#budget travel
Situated in paradise on the shores of #LakeAtitlan in #Guatemala’s San Pedro La Laguna, #SmokinJoes is not only a mobile weekend American southern-style bbq, but a shop providing the town with much needed access to gourmet imports, southern style homemade bbq sauces, & most importantly clean food.
Stop by the bbq Saturdays in Panajachel or Sunday in San Pedro for perfectly grilled meat comas and a scrumptious selection of sides, or just to hang at the bar, where there are weekly drink specials.
Open til 4pm Tues-Friday, our shop is just 2 doors beyond the bbq location, so stop by for the freshest, widest selection, and check out the catalog on FB: https://www.facebook.com/smokinjoesbbqmeats/
Can you think of a prettier backdrop for chillaxed weekend foodcoma bliss?
*Photo courtesy of LM
Long story as I haven’t blogged in forever but I wound up in Guatemala enjoying THIS fabulous bbq on weekends trying to slow my brain tumor w/clean food. I HAVE lost plenty of weight on the clean food diet and THAT is my view.
Smokin’ Joe’s is not only one of the most delicious things in town but a truly diverse experience and one you can’t miss traveling down here!
I wouldn’t recommend it if i didn’t eat there!
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Getting your Joe on; the full story!
Step 1: Visit the San Pedro butcher shop for your imported/specialty meats, cheeses, and fresh mushrooms (misc stuff too, our homemade BBQ sauces, olive oil, etc).
Step 2: Walk 5 min away towards the Santiago dock and hit Geronimo’s farm (not affiliated w/ Joe’s, just the freshest stuff around).
Step 3: Pick your produce needs.
Step 4: Combine into your dish of preference (ours tonight was a bolognese-ish sauce; I say ish due to some lack of traditional ingredients).*
Step 5: Enjoy!
Smokin’ Joe’s shop is open Tues-Fri in San Pedro La Laguna!
*This photoset/dish is simply what the editor decided to do w/their Smokin’ Joe’s buys. The creativity part is all YOU! The farm is optional but recommended for the freshest stuff.
The #truestory of how a tiny butcher shop & a local farm that uses no pesticides make my meals fantastic :) Thanks everyone!
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hey its been a while
We know that creating a budget for a vacation can be daunting, so we made a video that tells you our step-by-step process of how to create your budget. We also sprinkled in a little knowledge about how to save yourself some money. Click this link to check out our video!
Few other countries call to me the way Spain does - but I’ve been something like 3 or 4 times in the past 5 years. Whenever I am in that part of the world I tend to find little excuses to dip back into the land of flamencoandjamon for a few days.
So in the spirit of branching out, this time I gave Portugal a try, spending 2 nights in Porto and then heading to Lisbon for 3.
Let me tell you - if you are interested in going to Europe but you don’t think you can afford it, you need to put Portugal at the top of your list. It is much less expensive than many other parts of Europe, but the food, art and culture are delicious, unique and captivating.
I emphatically recommend Portugal to anyone who’ll listen. I wrote alllll about it in my new blog post, “6 reasons to fall in love with Portugal.” Check it out at travelpaintrepeat.com!
>>>>>> 6 reasons to fall in love with Portugal <<<<<<<
XO, Megan
Over the past 6 years, I’ve traveled to 40 cities in 17 countries, several more than once. And I did it all while holding down a demanding, full time, normal office job with as little as 2, sometimes 3 weeks of total paid time off per year.
But I spent several years before that without traveling at all.
In the earliest years of my career, suffocation gripped me. I only had two weeks of paid vacation per year, and I never really felt like I could take any of it. In fact, I don’t think I really did. Maybe a Friday here and there, giving me several random three day weekends but no real break - no real adventure.
After all, I was pretty laughably broke. And I didn’t have anyone to travel with. And I wasn’t sure I was brave enough (or that I even wanted) to go alone. I figured - I’m young, I have the rest of my life to travel (not: I’m young, I should travel now!).
It was only after I learned about travel hacking that everything changed and I started taking my travel dreams more seriously. I had never heard of travel hacking before reading Chris Guillebeau’s blog in 2010. I devoured his advice with gusto, and before long had enough points and miles to take me anywhere I wanted to go around the world, twice over.
Taking these steps finally forced me to get out of my comfort zone and realize my dreams of seeing the world.
Finally, I saw that I was the only one getting in my way. With the cost of the flight - typically the biggest expense of a trip - covered, I had no real excuse financially.
So I stopped wasting my vacation days. I started taking all two weeks of my paid vacation at once, and then padding it with the weekends surrounding.
The result: annual 17-day vacations in which I could reasonably squeeze sometimes 5 or 6 different places in 3 different countries. If I didn’t have my full two weeks, because I needed an extra day for a holiday or family event, I would arrange my travel around a holiday, so that was one less vacation day I needed to spend.
Once I started doing this, all of my other excuses fell away.
Read the full blog post (and grab my free PDF summarizing every one of my trips since 2011, including how much I spent and how I managed to get the time off) at travelpaintrepeat.com:
“Yes, you can have a full time job and still see the world (here’s how I do it)”
Earlier this year, I visited Vietnam for the first time. The northern part of Vietnam is much different than the south, even now, and you should definitely make a point of hitting both on any trip to this incredibly underrated country.
And yes, you can do it in a week if you’re super pressed for time, like me. I wrote a new blog post over at travelpaintrepeat.com with my 5 tips for making the most of a week-long trip to Vietnam. Check it out!
>>>>>>>How to Make the Most of One Week in Vietnam<<<<<<<
I first came upon the term “travel hacking” in 2010. I was a fan of Chris Guillebeau’s blog and finally decided to buy one of his Unconventional Guides. It was actually not about travel - it was about making money as an artist. After flipping through it, I realized I wasn’t the right audience for it, as it was written for artists with less experience at actually making money from their work. So I wrote to Chris, gave him my feedback, and asked if I could return it. Before I hit send, I made a tiny decision that has changed my life forever. I asked if I could instead exchange it for Frequent Flyer Master. Chris agreed.
Because of what I learned in Frequent Flyer Master, I’ve been able to travel the world every year since, flying for free on strategically earned miles. I’ve visited Colombia, Spain, Jordan, Egypt, Italy, Croatia, Brazil, and Mexico, going away for 2 weeks at a time, averaging about $2,000 spent total per trip. All this despite my full time job, student loans, and middle class income.
So I wanted to tell you about a new travel hacking guide that Chris Guillebeau released just this week.
It’s called Upgrade Unlocked and it covers all aspects of travel hacking, not just the flights (on which Frequent Flyer Master goes into more detail). It also focuses on how to get that elusive upgrade, so that travel hacking doesn’t have to mean travel bumming-it. Best of all, it’s super cheap - just $39 for the basic version, with 2 levels of “upgraded” versions that are just $58 and $97 right now (introductory sale price).
If you dream of traveling but think you can’t because you’re not made of money, I highly recommend you check out Upgrade Unlocked. Click here to learn more and get a free preview of the guide.
Check out some of my past articles on my own travel hacking experiences:
How I Afford Travel: Badass Trips on a Not-So-Badass Budget
How I Fly Around The World For Next To Nothing
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Give this to your parents, friends, significant others, coworkers, random people, or anyone else who tries to warn you about the dangers of travel. I’ve been to post-revolutionary Cairo in 2012, Colombia, most of the pickpocketing capitals of the world, and a variety of other places where I felt more safe than I have in many neighborhoods in America.
How to Stay Safe While Traveling
It’s worth noting that many parts of the world — including a lot of popular tourist destinations — are less dangerous than the United States. Some people have a perception that the life they know in America is quite safe, but the rate of violent crime in the U.S. is high for a developed country. In any given situation in life — getting in your car to drive to school or work every day or just crossing the street — there is a certain risk involved. Before you consider the danger of visiting a foreign country, do not discount the danger you face and mitigate successfully everyday. I like to frame it like this: Imagine you’re a parent or teacher, and think about the advice you might give a born-and-raised, sheltered suburban kid about staying safe on a trip to New York City. This is, in essence, good and solid advice for any person about to travel to most major tourist destinations around the world.
Click here to read the full article on eHow: http://bit.ly/ehowmvg18
I understand that some people may be intimidated by the world of travel hacking and frequent flyer miles, or just not interested in putting in the time or effort that it can sometimes require (though the rewards can be incredible!) - but that doesn’t mean they want to overpay for flights and vacations. Even I occasionally choose to pay cash for flights - like on my upcoming trip to Brazil, because I wasn’t comfortable waiting to find out if any airlines would open up reward seats on high-demand flights to the World Cup. It pays to know which sites are going to help you find the best deal - and I’ve outlined a few of my favorite in my latest article for eHow:
Save Money on Travel with These 4 Websites
Money-savvy travelers have never had a wider variety of digital tools at their disposal for finding low fares and prices. As a seasoned traveler, I’ve found the following websites and digital tools most useful for saving money on amazing trips. Add these to your budget travel toolkit by bookmarking them now.
Click here to read the full article on eHow Money! http://bit.ly/ehowmvg3
It’s been a pretty cool week for me as a blogger! In addition to my article, How Budget Travel Can Lead to More Authentic Experiences being featured on the front page of eHow, Yahoo Travel has selected Travel Paint Repeat as its Tumblr of the Day!
Here’s what they had to say:
Visit Travel Paint Repeat for insights into how travel can change us, and to peruse the gorgeous photos; stay for the money-saving tips and travel hacks.
Click here to see the full feature.
ThanksYahoo Travel for sharing my travel writing and photography with others.
A few weeks ago, eHow approached me about writing a weekly budget travel blog for their Money section. This is my first official paid writing gig, and I’m excited to say it’s going well – today they even featured my first article, How Budget Travel Can Lead to More Authentic Experiences, on the front page! This week’s article is about how you can save money on pretty much any trip by following 4 basic principles. Let me know what you think!
The 4 Basic Principles for Saving Money on Any Trip
Unless you’re among the top 1 percent of the wealthiest people in America, you’re probably interested in saving money during your trips. After all, it’s widely believed that just getting to your destination is already incredibly expensive (although many of my readers know that doesn’t have to be the case) — so of course you want to be efficient with your money elsewhere. Here are the four basic principles I follow whenever I travel to get the best, most authentic experiences, for the least amount of cash.
Click here to read the full article on eHow Money! http://bit.ly/ehowmvg4
I have some exciting news! eHow approached me to write a weekly budget travel blog, and my first article has just been published:
How Budget Travel Can Lead to More Authentic Experiences
Many people who want to travel say that money is the biggest obstacle keeping them from booking a trip. But if you plan ahead, it can be affordable — and sticking to a budget while traveling doesn’t limit you from having amazing experiences. In fact, the restrictions of a tight wallet can actually enhance your trip.
Click here to read the full article on eHow! http://bit.ly/ehowmvg1
Know someone who’s planning a trip? Maybe just dreaming about it and needs a little kick in the pants? With the holidays right around the corner, I thought I’d share some ideas for gifts that might be of interest to anyone from the wanderlusty travel slacker to the seasoned frequent flyer. From books that’ll inspire you to leave home to products I’ve used on my trips (and now don’t leave for the airport without), this is my personal list of the best loot for the travel-minded.
Best of all, most of these are under $20!In no particular order:
1. Gift Subscription to Afar Magazine. Hands down the best, most beautiful magazine I’ve seen for those who prefer independent, off the beaten path experiences when they travel. Published 7 times a year, this publication features very well curated recommendations, a behind-the-scenes look at destinations, and great advice on traveling like a local, all packaged within gorgeous, stunning photography and editorial design. $20 for 1 year (7 issues).
2. Travelon Bag Bungee. I’m a big fan of small rolling suitcases (and fitting 2 weeks’ worth of clothing inside). For long trips, it can get pretty tiring hauling a duffel or one of those huge monstrosities you see backpackers wear (though I’m sure they’re great, I never enjoy looking like a tourist when I’m in a foreign country, and guess what those instantly accomplish?). However, you’re bound to have more than just the suitcase. Any kind of extra bag - laptop bag, “personal item”, purse, sack, or even shopping bag is going to be difficult to manage at the same time as your jacket, boarding pass, passport, bottle of water, sanity, etc. So, what do you do? You bungee it! I can’t believe I did my big 17-day trip to the Middle East and Spain last year without this thing. It’s great. It will literally hold anything on top of your suitcase that won’t fall between the 2 bars of your handle. At one point in Croatia we were balancing a nerdy man-purse on this thing with open side pockets containing a 1-liter bottle of wine on one side and some red party cups in the other (that were inexplicably tiny - I have no idea how Croatians would play beer pong). So, yeah. I recommend it. $11.20 on Amazon.
3. 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. This is a great book for someone who knows they want to travel but isn’t sure where they should go. This is also a great reference for someone who’s already well-traveled – there’s sure to be an idea in here to inspire their next trip. From $15.36 (paperback).
4. Inflatable Neck Pillow. Long flights, economy seats (well, that’s how I fly anyway - when you’re flying for free you’re pretty happy with coach!). Comfort level - not high. But have you ever seen someone with one of these neck pillows attached to the outside of their luggage, or (cringe) worse - around their necks as they walk through the airport. Yeah, don’t be that guy. Be the guy with the neck pillow that stays hidden and takes up zero space until you get on the plane. I give you, the inflatable neck pillow. (This particular brand has a huge valve – not your typical balloon valve – that allows you to inflate and deflate quickly, with minimal effort.) Available on Amazon for $12.30.
5. The New York Times, 36 Hours: 125 Weekends in Europe. This gorgeous hardcover book compiles the best of the New York Time's 36 Hours series, with this book focusing on Europe. I myself have taken amazing trips to locations that were otherwise not on my radar (like Cartagena, Colombia), inspired solely by these 36 Hour articles - check them out even if you don’t get this book. $34.04 (hardcover).
6.Luckies of London Scratch Map. Getting back from a trip and reconciling your amazing adventure with your regular life can be tough. You want to keep the memory alive while staying motivated to plan your next trip. Hang up this unique scratch map in your living room, scratch off the areas you’ve been, and await both the envy of your friends and the nagging voice of your inner travel addict urging you to scratch off more places… Available for $20.55.
7.Pilot & Capt. Civic Pride Shirts. Let’s face it, most souvenir t-shirts suck. They scream “I’m a tourist” even when you’re back on domestic soil. Alternatively, maybe you found a nice-looking one but hesitated to buy during your trip because you had limited luggage space. Instead, pick up one of these shirts when you get back (or to help celebrate someone else’s big trip!) to express your love for the city you left your heart in. (Available in a limited number of city versions for now, but let’s hope that changes.) $32.00 from pilotandcaptain.com.
8. Travel Power Strip. Imagine you (or your lucky traveling gift receiving friend!) has just returned from a tiring, exciting day of exploring a new city. They arrive back at their hostel or hotel and realize their camera or phone (or both!) is low on battery. Oh, and their travel partner’s phone is too! But there’s only one adapter. Or, they have multiple adapters but there is only one working outlet that is so dodgy it has to be un-plugged a tiny bit at just the right angle to actually let electricity flow (I’m looking at you, Rome Airbnb apartment). Voila! Buy 1 adapter, and then this thing, which (as power strips tend to do) allows you to plug in multiple devices at once. And it’s slim and compact, so it won’t take up much room in your luggage. Trust me, this is a must if you’re traveling with someone. No more battling over who gets to charge their iPhone first so they can finally upload the day’s 2,046 photos to Instagram now that they’re within wifi range again (never book a room that doesn’t have free wifi). Available on Amazon for $9.49.
9. Goal-Zero Solar Recharging Kit. Speaking of power issues. What if there isn’t an outlet at all? Because you’re… outside? Or on the go so much there isn’t a chance to sit down and recharge? Pick up this recharging kit (which can be powered by either the sun in 5 hours or a USB cord) and never worry about having enough juice again. Probably not a necessity for most everyday travel, but a must for adventurous, outdoorsy hiking and camping trips. $82.39 on Amazon.
10. Delaying the Real World: A Twentysomething’s Guide to Seeking Adventure. This is the perfect guide for young people who are inspired to travel but not sure how to make it happen. Speaking from personal experience, it’s already tough navigating that stage of life without also trying to figure out how to deviate from the standard post-college track. This is the ultimate handbook for young aspiring travelers. From $7.74 (paperback).
11. Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel. A better guide for longer-term travel (6 weeks or longer), this is a great resource for planning a longer break from your regular life to travel the world. From $11.07 (paperback).
12. Moleskine City Notebooks. The first city guide you write yourself, these notebooks are a cross between a guidebook and a travel journal. Each highly personalizable notebook features a city map (including zoomed-in versions and a metro map), 12 zone maps with street indexes, several blank pages within a 96-page tabbed archive ready for you to record all of your impressions, favorite places, and memories, and much more. From $16.16. (Moleskine also makes more generic Travel Journals.)
13. Journeys Of A Lifetime: 500 of the World’s Greatest Trips [National Geographic]. A highly visual guide, this beautiful hardcover book specializes in the sort of adventure travel you’d expect to see from National Geographic. Not the best resource for exploring city life in other countries, but a great inspiration for everything else (and looks nice on your coffee table, too). Available on Amazon for $28.72 (hardcover).
14. Kindle. I have to say, I wasn’t sold on Kindles at first. I really like the tactile experience of holding a book while reading it. However, for travel, this thing really is necessary. Travel involves two things: limited space/weight capacity in your luggage, and lots of waiting time. Even if you’re not packing as light as I do, you still probably don’t want to waste precious luggage space on a big thick book (or two or three!), especially if some of them are guidebooks – but you still want to be able to read your favorite books to pass the time in airports, trains, etc. The Kindle Paperwhite is your best option if you think you’ll be reading in dark circumstances or in bright light (beaches come to mind). $119 for a Kindle Paperwhite, or standard Kindles run from $69.
15. The Best American Travel Writing 2013. Guest-edited by Elizabeth Gilbert (New York Times bestselling author of Eat Pray Love fame), this collection of the year’s best travel writing will definitely be making it onto my wish list this year. $11.55, (paperback).
16. Dream Essentials Sleep Mask & Ear Plugs. Equally necessary for both countries with pre-sunrise Islamic calls to prayer broadcast over loudspeakers from the nearest mosque AND loud European city streets below windows that must stay open due to a lack of air conditioning. Put on this stylish (ha) mask, pop in the accompanying ear plugs, and you’re dead to the world. Also great for airplanes. $9.95 on Amazon.
17. Point It: Traveler’s Language Kit - The Original Picture Dictionary. This dictionary features no words, just pictures of most things you’d need to refer to when abroad. Next time you’re in a country without any knowledge of the language (not recommended, but sometimes unavoidable, particularly for more obscure locales), simply flip open the book, point at the item in question, and let your awkward hand gesturing take care of the rest. Available used on Amazon from $5.98 or for $9.95 new at the MOMA store.
18.REI Clothesline.If you’re packing more than a week’s worth of clothing at a time, you’re going to need to worry about laundry at some point. When you’re traveling on a budget and you’re in a foreign country, sometimes the easiest, least-hassle option is just to hand-wash in the sink of your hotel room (and if you’re doing any kind of camping, it’s your only option!). This clothesline will allow you to hang up your undies to dry no matter where you are. $7 at REI.
19. Better Than Fiction: True Travel Tales from Great Fiction Writers. If this Lonely Planet compilation of short memoirs by some of the world’s best novelists doesn’t inspire you to start your own adventure, I’m not sure anything will. $12.26 (paperback).
So there you have it - my list of top gift ideas for travel addicts and aspiring travelers alike. Did I miss something? Let me know!
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Ever wondered how much it really costs to travel in a van?⠀
We get asked how we afford to travel all the time, so we thought we’d make a little video talking about our budget and how we make an income on the road.⠀
We give you guys a full breakdown about our daily and monthly spends, how we plan for unexpected costs, breakdown cover and insurance, the differing living costs in the countries we’ve visited and some helpful tips about living cheaply.⠀
We also talk about how we make an income both off and on the road, including how we save up for our adventures working jobs back in the UK and how much we make from YouTube.⠀
Living cheaply and exploring the world is what we have been doing for the last four years- low budget travel rewards us with longer trips away and less time saving back in the UK.⠀
Discover how we do it in tonight’s video, out on YouTube NOW! If you enjoyed the video please don’t forget to Share, Like and Subscribe, or consider joining us on Patreon to help us keep on creating content ⠀
