Figuring out Food.

Food. Man’s best friend. While traveling, food can be your best friend and your worst enemy, ranging from delicious gnocchi in Venice to some much regretted McDonald’s on the go. Food is a hassle regardless of where you are traveling. Where do we eat? What do we eat? When do we eat? How much should we spend? There are many questions that make such an enjoyable experience very overwhelming.

Order a water. One of the best ways to save money is to order a water as your beverage, in most restaurants the tap water is free, and while it may not be half as exciting as a cool, sophisticated glass of beer, it is much cheaper than said beer. Especially over a period of a couple days, this trick can add up pretty quick to a hefty amount. In addition, staying hydrated while on the go makes you feel better and can help you feel more satisfied after a meal.

Super-markets. Even though its totally not what you want to do, going to buy food at a supermarket is honestly the greatest way to save money. When I was on a ten day trip through Europe, me and 3 others bought enough food for all of us to eat for 2 days, for the amount it would cost just to eat one meal out at a restaurant. If you plan on doing any cooking, make sure you get the hotels or apartments that have a kitchen of some sort that includes kitchen supplies as well.

Find The Outskirts. If you are in a prime tourist area, like a hotel overlooking the eiffel tower, you are going to be spending a lot of money ion food. There is no way around it. That is why finding smaller cities or staying outside of the city center may be worth it because food will be much cheaper in those areas.

I will admit, when ever I am trying to decide on food, I find myself making decisions based on money more than anything else. Part of it is just way I think, the other part is that I usually don't have tons of money to spend. I will say there were a few times that I spent more money than I wanted to a restaurants, but it was totally worth it. I definitely encourage you to eat out a few times, especially if you haven't eaten the local food. The same goes for trying out local beers and wines, especially while traveling through Europe, a large part of why we go to Europe is to try the different selections of food and drink. So don't miss any opportunities by being to stingy with the pocketbook. Live a little.

-P

The Friend or Foe? (Finding the right people to travel with)

Traveling can be exponentially more fun if you get to travel with people. That being said, it can also be brutally more horrifying if you travel with the wrong people. Having traveled Europe with numerous friends I personally not only love traveling with friends, but traveling by myself has really proved to be a learning experience, one that should not go untested.

There are certain people who are not open to new experiences. They may deny it, and have no problem trying out the same thing over and over, but at the end of the day they are just going to hold you back and prevent you from living in the moment and taking in all the raw culture you have at your fingertips. Most of the time any opportunity to travel will be rare and brief. Don’t let someone mess it up for you.

1. Beware the Friends. Friends are great, but that doesn't mean that they are all good to travel with. Everybody has a different personality and thats okay. That’s the way we were made. Not to mention sometimes it’s healthy to try traveling with new people. Traveling is a chance to throw yourself into something new, so don't suppress it with old habits.

2. The half-friends. You don’t always have to travel with just friends. Traveling is a great opportunity to invite all those “half-friends” (people who have not yet made it into that inner circle of your life) and helps bring them to the next level. I enjoy meeting new people and traveling with someone builds powerful bonds. Some of my best friends were made traveling abroad. I can’t imagine not knowing them now.

3. Coasters. There is a certain breed of individual, that feeds off the hard work of others. Assuming this isn’t you, you are probably not looking to travel with people like these. Be aware of the personalities of the people you plan on traveling with, some really great and amazing people may not make the best traveling buddies. So take into account the potential overall dynamic of the group, before you jump into things.

4. Travel Alone. Some of my best memories are traveling alone from Barcelona, to The Netherlands, and then back to Austria. There is something very resilient in going out on your own and pushing yourself to be independent. Of course its probably going to be much more intimidating, but in the end it will be worth it, because it gives you a chance to do exactly what you want to do, without pressure from somebody else.

Regardless of who you end up traveling with, you learn from every trip. Thats the beauty of traveling. Everything can work out perfectly and you can have a great time. You can make plenty of mistakes and have crazy stories to tell. Even if its absolutely miserable, you will always remember that trip and (hopefully) you won’t make the same mistake twice.

-P

All About Trains.

Trains are the epitome of traveling. They have been getting us from one place to another ever since covered wagons were in style. Now with the emerging technology of Mag-Lev (Magnetic Levitation) and other high-speed trains, trains still remain the king of efficient and fast transportation. 

Unfortunately, in the United States, trains are not at all used like they should be. One of the main lines is Amtrak, which tends to be rather expensive. It’s usually cheaper than air, but quite a bit more expensive than driving, and some bus lines. Most of this is due to limited regions of train stops, and American’s desire to drive their own cars whenever humanly possible. In Europe, on the other hand, train travel is much more common and heavily implemented. Here are some reasons that train travel may be for you.

1. Trains are on time. Except for a few instances and places, trains generally pride themselves on being on time. Unlike the air industry, there is a strict adherence to the clock and you can usually rely on it being there when you need it to.
2. Trains are easy. Gone are the days of intrusive security measures and awkward baggage checks. All you have to do is show up at the station and hop on the train. Your ticket is checked once on the train, and possibly before you get onto the terminal, but other than that, you could show up ten minutes before your train leaves and have nothing to worry about. Now with digital tickets, I don't even have hassle with printing tickets. I can keep it all on my phone. Most trains also have electrical outlets, snack carts and occasionally Wi-Fi.
3. Trains are fun. I personally love trains. The seats are generally comfortable, and if you are lucky, you might get one with a table. My favorite is getting a six-person room with a bunch of friends. Taking a train can be like getting a bonus tour of the countryside that you would normally never see. I will never forget the amazing ride along the French/Spanish coast, on my way to Barcelona. Absolutely amazing. Looking out those enormous windows was like being inside a national Geographic magazine.

In terms of prices go, it all depends on where and when you are going. I have found that the earlier you reserve/buy tickets, the cheaper then tend to be. Keep an eye out for discount memberships, such as the VorteilsCard that I got while in Austria that took 50% off train tickets  in Austria and 25% on participating trains outside of Austria. 

In addition, there are rail passes, that are great for extend stay trips or long distance travels. I used the Eurail Pass while in Europe. There are numerous options and plans available. I purchased the “15 days of travel within 2 months” plan, I didn't end up using all of the days, but it definitely was a great purchase. 

One word of WARNING: Just because you have a Eurail, doesn't mean that you can travel wherever you want for free. Many times the high-speed trains will require a reservation ahead of time, which usually costs money, especially on over-night trains. I found that both France and Spain were especially difficult about making reservations and were pretty expensive, even with the Eurail pass 

PRO-TripTip: Use Trains in junction with planes. I found that it was MUCH cheaper to train to cities that had cheap flights to other cities. For example, I took trains from Austria, to Paris, to Barcelona, and then took a $55 flight to Brussels and then trained back to Austria from there. Not only did I save TONS of money, but I saved time and got to see cities that were farther away from each other. Definitely worth looking into. I will be discussing air travel next week, so stay tuned!

-P

Tripping for the First Time.

Going on a big trip is intimidating. Almost any time I travel to a new place I get stressed. It's part of the experience. At first it used to annoy me, but then I started to realize how it is okay to be stressed. It's just our body's way of coping with the unexpected. For me, traveling has always been a thing, my family would take trips across the country to New Your every single summer. Traveling in Europe. I’ve just always been accustomed to being in new places and having to deal with possibly difficult situations.

The first thing to know about traveling is that you need to be organized. You need to have your ‘ish’ together. Every trip is going to have it’s share of surprises and things you didn't expect. 

1. You can’t control the variables.
2. You can control your own variables.

Making sure you have a place to stay, money to spend, and things to do is something you are responsible for, and if you do everything right, you can save yourself a lot of unhappiness. Traveling Abroad is probably the most difficult, mainly just because the language and culture is quite different than out own. There are many online resources for planning a successful trip. Here are a few that I found particularly useful while in Europe:

Trains

Eurail.com

raileurope.com

Trains and Buses

www.oebb.at/en

www.bahn.com

Air

www.ryanair.com

www.kayak.com 

Hotels/hostels

airbnb.com for

hostelbookers.com

Reviews

tripadvisor.com

yelp.com

For traveling in the United States, things are usually quite different and much less intimidating. Taking a car may be the norm, but you never know when a train or flight could be cheaper and/or faster.

Train

Amtrak.com

Air

www.southwest.com

www.spirit.com

Bus

www.megabus.com

-P