Economic Tips & Tricks for Travelers
Not travel agent hacks, so much as, ways of traveling, expecting and turning a trip to one’s advantage — #1
Wednesday, September 7th, 2022
Dear Freedom Friends,
Today is my youngest son’s Birthday Eve! Four days ago, at 2:09pm, his older brother turned 24, and tomorrow, at 9:02am, Jordi will celebrate the completion of his 21st year on this planet — officially beginning his 22nd! Notice the times of their births? Pretty cool juxtaposition, eh? Oh, and did I mention, Jordi arrived in Scotland yesterday? Traveling on his own dime — I’m super happy for my son!
OKAY — let’s talk travel tips and tricks. Am I going to tell you how to get 50% off your next airline flight or 75% off a fancy hotel? No. I’m actually fairly averse to the pursuit of discounts, coupons and the like. In my experience, I’ve generally found that when something is offered cheaply or you’re trying to dodge a reasonable expense — you’re on your way to getting screwed.
Aside from trying to book flights in advance, choosing the days of travel that seem to be generally cheaper and traveling off-season, I’d prefer to pay a few extra hundred dollars and be done with it — than “waste time” chasing down deals that come with a pile of red tape and a small book worth of fine print.
But, in other ways, I’ve discovered great ways to make a vacation work for me on a number of levels. I’ll begin with my “trashy clothing” approach to souvenirs! Full transparency, this works especially well for me, because I have less clothes at home than most people probably pack for a 2 week trip! I can literally tell you exactly what’s hanging in my closet (about 11 items), I can describe every pair of pants I own (seven pairs), my socks are all matching and I have fewer pairs of shoes than most toddlers. So, if you’re swimming in garments and regularly find a shirt and think, “Oh wow, where did this come from?” This trick may not be for you.
TRICK: ALWAYS PACK YOUR RATTIEST CLOTHING FOR A TRIP
When I pack for a trip, I bring nothing that I want to wear ever again. If it doesn’t have multiple holes, the seam falling apart in the crotch, stains, torn bits and fabric so stretched out it sags and wrinkles in the ugliest (yet most comfortable) way…it doesn’t come.
Why? Two reasons.
(1) We all deserve to be thoroughly and healthfully comfortable on a plane flight, and if you’re going to be in the air for more than 3 hours, you need to be wearing super comfy clothing. Usually, that means old, worn out and way too big.
(2) None of it is coming home with you.
BEFORE WE GO ANY FURTHER - WHAT IS A SOUVENIR ANYWAY?
Take a moment to consider this question. What comes to mind? If typical crap from a souvenir shop comes to mind, this Substack is perfect for you!
As a souvenir, photos can suffice, if we take the time to print them out and frame them, or throw them up on our computer or phone as a screensaver or wallpaper. But, there’s something quite different about an object that we can touch, feel, wear and use. Not to be maudlin, but consider how the smell of one’s deceased parent’s house or clothing can bring about a whirlwind of memories. I know this from personal experience, as I’ve kept one small drawer full of my Dad’s clothing and when I’m having a rough day, I crack open the drawer of the dresser he built when I was a baby and I take a whiff. In a similar way, the smell, taste, sound and texture of an object brought home from a trip or vacation (or a meaningful experience of any kind) can have a powerful effect.
Which brings us back to the “ratty clothing” trick! When I return home from traveling throughout the world, from adventuring and moving and experiencing places on this planet that are not easy to get to…I want my bag to be filled with souvenirs!
But, not of the “made in China” plastic key ring variety. The commercialized version of souvenirs actually breaks my heart, as we’ve become so quickly trained up to view utter crap as worthy of our money, time and attention.
SOUVENIR: First recorded in 1775 as meaning “a remembrance or memory,” the noun souvenir stems from the French souvenir “to remember, come to mind.” A few years later, it took on the sense of “a token” of an event or experience.
A souvenir, in truth, need not come from a souvenir shop. It is an object, of any sort, that we attach meaning to, and which triggers the emotions of the moment when we see or engage with the “token” later in our lives. What we desire is an emotional kick, a flurry of feelings and a blissful return (however briefly) to a past experience that we may find impossible or very difficult to repeat. So, a truly amazing souvenir is one which we touch, engage with and/or wear as often as possible! Or, you can frame it, protect it, and even secret it away for private moments of remembrance…that’s fine, too.
But, for me, as a way of saving money — I bring home clothing. Think about it! If you’re going to buy a new pair of sandals anyway, WHO - OH WHY! - would you buy them at home? When you could buy them on your trip and spend the rest of the summer (or the next three summers) wearing a literal souvenir? Or tea, that you can drink with friends? Or a scarf, that you’ll wear for decades? Or a pair of sunglasses? Or, or, or!
CLOTHING, SPICES, TEA & SHOES THAT TELL A STORY
“Oh my goodness! I love your shoes! Where did you get them?” — And that’s my cue! Every time I wear one of two pairs of shoes I brought home from Skopje Macedonia, I have the opportunity to smile and share my delightful memories with another person. I’ve been wearing these remembrances for over four years now, and how’s that for a great way to keep that trip with my son fresh in my mind? Once we’re on the topic, more questions flow, and I’m reminded of the tinctures I purchased at a nunnery that goes back almost 2,000 years, the big, fat bumble bee that my son and I followed for almost a half an hour as she searched for a new home, the Holocaust Museum we visited where we learned about the many centuries of the Holocaust Experience (long before Hitler was born), the Romani family begging in the center of town, the kind local men who brought the poor boy into the cafe, chatting with him while buying him more lunch than he could eat, and the dismaying amount of plastic trash floating down the river AND how we learned that Greece has installed netting to capture the trash before it can flow into the Mediterranean.
All of these small memories could have been very easily forgotten, if it were not for those shoes and the curiosity, questions and conversation they elicit.
PACK WHAT YOU NEED TO REPLACE
Do not shop “for” a trip. In fact, do the opposite! I am currently traveling through Iceland, England, Ireland and Scotland, so I have been thinking about winter clothing. My boots at home are five or six years old, thoroughly stretched out to the point of being dangerous to wear and I think a fifth generation of spiders have set up shop. They’re toast. (The boots - not the spiders.) So, did I buy a pair of warm, waterproof boots for my trip to cold, wet Scotland? Obviously not. Because, where else to buy amazing, effective, awesome new boots than IN SCOTLAND? I was in the same boat with my one pair of sandals at home that are so loose and worn that I’m at serious risk of twisting an ankle every time I wear them. In Bath, the land of ancient Roman Culture and Jane Austen novels, I found the perfect pair of sandals!
My shopping list reads like my packing list:
Sports bra (replaced in Bath, England)
Stretchy shorts (replaced in Bath, England)
2 stained T-shirts with holes (replaced in Bath, England)
I Needed a Warm Layer (Icelandic Sweater bought in a Thrift Store!)
Dying pair of socks (will buy one pair in Scotland to go with the boots)
Two pairs of sagging, stained, worn out pants (replaced in Bath)
Two scarves chewed by my sons’ pet rats (replaced in Edinburgh)
Ask yourself: “Did I spend any money on souvenirs at all?”
No, I didn’t. But I got them, all the same. And all it cost me was a few days of walking around in crappy clothes, keeping an eye out for truly awesome replacements that would keep my travels fresh and alive in my mind, for years to come.
FINAL TRICK - TO SHIP OR NOT TO SHIP, THAT IS THE QUESTION!
The simple truth is: we can’t buy everything everywhere. Even in America, many things are not available. So, sometimes - bringing it home with you, is the only way you can get it or share it with friends and family. This is where shipping (and not shipping) come into play.
The boots above are sold for a reasonable price here in the UK. Their website says they ship for free, but of course, only within the UK. I couldn’t find my correct size in the store, so I was left with the option of ordering online and shipping them home - but the price doubled! Luckily, I’m in the country for another 10 days and I’ll be staying at my Mom’s place. So, I am having the shoes shipped to her house! Thanks fully, it’s only $9.45 pounds to have them rushed overnight (otherwise they could take 7-10 days to ship and I’d risk them not arriving in time). End result, I will wear them on the plane when I head home, saving myself $180 in shipping charges! That savings neatly covered the cost of my sandals AND another pair of waterproof shoes that are awesome, gorgeous and will last me YEARS!
On another note, when we were in Istanbul (where an Air BnB costs about $12 USD per night and the round trip 12-hour both ways first class sleeper cabin on the train cost $120 per person) — in the USA that would be $400 or more, easily — we purchased a bunch of food items to bring the “taste of Istanbul” home to the family. Once we were in Macedonia, and I’d replaced my dying tennis shoes with those awesome handmade shoes I mentioned earlier, I knew I had to “unload” some of what we were carrying…and…in Macedonia, it only cost be $30 to ship a TON of stuff! So, sometimes, if you’re in a country with cheap shipping - it can be worthwhile to ship things home while on the road.
Next time, I’ll wax poetic about finding inexpensive hostels, managing food costs, the joys of traveling through less popular countries or in the off-season, and I’ll spend some time extolling the virtues (and potential pitfalls) of workaway.info. Until then, never believe you can’t travel. Because, you can.