Ruby Loves Adventure

Note from Ruby: Finally! I got Peter to post his trip reviews here on the site! :) I normally travel with him so here goes!!

Ruby at the GIG airport - posing with Fuleco the mascot

Day 1: Departure from Orlando, 6 am sharp.  Perfect.  Only problem is, we don’t live in Orlando, we live in Jacksonville, so we had to drive to the Orlando Airport the previous night, sleep on a hard wooden bench and listen to people’s footsteps all night.

The airport does have a hotel on site, a Hyatt, and it is impressive, nestled right in the middle of the airport.  But it’s a bit pricey, so wooden benches it is!

Day 1: Arrival in Santo Domingo, the connecting flight.  They kicked us off the plane, gave us badges to wear, and let us mill around the departure gate for a confusing hour before putting us back on the same plane.  I don’t really know why.   The only thing I remember about that airport besides the bathroom is the outrageous price of McDonald’s (or Burger King, they’re all the same; maybe).  If there’s one thing I will never do in life, it’s overpay for fast food.  And eat blue cheese.  I don’t like blue cheese.

Day 1: Arrival in Rio! The sun, the samba, the beach…the half-empty, depressing international airport?  Not the best first impression of Brazil, but it was early in the morning and we were tired, so we were not in the spirits to judge everything kindly.  Thankfully, the domestic airport we transferred to in order to find our World Cup tickets was cleaner and cheerier.

Upon exiting the airport, we did the touristy thing and booked a taxi.  When the driver heard our destination, he grimaced and said, “Santa Teresa?” in a mixture of disgust and more disgust.  We’d very shortly find out why because since Santa Teresa is in the hills, you need to go up and up and up, and the car we were in decided, in the middle of one of the climbs, to just die on us right there in the middle of the street.  The guy uttered some Portuguese curse words and gave us our luggage and there we were, dragging our luggage in the street, trying to find our AirBnb place, without any idea of where we were or how to get there.  Google Maps helped a little bit and so did asking some locals and we eventually found the place.

Day 1: Our first World Cup game, Belgium vs. Russia! Beer Drinkers vs. Vodka Drinkers! The EU vs Putin!  Belgian Chocolate vs. Russian…Vodka!  On the way to the game, the subway train was rather crowded.  I probably inadvertently smelled 10 different armpits on that subway ride, and I wish I was kidding.  When we finally got to the stadium, it was packed, but well organized and we found our seats within the hour.

The game was decent, with some good chances, and Belgium ended up winning 1-0 on a late goal.  The Vodka Drinkers were silent after the game, probably as a result of drinking too much vodka.

Back to the AirBnb apartment and End of Day 1.

In the US, travel hacking is a full blown hobby, in the Philippines, not so much. There are limited ways to do it, but it can be done, with a bit more time. Here are some tips on how you can travel for free (or significantly lower your costs):

Business class to London? Free!

Flights – First thing I can recommend is to sign up for a good travel credit card and put most of your spending on it: groceries, eating out, shopping, etc. There are three that I can recommend:

Every peso counts and can become a future mile or so for your trips! 

Hotels/Hostels – If you like staying in brand hotels (like the Intercontinental), you can try to earn points for every stay that you do by signing up for their rewards program. The downside: there’s no other way to earn points unless you stay in the hotel or find a credit card that can transfer points to them locally (I’m not that familiar with this in the Philippine market). If you have a successful blog, you can get free accommodation in exchange for a review (which I managed to do successfully in Seoul). I got 5 free nights in a hostel because my blog reached the highest requirement that the hostel was looking for in a blogger at the time. I found that promo on their website, emailed them, they replied & verified my blog details (page rank, number of visitors for the past few months), and they gave me the free nights. Tadah!

Got to stay at the Kimchi Hongdae Hostel for 5 nights, free

Activities – You can check out the deal websites (Groupon, LivingSocial, Metrodeal, Cash Cash Pinoy) for discounted entrance fees. It may not exactly be for free, but you still save significantly. Alternatively, if you are going to a new location, look for free activities: parks, riverfront walks, etc.

Got tickets to the Florida Aquarium for half price on LivingSocial

Traveling doesn’t have to be expensive. If you take the time to research and plan accordingly, you can live a life of travel without paying much! 

If you look at my personal Facebook posts, you’ll see photos or status messages saying I’m going here or there. People think – “does she have that many days off?” “Is she rich?” Not to burst your bubble but no to both. The thing is, I have a 9-5 job like most people out there, and though I do long to live a location independent lifestyle, I choose not to. 

Thing is, the job I’m in supported me to become an expat in two different continents: in the UK and now in the US. I’ve worked nearly 8 years in my company, and even though it does have its down sides, I do love working here. I make a decent living, but no, it does not make me rich. I also long to have a place to go home after every trip I make. Thing is, what nobody tells you about location independent individuals is they stop for a few months in a country, set up a home base for that little while, and do what you and I do: work freelance. Their travel blogs? They don't earn much money (mostly ads), but open up to opportunities that allow for free travel.



Why don't I like that? Well, in the US, I can save a LOT of money too. How? Couponing. Only thing I pay full price on is rent, electricity, water, and trash/sewer services. Oh, and fresh food. You can't coupon for fresh food. Anything else, you can wait for sales so you won't have to pay full price for anything. With couponing, you build up stockpiles (buying items that are non perishable and stocking them up when there's a sale, so when you need them, you won't have to do an emergency errand to the store and end up paying full price for it) - stockpiles take up space. Something that won't fit in your backpack when you're traveling. To do this trick, you'll need to have a home base, and the US is amazing when it comes to couponing. You can do this wherever you are too - you can take advantage of sales and stock up on items you need when they are on sale. Once in Manila, I bought 4 pcs of deodorant because they were half off. While I did not get to use them all, I gave some away to my mum, and she got to use it. Savings!

I shared more tips here  if you need more tips on how to save on your travels.

All of this? Free (except for Tony the Tiger toy)

While I tried to fill most of my weekdays up by reading blogs, reading books, investing, and planning trips, the weekends were fair game.  Think of it – two days that you can do whatever you want. I try to make the most of it by going on weekend getaways.

Just this weekend, I went on a getaway to Orlando - got a great deal online on a hotel and Seaworld tickets and off we go. Granted you still have to pay full price by eating out but it doesn't have to break the bank and when you get back from your weekend trip you feel more refreshed than ever! 
I'll write more on the weekend traveler aspect but hopefully this article helped you.

If you have any other Qs, let me know in the comments below! :)