in a play, it's worth it to include one in your carry-on. Lucky for us, the Skyroll spinner bag has that nifty garment bag on the outside. Eric also owns a "packable" jacket I bought for him some time ago on TravelSmith. It doesn't really wrinkle and it doesn't take up as much space as a normal jacket (though still kind of bulky), but it works in a variety of situations and it looks good. Now, you can pack a boring white shirt, or mix it up with a pop of color here (nobody will know if you wear the same shirt on different occasions, except you). The easiest part of all of your dressed up look is a tie. You can bring one or several, since they hardly take up any room. Obviously, I like a tartan pattern, but that's just me. Take along any that you have that will match with the shirt, pants and jacket you're packing.

This is what the majority of our pics looked like +/- sunglasses, +/- hats

Though most of our pictures from vacation were of us all bundled up, there are plenty of times we were inside and able to take our coats off, so you could actually see what we were wearing. For those times, five shirts and three pairs of pants could combine to make at least fifteen different outfits. You could get more looks by layering, though you have enough variety in there to not get bored with your look, wear everything you brought and not look the same twice in a two week vacation. You are probably still going to want to do laundry (as we did at least three loads on our trip) to keep things fresh smelling, but this easily packable wardrobe will always have you looking fresh.

Do you have a style of packing light that works for you? Tell us about it.

Infographic: Why Get Travel Insurance?

I bet when you plan your vacations and run through all the everything-that-could-go-wrong scenarios, you barely ever think about things like:

What if I fall and break my leg?

What if my luggage gets stolen?

What if a cab runs over my foot?

What if I have an allergic reaction to something I've never eaten before?

What if there's a freak snowstorm and I can't get home?

What if the airline goes out of business?

What if I get sand in my eye and it scratches my cornea?

Not that I'm trying to scare you, but these things DO happen. Probably not every day and maybe they won't even happen to you. The point is, even if they might not, they could and wouldn't you like to be prepared? For just a few dollars, you can insure your whole vacation and travel party should anything unforeseeable happen and ruin your trip. Though this graphic uses British statistics, the same can be applied to America and other countries. Do you need travel insurance? Find out! And if you do, check out Allianz for affordable packages for any trip.

Would You Be Covered infographic

Have you ever taken out travel insurance and had to use it? Thankfully, I have not had to, but better to be safe than sorry, I always say.