Hard Travel Lessons

I'm back in Seattle!

And I have A LOT of things I want to share with y'all. I learned a lot of valuable lessons in my 2 1/2 weeks of travel most having to do with finance. I definitely reaffirmed my 2 rules of travel:

1. Wear stretchy pants on flights
2. Bring snacks

Andy and I packed snacks for every day in the park and were happy campers for it. The heat was pretty miserable and somehow made us hungrier. We ate pretty regularly every 2 hours or so and drank so much water. I think we filled my 32 oz Camelbak at least 5 times a day.

My brilliant plan to avoid eating out every meal was shattered when our plan to get up to Orlando was foiled last minute. Our ride cancelled on us 2 days before we were scheduled to drive up and we had to throw together a back up plan last minute. The original plan involved getting dropped off after a day at Islands of Adventure on Friday and making a pit stop at a grocery store for some provisions.

We ended up having to drop off luggage first thing and go right to the park while our new ride was still around. Then we spent the day with Harry Potter and took a taxi home. This added $40 of expense to our travel budget.

Over the course of the next few days, the inability to get to a grocery store would prove to be pretty costly. Even being frugal in our choices we spent a ton of money eating out. Though we managed to eat breakfast at the hotel every morning and had plenty of snacks. We were also provisioned with some cookies by my sister so we had no need to find dessert every night, which is a must on any vacation A and I take.

Going to Universal on Saturday also included a taxi ride each way. Another $80 gone. Yikes. It was about halfway through the day on Saturday that I realized that we could have rented a car for a weekend for the price we're paying in taxis. But we were at the park with no Internet or car rental or motivation in sight, so we sucked it up and shelled out another $40.

Lesson #1: Use slightly more brainpower and consider renting your own car instead of paying for taxis. Especially in a city like Orlando where your closest neighbor is a swamp away.

Lesson #2 will be up on Monday. Hint: It includes the most expensive cup I've ever bought and some Harry Potter.

And a challenge is being issued! 


Andy and I spent a TON of money eating out so we are challenging ourselves not to eat out for the next 6 weeks. Possibly 8, but definitely 6. This includes the obvious meals out, but also pit stops to the Bux and snacks at movies and theatre. Pretty much anytime we don't prepare our own food. The only exception is (you guessed it) weekly froyo. 


Want to join us? Post a comment below and keep me updated on your progress.