December 20, 2014

My first travel post

So excited to announce this as this is my first major adventure in regards to travel. I'm currently on a bus to Oakland, California from eastern Oregon. 24 hour trip and totally worth it.

I'm not an experienced traveler. This first experience is good for those of you getting ready for your first trip - an experiment in adventure. You can learn from me what I learned the hard way.

So here's my list of prep tips. You'll see more on the actual trip later.

1. Make a list of everything you need to bring. Right before you leave, check it. We forgot our water bottle.
2. If it freezes where you live and you're leaving for more than a day, shut your water off at the source and drain your pipes.
3. Make a budget. Save ahead of time. Spare change is a miracle. We saved our spare change in a piggy bank for six months. It can out to over $94. On minimum wage, folks.
4. Research costs, places to visit. Food in Cali is 3 times the cost where I live. Disney world is even worse.
5. Pack light. I'll write more about this later, but in short it will save you time, baggage fees and stress.
6. Buses are wonderful places to meet people. So are airports. I'm not a social person but travel is a rare opportunity to expand your horizons. Consider this part of the experience, its certainly memorable.
7. Take pictures of what you eat. And everything else. Phones are great, I didn't bring my nice camera because I didn't need it.
8. Keep a light journal with some highlights you can look back on.
9. Keep receipts, ticket stubs, etc. Screw souvenirs.
10. Leave your house clean. Coming home to a spotless house makes recovery from travel immensely easier.
11. Bring a water bottle with a built in filter. Not only will this save you money, its cleaner than bottled water and a lot of places won't let you bring outside drinks but they will allow reusable bottles.

I hope some of this helps. What did you learn this first time you traveled?

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