Think You Very Much

Category: Travel

  • Can We Talk About Travel “Hacking” and Airline Miles Valuations?

    Originally posted January 29, 2018. Updated July 26, 2018, Nov 5, 2018, and March 21, 2019.

    Let’s not bury the lede: it’s not travel hacking. It’s “signing up for credit cards to get reward point bonuses for free or discounted airfare and hotels.”

    Whew!

    Not as sexy, I know, but it’s reality.

    Now let me be clear: I love it. I wasn’t able to do it for a few years (my wife and I weren’t living in the US until 2016), but as of June of 2017 I went at it hard.

    I Didn’t Travel Hack, But Here Are The Credit Card Bonuses I’ve Earned Since June 2017

    • 75,000 United Miles via Chase MileagePlus card (good for 3-4 roundtrip domestic flights; I no longer have this card as I cancelled after 1 year so as not to pay the annual fee)
    • $150 cash back via Amex Blue Cash Everyday (this one I regret because I wasn’t aware of Chase’s 5/24 rule at the time; more on that soon)
    • 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards via the Chase Sapphire Reserve card (good for $750 worth of hotels or airfare; cancelled this card and downgraded to a no annual fee Chase card because the annual fee was only worth it for me for the first year)
    • 120,000 Southwest RapidRewards + Southwest Companion Pass (My wife flies with me for free until 12/31/2019! Including when I pay for a flight with points!) via the Chase Southwest Premier and Chase Southwest Plus cards. (120,000 points is good for $1,920 in airfare. Note: I cancelled the Plus card after 1 year, but kept the Premier.)

    Added after this article was originally posted:

    • 45,000 Wyndham Rewards via the Barclays Wyndham Visa
      • $75 annual fee, but was $25 for first year
      • Good for 3 free nights (but see bullet point below)
      • We used these free nights at The New Yorker and it was a great redemption. I decided to pay the 2nd annual fee of $75, which includes 6,000 points, but I’m not sure if I’ll do it again in 2020. They’re making changes to the rewards program in April and we’ll see if they’re good changes. I suspect hotels like The New Yorker will cost more points than they did for us.
    • 100,000 Hilton Honors points via the American Express Hilton Honors Ascend
      • $95 annual fee
      • 1 weekend night free after first year (no longer available, but they increased the bonus points to 150,000 so it’s a better deal now anyway); I’m mostly alone in this as far as people who gather points is concerned, but this is actually my favorite card right now due to incredible bonus point earning opportunities)
      • Update March 21, 2019: They didn’t give me the 1 weekend night certificate after I paid the 2nd annual fee. (I spoke to them on the phone, via text chat, and via twitter.) Very disappointing, borderline fraudulent, and I reported the situation to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
    • 64,000 Choice Privileges points via the Barclays Choice Privileges Visa
      • No annual fee!
      • 32,000 points after first $1,000 spent in 90 days and another 32,000 points with $3,000 total spent in 180 days.
      • You also get Gold status, which means you get some kind of gift at check-in. We’re big fans of cheaper hotels like Sleep Inn (a Choice Hotels brand) so I’m happy this is a no annual fee card, even if Choice points aren’t considered as valuable as some other chains.

    This puts me over 5/24 — 5 credit cards from any bank in the past 24 months — meaning I can’t get most personal Chase cards for quite some time. (I’ll be eligible again at the end of 2019.)

    So, I guess, this is the only part of travel “hacking” that’s actually a “hack.” Get all the best Chase cards first, before getting any other provider. Unless, of course, the other provider is giving away an exceptional bonus. Bonuses change regularly so sometimes it’s just luck, being at the right place at the right time.

    Onto what this is all really about:

    Why Airline and Hotel Miles Valuations Are Miscalculated

    If you try to maximize the value of your points you’ll find a lot of well known folks talk about how much 1 point is worth. e.g. Southwest RapidRewards are worth 1.6cpp (cents per point) and Ultimate Rewards are worth 2.1cpp and so on.

    Some of these “travel hacking experts” value points based on irregular scenarios.

    Southwest RapidRewards are some of the few points that are directly tied to the cash value of a ticket so they are worth 1.6cpp unless you’re using the Companion Pass because then they’re worth a big 3.2cpp. e.g. A $100 Southwest ticket costs 6,250 Southwest RapidRewards points (1.6cpp). If you add a Companion you only pay the $11.20 in taxes and $200 worth of tickets is still 6,250 RapidRewards points (3.2cpp).

    But others are not so simple.

    Let’s take a look at Ultimate Rewards. The straight value of a UR is 1cpp. Let’s say you want to book a hotel that costs $500. If you use Ultimate Rewards to book the hotel it’ll cost 50,000 UR (through the Ultimate Rewards portal). But! If you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred card you get 1.25cpp and if you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve you get 1.5cpp. (Which is why I got the Reserve. $500 in hotel costs are 33,334 Ultimate Rewards points if you have Reserve.)

    Some people who shall remain nameless claim Ultimate Rewards are worth 2.1cpp because you can transfer them to an airline partner and use them for a high value First or Business class ticket that would cost a lot.

    The issue with this scenario is you would probably never pay for a First or Business class flight so they’re not actually worth that! In reality, since you usually pay for Economy fares you’ve devalued your points by using double or triple the points to pay for a better fare class.

    The popular valuations are based on a sort of straw man. “Well, this First class flight would normally cost me $10k but since I used 120,000 miles I saved $10k and got 12 cents per mile!”

    No, no, no. Not at all.

    Utility vs Dollar Value: A Different Way To Make Airline Miles Valuations

    I suggest you maximize utility and not dollar value.

    If you normally pay for Economy fares then you actually lose money when you book a Business or First trip with airline miles. Instead of spending 60,000 points on the economy flights you spent double which means you got one less flight out of the scenario that you now somehow have to pay for.

    Which of the following scenarios maximizes utility?

    1. One (1) Business or First flight for 120,000 miles
    2. Two (2) Economy flights for 120,000 miles

    The answer is obvious. Two flights have greater utility than one.

    Let me be clear here in saying I don’t have a problem using lots of points for a fare class upgrade. I’ve done it! It’s amazing flying in the upper fares internationally. Really, it’s a whole different experience. And I’ll probably do it again in the future. I’m just not going to fool myself into thinking I saved money in the process.

    My preference at the moment is to maximize utility. I want to get as many flights as possible and I don’t care if I have the privilege of flying in Economy instead of Business or First while doing so.

    As an aside: goodness am I tired of hearing people complain about economy airline seats. I’m 6’5″ and somehow I’ve been alright on hundreds of flights even if sometimes my knees are jammed into the seat in front of me. You’re alright too. You know the worst part about flying economy? It’s not the seats. It’s the whiney adult babies. Anyway …

    Interestingly, maximizing utility can be a money loser as well if you’re traveling more than you’d normally travel.

    How Travel “Hacking” Actually Costs Us Money (and I’m okay with it)

    I specifically earned the Southwest Companion Pass so we could be decadent.

    Upcoming weekend getaways. What are we, trillionaires?!

    We’re flying to New Orleans for a weekend. We’re flying to Las Vegas for a weekend. That is ridiculous. It’s not something I would ever do normally. It’s decadent. Some might even say wasteful.

    But my wife has limited vacation time (hence late Friday flights; she doesn’t miss work) and I want to show her as much of the US as possible. The Southwest Companion Pass plus the 125,000 points I earned (signup bonus + normal spending) helps facilitate this goal. I also have $400 in Southwest gift cards acquired via the Amex Platinum card airline credit so even our flight taxes & fees ($11.20 per roundtrip per person) are paid for.

    But if we didn’t have the Companion Pass we wouldn’t have the following expenses:

    • Roundtrip airport Taxi/Uber/Lyft
    • Hotels (We do use points where we can, obviously. But it’s not always possible.)
    • Food (We eat out less than a handful of times per year so any eating out done on these trip weekends is extra.)
    • Whatever other spending for things we decide to do that we wouldn’t do if we stayed in Raleigh.

    This is willful decadence. It’s true that these trips will cost us less than if we had to pay cash, but under normal circumstances we would not be going on these trips at all, so the net result is they cost us money. To be fair, we’re in a position that these trips aren’t going to put us in the poor house, but they are extra and pretending otherwise is Trumping the truth.

    OK, cool, you’re convinced. Which cards should you get to maximize utility?

    Note: For the cards I have I’m able to get referral links so I’ve used them below for those three relevant cards. I get 10,000 points per referral and your points bonus doesn’t change. Thank you for helping our travels!

    If you fly domestic and Southwest flies out of your home airport this is a no brainer. Even if you don’t plan on flying extra like we do. The current point bonuses on the personal cards are 40,000 each, meaning after hitting spending requirements to get said bonuses you’ll have over 84,000 points. You need to earn 110,000 points to get the Companion Pass so you’ll need to spend a lot more before you get the pass. (Or wait until they’re offering better sign up bonuses of 50,000+ again.) The other option is to get one of the personal cards and the Southwest business card because that has a 60,000 points bonus and you’ll get the Companion Pass without extra spending. Get all 3 and you’ll have over 140,000 RapidRewards!

    Note: You can apply for all three of these cards on the same day. I got approved for the two personal cards after applying within minutes of each other, but I did have to call them so they could verify some things. “Why are you applying for 2 more cards when you already have 2 Chase cards?” My answer: “Your bonuses are crazy good and I like Southwest.” They accepted that!

    Wait at least 30 days before applying for more Chase cards. They’ll only approve two personal cards within 30 days.

    Next, you’re gonna want some hotels. I think the Chase Sapphire Reserve is great, even though it has a $450 annual fee. That fee includes $300 in travel spending credit (airfare, hotels, highway tolls, Uber/Lyft) so it’s effectively a $150 annual fee. There are also some other benefits that may be useful for you. (If you don’t already have it Global Entry is great and you’ll get it free.) You get 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points worth $750 in travel after spending $4,000 within 90 days.

    If I hadn’t gotten the Amex card which put me at 5/24 and ineligible for more Chase cards I would have also gotten the Chase Sapphire Preferred card for 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points after $4,000 spending in 90 days and $0 annual fee for the first year.

    When you’re done with that I’d start looking at the other available cards and accompanying bonuses (Amex Platinum and hotel cards). But the above is gonna take you a while so get on it.

    Need hotels instead? Get the 150,000 Hilton Ascend bonus here.

    The Biggest Drawback of Credit Card Signup Bonuses (for us, anyway)

    The biggest issue we have with these cards is we don’t have a lot of expenses so meeting the spending requirements sometimes takes some planning. Spending $4k in 90 days on a new card is difficult for us because we don’t eat out, don’t drink, and don’t regularly spend money on anything but groceries and necessities.

    I’ve taken to buying Walmart, gas station, and Hotels.com gift cards (all at a discount through Raise, of course) if I need to meet a spending requirement and I’m coming up short because I know I’ll use all of those sooner or later. If your monthly spending is higher than ours then you won’t have this problem. (Although you might want to save money by buying gift cards through Raise anyway. Their 1 year guarantee is legit.)

    Karol's Raise Savings
    I’ve used Raise quite a bit to meet credit card bonus spending requirements.

    I use a few other travel saving tactics — optimal Priceline bidding, easy ~15% savings at Hotels.com (couple it with their 11th night free promo and it’s closer to 25% savings), and others — but since this is already nearly 2,000 words I’ll stop here for now. Another time, okay?

    Oh, wait, before I forget because I know people wonder: this all has only a small impact on credit score. It does dip down temporarily for a month or so after every credit card application, but whether using FICO or Vantage 3.0 scoring I’m still in excellent range. That said, if you’re planning on getting a mortgage or other loan soon you should hold off until after you do that before you start applying for lots of credit cards.

    ###

    Want to keep on top of these opportunities? My favorite places are Doctor of Credit and reddit.com/r/churning.

  • Rediscovering The Joys Of Tent Camping

    Since moving back to the US my wife and I have gone camping more than either of us had camped in the previous spans of our lifetimes. (Well, maybe not quite, but it sounds better like that, doesn’t it? I think I’d gone camping 5 or 6 times prior to July 2016 and have gone 4 times since then.)

    I did not grow up in what I would consider an “outdoorsy” family by any stretch of the imagination, but the first vacation that I can recall was a camping vacation. I think that was probably due to budget more than any kind of love of the outdoors. (We’ll get to that, but it’s actually a great reason to go camping.) By the age of 13 or so my parents bought a small vacation cottage and I stopped going camping altogether until my late 20s.

    As I got older camping wasn’t on my radar as a form of travel or recreation. I didn’t have friends who camped (or even traveled much at all) and I thought it was for a different kind of person. Not for me, anyway. When I was about 20 or so I remember hearing about a couple I knew who went camping for their honeymoon and thinking, “ugh, why would anybody do that?!” Now I think it’s probably a more fun and memorable honeymoon than most people have and I love hearing about people doing “alternative” honeymoons (or weddings, for that matter).

    I think part of my feelings about camping stemmed from a feeling of intimidation. I grew up on, and relied on, TV, the internet and easy access to clean water and flush toilets. I didn’t like hardship. The outdoors? Camping? You mean to tell me I need to start a fire and make food on the ground, on a tree stump, or on a picnic table? And I have to spend all day outside? After I’m done being outside for every waking moment I get to sleep inside a box made of fabric instead of in my comfortable bed in my heated/air-conditioned home? Oh, ok, you’ve gone off the rails, no thank you.

    It wasn’t until I joined CouchSurfing back in 2007 (I’m no longer a member) and I met a bunch of fun, adventurous folks that I learned I actually like camping. On my first CouchSurfing camp trip we packed 10 people in 3 canoes for a 3-day trip down the Withlacoochee River. We camped a little too close for comfort to alligators. I got bitten by a few ticks. (I don’t recommend.) There was nowhere to shower or wash (I was too afraid to swim with the gators; others weren’t!). But it was a great time and I went on another camping trip with the same group a year later.

    That was what you might call wild or backcountry camping. Find a spot somewhere on BLM or park land that’s big enough for tents and make camp. The fun part of wild camping is that you’re completely on your own. You won’t spot other people because you won’t be near a campground or civilization. No facilities except what you bring with you. You ever dig a hole and poop in the woods? It really makes you feel alive. Like you can do anything. That all is maybe also the not-so-fun part of wild camping. No judgment if you feel like that because I’m still too intimidated to wild camp on my own. Although I promise wild camping is actually a good time I prefer a little more luxury.

    Anyway, as much fun as I learned that camping could be I stopped going camping because in 2009 I got rid of almost everything and began traveling with just a small backpack.

    But then, as mentioned, my wife and I moved to the US last year.

    Within a week of arriving in the US we went on a camping trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes in northern Michigan and I remembered, “oh, right, camping is a fun travel option.” A couple months later, instead of staying at one of the expensive hotels near Niagara Falls, we camped at Niagara Falls State Park for 4 nights. (It’s nearly 20 miles north of the falls, but it’s a beautiful park. Would stay again.) On the way back from Niagara we camped at a small state park in Ohio on the banks of Lake Erie.

    Since moving to North Carolina we’d been planning on camping because there are so many nice places within a 2-4 hour drive, but I didn’t get around to buying a tent until 3 weeks ago. (Every camping trip previous to moving to NC was with borrowed gear.) Since then we’ve camped at Carolina Beach State Park and Morrow Mountain State Park.

    All that to say I’m not some kind of outdoorsman and I barely know what I’m doing. Thankfully, there is really not all that much to know.

    Also, I think it’s more useful to learn from other beginners for something like this because experts are too, here’s that word again, intimidating. Bear Grylls seems like a cool guy and all, and I’m impressed as anybody that he could drink his own piss without vomiting, but he’s so far out of my element that I wouldn’t learn anything watching him.

    Also, an expert is probably going to recommend a lot of stuff you don’t need.

    Interestingly, you probably already have most of what you need to go camping! And the stuff you don’t have will cost under $250. Maybe a lot less, depending on how you shop and what you want. Think of it like this: for the cost of one or two nights in a hotel you can buy all the gear you’ll need for camping for at least the next few years. Assuming you take care of your gear you’ve probably got a decade of use ahead of you.

    But before we get to all that, I haven’t made the case for just why I like camping so much.

    Why camping is joyful

    1. Camping makes you appreciate all the luxuries you’ve got at home. You might think you appreciate them, but you’ll appreciate them on another level once you’ve been completely cut off for X number of days.
    2. My wife and I love hiking. We go hiking most weekends. Nothing intense. Usually 5-10 miles or so. And you know what makes hiking more fun? Sleeping near hiking trails. Many (most?) state and national parks have both hiking trails and campgrounds, so it’s a perfect combination for us.
    3. It’s economical. Nightly camping fees vary widely, but it’s usually $15-$25 per night (free for wild/backcountry camping) for one camp site, which is often enough for 2 tents and 6 people. To be fair, it’s cheaper to stay at home than to camp, so it’s not like you’re saving money. I mean it’s an economical way to travel and have some fun. Anyway, with your fee you’ll usually have access to showers, flush toilets, your own fire pit, your own picnic table, and park rangers (in case you have questions or emergencies). If you’ve never camped or stayed in a hostel this will be uncomfortable for you at first, but lucky you. Being temporarily uncomfortable makes life better. You’ll appreciate the luxuries of home even more than the rest of us!
    4. Simplicity. Camping makes me remember that I don’t need much to have a good time.
    5. It feels good to rely on yourself more than usual. Even if you’re camping in a luxurious campground (read: most campgrounds) you’ve still got to set up your own home, clean up after yourself, and cook your own meals. There is no Chipotle around the corner and your weekly cleaner is not going to be there to clean up your mess. The more you love luxury the more I think you’ll actually appreciate the whole camping experience.
    6. You get to sleep outside! There is very little you can do as an adult that will make you feel like a kid again. Camping checks that box.
    7. Camp fires.
    8. It breaks your routine. What do you do most weekends? What do you do when you have Friday or Monday off, making a long weekend? Camping is something fun to do to break your routine.
    9. It’s perfect for introverts and extraverts alike. Camping is accommodating.

    There is surely more good stuff about camping that I haven’t thought of, but let’s move on to …

    The Beginner’s Guide To Tent Camping!

    As I mentioned earlier, you already probably have most of what you need to go camping, because you don’t need much to have a good time. I’ll split this up into necessities and nice-to-haves. I’ll also mention what we have, plan to have, or would like to have. (Amazon affiliate links where relevant.) And, of course, I’ll show you how easy it is to find and book campsites.

    Necessities You May Not Have Yet

    1. Tent. Obviously. While any tent will do you’ll probably like some more than others. This is why it actually helps to be able to borrow gear for your first trip. Ask around. You probably know someone that has gear and will be happy to lend it to you. You’ll quickly find out what you do and don’t like. But maybe I can help here anyway. Are you tall and/or a little lazy? Then do what I did and get an Instant Cabin tent. These things really live up to the hype. The first time we set ours up it took 15-20 minutes. Now it takes less than a minute to get the tent up and another 5 minutes or so to get the rainfly set up and to stake everything down.
      We have the Bushnell Shield Series 11′ x 9′ Instant Cabin tent and love it. It’s 6 feet tall at the center, which means I can’t stand up in it, but it’s better than a lot of other tents that are even shorter. Although this tent is rated for 6 people, I find it’s the perfect size for the two of us and our bags, with room to move around. It will only sleep 6 if you’re all using camping mats instead of inflatable mattresses. I also like that this tent has big windows on all four sides, and it has a floor level screened air vent.This tent was really difficult to get back into its carrying bag (a common complaint in reviews), but I figured it out. I bought two bungee cords from the dollar store, and wrapped them around the tent/rainfly before putting it all in the bag. This made the bag much easier to zip up and now I’m able to get a nice bundle. I put the rainfly pole in its bag strapped onto the top of the tent bag instead of putting it inside. See photo:

      Proof that it fits back in its bag!

      Price: ~$140 at Walmart.com (but use TopCashback or eBates to save at least $10; that’s what I did)

      Note: if you want to save even more money buy a regular (meaning, not instant) tent. They cost a good $50 less and they really only take an extra 10-20 minutes to set up.

    2. Tarp. A tarp is a cheap way to protect the bottom of your tent. It also helps keep your tent clean, making it easier to pack up. Maybe not a necessity, but it’s so cheap I’m saying it is.
      How to use: Lay your tarp down. Build your tent on top of it. You should get a tarp the size of the base of your tent or a little smaller. Bigger than the base of your tent is not better, because if it rains you’ll be sleeping in a puddle. The tarp I already had was 9′ x 7′ but I’ll pick up a slightly bigger one the next time I’m at Harbor Freight.You can find small tarps at the dollar store, and they’re sometimes even free at Harbor Freight (sign up for their coupons).
      Price: under $10
    3. Air mattress or camping pad. We have this cheap Intex queen size air mattress from Amazon. Including the hand pump it was under $20 (it’s $24 at time of writing this). That said, I dislike air mattresses and we will probably transition to camping pads instead. If you like to sleep on something soft then you’ll probably like an air mattress more than a camping pad.
      Price: under $25
    4. First Aid Kit. Truth be told you probably won’t need more than a bottle of hydrogen peroxide,
      rubbing alcohol, and bandaids if you’ll be at an established campground. But first aid kits are so cheap you might as well get one. We have a $10 kit from Walmart. I also bring hydrogen peroxide, ibuprofen, and generic benadryl (because I have bad tree/weed pollen allergies).
      Price: under $10
    5. Stove. Unless you’re going to cook over the fire pit, of course. We have the $15 Ozark Trail Single Burner Propane stove from Walmart (again, use TopCashback or eBates to save at least $10 on your first purchase) and love it. Propane bottles are cheap ($5 or less), are widely available at Walmart and other stores and campground offices, and they last for quite some time.
      Price: $15

    That’s about it for things you probably need to buy! All told, less than $200.

    Necessities You May Already Have

    You might not have all of this stuff, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you have most of it.

    • Bedsheets/blankets or sleeping bags. We currently use bedsheets/blankets that we already had, but we’ll buy sleeping bags when it starts getting colder. Price: probably free.
    • Toiletries. You probably won’t need toilet paper since most campgrounds have daily cleaning/replenishment, but maybe take one roll just in case. I also bring a roll of paper towels, a box of tissues, a package of wet wipes, and hand sanitizer. Other than that bring whatever you’d bring on any vacation.
    • Flip flops. For showering/beach. $1 at Walmart. For the past year I’ve been using the “disposable” flip flops they give you at Niagara Falls, but they’re finally falling apart. Also, I stepped on a rusty screw last weekend and it pierced my heel so maybe I should have something with a stronger sole?
    • Towels. For showering/beach. I like my quick dry camping towel that I’ve had since 2011. My wife takes a regular bath towel. And we also take beach towels.
    • Foldable camping or beach chairs. Not necessarily a necessity, but I’m listing it here because they’re more comfortable than picnic tables to sit on and not all campgrounds will include a picnic table with your campsite. You can pick these up for $20-$30 each.
    • Trash bags (or small plastic shopping bags). So you don’t have to make 35 trips to the camp’s garbage bins.
    • Rope. So you can hang up your towels to dry between two trees. Buy it at the dollar store, Harbor Freight, or Walmart. Or you might already have some.
    • Knife, box cutter, or utility knife. For cutting rope and other stuff. I usually forget my knife — a butterfly knife I bought when I was 17, which I guess is illegal to carry? Well, at least guns are illegal as well! /s — but I have my dollar store utility knife, which gets the job done.
    • Flashlights. You can get free flashlights with purchase from the aforementioned Harbor Freight. I have one of their 27 LED Portable Worklights, which has a pop out hook so it’s perfect to hang from the loop on the ceiling of your tent. It’s $3.99 when it’s not free. I also have a Fenix e05 that I bought in 2011. It’s still going strong! Lastly, we just purchased this under $15 combo tent light/fan because after our Carolina Beach trip where it was nearly 90F at night and sleeping was rough we thought we should have some luxury. The light is great, but we didn’t use the fan on our last trip so we’ll see if that was worth it.Buy either rechargeable batteries or go to the dollar store. Batteries are ridiculously cheap there. (I have both rechargeable and wasteful batteries.) Price: you probably already have, but $15 or less.
    • Pots/pans. We used to take just one pot, but now we take two. We use one for cooking and one for boiling water for coffee/tea/oatmeal. If we had a tea kettle we’d use that instead, but a pot works just fine. Price: you’ve already got them.
    • Cups/bowls/utensils. We bring both wasteful (read: disposable) and regular. Do whatever feels right for you.Note: the Contigo AutoSeal is the best insulated coffee bottle I’ve ever used. My wife uses it daily and we bring it camping and on our weekend hikes.
    • Lighter or matches. You’ve gotta start that fire somehow! BTW, I’m a longtime camp fire failure, but let me save you from being one: when you get to your campsite walk around and gather lots of dry leaves or twigs. Throw them in the middle of your fire pit. When you’re ready for a camp fire light them up and wait until they’re burning nicely. Keep adding more twigs and small branches. Once those are going strong finally add your real firewood (which you purchase for $4 or $5 from the camp host or park office or gather from vacant campsites or the surrounding woods). I always transitioned far too quickly from twigs to big firewood and it would take forever to get the fire going. A little patience goes a long way.
    • Water. We bring our refillable water bottles as well as store-bought water bottles. Soon I’ll buy a 5 gallon jug because that will make trips to the water spigot easier.
    • Food. We keep it simple. Canned beans. Canned soups. Side dish rice/pasta (like the Knorr brand; $1 each or so). Oatmeal. Clif bars and other junk foods. Coffee/tea. We love good coffee so we take our AeroPress. No reason you can’t have an amazing cup of coffee in the morning!

    Nice To Have, But Not Necessary

    • Headlamp. We don’t have them, but have used them and they’re much more convenient than flashlights. We’ll buy some eventually when they’re on sale somewhere.
    • Broom or hand vac. Your tent’s gonna get some dirt inside no matter what you do. I have a Ryobi One+ hand vac. I bought it for the car (since I already had three One+ batteries for my power tools) and it’s great for camping as well. If I didn’t have this I’d buy a broom and dust pan from the dollar store.
    • Fire starter. These are little bricks of fuel that are easy to light and stay lit for about 5 minutes. They’re sold in the outdoor section of Walmart and probably at your camp office. It makes starting your camp fire much easier, but it also feels like less of an accomplishment. That said, I have some and used them until I finally figured out how to be patient with my fire. They’re also good for starting fires in wet environs.
    • Cooler. We’ll probably get one eventually so we can bring along veggie dogs and other foods that should stay cool.
    • Hatchet or hand saw or hammer or combination of two or just a hatchet. A hatchet or hammer will make staking down your tent easier, but you can just as easily use your foot, a piece of wood, or a rock. A hatchet or hand saw is nice to have if you want to chop your own wood. Don’t cut down live trees or branches! It’s illegal and there are lots of fallen trees/branches all over the place. You can also raid your neighbors after they checkout of the campground. I always buy one bundle of wood from the camp host the first night and then try to scavenge for subsequent nights. I didn’t bring a saw until our most recent trip and it came in really handy. Our neighbors scavenged a small dead tree and then checked out. It took me about an hour to saw it into manageable pieces and carry it to our fire pit, but it was worth it. I used an old cheap small hand saw (like what they sell at the dollar store) which wasn’t easy, but I got paid (by not spending money on fire wood) to work out. (Next time I’ll take my better hand saw, or maybe even my battery powered jigsaw.)

      Free firewood. All I had to do was saw a fallen tree into pieces.

    The reality is there are a lot of nice-to-haves so I’ll stop there. You can make camping as rustic or luxurious as you like. I like it somewhere in the middle.

    “Wait, that’s all well and good, Karol, but where do I find/book campgrounds?”

    If you’re looking for something close then Google “state park near me” and “national park near me” to find the closest of those near you. Or just scroll around on Google Maps until you find big spots of green. That’s probably a state or national park.

    To book campsites:

    You don’t need to book campsites ahead of time, but if you’re planning on camping during a national holiday it’ll be your best bet. Campgrounds fill up fast during holidays.

    I’d also suggest heading to your local library and picking up a book on tent camping and/or hiking trails in your state. Here in North Carolina I’ve made use of The Best In Tent Camping: The Carolinas by Johnny Molloy and North Carolina Hiking Trails by Allen de Hart.

    “OK, got it. Now what the &$#! am I supposed to do while I’m camping, huh?”

    Haha.

    You can do anything you want! Go hiking! Go swimming! Read a book! Nap! Whittle! Relax! Breathe!

    To be honest, I know camping seems boring to a lot of people and it seems like there isn’t much to do, but the time flies. There is always a trail to explore and a fire to build and enjoy. It’s easy to spend a whole day doing nothing more than that and still feel incredibly fulfilled.

    I’m not saying you need to go camping, but even if you think you won’t like it I think you’ll appreciate it so maybe you should try it. Particularly if you haven’t been camping since you were young and/or prefer expensive dinners and fancy hotels on your travels. If you’ve pampered yourself into wimpiness and stubbornness you need it more than you probably know.

     

  • 3 new countries, 4 new cities, 5 flights, $173.39, thanks RyanAir

    There was a time I was afraid of flying RyanAir. I’d heard so many bad stories about being charged ridiculous fees for extra weight or having to check a bag for some reason that I’d been turned off by them.

    Then last year, after I’d been in Europe for over 2 years, I actually tried them out myself. 1) Because they were over 50% cheaper than the nearest competitor for the flight I needed. and 2) Because I started reading about their CEO, Michael O’Leary. He is a marketing mastermind and has made the airline immensely profitable.

    You know what I learned when I finally gave them a shot?

    If you hate RyanAir it’s probably your fault.

    Like all airlines, RyanAir has rules. Being that they’re a no frills very low cost airline they have some more rules than normal. Like if you don’t check in online and print your boarding pass yourself you’re going to have a bad time at the airport.

    Anyway, I’ve been doing a lot of traveling the past few months. Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, the US. After a few weeks in the US I came back to Poland in January. But a short while later my girlfriend was going away to Zurich on business and I didn’t want to sit around not traveling. So I started looking at cheap flights out of Wrocław under the guise of, “how many new countries can I visit?”

    I’m not usually one to collect countries. Before I started traveling a little over 5 years ago, at age 28, I’d only been to 5. Poland, US, Canada, Mexico, and Germany.

    I haven’t been to all that many since then, considering. Twenty six total (I revisited all the countries I’d already been to), twenty one new countries since September 1, 2009. I don’t have a goal to visit every country in the world, and there are dozens that I definitely don’t want to visit. So the number isn’t important. My only real lifelong travel goal is to spend at least 2 weeks in a new country every year. Last year that was Japan for 2 weeks and Hungary for 6 weeks. This year I’m not sure what it’ll be.

    That all said, even if the number isn’t the goal it’s still lots of fun to visit new countries.

    And since I’m not independently wealthy RyanAir is the best way to do that while already in Europe. The only transport that’s cheaper is hitchhiking.

    There are actually two low cost carriers that fly out of Wrocław. WizzAir and RyanAir. I’ve flown WizzAir before and they’re fine, but RyanAir is a lot better because

    a) RyanAir is cheaper.

    b) RyanAir allows one normal carryon and one small bag (purse, shopping bag, or computer bag). WizzAir only allows one small carryon. Have a normal sized carryon (like my 36L backpack)? WizzAir charges extra. Have a carryon plus a small bag? You gotta check one with WizzAir. I usually travel with a backpack and a computer bag although I only took the backpack on this trip.

    c) RyanAir’s seats don’t recline so the short entitled person in front of me won’t break my knees 20 minutes into a flight. I wish every airline did this. Being too tall is usually great, but almost never when traveling. (Actually, I don’t think WizzAir seats recline either, but now I don’t remember.)

    Note to you: When you fly don’t recline your seat. It makes you an asshole, putting your negligible extra comfort over the certain discomfort of the person behind you. My knees quite literally touch the back of the chair in front of me and I don’t recline. Suck it up. Even if the person in front of you has reclined their seat.

    The cheapest first flight to a new country I could find was a RyanAir flight to Bologna, Italy. To be completely honest with you, I’m not sure I’d ever heard of Bologna, Italy. But I’d never been to Italy. And the flight was exactly $20.02.

    BolognaRyanAir

    Twenty bucks to visit a new country?!

    A veritable no brainer.

    Now, of course there are other transportation costs involved when visiting a city. The shuttle bus from Bologna airport into the city centre was 6EUR. I took a taxi on the way back due to weather and that was 15EUR. So I paid more for airport transportation than the flight in.

    Unfortunately, Bologna was disappointing. The 3 days I was there it was in the midst of snow, rain, and ice storms. They don’t have very good civic services and the walkways weren’t cleared. So to explore the city I’d have no choice but to slip and slide my way around ice and puddles while getting my (only pair of) shoes and socks soaked through. There’s only so much of that one can take before not wanting to take it anymore.

    http://instagram.com/p/ywrnGKDNd6/

     

    I did my best to not hate it, but I spent a lot of time in my hotel room letting my shoes dry and reading The Goldfinch (great book, deserving of all its accolades). That said, it’s a city I think I would like in the Summer. The people I met were nice, the Italian language sounds amazing even though I don’t understand it, and it looks like it could be a fun city.

    Next up was Brussels, Belgium! I had high hopes for the de facto capital of the European Union. Mostly I had high hopes for clear streets to walk on.

    BrusselsRyanAir

    RyanAir flies into Charleroi airport, which is pretty far from Brussels and isn’t the main Brussels airport. The shuttle bus takes an hour and costs 17EUR. Roundtrip is 31EUR. So the shuttle bus cost more than the flight into town. That’s twice already that I spent more on airport transport than flights.

    But hey, $65 to visit a new country? Yes, sign me up anytime.

    I was only in Brussels for 2 nights, but I enjoyed it. The mim, Music Instrument Museum, was a highlight for me. And although I didn’t drink a Belgian beer in Belgium (actually, I didn’t drink alcohol for the whole trip) I did have Belgian fries. They tasted exactly like they do everywhere else in the world.

    http://instagram.com/p/y2JiKADNTB/

     

    Next up, Athens, Greece!

    AthensRyanAir

    I like ancient ruins as much as the next guy so I was particularly excited to visit Athens.

    Damn, these flights are getting expensive now. 40 bucks?! Just kidding.

    And anyway, Athens makes up for it by being a relatively low cost city. Especially as far as touristy capital cities that are on the Euro are concerned.

    A 72 hour metro pass which included one airport roundtrip was just 20EUR. Perfect for my 68 hours in the city.

    And for 12 EUR I got a pass to visit 6 ancient ruin sites, including Akropoli.

    You might be asking yourself why I didn’t take the time to get press passes and save some money on this trip. Well, there was no time to do that since this was all planned just days before leaving. It’s not difficult to get press passes, but it does take time to send e-mails and to communicate with tourist boards. More info about how to do that here.

    http://instagram.com/p/y9S1x6jNQJ/

     

    Athens was my favorite of the cities I visited on this trip. It can be a bit grungy, but it’s also modern. It’s the type of tourist city I like. Not too big, not too many people, good food, nice things to see, lots of history, and not expensive. And they have coconut crack sticks sold on the streets which I implore you to eat if you ever pass through or see them elsewhere.

    http://instagram.com/p/y7otHyjNaP/

     

    Last up, Rome, Italy! I guess this technically messes up the “new country” premise since I had already visited Italy on this trip. But I needed to get back to Wrocław somehow and that somehow was through Rome.

    RomeRyanAir

    If I’m being honest, although I wanted to visit Rome, I wasn’t all that excited about it. I had a feeling it would be an overpopulated annoyingly-overrun-with-touts city and that was precisely the case. I didn’t hate it, but it’s not the type of place I need to visit again.

    I would have rather spent 2 nights there, but I spent 3 nights in Rome because there were no earlier direct flights back to Wrocław. One “downfall” of RyanAir is that they don’t fly their routes every day. (Meaning: Don’t miss your flight or you’re screwed!)

    Note: Don’t stay at the Hotel Central Lodge. It has very good ratings (8.5) on Booking.com for some reason. Good location, but it’s gross. I had to change rooms because my first room smelled like raw sewage. And my second room did too. Yuck. The staff were nice, but it’s not a pleasant place.

    The first thing I did after arriving was visit the Column of Marcus Aurelius! (I asked the hotel’s receptionist where that was located, and she’d never heard of him/it.)

    http://instagram.com/p/zAUBLyDNR9/

     

    I didn’t do all that much else in Rome. It’s obviously got quite a few tourist attractions, but I enjoyed them from the outside. The Vatican City line looked like it was about a kilometer and many hours long, though I wouldn’t give money to the Roman Catholic Church to enter anyway. I did want to see what kind of spectacle they had going though. The line for the Colosseum looked to be at least an hour long and I didn’t feel a need to go inside there either. Though if it was Summer and warmer I would have. Mostly I walked for hours and hours every day, explored, ate food, and drank coffee.

    An interesting thing about Rome Ciampino airport transport. There are buses that cost 4-6EUR and the taxi’s have a set fare of 30EUR. I heard that most taxi drivers don’t abide by this and overcharge tourists. I was ill, wanted to sleep in Sunday morning, and I didn’t want to bother with those taxis. The Uber fare estimate was 34EUR so I figured that was worth an hour of extra sleep (saved by not having to go to the bus station for an 8:30am bus). It ended up only costing 26EUR. I thought I had some free credit (I do), but it only works in the US. Anyway, I’m quickly becoming an Uber convert. (If you’ve never used them and want $20 to try them out, click here.)

    UberRome

    My flight back to Wrocław concluded my whirlwind 3-new-countries adventure.

    WroclawRyanAir

    All told, my 5 RyanAir flights cost just $173.39. Oh, and since I’m exceptionally tall (1.96m) the flight attendants on every flight put me in the Emergency Exit row, which costs extra if you book in advance. I really can’t say enough nice things about them. You’d think I was being paid for this, but no. Though I’m open to it. Hello, RyanAir?

    The total trip cost including accommodation, food, and everything else was $1,100.18. About $100 per day. Not cheap, but I would’ve only saved about $200 staying in hostel dorms and I prefer solitude. Sometimes the hostel dorm prices were barely cheaper than the hotel prices. I would’ve also saved about $40 if I didn’t take the taxi in Bologna and the Uber in Rome. And then I would’ve saved maybe another $100 if I’d eaten cheaper meals. Most of my meals weren’t more than $10, but some were more expensive. Vegan restaurants aren’t known for being cost friendly, but I’m cool with supporting them. So, the bare bottom base cost of this trip could be about $700 and I added some luxuries.

    Interestingly, I’m not actually a big fan of traveling like this. I much prefer to pick a place and hang out there for an extended period of time. Not only is that cheaper, but running around nonstop wears me out physically and mentally.

    http://instagram.com/p/zKVqzcDNR_/

     

    And that said, I think I’m leaving Wrocław tomorrow to explore a bit more of Poland. ;)

    ###

    More photos from the trip on Instagram: http://instagram.com/karolgajda/