There are no secrets. Plenty can be learned from others but in the end you’ve gotta do the work.
I find it interesting how some people gravitate towards perpetual negativity.
Right now there’s a plastic shield that’s loose under Marla’s car. It makes a loud rattling sound when she has her foot on the brake, but overall it’s just a nuisance more than anything. We’re going to fix it very soon, but it’s interesting to look at the different responses that we’ve received.
For the most part it’s a general concern for the vehicle. Well not for the vehicle itself, but the reliability of the vehicle, which in turn is a concern for Marla’s well-being while driving it. That’s the typical response and I quite expect it.
But then when the polar opposite is received it intrigues me. No concern, no asking of what’s wrong (or mentioning that something’s wrong in case we didn’t notice), but an instant negativity. A response along the lines of “that sounds awful” with a tone that implies “your car sucks.”
I kind of feel sorry for people who are stuck with a perpetually negative view of the world. If you’re always looking at the downsides and seeing where things in your life fall short, you’ll constantly be missing the good stuff.
Happiness comes to happy people. To live a great life you have to see the good in the life you’re living and strive to turn that good into great. I think I’m doing just fine with perpetual happiness, won’t you join me?
“Look at us. Running around. Always rushed. Always late. I guess that’s why they called it the human race.”
We’re always running, trying to accomplish more in less time; racing to the end. It’s easy to forget that with most everything in life, the important part isn’t the end, but the journey that we take to get there.
If a business makes more than it spends, it’s profitable.
If you trade time for money (any job) and make more money than time spent, it’s profitable.
But that’s the problem. What does it mean to make more money than time spent? Time and money share no commonality to properly be compared.
But truly how can you put a price tag on time, the most valuable non-renewable resource that exists. I know I certainly can’t.
We’ve all been there. Most of us have spent every single hour of our logged flight time there. We’ve all experienced the ups and downs of Economy Class airfare.
We’ve flown Economy or Economy Plus (thanks for the legroom United!) for every flight but one that we’ve taken over the years. First class to Hawaii was amazing, but that’s very off-topic for today. Today we’re talking about the nearly foolproof method that we’ve discovered to avoid an ever present frustration when flying Economy Class, noisy, crying, and sometimes downright rude, children.
Although this post is now, in some respects, old news we’ve been a bit traveled-out lately. After an action packed month and a half on the road we took a little time off from traveling and from posting on this site. So although I’ll be writing about events that happened more than a month ago (gasp old news on the internet!), there’s still posts to be published and new posts that remain to be written. So…onward! 🙂
Prior to going to SXSW we had many excellent suggestions of places to go and music to hear. We talked to our friend who used to live in Austin and found out all about the area while getting the inside scoop on the hot spots. We also received plenty of unsolicited advice from friends who’ve previously experienced the amazingness that is Austin, TX. Although we were extremely grateful for all of the advice, most of the “don’t miss this” suggestions were never put to use. Austin was a non-stop party.
Round two of our crazy travel schedule came to a close last week. In the last month we’ve taken a Southern Caribbean cruise, we went to Austin for SXSWi and finally to San Antonio to visit with family. But before heading off to Orlando next week I thought I’d check in with a tiny recap of our latest adventure.
Now that our second cruise is in the books I’m compelled to report that we made a rookie mistake. We didn’t heed the past warnings of other cruisers and instead spotted a deal and went with it.
Now we must forever suffer the consequences of booking an Oceanview Room.
We’re currently on our way to Austin, TX. Yes we were in Los Angeles in January. Yes we were just on a cruise of the Southern Caribbean last week. Yes we’re not only going to Austin, but also to San Antonio. And yes after returning home from Texas we’re heading right back out to Orlando, FL.
When we were in Grenada visiting Chrissy we were talking about our travels and the inevitable question came up. “Why are you traveling so much?”
It’s a very good question. One that deserves a thorough response. So of course I said, “Because we can.” She really seemed to like that answer, but honestly there’s more to why we travel in general and specifically why we’re traveling so much right now.
Although you’re reading this a few days later, as I write this we’re flying on American Airlines from ORD to SJU (San Juan, Puerto Rico). Shortly after touch down we’ll be boarding the Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas for a cruise in the Southern Caribbean.
While we’re extremely excited to be going on this trip, it feels like just yesterday that we were booking it. Well that’s because we in fact just did.Â
I’ve been meaning to write this post since we returned from LA, and now that our next trip has been rapidly thrust upon us I feel the immediate need to actually get it done, otherwise if I don’t write it now it will just fade away into the past and never be shared. So it’s time to finally give my take on the Airbnb experience.
LA was a blast, but a much different experience than last time we were there. In our post about finding budget accommodations in Los Angeles I wrote about the excellent resource that is Airbnb. This most recent trip was our second excursion to Los Angeles, but our first time ever using Airbnb for our accommodations. I was excited to try it out, but little did I know quite how spectacular of a choice it was to ‘Airbnb it.’ (<- Let’s make that a thing, like ‘Googling’, k?)
Here in Chicago we got quite a bit of snow today, around 20 inches or so. And although I’ve been told by my favorite Canadian that what we got was only some snow, it’s still a lot to us. Those Canadians…they can keep their snow, I prefer the beach. 🙂
Today I’m excited to share with you something that I’ve been anticipating for quite some time. In the past I wrote briefly about how we were able to get United to foot the bill for our airfare to Los Angeles by earning frequent flyer miles while at home.
The method I touched on was signing up for high mileage credit cards and then earning your rewards by using those cards for your everyday purchases (gas, groceries, etc.). While it is a solid method, there are two downsides. First, you have to find credit cards that are offering high mileage bonuses and second, you have to sign up for more and more credit cards if you want to continue to reap the maximum benefit.
While spending the last week in Los Angeles I believe I’ve figured out the secret formula to working on the road. Well actually it’s not a secret, and not really a formula at all, but I’m gonna call it that just because it sounds cool. The Secret Formula!
Anyway it dawned on me during this trip that there are at least three distinct forms of travel, each with inherent benefits and pitfalls in relation to working on the road. By understanding the limitations of each mode of travel, you can effectively anticipate your level of efficiency.
Initially I was planning on making this third and final cutting travel costs post about finding free entertainment on the road, but I realized that the entertainment that we’re partaking in on our trip is completely Los Angeles centric, but it also dawns on me that entertainment everywhere will be quite the same; location focused.
This is the second part in the series about cutting travel costs. Last time I gave a brief rundown of how we got United to foot the bill for our round trip airfare to Los Angeles, this time I’ll share how we’re saving on our accommodations.
Our next trip is scheduled up. It’s just a short 8 days this time. In January we’re on our way to Los Angeles, CA.
While our trip to Europe worked out to be quite a steal, we’re getting a bit creative this time around and it turns out we’ll be able to save a good amount of money. So today’s the first post in a little series where I’ll map out what we’re doing and how you can save some dough when traveling stateside.
Let’s start it off with the big ticket item of any trip, airfare, and how we got United to foot the bill for our roundtrip tickets.
I take every Thursday to share a brief story from the road. No message, no lesson, no direction in particular, just a fun little anecdote about our travels.
Today’s story comes from the streets of Rome where Marla haggled her way to her very own “Prada” bag.
If there’s one quote that you should keep in the back of your mind whenever you travel, it’s this.
“The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.”
G.K. Chesterton
According to Chesterton, a tourist is someone who’s goal is to check items off of a bucket list instead of truly seeing the sights, while a traveler travels in order to experience the world and actually see what’s in front of him (or her).
In my mind over planning plays a big part in being a tourist. On our trip I wanted to do it differently. Aside from the first couple days and our flight home, we didn’t have much planned at all. I wanted to travel, not tour.
Today I want to talk a bit about tours and tour guides. A great tour guide can contribute to an amazing experience, but does hiring a tour guide or taking a tour diminish your ability to truly see the world?
I take every Thursday (but if you’re reading this in your email it’s already Friday) to share a brief story from the road. No message, no lesson, no direction in particular, just a fun little anecdote about our travels.
Today’s story is about what it took to catch the Bears games while we were in Europe.