Awesome Places to Travel for St Patrick's Day

In just a few days, the world will be overcome with green: Green beer. Green shirts. Green beads. Green hats. And corned beef and cabbage. What? Don't ask me. I've never heard of anyone eating corned beef and cabbage outside of an Irish restaurant or St. Patrick's Day. I'm not sure it's for me, but I made colcannon, which is basically mashed potatoes and cabbage, and I liked it, so maybe I should give it a try. Anyway, back to St. Patrick's Day - the celebration of St. Patrick driving the (non-existent) snakes out of Ireland, by drinking green beer until you can't see straight. Why? Because that's how Americans celebrate almost everything. 

While you can probably find that old Kiss Me I'm Irish shirt in your closet and hit up your local parade, a change of scenery may not be a bad thing. Maybe you're traveling over the holiday and are looking for something fun. Here are some of the best celebrations around the world:

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Bueno Aires, Argentina

Argentinians love to party and they have the 5th largest Irish population in the world, so not getting in on this celebratory time is simply crazy talk. The parade and a ton of activities, food stalls and more go one throughout the day. Because it's not an official holiday, it's celebrated on the Saturday closest to St. Patrick's Day (this year the 18th), so you can actually celebrate twice if you want, or spend the actual day going to church and the traditional things one would do on Friday, which I'm sure many of the 500,000 Irish in Argentina take advantage of.

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Chicago, Illinois

The city is famous for turning their river green each year for St. Patrick's Day. Once the Chicago River has been colored, it's time for the festivities to start. The parade takes place on the Saturday nearest the 17th, but there is a second celebration that takes place in the city as well. The South Side Irish Parade takes place the day after the downtown parade, so you can make a weekend of it. There are also many Irish pubs around town to indulge in some beer, music and food.

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Dublin, Ireland

The ultimate place to get in on the festivities is where it all began. Well, not the parties. The holiday was quite religious and secular in Ireland until fairly recently. The first festival to be held in Ireland didn't occur until 1996 and it was only one day. Since then, it has grown into a week-long celebration of all things Irish that draws hundreds of thousand of visitors every year who come to party, join parades, watch concerts, witness fireworks, attend sporting events, take in theater performances and, of course, to drink beer.

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Montreal, Quebec

Who knew that there was a place in Canada that was like being in a little version of Ireland? Despite being in the heart of French Canada, you can find a selection of Irish pubs and a St. Patrick's Day parade that's like the US Postal Service. Whether snow, rain, sleet or hail, the parade must go on. It always takes place on a Sunday and is surrounded by an Irish Film Festival, charity ball, luncheon and more. 

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New York City

There's no surprise that a city built on immigrants has a large population of Irish and makes their celebrations its own. The city still has one of the largest concentrations of Irish in the world and their history can't be forgotten. New York's St. Patrick's Day parade lasts nearly 6 hours, and if you can't make it there, or hate crowds, you can watch it online. If nothing else, you won't be surrounded by a bunch of drunks, as alcohol is strictly prohibited. 

These are just a few of the places that throw a great bash. It's by no means a complete list, as you can also find wonderful celebrations in Boston, London, the West Indies, LA and possibly even your own city. You won't catch me at pub chugging a green beer, wearing shamrock sunglasses, but I might be quietly sipping a Guinness and watching a local parade on TV.

How do you celebrate St. Patrick's Day?

Swago: Spring Edition is here! (US & Canada)

The digital rewards site Swagbucks is offering big payouts during their "Swago: Spring Edition" promotion, which runs from now through Monday, March 12th at 9am PT! Swago is just like bingo, but in this case you're filling out squares as you earn points on their site for doing things you already do online. If you're thinking of trying Swagbucks, this is a great chance to learn all about how the site works and earn bonus points while doing it, meaning you can get more gift cards faster. Here are a few tips: 

• Each square on your Swago Board will contain an action item to complete. They can be anything from getting a search win, completing a survey, or just visiting one of our popular stores! 
   
• Once you complete the action item in a particular square the square will change color signifying the action item is complete. 
   
• You have until 12pm PT/3pm ET on Monday, March 12th to mark off as many squares as possible so use your time wisely. 
   
• Be mindful of the patterns and their corresponding bonuses located on the right of your Swago Board. The patterns will vary in difficulty and bonus value. Once you’ve achieved a pattern, the corresponding “Submit” button will light up. You can have multiple patterns available for submission, however, you can only submit ONE pattern so choose wisely. 
  
  
• Each activity you successfully complete on your Swago Board will give you anywhere from 1-20 spins on the Spin & Win Wheel. PLUS, when you submit your board for a bonus you'll get additional spins. The number of spins will depend on the pattern you complete. The wheel has all sorts of great prizes that you can win, and each spin is a winner!

The Spin & Win Wheel will be available all throughout Swago and you have until 11:59pm PT on Monday, March 12th to use all your spins. 

Fill up your board and then submit your pattern to get even more points - if you can fill in the whole board, you get a 500 SB bonus, which is enough for a $5 gift card from the retailer of your choice.  

Click here right now and click "Join" to get started! If you don't already have a Swagbucks account, you'll be able to quickly sign up; PLUS, if you earn 300 SB before the first of April, you'll get a bonus 300 SB!

Travel Questions I'm Asked All the Time

I've been blogging for quite some time and I tend to get the same questions asked of me over and over when I tell people what I do. I was talking to a fellow blogger about traveling for work and getting excited when a trip is paid for, which basically rarely happens, and you're always starting any trip in the the negative. So, I want to address some of the questions I get all the time. 

What's it like to get paid to travel? 

I have no idea, but if you find out, let me know. I still pay for all my own travel and everything we do. Sometimes I get freebie tours or attractions, but unless I write about them, they aren't free, and even still I have to do a considerable amount of work to get and use them. I will sometimes go on press trips, but those aren't free either. I still have to get to the destination and pay for things that aren't included (some food, gas if I'm driving, attraction costs for the other people who might be with me).

Oh, so you travel all the time? 

Nope. Let's go back to the last question. I don't get paid to travel, so I can't just go wherever I want whenever I want. I still have to save to go where I want to go. Also, I have unlimited "vacation" time, but Eric still has a real person job and only gets 2-3 weeks if he wants to come with.

What's the easiest way to save on a trip? 

Packing light is the number one easiest way to save money on any trip, but second is to avoid summer altogether. Those are always going to be the first things out of my mouth, because they are easy and they can save a big chunk right off the bat. My next tip would be to skip taking a taxi and then get a vacation rental instead of a hotel so you can make your own breakfast and have a place to keep and reheat any leftovers you bring back.

Have you ever been to {insert city/country here}?

Probably not, but maybe. I have a travel list I work my way through, but it's long (same as yours, I suspect) and I can't get to everywhere all at once. I have a family and a job and I'm not a backpacker staying in a cheapo hostel going to 23 countries in 3 weeks. 

But again, even if I have been to wherever you are asking, I'm sure I haven't been all over to give you specific tips for what you want, but I'll try.

What's the one place you've written about that you want to go most? 

My top destination changes all the time, depending on what I've written about. At the moment it's Iceland, but tomorrow it might be Malta or Greece or Scotland.

So, you plan trips?

Yes. I plan my own trips. I'm not a travel agent and I'm not a travel planner, unless you want to pay me to create an itinerary for you.

How can I get a deal to {insert city/country here}?

Short answer: Sign up for travel alerts. Long answer: Unless I've been there, I can't tell you off the top of my head, because all destinations are different and travel is constantly evolving. I research every single place I go to and/or write about to learn these things, so please don't get annoyed that I'm not Google and don't have an immediate answer.

Also, please don't ask me for advice and then pull a face when I tell you my answer.

I'm sorry you don't want to save money enough to not bring 14 pairs of shoes or to fly on a Tuesday or not in the summer. You asked. These are the tips I have. It's like if you ask me if I like an outfit and I say no, but then you're mad at my answer. You're not going to be able to save hundreds of dollars by not changing anything. Sorry.

Don't assume I've been everywhere. I haven't. 

Again, I pay for my own travel, I have limited time to spare unless I want to travel everywhere alone, and I can't just put 4 day's worth.of food in a bowl and leave my dog home alone. I travel the same as you. Possibly a couple more times a year, but usually that is domestic and you aren't interested in how fun Vegas off the Strip is or how pretty it is driving through Montana. Not every destination is exotic, but every destination has something of value to make it awesome, which I'm all about. Not every trip is Paris or Hawaii or Mongolia. (Also, I've never been to Mongolia *but it's on my list*.)

These are the reasons I continue to blog and the reasons I don't travel more and why I don't have tons of money and I still have a part time job in addition to blogging and freelancing. Do you have other questions? Feel free to ask. And don't forget to follow my trips on Instagram.