Long Term Traveling… Have you done it?

Hey!

Before I make another too long of a post about a (short term) trip I took, I want some advice and opinions!

I’ve been thinking about it for a while now of trying to save some money and take a LONG TERM trip… like 6months at least. But I’m sooo scared to do it. SO SCARED! I’ve never lived outside of Kansas…and as much as I want to, it’s scary to leave something that you’re comfortable with, especially when I have my sisters, nieces, and my friends here. How do you just do it? I’m not very brave or outgoing… But I want to do it.

How do you take that first step and say “Fuck it! I”m out of here!!!!!!!!”

1. If you’ve done it, how much did you have saved up?
2. Where did you go?
3. What’s the cheapest and easiest countries to travel in?
4. What’s the best place if you only know English?
5. How do you take the step to decide to quit your job and leave and sell your possessions?
6. What reservations do you have/ did you have?
7. If there’s one thing you regret about taking a long term trip, what is it?
8. Is it worth it?

Please, I want all of your tips! I’ve read blogs about it but people go “just do it!”

Well my finances are in a TIGHT spot right now.. .I have to really try to travel when I want to! It’s not easy for me, I have a lot of bills. I just had to get a new car and that payment is really stretching my money. I just have a lot of woes about it. I know it’s not time for me to go yet, but to get information on HOW to actually go. I’d like to go in a year or two..but we shall see what happens I guess!

But please leave me all your comments and tips. As many as you can

Cruisin’ Together

In 2009, me and my best friend Laree booked our first cruise. We got our passports all ready (which were $75 back then.. now I think they are double that, but worth it!). It was through the Rock Boat. Which is a special cruise, the boat was the Carnival Destiny,  with nothing but bands. Talk about AWESOME!!!! There were a few artists that I already knew: Hanson, Tyrone Wells, Sister Hazel, and Green River Ordinance. There were quite a few I didn’t that I eventually fell in love with! Cruises are really affordable if you do them right. Since this was special, it was a bit more, but I’d say WORTH IT!

Well we got on the plane in Kansas City… and this was in January, so it was like 20 degrees if I remember right. EWW! I hate cold weather so much. Well the flight was surprisingly smooth, had a layover in Dallas (My goodness that airport is ridiculously huge!) and then eventually we were in Miami! It was Laree’s first flight and she loved it. She’s more of a thrill seeker than I am! Miami was warm and awesome. Palm trees!!!! It was my first time seeing them and I still love them! We stayed in a cheap hotel, like $50 for the night, and laid out by the pool. Most people looked at us crazy, but hey we weren’t in cold weather! We were laying out!!!

Well the next day we were on the boat. It was very daunting seeing a cruise ship for the first time. VERY DAUNTING! Those babies are HUGE! Like no one tells you they are gonna be the size of a skyscraper! I’m not afraid of heights…but I don’t always feel safe that high. After making friends with pigeons and getting through security, we were on the boat. I was very scared for a bit, no lies. But we ate the amazing delicious food. God, I love you Carnival. I loveeeeeeeeee youuurrrr food! ❤

beautiful Miami

No one tells you how long it takes to leave the dock, but we didn’t care. There was a band playing by the time we were getting ready to roll out. I had a delicious drink in my hand, dancing, watching the sunset over the beautiful Miami skyline. Sigh… I miss that!

Miami skyline

The first night once we actually got moving and left the dock, messed with me! I was a little worried about motion sickness but OMG..it hit me hard. We went to see Tyrone Wells and it was so rocky the curtains on the stage were swaying. And my stomach was swirling. I look over at Laree and say “As soon as he’s done…I got to find some medicine before I barf!” I couldn’t even watch most of that show. I was feeling so awful! Well after some dramamine, I felt better. I unfortunately had to use it the whole cruise. I could have made it a few days without it, but I didn’t want to take a chance! It made me VERY tired but I made it. Concerts are worth all their trouble, at least in my opinion!!

Tyrone Wells jamming with some other musicians on the boat.

inside of the boat. sorry it’s a bit blurry!

The next few days all kind of run together. It was a lot of awesome music. So many good artists to see! We ended up seeing all 3 Tyrone Wells shows and all 3 Hanson shows. The last Hanson show was crazy… me and Laree met up with one of the artists on the boat, Trevor Hall, after his show and made friends. We hung out, ate supper, and then Laree got drunk, and we drug Trevor against his will to see Hanson. It was quite funny! Until Laree got too drunk and disappeared leaving me alone.

Now, there’s a tiny thing you should know… I am stupid in love with Zac Hanson. Yes, I know it’s stupid. I’ve met him numerous times and he’s a great guy. You can’t help but fall in love with the guy despite the fact that he’s married and you shouldn’t fall in love with him. But sometimes my stupid heart makes Hanson shows not that fun. Laree had disappeared, as well as Trevor and the rest of our group. I was alone. Which wasn’t the first time I’d been alone at a concert, but despite the cruise being amazing, I was super emotional the whole thing! Hormones are evil.. .if you’re a dude, you’ll never understand! I forced myself to have a good time, but totally was overcome with estrogen and ending up crying. ugh. Younger self was such a baby!

One night, we decided to forget about the concerts and just go dancing. We got some drinks and I accidentally got drunk for the first time in my life! 27 years old. I told you I was boring! I was a bit emotional that day and do not condone emotional drinking, but it did help this day. I ended up dancing and singing all night. It was a lot of fun. I can see why people enjoy getting drunk. But I also know that even though it’s fun and I randomly still drink but it’s not a solution to a problem. (Ok I’m done saying my two cents!)

The HUGE Carnival Ship.

us and the wonderfully nice Tyrone Wells

We were supposed to dock twice in the Bahamas, but it was too windy, so we only docked once. It was in Nassau, which was lovely! We didn’t book any excursions so just spent the time chilling. We decided to go to the zoo, as we both love zoos.  We got on a bus and drove around the island for quite some time. Finally the driver drove us to the zoo, apparently we were on the wrong bus! It cost us $2 and a cigarette (Laree was smoking back then). The zoo was small and a bit pricey, but hey we were in the Bahamas! We seen an albino peacock and wore a bird hat. haha! Then we left and walked around. We both remember very clearly coming across a poor side of town… and Laree goes “even though it’s ghetto here, the palm trees really class it up!” It has been our inside joke ever since. Palm trees really do class everything up!!!!

bird hat!

beautiful bird

We headed to the beach, because neither one of us had ever been in the ocean. It was really windy that day but I got in anyway. I was surprised HOW SALTY the ocean is! Ohhh my! I had kicked my shoes off and regretted it. The floor was completely broken shells and coral. It was worth it all the same to say the first time I was in the ocean was in Nassau, Bahamas!!! Laree was a bit scared to get out in the water, so she just put her toes in it.

The last night of the cruise we were very tired. It had been a really long week of music and sunshine. We went and seen a few shows and then sitting through one, the dramamine was really making me feel even more drowsy. Laree looks over to me and says “Would be really old if we just go to bed?” I look and say “No. it’s a cruise it’s supposed to be for relaxing and things. And I’m sooo tired!”

So we went to bed at like 9pm and we didn’t care! At least not until the next day, standing there at like 7 am ready to get off the boat and heard about a huge jam session with like 5 bands/artists singing Michael Jackson (which we both love so much). But we knew we had to get up early and we’re not really nap people (Ok, I can’t take naps. It’s like my brain is completely against it.)

Well we got to our hotel and I wasn’t feeling well. I called it “land sickness”. I think going from the sea air to land air gave me a bit of a head cold. I was sniffling, running nose, freezing under a blanket watching court TV, something I’ve never watched before! It really sucked because we wanted to go have fun in Miami since it was our last full day there. But I think the furthest we went was to McDonald’s across the street. Ohhhh I forgot to mention how sad and disappointed I was to like find NO Diet Dr. Pepper. I drink that stuff like I should be drinking water! It’s my blood type! And Florida barely has it. My one main gripe….

Me and Laree entering Nassau

The flight home was super depressing….About 1/2 way home we noticed everything was covered in ice and snow below us. WAAHH! Ahh the worst part about a vacation is coming back to real life. For 7 days we were cast away to a different land where music flowed like honey, and the sun always shined. Sigh. Back to kansas….

Bye, Bye Ocean. I’ll miss you….always!

eww frozen lakes! gross! Ok it’s kind of pretty tho

The travel bug bite.

Hello everyone! Welcome to my new travel blog! I’ve been contemplating starting a travel blog for a long time. I see posts about it all time on Pinterest (boy that site is addicting….) and wanted to start my own.

But then i was thinking… well I only travel a few times a year when I can afford it and squeeze it in. I’m a single girl living alone, having to work numerous hours of overtime to pay my bills and have extra money left over. Well aren’t all of us on a budget? I would think so..unless you’re one of those rich people! haha!!

But honestly, I am on a tight budget most months. But I will try and help all of you find good deals! It is a gift I was given!!! I’m usually the first one my friends ask to help find a cheap flight or hotel. First, a little background on me…

I’m 33 years old, born and raised in Kansas. I live in small town, Larned, that has about 5,000 people and randomly smells like cow dung. Yep, it really does! It’s very frustrating, to say the least! Some days you want to go outside and enjoy the fresh air, but cannot, unless you REALLY LOVE the smell of cows. (Does anyone love that smell? Gross, no they don’t!!!!) I moved here in 2001 with my sister. I have two sisters, one younger, Kelsey, and one older, Felicia.  I never liked the town, and still don’t, but stay because of family and friends and have a good paying job. It’s the only good thing about small towns really, the easiness to make friends that last. I’m sure that happens in cities, but I’ve never lived in very big city. I lived in Lawrence (home of the KU Jayhawks) for about 3 months until an accident brought me back. And Topeka for 9 months, but couldn’t afford to stay there living on minimum wage. But I really didn’t like Topeka at all, so I’m ok with it.

Well I can’t say when the travel bug bit me. I remember being very young, around 7-9, sitting in the car just wishing to be anywhere else in the world except Kansas. Kansas has moments of good, even great, but overall it’s terribly boring. And I’m boring enough on my own, I didn’t need any help! I’m funny, but not that damn funny!!!!

Well I took my first solo trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to see my favorite band at the time, Hanson (yes THAT hanson!) and it was scary at first! You’re all by yourself, not sure if your car is gonna break down or what! It had moments of overheating once I got to Tulsa that scared me! I couldn’t find my hotel (CURSE YOU SKELLY DRIVE!!!) for like two hours, and I was shaking and crying a bit when I got there! But I love concerts (ok ok i’m a concert junkie) and the road-trip itself. The drive to Tulsa was about 6 hours and actually had some pretty spots. I found I really enjoyed it overall.

In 2007, I took my tax money and went to 3 concerts in a week. One in Topeka (My Chemical Romance)  and then flew to Allentown, Pennsylvania. I met up with some other girls who liked Hanson (yes again) and then we took a bus to NYC for the last concert. WOW. NYC was just like it was in the movies. We were there for a day….wish forever that it was longer! It blew my mind that every block had a McDonald’s and a Starbucks (Larned has NEITHER!) and the buildings were insanely tall. LIke DUDE! I’ll never forget that!

Oohhh I should mention that I do NOT like flying. I near have a panic attack during every take off. I hate speed and danger. I like to play it safe all the time! Honestly! I told you I was boring! BUT I will continue to fly as it gets me to the places I need to go!

Ok this is getting long here.. but the point is, I have a severe case of Wanderlust. And if a overworked girl like me can find a way to get places, so can you!