Gift Ideas For Nomads

Last year, I did a post on gift ideas for active people, and now I am back with another edition of gift ideas, but this time it will be for people who travel a lot! Some of these are things I already own, while others are ones that I have researched a lot and will probably buy soon eventually! I will mark the ones I own with a asterisk below. P.S. there are a few things on the active list that are also good for travelers, like a fanny pack, my favorite Patagonia windbreaker, or Goodr sunglasses, but here are a few more ideas! 

Even travelers love chocolate dipped strawberries!

Merino wool ($20-$150+).* Whether it's these socks ($20), or something more expensive like a shirt ($75), your nomad friend will appreciate the lightweight, quick drying and less smelly item. I have tried Smartwool and Icebreakers and they are a little on the thin side, but definitely dry fast and don't stink, and there are other brands like Ibex or Unbound that may be a little thicker and make things that are not as geared toward active people. Also, I have heard great things about merino underwear and bras, but have never tried them myself. 

Osprey Collapsible backpack ($41). I usually just carry a Chico bag with me, but having a backpack for day hikes and such would probably be a better idea. I have done a lot of research and this Osprey version has gotten good reviews! I have also had Osprey packs in the past and they hold up well. 

Universal travel adapter. ($20) I have one of these that is just the plugs only (no USB ports) and I love it but I am constantly having to swap things when charging, or get one of these multi charging blocks (which I do have and use) which starts to get redundant and bulky!! If your nomad does not travel internationally though, the charging block is golden. With this one you can also charge one computer with a plug (or other three pronged items) and all of your USB items at the same time!  

Lightning charging cable with adapter. ($23) Again, cutting down on cords and accessories is very helpful! I currently still have a few things with a USB-mini, so this cord would not help with that, but it is good for any USB-A or USB-C (or old iPhone) charging! You can also get ones that are just USB-C and USB-A if that is more your jam. 

Ankor power bank.* ($59) This one has 20,000 mAh of charging capabilities, which will charge your phone approximately 5-6 times. I find that even if I am traveling in a place where there is electricity (aka not camping) this comes in very handy. The one I have linked is their newest one, which is an improvement on mine, as it has a built in USB-C, three ports, including one USB-C, and a monitor on the front so you know how much power you have left. Even if you are traveling in the car with your family, this can be a great way to have extra power if you are all trying to charge at the same time. 

Laundry detergent sheets.* ($12) If you are on the road for a while, these are great. They don't take up space in your bag, or use up your liquids quota and they are better for the environment. I actually use these in real life too. Pro tip: you can rip them in half and just use half and it is enough for most loads. 

One bag travel backpack by TomToc (40L). ($80) I have read a lot of reviews for which bag is best and is also carry-on eligible for most flights. Some European carriers have very strict rules, and a lot of the bags that will comply are super expensive! The TomToc seems the best bang for the buck, but if you want to spend more the Osprey Farpoint ($135) and the Tortuga Backpack Pro ($350) get really good reviews. 

Do you have any good gift ideas for travelers? Do you own or use any of the above items? What kind of carry on do you use when traveling? 

If you haven't already, you can fill out this form with any questions you want answered for my upcoming ask me anything post!!

This post is part of NaBloPoMo. You can find the rest of my posts for this challenge here. You can find the list of participants and their information here. 

Be My Guest

For those of you who don't know, I used to do a lot of photography. Of course, this was back when camera phones were not really a thing. Now I still do a lot, but so does everyone else! And what do we all do with all of these photos? Well, except for the few AI things I have been playing around with for fun, all photos on this blog are taken by yours truly! 

I am excited to say that yesterday I was featured on the Viewfinder website! You can find my post here! Please go and check it out and come back and let me know what you think! 

Lest you think I am using this as a cop out for posting today, I will leave you with the following five places I would go back to, in photo form. These are in no particular order, and are "including but not limited to!" 

Patagonia

Maine

Croatia

South Africa

Nepal

Have you been to any of the places I have mentioned? Do you like taking photographs? What places that you have been to would you return to? 

If you haven't already, you can fill out this form with any questions you want answered for my upcoming ask me anything post!!

This post is part of NaBloPoMo. You can find the rest of my posts for this challenge here. You can find the list of participants and their information here. 

What I Learned

San Francisco Bay

Have you ever taken a flight that has been canceled? I am sure many of us have. Well, this happened to me in September of 2022 and I learned something on this trip that I am going to share with you. First, spoiler alert, I got cash for my troubles! The bad news is that I did not know the rules, and the same thing happened to me in 2019 and I did not get any reimbursement. 

In 2022, I flew from the US to Amsterdam, had a long layover in Amsterdam and then had a flight scheduled from there to Vienna. I was flying Austrian Airlines, and when I went back to the airport to catch my flight to Vienna, we sat for a while before finally getting on the plane, and then once on the plane, sat again, and then finally they deboarded us and sent us on our way. It was very confusing for me, as in the US, when this happens, we normally get in a long line at the airline counter to rebook our flight. 

In Europe, there are a few different rules about flights. First of all, instead of going to stand in a line to rebook once our flight cancellation was announced, they send you an email with your new flight details. Although this saved us waiting in line, it was a little bit of a pain to not have any control over the new flight and my new flight was scheduled for 6 am the next day AND had a layover in Dusseldorf, so would not get me to Vienna until later in the day (and I still had to get from Vienna to Maribor, Slovenia after that, but that is a story for another day). 

The second thing that they did was they automatically booked us into a hotel, so once we figured out what the heck was happening, we took a bus to the Sofitel near the airport, where many of my other flight mates were staying. When we got there, we just told the hotel our name and voila, we had a room. I did not get checked in until about 1:00 am however, as the bus to the hotel had taken a while to get to us. So 4:00 am the next day came fast! 

Long story short, I got to where I needed to go. However, once I got home, I emailed Austrian and told them that I would like to have my ticket refunded and also get reimbursed for the hotel that I had booked in Vienna and never used. They actually came back to me pretty quickly and asked for more info, which I sent them, and then they said it would take a couple of months to process. They kept following up with me when the couple of months had passed, but I did finally get a credit of €250.00 in the end, which I was happy enough with. 

I thought I was just really good at negotiating, but I found out afterwards that there is a rule in Europe (EU261). You can read all about it here, but basically if your flight is canceled, depending on how many kilometers/miles it was, you are entitled to compensation. FYI, they usually will NOT advertise this, and you have to request it! So if I had not emailed them, they probably would have never said anything! Here is the breakdown: 

Up to 1,500 km (930 miles) --> €250.00 

1,500 km to 3,500 (2,170 miles ) --> €400.00 

more than 3,500 km -->  €600.00 

You have three years in most cases to claim this under rule EU261, so think back and if you have a flight that was going to, from or within Europe, you may be owed money. Just as a side note, in the US, it may be worth emailing them too if your flight ever gets canceled, as I have gotten some money back by doing this too (as well as a hotel room and a meal usually). It does not hurt to ask!

Have you ever had a flight canceled? If so, what did you do? Have you heard about this rule? 

If you haven't already, you can fill out this form with any questions you want answered for my upcoming ask me anything post!!

This post is part of NaBloPoMo. You can find the rest of my posts for this challenge here. You can find the list of participants and their information here. 

Future Travel Plans

2024 is almost over, and it has been an interesting year! To update you all, I am pretty much done with my bike ride across the US and Canada. I will probably have a few fun rides (day rides with no gear) and maybe a few more rides as transportation, but otherwise Bob and I are taking a small break. I am currently doing some housesitting and exploring some US cities before going home for the holidays. 

After the holidays, I will head to Europe and I have figured out part of my plans for the first couple of quarters! Here are some of the places where I will definitely be going in the first quarter: 

Frankfurt, Germany

Heidelberg, Germany

Strasbourg, France

Dijon, France

Lyon, France

Krakow, Poland

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Brussels, Belgium

Seville, Spain

Cordoba, Spain

Malaga, Spain

Here are possibilities for the second quarter: 

Istanbul, Türkiye

Cappadocia, Türkiye

Antalya, Türkiye

Fethiye, Türkiye

(Lycian way hike)

Tbilisi, Georgia

Istanbul

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Albania

Montenegro

Kosovo

(Peaks of the Balkans hike)

Albania & Montenegro

Just as a side note, for those who are unaware, as Americans we can only stay 90 days in the Schengen zone out of every 180 days. What is the Schengen zone? It is a unified zone comprised of most of the western European countries, and some of the eastern ones. It does not include Ireland, the UK, Cypress, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina or most of the countries east of Romania/Poland. Here is a map. 

So if you are going to be in the Europe area for a long time, you have to get out of the Schengen zone after 90 days and go to one of the other countries for at least 90 days before coming back. If you default on this you may not be let back in the next time! 

If you have been to any of these places, do you have any suggestions? I lived in Istanbul, but may go for a refresher, plus the grand bazaar has THE BEST roasted pistachios. I have also been to Albania (Tirana, Sarada, Durmi) and Montenegro (Durmitor, Podgorica, Kotor) before, but would like to go back for further exploration. 

If you have not been to any of the above, are there any other European places that have sparked your interest, and if so, why? 

If you haven't already, you can fill out this form with any questions you want answered for my upcoming ask me anything post!!

This post is part of NaBloPoMo. You can find the rest of my posts for this challenge here. You can find the list of participants and their information here. 

Money Monday: By The Numbers: October

Finally, things have simmered down enough and it is time for my monthly spending recap, along with a few other random stats! For the month of October, my bike trip was slightly winding down, and I spent a lot more time visiting and housesitting than I did riding. All of the below numbers are as of October 31, 2024. 

Montreal bike (they were everywhere!)

Mileage To Date:

Total Days on the Road: 222

Total Days Ridden: 153

Days Ridden in October: 10

Total Miles Ridden: 8,540

Average Miles Per Day Ridden: 55.8 (vs 56.57 as of Sept 30)

Max miles per day: 101

Accommodation To Date: 

Airbnb: 12

Established Camp: 35

Friend: 36

Housesitting: 18

Motel: 69

Warm Showers: 9

Wild Camp: 40

Train: 3

Total Days: 222

Total average cost per day: $39

Verdict: Although October involved a lot of housesitting and stays with friends, the motels were more expensive than normal and there was no wild camping. This only brought the average per day down from $40 to $39. 

Total Cost: October

*Please note that I eradicated my travel category since basically all my costs are what I would have categorized in travel before. 

Accommodation: $1,106 (↓ from September by $15!) Includes any place where I rested my head for the night. In October this included housesitting (13), Motel (9), Friend (5), Airbnb (2), Established Camping (1) and Train (1). 

Dining Out: $174 (↓ from September) Includes coffee, ice cream shops, snacks and meals at a restaurant, including bakeries and the train canteen. This was down about 30% from the average for this trip. This is likely due to the fact that I was not on the move as much so could plan my groceries and meals out better. However, I did go out and get food in Montreal and Quebec a few times, and went out with Elisabeth! I feel like this was more quality than quantity though. 

Groceries: $254 (↓ from September) Includes food and snacks from a grocery or convenience store. This is down about 20% from the average for this trip. This is likely due to the fact that by housesitting or staying with friends, I tend to be able to shop less often so can stock up on more things. 

Health: $234 (same - insurance premium) Includes my health insurance and any costs for health care (which I have luckily not had!!!). I expect to go for my colonoscopy procedure in the next six months and it will be interesting to see what the out of pocket is for that with my new insurance plan. (by interesting, I mean please don't hold your breath!) 

Misc.: $33 (↑ from September) Includes CFA membership, shipping, gifts, personal care (as you can see, there is not much of that happening)

Shopping: $4 (↓ from September) Includes costs associated with cycling maintenance, cycling gear, running and camping gear and other clothing or toiletries. The $255 average for this trip is mainly because I've spent about $1,100 on bike maintenance, which equates for about 62% of this category. Luckily in October, I barely spent anything! Bob sure is high maintenance! (*Dad joke)

Transportation: $169 (↓ from September) Included one flight for me and Bob and a couple of local bus and train rides in Montreal and Quebec. Why is it so low, you ask!? I used points for a lot of this, which I talked about in my last Money Monday post! 

Utilities: $232 (↓ from September) Includes a monthly breakdown for the following, even though some of them are charged only once per year: phone, Garmin charges, subscriptions, credit card fees and internet security (NordVPN). 

Total Spent: $2,205 (↓ 20% from average and ↓ 27% from September)

Verdict: Pretty much all categories went down from September and most were lower than the average for the trip. I am still trying to figure out what I should target for my budget for next year, but I am thinking that $2,500 a month may be a good number to start with. I do think that there will be a couple of things that I will need to upgrade next year (for example, my normal travel backpack is from the 90s!) but hopefully they will not cost more than the cost of bike maintenance, so it will even out. 

This brings to total spent for seven months to $18,407 or approximately $2,600 per month. The highest month is still the Tour Divide (July) and the lowest is April with October coming in second lowest.

Verdict: Being on the move more or trying to go faster equals more expensive for the most part. Being able to slow down and buy things in larger quantities and stay in one place for a week really does make a difference. 

To end this number heavy post, here are a few non-cycling related stats! 

Favorite Ice Cream: The Real Scoop in Wolfville. 

Favorite New Town: Wolfville, although Mahone Bay was pretty dang cute

Favorite New Water Related Venue: Hubbards Bay or Blomidon

Favorite Food Item: I really loved the family dinners at Elisabeth's house! However, I had a blast getting a loaded poutine at La Banquise in Montreal. Was it touristy? 100% yes. However, it was still a lot of fun and it was very filling! 

Favorite Book: God of the Woods. I will be doing a post about what I read later, or you can find my list on my Goodreads page here! 

Okay it's your turn!! Have you read God of the Woods? What was the best (or worst) thing you spent money on in October? What month is normally your highest spending month? 

If you haven't already, you can fill out this form with any questions you want answered for my upcoming ask me anything post!!

This post is part of NaBloPoMo. You can find the rest of my posts for this challenge here. You can find the list of participants and their information here. 

Bikepacking Route Planning

NGS asked me to really break down (into the nitty gritty, I think she said) the logistics for my trip. Since route planning is one of the things that takes the most time, I will start with that. Route planning is kind of a three step process: (1) prior to leaving, (2) weekly check ins/general routes (3) daily/last minute updates. 

(1) Prior to leaving. Before I left on my trip, I started by figuring out a general idea of how I wanted to do this. You would think it would be very calculated, but really for me, it went something like this. First, I knew that I wanted to do the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, which goes from Banff, Canada to Antelope Wells, NM (the Mexico border). However, instead of going "straight" there, which may have taken me through Nevada and Idaho before getting to Canada, I decided to visit some friends along the way. I also had winter to contend with so knew that I could not really go anywhere where it was still quite high in elevation or high in latitude. For this reason, I decided to stay near the west coast for a while, where it would hopefully be warmer. I also knew that when possible, I wanted to go on dirt instead of highways. 

To find routes, I used a combination of Bikepacking.com, other bikepacking websites and blogs, Komoot and Google Maps. Bikepacking.com has prearranged routes, with descriptions and maps that you can download. I chose to do the Oregon Outback through Oregon and the BC Epic 1000 from Hope, BC to Fernie, BC. To connect the two, I chose to use some of the BC portion of the Great Northern Bikepacking Route and then the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route from there. Then I used Komoot and Google Maps to fill in the gaps. 

For both of the above, they have maps that are usually made with the Ride With GPS site, and can be downloaded and/or exported to your navigation device. I have a Garmin Edge and so I then export the route to the Garmin for use on the road. You can also edit the routes on Ride With GPS, but I normally do my editing in Komoot. 

The Garmin Edge is like any other GPS navigation tool; it will tell you when to turn, how far you have gone, how fast you are going and what your elevation is etc. It also has a hill feature, where it will tell you data on each hill: how far it is from you, how long it is, and when you are on the actual hill, it will show an elevation profile. This is probably my least favorite aspect as it generally means I am struggling, but it is handy. 

Regular mileage/data screen

Turn by turn

Hills! Dark red is my enemy!

Komoot is like Google Maps, but it has options for dirt, gravel or road, and can also be used for hiking for the same reason. With this, you put in your start and end and then choose your method (road biking, mountain biking, gravel, touring) and it will figure out the best route for you. This needs to be taken with a grain of salt, as it often will take you on private or closed roads, or will go off the main route to get a more scenic route, which often results in more hills or more turns. However, it is a good start. Once the route is complete, you can save it offline into your phone, and/or you can export it to a navigation device. Note, this will also tell you your elevation gain and loss, total miles, time it will take, surfaces and way types along with an elevation profile. 

Google Maps was mostly used to look at city routes and to compare with the route that Komoot came up with to see if they or where they differ. However, I cannot export the Google Map to my Garmin, so before leaving, it was used more as a fact checker than anything else. So basically, before I left, I had the maps for my trip all the way to Antelope Wells, NM and I figured I would sort the rest out later. 

(2) Weekly check ins. As you already know, right from the get go, the snow caused me to have to change my route from California, as I had planned on going up and over some 6,500 foot mountains, but ended up having to take the lower, more flat, more road heavy route. This happened later a few times as well. What do I do in this case? I edit my existing Komoot maps, by doing a "save as" and I resave the existing route with a different name and then edit that accordingly. For example, my first iteration was Grass Valley to Klamath Falls via mountain, then the next was GV to KF via road, then the next one was GV to Redding via road! Every time I get into service and have a room, I double check the routes and the weather and update the route accordingly and re-export it to my Garmin.

Sometimes I can find a route someone else has already made on Ride With GPS and then I just use their map. For example, in BC I was going to do the BC Epic 1000 route, which goes over Gray Creek Pass. When I was in Vancouver, I posted on the BC Epic1000 FB group to see if people thought I would be able to get through and/or to get any intel on snow conditions, and I was told that I likely would not get through, so I searched on RWGPS for Gray Creek alternate, and found a map going around on a lower route. I downloaded that, exported it to my Garmin and I was ready to go. 

(3) Daily/Last Minute Updates. This does not happen a lot, but sometimes there is construction, or snow where I did not know there would be snow, or a road is closed and/or private. In this case, if I have service, I can make a new map and it will sync with my Garmin. If I am out of service, I just have to keep looking at the map, which is saved offline on my phone, in order to figure out where I may be able to go. I also always download all of my Google Maps to be offline in case this happens and even though I cannot use the biking directions when I am offline, I can at least see which route a car would take and how many miles/km it is to my destination. 

I also have to check the route every few days depending on what the accommodation options are. If I am in a national forest, this is easy, as I can generally camp wherever I want. If I am in civilization, often my daily mileage is decided by where the next place to stay is. I try to figure this out every few days so I am not doing back to back long days with no services in between. I also like to have a room at least once per week; otherwise I get cranky and hungry and stinky, so I may prepare my route to do a long day today so that I can have a short day of riding and a long day in town tomorrow. 

I know that is a lot, so here is the TLDR (at the end!) 

Bikepacking.com: tried and true pre-made routes (usually multi-day & more off road)
Ride with GPS: GPS routes that anyone can put online (may need verification) / can make own route 

Komoot: GPS routes that anyone can put online (may need verification) / can make own route

Google Maps: best for towns/roads/use offline for general area

Alternative tried and true sites: Great Northern Bikepacking, Bikepacking Roots, Adventure Cycling Association (fee required). 

Alternative mapping tool: Gaia GPS

What route planning tools do you use for your hikes/runs/bike rides/road trips? If you are going for multiple days, do you always plan out every day beforehand or do you have some days that are ad hoc? 

If you haven't already, you can fill out this form with any questions you want answered for my upcoming ask me anything post!!

This post is part of NaBloPoMo. You can find the rest of my posts for this challenge here. You can find the list of participants and their information here. P.S. This is a draft I started in September 2024! I am clearing off the dust here! 

This Ain't Slow Travel!

Slowed down. 2007. Hanging with grandma at Little Sandy Bottom Pond, MA. 

One thing that I wanted to do once I quit my job was to slow down a little and spend some time really getting to know a location before moving onto the next. I have found over the years that I do love seeing a lot of places, but often when we travel quickly, we end up seeing a lot of the touristy or busy places and really missing some of the hidden gems. My favorite trip to Paris was after I had already been once and I had seen the Eifel Tower and the Louvre and all of the other things. I went back and spent a month there and I had the best time ever just walking along the Sienne, reading my book in the park and getting groceries (and a baguette, let's be real here) every day and eating regular meals. I also liked to spend time in a café with a café au lait and my journal, whiling away hours watching people walk by. 

2004 vs. 2019: I look exactly the same! 👵 Right?

I actually went back again with a friend and had a great time with him, as he had never been, but was more into food than attractions, so we ate a lot and it was all delicious. I went back again in November and it was rainy, but I was with a running friend and we just ran from place to place, even the Eifel Tower and Arch de Triumph and we covered a ton of ground on foot, much of which I hadn't seen before, which was also nice. He also had no expectations of food, so I took us to four different places that had duck confit so we could do a confit-off and see which one was best (PS I love duck confit). I could easily go back again and explore a different neighborhood and be totally happy. I could probably go back ten times and be totally happy and see new things each time. Speaking of, I just read Melissa's post about Monet's Garden and of course now I want to go there next time! 

I want to see all of the places, but I am not really a fan of very touristy places, and I hate waiting in line, especially when it's hot and humid (Italy-cough-Sistine Chapel) and the woman behind you keeps saying in the loudest obnoxious voice that she is from CALIFORNIA (cringe!). Gag me. The good thing about my new existence is that I can take the time to find either less touristy places, or to go to the more touristy places in the off season, and hopefully have the city or the beach to myself. Do I care about swimming every day? Not really. But I do like it if there will be things to do, so I will plan accordingly. I also want to do some hiking, and of course, there is a limited time for that due to weather, so it may take a little jiggering to get it right. 

For the last year, I have been lucky mostly. Even thought I was definitely not slow traveling, I got lucky with the seasons, and I arrived in Canada when many of the provincial parks were still closed. However, the cool thing about BC, which is where I was, is that if you can go around the closed and locked gate, you can stay in some of them! There is no running water or facilities (I had to pack out my trash) but you can use the camping pad and picnic table, which was a blessing. Also, there are sites called recreation sites that are first come first served where you can camp either for free or for a nominal fee, like $8 or $13 in some cases. The great thing is that I was there in April and May and so I always got a spot! 

Camping near Banff, Alberta

In June I went to Banff and it was not yet the high season, although by the end of my week there, it was getting more busy for sure. However, when I first arrived, some of the lakes on the Icefields Parkway were still frozen and many of the park campgrounds were still closed. I figured it out though and got to have some nice nights there. Then it was the Tour Divide, when I camped a lot or just took what I could get! I was really worried about Fourth of July weekend but I ended up being in a place where it was not an issue! 

Crowsnest Highway, Alberta

Then I got to the Midwest and it got a little harder. Not that I could not get a room somewhere but the prices were a lot steeper and there was a lot less camping. The same applied in Ontario, where a campsite was often $80 or $90!! For one night! For a tent and a bike and no services! What the H-E-double hockeysticks Ontario! In Quebec there was some camping, but it was not really on my route, so I opted to take the lazy way out and get a room, but they were not cheap! 

The Toaster House, NM

I have seen a lot of great places and met up with people and done some fun things this year. However, this is not the slow travel that I had planned. I knew this going in of course, but still, I have definitely experienced waves of decision fatigue, especially over the last couple of months, where camping was more sparse, motels were more expensive, and biking infrastructure was not always great. I am really looking forward to cutting down on costs and mental power by being able to plan things a little more ahead and also to not have each day be in a completely different place. 

Bob likes colorful art. WI

However, I am trying to hold on to the last part of THIS journey, and to remind myself  that I have done a lot and learned a lot over the past several months. I remember my first day like it was yesterday, riding away from my parents' house in the drizzle (fitting, eh?), not having a clue what I was going to see or do aside from ride my bike each day. That in itself does have a sort of freedom, and I did develop a routine of sorts. I have honed down my packing system and dialed in my grocery store hauls. I have gotten used to (but still don't love!) wearing lycra. I am more comfortable riding on the side of the highway or on a single track trail than I was six month ago. It has been a lot of fun. I am not done yet, but this part of my journey is coming to an end soon. It's kind of bittersweet, but also kind of exciting! 

Next week I will talk about what I have planned for the next leg of the journey and will talk a bit more about my travel plans for 2025. 

When you travel, how long do you stay in each place? Do you like going to the mainstream attractions or are you more of a hole-in-the-wall kind of person? Do you ever get decision fatigue? 

This post is part of NaBloPoMo. You can find the rest of my posts for this challenge here. You can find the list of participants and their information here. 

Travel Planning: Getting The Most Out of Google Flights

Planning travel can be fun, and over the years it has changed (remember calling each airline to ask for pricing when you wanted to book a flight?) However, now we almost have too many ways to do it!! So I am going to tell you one main tool I use and how to get the most out of using it. Obviously flights and accommodation are usually the highest cost items, so in this post I will talk about what I use to find cheap flights, and that is Google Flights. 

Google flights is part of the Google Travel suite, and you can also use it to find hotels and vacation rentals. However, I will just talk about flights for now. Before I start, one of the best ways to get good prices on flights is to use points! However, I will be talking about that on my Money Monday post next week so stay tuned! Let's assume you don't have any points. Here are a few ways to maximize your experience and minimize your cost for flights. 

First, if you have any flexibility around your destination, you can put in your home airport and put "Europe" or "Anywhere" in the destination field and then you can pick depending on price. I use this a lot, as you can easily get from one place to another using regional transport or trains once you are there (which I will discuss more below). 

Next, it may make sense to put in multiple airports in either the to or from field. To do this you just click the plus and add any airports you want to check. In my case, I could go from SFO, but it may make more sense to fly from LA (LAX) for some destinations. If it is a significant difference, you can get a cheap flight on Southwest or whatever the local carrier is and possibly save money without sacrificing time. If you have a lot of time, you can even use further locations and you may even be able to have a couple of fun days in a new place! You can also check "San Francisco area" instead of San Francisco and it will automatically search from San Jose, Oakland, SFO etc. 

Doing this for a trip to Berlin, it was $400 less to go from LA, and a Southwest flight from Oakland to LA is only about $200. If you don't have the time or the patience for this, I understand! However, if you do, it could work out well. Also if you live in a small town or city, it may make more sense to choose some larger cities and then get to the airport on a separate flight or drive. 

I recently looked into flying from SFO to South America. From SFO to Buenos Aires it was about $500-$900 one way on Avianca, but if you go from Miami, it is $300, and you can get a flight from SFO-MIA for $90 on Frontier or $84 on Jet Blue (including one carry on). That is a savings of ~ $110 - $510 each way depending on which one you choose! Sure, it may take more time, but you could go a couple of days early and experience Miami too. 

Speaking of carry on, when I search for flights, I always put a few things into the filters. First, put your luggage in; this will edit the price for airlines like Frontier, where if you do not put this in, the flight looks cheap, and then you add your options (choose seat, luggage, etc.) and it is not as great of a deal. Just beware, as this will add the cost of baggage for some, like Frontier or United, but not for others, like EasyJet. 

I also sometimes deselect some of the connecting airports. If you have ever transited through Chicago O'Hare or Washington Dulles you will know what I am talking about, as some airports are a pain to go through, especially for international flights. 

Speaking of that, for all flights, but specifically for international ones, a couple of other things I watch for are layover time and connecting airport. If you have to go through customs, I would suggest a minimum layover time of an hour and a half, just in case. I once had a 50 minutes in Frankfurt and even though I only carry a backpack (no rolling luggage) I was sprinting and sweating to get to my flight on time. I don't know why they do this, but I would check that closely! 

For connecting airport, here is the rub. Let's say you are flying from Berlin to San Francisco. If you transit in Frankfurt, you will have to go through the European exit customs in Frankfurt, so you will need extra time there. If you fly from Berlin to JFK and then to San Francisco, you will go through the European exit customs in Berlin, and the US entry customs at JFK. This can pose a problem as well, as you may have to retrieve your luggage and put it back through security at this point, so you will need extra time. This is yet another reason to only travel with carry on. Personally I would rather transit in Europe and skip a US layover, and go through customs when I get to SFO, so I plan my flights accordingly. Or even better, I buy a non-stop flight. Sometimes the extra cost is completely worth the decreased hassle factor. 

Speaking of non-stop flights, just as with the departure city, sometimes it makes more sense to get a non-stop flight to whatever major city is cheaper, for example, SFO to Frankfurt, which can be cheaper and saves issues with transiting and customs, and then taking a regional flight or a train or a bus to wherever you want to go. At the time of this writing, round trip flights in January from FRA to either Marseille, Krakow, Barcelona or Seville cost around $200. 

Last, but not least, if you have flexible dates, you can look at the price or date graph, and you can toggle the "track prices" button to get emails when the price changes. 

Actually, THIS is last, but I never book through Google Flights or Expedia or Orbitz; I always go to the specific website for the airline. I also don't book one leg with one carrier and another leg with another, as I have done this in the past, and when one flight is delayed or canceled, it can be a rescheduling nightmare. The good thing about Google Flights though is that you can click through their site to book the flight on the carrier website once you have decided which flight you want. 

I think that is everything! Let me know if you have any questions or want more information. If you are new here and you want to see where I've traveled so far, check out my Around The World page! 

Also, tell me: What website or method do you use to find good deals on flights?

This post is part of NaBloPoMo. You can find the rest of my posts for this challenge here. You can find the list of participants and their information here. 

The Social Introvert

As I have traveled across the US and Canada this year, I have seen a lot of beautiful places, challenged myself physically, have seen some parts of North America that I have been to before, and many others that were new to me. This has all been great, and I have loved every minute of it (unless it was raining!) but what I will probably look back to the most is the time I have spent with people. These people are sometimes strangers, men I talk to at Tim Horton's, or women who stop me in the middle of the road to ask me where I am headed or if I need water. They are sometimes people I have met before and am visiting again. They are sometimes people who I didn't know would be important in my life, such as some of my fellow racers at the Tour Divide. 

Mr. Coffee; he kept me going during the race!
(this photo is about 30 miles from the finish)

However, the bulk of people I have met up with have been people I have met on the internet! This would have seemed weird to me twenty years ago, and I have never done internet dating, but now it just seems normal to be sleeping in the bed of a person who you have never before seen face to face! This is the beauty of the interwebs. 

The first internet people I met along the way were Warm Showers hosts. Warm Showers is a network of cyclists and hosts, where you can either stay at someone's house on your route, or you can host cyclists at your house. This is all free, and usually the hosts are cyclists, but I have stayed with people who are just nice people willing to help out and host and feed stinky tired people! So far, I have stayed with Warm Showers hosts in Washington, Alberta, Michigan and Ontario and they were all wonderful. 

My next host was a couple on Vancouver Island who found me through my blog because of my post on hiking in Slovenia. At first we ended up being pen pals, where I answered some questions they had about Slovenia and we swapped hiking stories and travel stories. They told me that if I was ever in their area I should stop by, and I did, and it was great! 

I also met up with several blog friends; you can read posts from Lisa (who I have met before, but was happy to meet up with again!), NGS, Kae and Birchie on their sites. All of them were great; everyone was exactly like I thought they would be, and I had an excellent time finally putting a 3D person to the 2D photos and written words. 

My theme: same shirt, different day!

Last, but not least, I finally made it across the country and ended up in beautiful Nova Scotia, where I met Elisabeth! Although we had never met in person before, it felt like we were fast friends already and we TWO INTROVERTS had no issues whatsoever keeping the conversation going. I had once asked her what the itinerary would be if I came to visit for three days and she provided a great list, and we definitely knocked many of these things off the list! We had perfect weather and there were no big crowds at the popular places, which was just how I like it! However, there was too much to do and not enough time, so I guess I will have to go back someday soon. 

Here are the highlights of the last week with Elisabeth! 

*Meeting her family! Everyone was so sweet and fun and so charismatic! I went to church with them on Sunday, got to walk the kids to school, and we had a blast playing games (I even threw the football around with Indy!) 

Walking the kids to school

*Peggy's Cove. I was going to ride there with Bob, but the road is small and windy and there is no shoulder! Luckily we moved the schedule around and ended up going all together, including the kids, which is probably more fun anyway, as I would have likely just done a quick drive through if I was on the bike. It was as beautiful as the photos show and we had fun jumping around on the rocks together. 

*Cape Split. This feels like the end of the earth, although you can see parts of Nova Scotia across the way. It was so windy I thought that I was going to fall of the edge! We had a great hike (I think it was almost 9 miles), a nice picnic and had a nice heart to heart along the way. 

My mouth is open because it is so windy!

*Medford/Blomidon. The cliffs and rocks were so red! The tides in these areas are crazy. Influenced by the Bay of Fundy, they can go down over 50 feet vertically and 3 miles horizontally. I think that the area we were walking on would have had roughly 25 of 30 feet of water on it when the tides were up, and the mud flats went for miles. We also saw two bald eagles! 

It's like being on Mars.

*Home cooked meals. I have been eating way too much cheese and crackers, oatmeal and processed meats. It was so nice to sit down at the table with the family and to eat real food! Plus there is just something special about something that someone else made, no matter what it is. Being at Elisabeth's house was like being with family; the house awakens little by little and eventually culminates with the walk to school, which was my favorite part of the day. 

*36 questions. Elisabeth is reading Super Communicators, which I already listened to on audiobook. The bonus is that she is reading the real book, and in the appendix there is a list of 36 questions that you can ask a person in order to get closer to each other faster. We went down this list and answered them and some of them are pretty personal, but it is fun to get these insights into another person! I liked it so much that I asked my family one of them in our weekly video call and may ask another next time. You can find them here under section 5. If you feel comfortable, feel free to answer one of them in the comments!! 

*Good weather. Like I said, the weather could not have been better. It was in the high 60s/low 70s during the day, the sun was shining and the fall colors were very pretty. We did wear a jacket from time to time, but mostly in the mornings or due to there being a bit of wind. However, it was really very nice and I even wore a tank top on our hike at Cape Split. In October! In Canada! 

I also got to meet John and Joy, had a handmade welcome sign waiting for me when I arrived, had lunch at Cumin, one of Elisabeth's favorite places, met the neighbors and much, much more. There were so many more highlights, but I am not going to steal all of Elisabeth's thunder!  You can go over to her site, where she will regale you with all of the details in a three part post this week, which I am sure will be much more detailed than mine! 

The only lowlight was that we did not have more time! I am sure Elisabeth was ready to get back to normal life, but I could have stayed longer! However, garbage and guests start to go bad after three days I had to get moving and Elisabeth had stuff to do! 

Have you ever met up with someone from the internet? Or stayed at the home of someone that you did not know in real life? 

By The Numbers: June - September

The last time I wrote one of these posts was in June for updates through May! My, how time flies. Part of the reason I did not keep up with this was that I was on the Tour Divide. This is twofold; firstly, I was trying to go fast(er), and so did not want the extra weight, so I sent my laptop home. Have you ever tried doing a budget review on your phone? I have, and it is no fun, so I decided to wait. Secondly, even if I had had my computer, I would not have posted due to not really having the time or the energy at the end of the day or week. You will see though as we go through a few things, that these period (June 14 - July 21) caused a lot of the numbers to change! All of the below numbers are as of Sept 30, 2024. 

El Malpais National Monument, NM

Mileage To Date:

Total Days on the Road: 191

Total Days Ridden: 143

Total Miles Ridden: 8,089

Average Miles Per Day Ridden: 56.57 (vs 48.91 as of June 1)

Average Miles Per Day ridden during the Tour Divide: 72.7

Max miles per day: 101

Accommodation To Date: 

AirBnB: 10

Established Camp: 34

Friend: 31

Housesitting: 5

Motel: 62

Warm Showers: 9

Wild Camp: 40

Total Days: 191

Total average cost per day: $40

Verdict: June and July were rough months for accommodation budget-wise, because they included a stay in Canmore with friends and then the Tour Divide, where you kind of have to take what you can get. However, I also did wild camp a lot, as you can see from the fact that it is the 2nd most used option. Luckily in September, much of my accomodation has been with friends or housesitting, as there were not as many affordable options in the Midwest and Ontario. 

Budget Average June - Sept: 

You ask, I provide! In May, you all thought it was silly that I put cycling costs under Entertainment. So, I have edited my categories, so that cycling and running costs are under Shopping. I have also added a Utilities category, which includes a monthly breakdown for the following, even though some of them are charged only once per year: phone, Garmin charges, subscriptions, credit card fees and internet security (NordVPN). 

Accommodation: $1,041 (↓ from May, highest month August --> $1,412)

Dining Out: $348  (↑ from May, highest month July --> $518)

Groceries: $329  (↑ from May, highest month July --> $400)

Health: $234 (same - insurance premium)

Misc.: $122  (↑ from May - includes CFA membership, shipping, gifts)

Shopping: $287 (↑ from May, highest month July --> $669)

Transportation: $267 (↑ from May, highest month Sept --> $652)

Utilities: $226 (new category)

Average Total Spent: $2,854 ( (↑ 21% from May numbers)

Verdict: Many of these costs, as you can see from the highest month (July) were incurred during the Tour Divide, where I ate more, ate out more, shopped at higher cost food stores, fixed the bike a lot (hence the $669 shopping amount in July), and stayed in whatever room was near the course. This was not really a budget portion of my trip (total spending in July was $3,637). However, if you take out July, my average spending goes down by about 36%. Although I may not have months like this very often, I like to keep it in, as it gives me a good idea of the ebbs and flows of spending that will happen when traveling. For example, although my lodging in September was half the amount of August, in September I paid for a flight that I will not take until December, so my monthly total was not a lot lower. I look forward to doing a recap at the end of the year where the spending flattens out a bit, as month by month is a little harder to see the actual costs. 

Fun side note, in finance we call this smoothing, and it is often a lot easier to look back on several months or years worth of data rather than look at it day by day or week by week. For example if you look at your investment account every day, you could easily get anxious for four days out of every five, but if you look at the last ten years, you will probably note a general upward trajectory. 

Overall Spending To Date: 

Currently, for the six months of full time bike travel, my average spending per month is $2,564. The breakdown per month is: 

April: $1,881 (75% California/Oregon/Washington USA, 25% BC, Canada)

May: $1,845 (100% BC, Canada)
June: $2,410 (50% MT/ID/WY, USA, 50% BC/Alberta, Canada)

July: $3,637 (100% CO/NM/IL/WI, USA) <-- Highest

August: $2,862 (67% MN/WI/MI, USA, 33% ON, Canada)

September: $2,749 (35% OR/NY, USA, 65% ON/QC, Canada)

Verdict: The west has cheaper accomodation and more available wild camping (ie free) options due to there being a lot more national forest, BLM and Crown land. Also, most likely even the motels in the west were a lot cheaper in April than they were in July. I am also getting more tired or more lazy as time goes by, and am not as diligent about always camping or getting food from the grocery store as I was in the beginning.  

To end this number heavy post, here are a few non-cycling related stats! 

Favorite Ice Cream: The mint chip at The Clark Store outside of Steamboat Springs, CO. It was cash only, but a double scoop only cost me $5 and the kids serving it were top notch! 

Double scoop of mint!

Favorite New Town: Marquette, MI. The entire UP was nice, but the town of Marquette checks a lot of boxes. It is right on Lake Superior, it has a sweet bakery (Huron Mountain), is laid back, has good coffee, is walkable, has old buildings, has a Saturday farmers market, and has excellent bike paths! Win, win! 

Marquette Bay

Favorite New Water Related Venue: Although all of the Great Lakes were beautiful, I have a special spot in my heart for Lake Huron. I put my feet into all five of them, but was able to swim a few times in Lake Huron, and it was fabulous. Actually my first week or so in Ontario was all along Lake Huron and other waterways and every morning I got to see the sun rise over the water and it was very special. 

Lake Huron at Blind River

Favorite Food Item: I am back in the land of pate, of which I am a big fan. When I was in France, it was not uncommon for me to sometimes eat bread and pate a few times a day. Currently, I am not doing that, but it is nice to have the option! Bring me the liver! 

Foie!

Favorite Book: I know I have mentioned this before, but I really enjoyed The Indifferent Stars Above. Another one that was thought provoking was The Anxious Generation, which I've also already mentioned. My largest category for star ratings is four stars, so there are a ton more I could add, but you can look at them on my Goodreads page here instead! 

Okay it's your turn!! Do you like pate? What is your favorite water related venue that you have been to? What was your favorite book last month and why?