WMT Content

Slow Travel – Defined

What is Slow Travel exactly?  Per theartofslowtravel.com the answer is rather simple…

“Slow travel is not so much a particular mode of transportation as it is a mindset. Rather than attempting to squeeze as many sights or cities as possible into each trip, the slow traveler takes the time to explore each destination thoroughly and to experience the local culture.”

Slow travel, or wandering, is a way of traveling while living as a local. It means to experience the specific flavor of a destination by engaging in certain activities. Eating like a local – savoring local market delicacies, cooking with the food available and eating in typical fashion of the culture is crucial. Living like a local in an apartment, AirBnB, as a guest in someone’s home or in a hostel avoiding the luxury hotels with room service is also part and parcel of slow travel. To utilize transportation like the locals while you are there – walking, taking the chickenbus, shuttle or uber (if that is the common mode of transport) is part of the experience. This allows you to become worldly in a way that the tourist experience won’t allow. Slow travel is to experience a place as a local NOT as a tourist. It provides a way of traveling and living life less expensively because you are not flitting from place to place. You are savoring the experience. There’s no living out of a suitcase planning your departure to and from the next destination endlessly. You make friends. You enjoy the culture. The best part? It costs less if you choose your location well.

Considering Slow Travel in My Own Life

I have always been a restless person. Moving constantly while I was young, I lived a sort of nomadic life where my parents uprooted our family regularly. I once went to a school for 3 days before my parents realized their error and moved us back to the town we just moved from. Who knows why. Unfortunately, I’ll never know because my parents are no longer living. As a child, I embraced change and flowed easily to one school or the next. I said goodbye to friends as easily as I said hello. I was not terribly sentimental. I was a good student which generally allowed me to fit in. I got used to the chaotic dysfunction that was my parent’s life.

This changed with the final move of my youth. My mother, originally from Georgia, wanted to return to the “sunny” South. Although not planned by my parents, as they were the opposite of racists, my family settled next door to my uncle. I was uprooted and moved into a community where racism and bigotry were the norm. My parents quickly bought land. The decision irreversible. Moving had ceased to be fun.***

I spent four years in a high school torture chamber. I made sure that I slowly but surely built a life of independence. This is when I first became aware of my restlessness. Later, I liked to move a lot along with job hopping. I got bored easily. I thought there was something terribly wrong with me. Finally, I realized that I was comfortable with chaos and dysfunction in my life. My choices reflected this.

When I “grew up”, I attended college, got my degrees at age 30 and 39. Throughout my early nursing career, I invited chaos into my professional life but began to remove it from my personal life. I chose to work in emergency medicine. It was “good” chaos for a lot of years. There was crappy stuff to deal with to be sure, but I had great stories. My career took off. I began to make decent money. I enjoyed collegial relationships with excellent physicians and talented mid-level providers. I enjoyed working with the nurses who were frequently much more like me but sometimes even “crazier” than I. To this day, it is rare that I meet an ER nurse with which I don’t have instant kinship. I think you have to be a little nutty to be an emergency room nurse. That’s not a bad thing. You have to be comfortable working in cuckoo-land. This requires a certain personality profile. It has something to do with being comfortable in chaos, being able to shift, adapt, stay flexible and remain unflappable.

I think this is why the concept of slow travel is so attractive to me. It’s not the exotic experiences, so much (although it is badass, isn’t it?) as it is being comfortable with not knowing what’s coming next. The ability to remain calm and focused, moving through changing landscapes is key to enjoying slow travel. Not knowing exactly where I’ll be in a month or next year….well, I just love that. It fits extremely well with my personality and my need for freedom from boredom.

Is Slow Travel for You?

Slow travel works best when you attain a measure of financial freedom. However, I have met many fellow wanderers lately that think differently. Several have surprised me with their willingness to embrace slow travel with little regard for a long term financial plan. They are slow traveling but have not achieved financial stability let alone financial freedom. Some travelers are young. Some are in their 30’s and 40’s. They decided to live life differently. Some take advantage of a change in life circumstance or a thrown curveball. They jump at a chance to take a break from the expected.

There are the stereotypical “gap year” types — the youth typified by recent graduation from high school or college with no strong pull to get a job, make a living or live in one spot. Their freedom frequently comes from family financial support. That’s a wonderful gift. Tasting freedom early is a blessing. Maybe this one taste will propel them into a life of well timed sabbaticals and world travel that will sustain them through the dreadmill of work. Perhaps, it will keep work from being a dreadmill. They won’t burn out, as I did, because they are able to refresh and rejuvenate themselves at regular intervals.

Others yearn for anything other than normal, rejecting the lives of their parents. They wander to new places, experiences and adventures staying as long as they can keep their boredom at bay. They don’t want to live a life like any other and cannot be compelled to do so. They appear restless. At times, they may appear unmoored. These wanderers move from one place to another because of circumstance or boredom. I am a little bit this.

Nomads may choose a life of slow travel from the get go. Some are educated, have a profession and they have location freedom and independence. They are lucky, skilled and in demand. They have jobs they can take on the road. They parlay their skills into freelancing. They work their own schedule. They only require secure WiFi so they have assured income…”let’s work a little and slow travel a lot, baby”.

Some embrace living on a shoestring. Living life on the “edge”, they figure that it’s better than being chained to anything. These nomads are working, making a little money here and there, making and selling jewelry, trading time for room and board, settling into a job at a tourist bar or guiding hikes on volcanoes. They don’t mind uncertainty.

Some wanderers play the game for years. Patiently trading time for money, they finally achieve enough financial freedom to live life on their own terms or at least take an extended break. They hurl themselves into travel because it’s new, exotic and it smells a lot like freedom from the dreadmill to which they were chained. I am also a little bit this.

My Decision to Slow Travel

Knowing that I had a few years before I became “stale” and less marketable, the time was nigh. I could go back to work if I wanted to but I had a window NOW to make my slow travel dreams come true. I have the knowledge and security of knowing I can obtain another position in my chosen field if I want. Alternately, I have the freedom after saving sufficient assets to reject a similar job. I can change fields completely if I desire it. I recently met another slow traveler wrestling with career decisions and continued marketability if she stayed on the slow travel path. Her story resonated deeply with me because I have the same thoughts and concerns about choosing my future path.

The Conundrum

“Elle” is my age. She’s a professional engineer in Germany. She is 54 years of age, youthful in appearance, physically fit, attractive, vital, intelligent and restless. After being downsized, she began entertaining other job offers (as I did). None “floated her boat”. After a gentle nudge from a friend, she jumped at the chance to roam the world and took a long sabbatical. She’s been on the road for a while. India, Mexico, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Columbia, along with some European counties – these were checked off the bucket list. Now, she’s a little panicky–feeling the pressure to go back to work. Her slow travel time is drawing to a close. She said to me that within the year, sustaining career marketability or becoming “stale” will be realities for her. She hasn’t saved enough to never work again. Slow travel has ignited a fire of curiosity, freedom and independence. She’s unable to muster the desire to return to work. Slow travel has made returning to work even less attractive. She must work until she’s 65 to obtain her country’s version of social security. She is wrestling with her situation.

On the Road to Slow Travel

It may take years to achieve the financial stability that allows the jump off the dreadmill to take time out to try this lifestyle. Slow travel is not expensive but the time off IS. Unless you have a relatively high income, your savings rate likely won’t allow you quick exit from the dreadmill. You must plan it if you want security, otherwise there’s no easy entrance into the world of slow travel. Living on a shoestring, banging it out on the odd job here and there, living a life of nomadism is unthinkable for many, including me, because there is little security in this existence. Security requires planning. A nomadic life, without financial security, can be stressful. It can produce a lot of anxiety. I already have enough anxiety in my life. I’m not built to withstand more of it. Hand to mouth living and/or working on the road is not for me.

I’ll be facing the marketability issue soon enough. In two years, I’ll also be “stale”. I have been trying to think of palatable ways to re-join the work force later because having another job I hate is not an option for me. Another two to three years of high income would assure more comfort and alleviate any possible uncertainty about the future. My nest egg would then be more than I could or would ever want to spend. The issue is that I simply can’t stomach another dreadmill job. I could live on shoestring in exotic lands and never earn a paycheck again but I’d be tracking spending scrupulously and be limited to countries with a low cost of living. Latin America, Southeast Asia and/or housesitting gigs in Europe would be my only options for the foreseeable future. There would be stress and anxiety because I would still budgeting and frugaling every day. Slow travel outside of these countries would risk running out of money.

Other Slow Travel Considerations

Family and Friends – It’s important that should you have a partner, he or she is on board and you share the same goals. My partner and I are in agreement. You also need to consider your child(ren). Certainly more than my parents did. My grown child, having finally achieving adulthood with a career to match in the last two years, no longer needs me to guide her or subsidize her life. She is independent and makes all of her decisions. I have no say. It is the way it should be. I declared my independence last year when she turned 30. I believe I was a successful parent. I raised a productive member of society with minimal scars.

Also, a sign of success is that we are dissimilar in many ways. I never endeavored to burden her with my happiness. Now that she’s an adult, her happiness is her own responsibility, too. She is non-adventurous and non-contrarian by nature. She likes the 9-5, teaching in a public school, the stability and security of everything, having summers off, consumerism and routine. Her life is much more about things than experiences. She doesn’t have a restless bone in her body. I jumped through every hoop possible to make sure that her life remained as stable as possible. I tried to give her what I didn’t have.

Sometimes, I think I did too much in that regard…but that’s another story. She has expressed that she wishes I’d stay put. She doesn’t really embrace my desire for slow travel and a life abroad. Occasionally, I must remind her that my life is my own as hers is her own. When people find out my daughter’s age, they ask me about grandchildren and I honestly, don’t think grandchildren would change my mind about needing to stay put either, to my daughter’s chagrin. This may be a major consideration for others so I mention it, but I have never had a particular desire to have grandchildren. People always say that when grandchildren are born, this will be different. I wouldn’t know so I can’t predict this. It’s not my decision to make and if my daughter decides to procreate, I wish her the best with that decision. But then again, freedom is my jam. Not hers.

People ask about friendships. The friends that matter stay in touch no matter the distance. I have a few close friends that I actually only talk to a few times a year, otherwise, we write or send messages. I have a few from high school with whom I stay in touch. I’d probably see my friends more if I built a life in another location – all the better that it’s a bit exotic. It bears mentioning here that I am an INFJ. I have few close friends. I have many acquaintances. I have always been a bit solitary, likely because of my upbringing. I definitely have become more introverted over time. I prefer deep connections to shallow ones. I find friendships are fleeting at times because unless someone is equally committed to staying in touch with me, I lose interest. So, as far as friends go, the close ones will always be in my life. We are kindred and our feelings reciprocal.

Technology Changes Everything – The next consideration is technology. Being tech-savvy keeps you connected. You can change a sim card and suddenly you can text anyone anywhere from What’sApp. You can stay in touch via Instagram and FaceBook. You can start a blog and people will know exactly what’s going on with you. SKYPE or Facetime can be the next best thing to hugging your loved ones, whether you are in Atlanta, Athens or Anchorage. No, it will never be the same as being “face-to-face” but I’m not really “face-to-face” much with anyone but my partner anyway. There’s no reason to be isolated when slow traveling. You can easily maintain important relationships.

Additional Financial Planning – Lastly, if connection is important, build into your financial plan some consideration for helping others come visit. Be flexible and adaptable. You can always plan a visit home. You can always invite people to come to stay with you. Likely if you can provide a bed, you have alleviated a major cost of the vacation for them. You can always plan a meet up at the beach by building reunions into your budget. You can sign up for newsletters (Scott’s Cheap Flights is a must) for finding unbelievable fares to parts unknown.

Do you have any other considerations for slow travel or wandering? Did I miss anything big? Is slow travel for you or are you content with vacations? If you suddenly met your financial goals for independence, would travel be at the top of the list? I’d love to hear what your motivations are for slow travel. Thanks for reading.

Republished with permission from Lean Fire ATL

Free travel is the best!

Whether you travel for work, spend on rewards credit cards, or just travel occasionally for fun, it pays to belong to airline and hotel rewards programs so you can collect miles and points. Over time, these points build up and can be redeemed for free or highly reduced trips (see our friends at The Points Guy, Million Mile Secrets, and Go To Travel Gal for more info on rewards travel).

We love saving money here at Money Saved is Money Earned, and so it’s a given that we both utilize credit card spending and loyalty programs to reduce travel costs. If you have enough points, you can even take a trip for free!

Or so it seems on the surface.

Here’s the deal. Even though points can significantly reduce the cost of travel, there is really no such thing as a FREE trip.

That’s because no matter how many points you have, there are some things that simply cannot be covered with points. This means every trip is more money out of your pocket. Think of it this way: for every trip you take you’re spending money on incidentals (no matter how much you save on airfare and hotels). Money is still going out the door that could be saved if the trip wasn’t taken.

Now, don’t get us wrong, the less money you must spend on hotels and airfare, the more trips you can take and the more things you can do. Instead of taking one trip a year, you can take two or three with the same money spent. In fact, it’s a great way to have Money Earned through Money Saved. However, we want you to be aware of the unavoidable costs of travel, as well as ways to minimize these costs to save even more!

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So, without further ado, let’s talk about the travel incidentals to be aware of when taking trips on miles and points, as well as tricks to keep those costs down.

Fuel Surcharges

Alas, not even the airfare is free!

Less experienced rewards travelers may not realize this, but most airline rewards redemptions (maybe even all of them) do not include the fuel surcharges. In fact, we’ve read travel blog posts where fuel surcharges for international flights were several hundreds of dollars! While using points to pay for the fare will reduce the cost of the flight significantly, it’s important to consider and plan for the cost of fuel surcharges so you aren’t surprised by them. Some airlines (like Southwest) charge minimal surcharges for flights within the U.S., but typically charge more on international flights.

Side note: This is also true of extras on budget airlines. While the reward redemption (or cash cost) of a flight might be reduced, most budget airlines charge for services that come free of charge on other airlines (cough*Spirit*cough).

Resort Fees

Did you know that the points you use to book the hotel may not cover all the fees?

Well, now you know.

This may be especially true when you book a resort style hotel and may drive your out of pocket costs up $30 or more a day. While there may not be much you can do about hotel fees, it is important to pay attention to exactly what is and is not included when you book with points to avoid unexpected expenses. Read the fine print, call the hotel/rewards program if needed, and take a picture of the room terms and conditions in case there is a dispute later. It is important to know what you are getting with your points, and if fees are not included, consider booking a different place to keep the cost down. You may even want to book the same hotel anyway, just factor the daily fees into the total cost of the trip.

Car Rentals

Renting a car is a big-ticket item that can drive the costs of a trip up, despite how much money you save on airfare and hotels. A basic economy rental will typically run you around $30 a day and up, plus gas. This means a rental of 3-5 days could cost you between $90 and $150 at minimum, not including the cost of gas.

Another factor to consider when you have a rental car is parking. We both have personally experienced the horror of paying an outrageous amount for parking (over $50 for a couple days!) in a garage when staying downtown in a big city. Valet parking isn’t any better. While convenient, it’ll typically run you an extra $30 or more a day (bringing your total to $120 to $180, plus gas). Even if you decide on street parking, you may find yourself walking a long way back to the hotel, not to mention the fact that you’ll have to go move the car every couple hours to avoid a ticket!

So how can you save money on car rentals?

The good news is that most car rental companies also have rewards programs, so if you use the same company many times you may build up points to use toward free rentals. You may also have some status with the program, which carries perks. Additionally, some rewards programs (like Chase Ultimate Rewards) can be redeemed for rental cars for a good value. Thus, there are ways to get the rental itself for free or reduced cost using points and programs, just like the airfare and hotel. Another tip is to book the smallest available car. Most people book the cheapest cars, so often you can get a free upgrade on the spot because they’ve run out of small cars!

But what about parking?

We’ve both been burned on parking so this is a big one for us. One option is to book a hotel that offers free parking. That way, you know going in you won’t have the hassle or expense of parking your rental. But beware, if it doesn’t say FREE parking (just parking or parking available) it is likely not free. Another idea is to simply forego the car altogether. In this case, you can either utilize a ride-share service like Uber or Lyft, take public transportation, utilize free airport and hotel shuttles, or walk. If you’re staying in and around town, using a combination of the options listed above will likely cost half what you would spend on a car rental, parking, and gas.

Food

No matter how much you save on airfare and hotels, a girl (or guy) has to eat! Money spent on food can also really drive the price of your vacation up, especially if you’re spending a lot on fine dining. Spending money on food is unavoidable, but there are some tricks to saving as much as possible on your meals.

First, stay at a hotel that offers a complimentary continental or buffet breakfast. However, similar to parking, if it does not say complimentary or FREE breakfast (as opposed to breakfast available or something similar) then it is likely not free. This tip has saved us TONS of money on food over the years. While fancy hotels are nice, they tend to nickel and dime you on items that you can get for free at lower-priced places, especially when it comes to food. As a result, we prefer to stay at less expensive places like Hyatt, La Quinta (use this link and save up to 25%!), Best Western, Country Inn and Suites and any others that include breakfast. Not only is breakfast included (saving you $10 to $20 a pop per person), but you’ll save on the cost/points of the hotel too!

Oh, and don’t forget to save some of your breakfast for a later snack. That way, you might not even need to buy lunch!

Another tip to save on food is to stay in a place with a kitchen and make your own meals. We’ll admit, the last thing we want to do is cook on vacation, but making your own meals is a super effective way to save big on food. Even if you don’t want to go all the way to making your own meals, make sure your hotel room has at least a mini-fridge so you can store drinks and left-overs. I (Tawnya) learned this trick the hard way my first time in Las Vegas. The hotel I stayed in (and many others) purposefully neglected including a mini-fridge so my friends and I were forced to go out and eat all our meals and regularly buy cold drinks in the hotel/casino. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Won’t happen again.

On a side note, a Vegas-specific meal trick is to go to a buffet at the end of lunch and stay until dinner. That way, you’ll pay the lunch price but get to eat the dinner food as well. Naughty, but it saves money!

Lastly, you can cut out the cost of meals altogether by staying at all-inclusive resorts. Now, this option will likely cost you more in points (and don’t forget those resort fees!), but if you have enough to get the room for free, staying at a place where all meals are included is a great way to cut this incidental cost out of your trip.

Activities

What’s the point of going on vacation if you’re not going to do anything? (this is also why staying at a less expensive hotel is a good option, as theoretically you won’t be in the room that much).

If you’re anything like us, you like to explore the area when on vacation. Unfortunately, this also means you’ll be forking out money to pay for your activities.

Bummer.

But wait! There are tricks to saving on activities too!

First, look for free activities. Lot’s of sights can be seen by simply taking a walk around town. Historic sites, buildings, bridges, and other such can be experienced for free (photography anyone?). One of my (Tawnya) favorite activities is to see cathedrals. I love the architecture, stained glass, and how different (yet similar) each one is. I also really enjoy seeing the large pipe organs that dominate the balconies of most cathedrals.

If architecture isn’t your thing, try experiencing well-known tourist areas, many of which are free. Think Pike’s Place Market in Seattle, the Riverwalk in San Antonio, Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, Time’s Square in New York, and so many others. Each city has something special, and many of these activities are completely free. Take Las Vegas for example. While Sin City is known for drinking, gambling, and super expensive shows, most don’t know you can get first-rate shows for free all over the strip! Check out the Bellagio Fountains (Tawnya’s favorite) or the sinking of a pirate ship (yes, really) at Treasure Island, to name a few.

Another option for free activities is to take advantage of nature. Hiking or simply enjoying the scenery in and around a new city is completely free. This is especially true of a beach vacation.

Lastly, you can enjoy many activities for reduced costs by knowing where to look for discounts. Many cities offer coupon booklets on their tourism websites which contain coupons for tours, activities, and restaurants. Another option is to check out Groupon, Living Social, or a similar discount site for deals in the city you are traveling to. While not free, utilizing coupons will cut down on the money you will spend on your must-see activities.

Moral of the Story

There is no such thing as a free trip, plain and simple.

No matter how many airline and hotel points you have, there will always be some incidental costs, and you must take these into consideration when planning your vacations. Luckily, there are many tricks to reduce incidental costs as well, making your trip as close as possible to free.

First, read the fine print on your airfare and hotel bookings, and watch out for fees not included when using points.

Second, consider the cost of a car rental, and look to reduce them by joining rewards program, using points to book the car, staying at hotels with free parking, or skipping the car altogether.

Third, consider the cost of food, and reduce it by staying at a hotel that offers complimentary breakfast, make your own meals with a kitchen in the room, save drinks and left-overs in a mini-fridge, or cut out food costs all together by staying at an all-inclusive resort.

Finally, consider the cost of activities, and reduce them by finding things you can do for free or utilizing coupon books/sites to reduce the cost of your must-see activities.

Talk about Money Saved!

Republished with permission from Money Saved Is Money Earned