Traveling Twenties

Hello again!

So, we’ve talked about how to travel to places for cheaper prices and we’re going to find out some fun activities to do for a cheaper price in the next week or so. But we haven’t yet talked about housing.

When you’re traveling, buying a hotel room can be the most convenient option sometimes but also the biggest dent in your wallet.

So how can you save money on your living arrangement during a vacation? Let me tell you!

In recent years this website called Airbnb.com has made it’s way into travelers lives and for good reason.

This website gives you the ability to search for houses, apartments, and other housing locations that are available in whatever city you are traveling to. When you split these prices with friends you can get it for a decent price and save that money.

But if you still want to stay at a hotel I recommend going through saving websites or websites that give you cheaper options when you’re buying your airfare or if you’re planning on  getting a rental car. Trivago is a website you hear of often.

Lastly, the best way to save money is look for friends or family that live in that area and stay with them. I know for me, I’ve done that in Washington D.C., Orlando, and Chicago. It’s saved me HUNDREDS over time and there are lots of benefits.

I hope these tips have helped you, an if you have any yourself feel free to leave them in the comments below!

Until next time,

Marisa

Hello there!

Now, this article probably seems a bit different from my usual but it being thanksgiving, I wanted to do an appreciation post to my family, friends, and you who are reading this.

First things first, thank you to all of the people who read this. I know there aren’t a ton of you but I do see the views and it means a lot to know that someone clicked on just one article. It gives me the motivation to keep doing my blog.

Second, a HUGE thank you to my family and most importantly my parents. They’ve always encouraged my traveling on a spur and have never hindered me. I’ve seen the parents that don’t let their kids go out of the city they live in and I’m thankful my parents always pushed me to do the opposite. They might not be funding my trips but when I was under 18 and even now they still love when I go on one.

Lastly, my friends. I’m thankful to have such good friends near or far who like to go on adventures with me. If I didn’t have them, I probably wouldn’t have traveled this much because I wouldn’t want to go alone. Here’s to the memories we have no and the many more to come.

Leave a comment below on what you’re thankful for!

Until next time,

Marisa

When I think of my childhood I think of polly pockets and Disney movies. That being said, you can imagine my excitement when my friends and I planned a trip to Disney World in Florida for spring break this past year.

I was estatic.

My first thoughts were to spend all of the money in the world, this was the first time I was going to Disney and would actually be over the age of 4, I needed to take advantage. At first, we figured we’d stay at a resort, but the moment we looked up the prices we decided that was out of the books for us broke college students.

Today, I wanted to give you a story time of my trip to Disney and how I managed to save money in different ways.

First was flight money, an easy no brainer on how to save money since I had done it so many times before. If you haven’t already, you can read my other article titled How To Keep Airfare Low and find out all of my tips and tricks.

After we had that figured out we moved onto where we were going to live. We ended up being able to stay at one of our friends houses that was coming to Disney with us, which saved us hundreds of dollars. Sure, it might have been a forty minute drive to Disney, but I’d take that over the money it’d cost to stay in a hotel for four nights.

Next was Disney, sure we wanted to go to every single park but at the end of the day we realized we wouldn’t have enough money or time so we choose one park. The best bang for our buck was always going to be Magic Kingdom and looking back at it now, I’m very happy we decided on one park, not only for my bank account, but because we needed that full day for the one park.

I had saved over $100 on our flight, $500 on our hotel, and over $100 on our trip to Disney. The great thing about how much money we saved was that I felt OK splurging a bit on other activities we did in Orlando.

Saving all of this money was in ways that didn’t hinder my experience and that’s the way I always encourage you to approach saving money on. Prioritizing your activities and what you want to do for each trip is a great idea but also know that if you save money the right way that will give you more opportunities to visit again instead of doing everything in two days, leaving, and never going back.

Until next time,

Marisa

Hello again!

On Wednesday I went to a Niall Horan concert (YAY!!) and had the time of my life. But, seeing as I run a travel blog and last weeks posts were about road trips I thought this was the perfect opportunity to write about my trip down to Chicago for a concert, how I saved money, and just how much fun it was!

First things first, I’m sure your first question is “how was the concert?” and let me tell you, IT. WAS. FANTASTIC. Oops, I can feel my inner fangirl coming out. Seriously though, I would recommend seeing him when he comes to Chicago again next summer and make sure to say hi to me there!

But anyways, onto the traveling part.

I live about two hours away from Chicago when I’m away at college in Whitewater, WI. There’s really no way to save money when it comes to gas unless you travel with someone else, which unfortunately I didn’t do. But, Illinois is known for it’s toll charges, which can rack up quite a bit. My tips for you when it comes to driving are as follows. Taking back roads is always an option and you can avoid those tollways completely, this is what I did when I went from Whitewater to my best friends house. But, if you need to get on the highway the easiest way to save money is to get an I-Pass. Having one of these not only saves you time with not having to stop and get all of that change out, but the prices are reduced when you use an I-Pass over paying cash! Score!

There are other ways to save and I’ll let you in on a few of my secrets. The biggest thing has to do with where you are staying. I save time, money, and sleep by staying at my best friends house, who lives just outside of the suburbs and I recommend that as a easy way to save money in any location you go to! Another way to save money is to travel with a friend so that when parking comes up the prices are reduced, instead of having to pay $20 for parking you only have to pay $10! Lastly, save money but not spending it on the overpriced food at the event! Usually, venues will let you have free water or there are water fountains around, take advantage of those! You can spend up to $50 just from buying food, eat before you go!

I had so much fun at this concert and being able to get away from school in the middle of the week and I recommend you try it out yourself!

Until next time,

Marisa

Hello again!

If you’ve read my article from. last Sunday you’ll know all you need to know about road trips and how to go about them. But with that comes the need to actually put those tips into action, so in today’s post I’m going to give you a few ideas on where to travel to, in general but with examples from places in my own state, Wisconsin. Here we go!

National Parks 

The first thing I think of when I think of national parks in Wisconsin is hiking in general and Devil’s Lake. National parks give you the perfect opportunity to have a road trip as well as get out into nature and enjoy life. My brother recently took one and ended up in Canada. 10/10 would recommend.

Concerts 

The reason for a lot of my road trips, find that thing you and your friends love and take a road trip to one of the events. The memories will stick with you for a lifetime.

GNO

My girls and I took a five hour road trip to the MOA aka the Mall of America and had a blast while doing it. Or just go watch the movie Girl’s Trip and do what they do!

Cities Nearby

For me, that’s Chicago and this is a city that can give you tons of things to do! Take a road trip with some friends and go to a city nearby OR far away!

No Destination

The best of them all, go somewhere with no place in mind.

The most important thing to remember is to make the most of your adventures and have fun!

Until next time,

Marisa

Hello there!

Road trips are one of my favorite things to go on. You have all of your best friends in one place and make the best of memories. I could make of list of my best moments and I would bet my road trips would be on the top 5 list.

But, before you go on a road trip there are plans you need to figure out no matter how big or small. Without further ado I’m going to give you a quick check list of things you need to figure out before you get in that car and drive off!

1. People coming on the trip
2. Where you’re going
3. How much time you have to go on said trip
4. Do you have all the materials you need
   1. have you packed correctly
   2. do you have enough money
5. How you’re going to split the costs
6. MAKE SURE YOUR CAR IS IN GOOD CONDITION
7. Have a good group of people you’ll have fun with

Now, this is just a quick run down but these are all super important things no matter what the road trip is, you want to pack right and be prepared. I hope you go on a road trip soon and have the most fun!

If you do, be sure to leave your experience in the comments below!

Until next time,

Marisa

Hello there!

Taking a break from the nitty gritty of my posts, this week I decided it would be a good time to do another TOP 5! This weeks top 5 is going to be my top 5 things I bring on every and any trip no matter what it is!

1. My phone, portable charger, and cord 

They’re all one in the same to me

2. Polaroid 

These kind of photos are my favorite, I’ve even got a wall of them in my room

3. Good friends

Shoutout to all of my friends who go on trips with me, you’re the best.

4. Adidas shoes

I’ve become slightly addicted oops

5. Money (wallet)

duh

Now that you know mine, I’d love to hear yours! Leave your top 5 things you need on any trip in the comments below!

Until next time,

Marisa

Hello again!

My article for Wednesday was a ‘what’s in my suitcase’ type article and at the end I clued into how important a good sized handbag can be for traveling. With that said, I thought I’d give you a run down of what I usually keep in my purse while I’m on a trip!

• Wallet – All of that normal money stuff you usually keep in it (TIP: I usually leave one of my cards and some cash in my room in case I should lose my wallet)
• Sunglasses – come on it’s a MUST
• Gum – You know you have that friend who is always asking if anyone has some
• Charger – for my phone
• Portable charger – WORTH THE INVESTMENT !
• Polaroid – You never know when one of those picture worthy moments will come up
• Small sunscreen – I usually buy this after I get to my vacation destination
• Hairties and Pins – never know when your hair might need it
• Candy bar – come on who doesn’t
• Makeup – my lipstick and some concealer and I’m good to go

Now, this might seem like a lot but trust me it comes in handy AND it can all easily fit in my big sized purse. I used to not be the biggest fan of a huge purse, but over my many trips it”s come in handy one too many times. I know I’ll never go back to a small one.

Until next time,

Marisa

Hello again!

Today, we’re going to do things a little differently. I’m going to give you a quick list or run down of what I would normally pack in my suitcase for a trip (fun fact, I usually don’t change the amount even if it’s a longer trip). How you pack can be a game changer. If you’re like me and travel through spirit you’ll find that you have to pay for every suitcase you bring. I save $40 every time I travel because my best friend and I manage to pack lighter and put it all in one! Score!

So, without further ado, here’s what you can find in my suitcase!

• Toiletry bag – this has all the things in it from my toothbrush, hairbrush, facial things, it’s nice to keep it all in one small bag to compact it together
• Make-up bag – I keep this relatively small too, just enough room for me to put my everyday makeup look in
• Shoes – I limit myself to two pairs usually, most of the time it’s my birks and Adidas shoes
• Pants – two pairs of shorts if I’m going somewhere warm, a pair of ankle jeans, and shorts for my pajamas and I’m good to go
• Shirts – This is the one part I splurge on and overpack, usually I’ll bring at least 5 tops but hey they’re smaller anyways so it doesn’t take up too much room
• Underwear and bras – duh
• One belt – I actually wear one
• Shaver – a must

So that’s really what my luggage consist of, but a HUGE tip I will give you is my purse. I have a coach purse that I use as my personal item and it’s really helpful because I can pack smaller things in there, like my polaroid camera, that would take up extra space in my suitcase. It helps in the long run, and I hope this breakdown of what I pack gives you perspective for good ways to pack!

Until next time,

Marisa