Category: Travel Page 12 of 55

Returning to Old San Juan

On February 20, 2023

Old San Juan

Some of the links below are affiliate links and as such, I earn a small commission from purchases that allow me to continue telling you my stories without costing you anything extra.

After our white-knuckled TSA experience in Orlando, we had an uneventful flight and landed in the daylight in San Juan. Once on land, we headed to El Colonial Hotel. El Colonial is probably one of my all-time favorite hotels. It has a great location in the heart of Old San Juan and a rooftop patio to hang out and enjoy the beautiful Puerto Rican weather! And of course, you can’t go wrong with their 24-hour open bar.

Once we were checked in, we headed out to see the sights. We saw everything that we saw on our first visit to Old San Juan, both Castillo San Felipe del Morro and Castillo San Cristobal. For lunch, we visited Cafeteria Mallorca, a historic eatery not far from our hotel. I had seen Cafeteria Mallorca on an old episode of Samantha Brown and it had not changed at all since that episode aired. They are known for their mallorcas, traditional Puerto Rican sandwiches dusted with powdered sugar. We enjoyed our meal so much, we came back in the morning for breakfast.

After lunch, we went back to the hotel and caught up on sleep and soaked up the air conditioning. When it had cooled down a bit, we headed back out to explore the city some more. We revisited our favorite popsicle stand from our last trip, Zip Pops. Nearby, Señor Paleta is more well known, but Zip Pops never had a line!

Christmas lights in Paseo de la Princesa

By this point the sun was setting and we noticed Christmas lights in Paseo de la Princesa (above). It was beautiful to walk through and enjoy the breeze without the hot Caribbean sun beating down.

This is about the time that we realized that we should have made reservations in advance for dinner. Every place we stopped had at least a two hour wait. We ended up getting seated at a restaurant and being one of the last tables served for the night. We are from a small town where most restaurants don’t take reservations, but we learned quick that that is not the case these days in cities. While there are some restaurants that book up a month or more in advance, you should probably start making plans a week in advance if you would like to eat before 9 pm.

Cruise ships in Old San Juan

One thing that made a big difference in this visit from the last was that there were three large cruise ships docked in Old San Juan on this day (left). I consider myself a bit of a cruise nerd and I was impressed that I recognized the Odyssey of the Seas from the air, but these large ships left off thousands of people into this historic city. At times, it was hard to get around on the old, narrow sidewalks there were so many people. Heaven help you if you needed to drive on the roads. This experience really made me consider the impact that these large ships have on the places that they visit. Yes, the ships pay to dock at these ports and the people get off the ship and spend money, but with free food and beds on the ship they do not spend as much as a land-based traveler. I’m not saying I am done with cruising, but it makes me want to figure out how to do it in a responsible way. Maybe we need to get away from the enormous mega-ships with all the bells and whistles and back to smaller boats that have less potential to overwhelm the ports they visit.

Thanks for stopping by! To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! For my list of gadgets to make your travels easier, click here. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.

Returning to Puerto Rico

By Ashleigh

On February 13, 2023

In Travel, Travel Tips

Old San Juan from the fort

Last spring we visited Puerto Rico as the embarkation port for our Southern Caribbean cruise and fell in love with the beautiful island. Ever since we got home we have been watching flight prices just waiting to return. When we started brainstorming ideas for a Christmas trip with my mother-in-law, we were looking at a few warm-weather destinations and we were shocked to find flights to San Juan for less than Florida or New Orleans. I’m not going to lie, the flights were awful. They had overnight layovers in both directions at some of the largest and busiest airports that were made even busier thanks to Southwest’s meltdown before Christmas. But, we made the best of it because we got to return to sunny Puerto Rico!

The first leg of our journey had an overnight layover in Orlando and we left security and slept in the Hyatt Regency at the airport knowing we would have to go through TSA again. There were so many people trying to get to their flights in the morning that the sign advertised a 65-minute wait to get through TSA. I am very glad I checked the airport’s website when I got up because we got ready quickly and got in line. At one point, the line stopped moving completely and we thought we were going to miss our flight, but we got to the gate right as they started boarding. We were told it was a full flight but there were only half of the seats filled. I’m guessing we left some people behind in that TSA line. If you have an early flight (I think this one left at 5:55 am), don’t assume the airport will be empty. Most airport websites will tell you how long the TSA wait currently is and if you’re checking a bag, remember to add on time for that line too. Since this was a layover, we didn’t have to worry about that line.

Sunset from our balcony in Fajardo

This was our first time flying Frontier and overall, it was a pretty good experience. We have flown Spirit many times so we are used to budget airlines, but they are not exactly the same. Frontier has more legroom. It is not as cramped as Spirit is notorious for. Everyone we encountered was friendly and each plane has an animal mascot. We liked flying on Max the Lynx. Frontier does not have wifi on their planes. If you need to work while in the air, look for a different airline. Every single flight we had left 10-15 minutes late and they were not good about communicating the delays. When we got to our departure airport, we got a text saying our flight was delayed but when we got to the gate the board said the plane was on time and that didn’t change until after our departure time passed so there were a lot of confused people standing around. For one of the flights, we got a text saying the flight was delayed after we had already taken off. We got to the airport in San Juan early and there was no one at the Frontier desk for probably an hour. The line got very long but we got to the plane with plenty of time. It wasn’t a perfect experience, but the next cheapest flight to San Juan for the same dates was several hundred dollars per person more expensive. Personally, I will take a little bit of hassle to get where I want to go and save money.

Here is an outline of what is to come on this trip report:

Day 1: Old San Juan (San Juan National Historic Site, Christmas lights at Paseo de la Princesa)

Day 2: Drive to Adjuntas (travel fail story), Ponce, to Fajardo

Day 3: La Ruta de Lechon (the Pork Highway) & Biobay Kayaking

Day 4: El Yunque National Forest

Day 5: Ron del Barillito Distillery Tour

Pin This:

How to Save Money While Traveling

By Ashleigh

On February 13, 2023

In Travel, Travel Tips

Some of the links below are affiliate links and as such, I earn a small commission from purchases that allow me to continue telling you my stories without costing you anything extra.

Over the next few weeks, you will probably notice some rebranding around the blog. I have a new domain name that I am working on getting connected to the blog and launching in a few weeks. I will be changing the theme of the blog toward travel. Over the past few years, my stories have changed from “how I got the shot” to where I went and what I saw. Along with that, I am going to be posting more travel tips mixed in with trip reports. Some of them will be generic travel tips like this and others will be destination guides. Thanks for joining me on this journey!

One of the questions I get asked the most is how do we afford to travel so much. While we splurge occasionally (Alaksa cruise, anyone?) we really are budget-minded travelers and we look to get the most bang for our buck! Here are some tricks we use to maximize our travel dollars!

Going-to-the-Sun Road

Set a budget: Not the most exciting travel tip, but it really is important. Each January we look at our expected annual income and expenses and figure out how much we have for travel for the year. This allows us to set a budget for each trip, big or small, and figure out where we can go that year. For each trip, we pin down travel expenses (airfare, parking, rental car, lodging, food, tours, souvenirs, etc.) in advance so there are no unexpected bills at the end.
Be flexible with your dates or destination: The best deals can be found if you are open to when you travel AND to where, but obviously that doesn’t work for everyone. As a teacher, I am limited to the busiest times of the year to travel, but I still manage to find deals by being open to the destination. Or, say we have a place we need to be for a cruise or something like that, you can sometimes find better prices if you look at neighboring airports. For example, for our cruise out of New Orleans, we found that it was actually much cheaper to rent a car in New Orleans and fly out of Baton Rouge. Or on a recent trip, we drove four hours and flew out of Chicago instead of Detroit which saved us several hundred dollars per person on the flights.

Marigot Bay, St. Lucia

Be patient and know when to buy: So, you decided where you’re going. Now is the time to start looking for airfare, but it might not be the best time to book. Experts say prices are best 1-3 months in advance for domestic travel and 3-6 months in advance for international travel. If you buy too early you could be spending too much. Both Hopper and Google Flights will tell you if the prices you are seeing are good deals or not and if you should buy now or wait.
Be open to various accommodations: You can save a lot of money by renting a home/apartment with a kitchen instead of staying in a hotel and eating three meals a day out. Rental homes can also be more cost-effective for families who would need multiple rooms. If you choose to stay in a hotel, look for one that offers free breakfast, or better yet free drinks.

Manistee Lighthouse

Factor in Fees: That $99 flight may not be as good of a deal as you thought when you have to pay for every little extra. Are there fees for checking a bag? Carrying on a bag? What is the weight limit for a checked bag (it is often lower on low-cost carriers)? Are you going to want to pick your seat? Are snacks/drinks included? All of these fees add up and sometimes the more expensive flight ends up being more economical. When it comes to rental homes, don’t be fooled by the low per-night cost. Remember to check the fees and taxes.
Skip the rental car: There are many destinations that are easy to get around on foot and by public transportation. Not only is there a fee for a rental car, but parking can also cost extra. In the event you want to take a day trip, you can find plenty of day trips with transportation on Viator or rent a car for the day with Turo.

The view from the top of South Bubble Mountain in Maine

Research cheap or free things to do in your destination: Pinterest is great for this kind of research and so are old-fashioned paper guidebooks. You can save even more money by checking out guidebooks from your local library. I recommend looking for guidebooks published in 2021 or newer because a lot has changed due to the pandemic.
Look into Memberships: Oftentimes, you can get free admission to museums around the world if you become a member of your local museum (make sure you purchase a membership that includes reciprocal admission. It’s not usually included in the cheapest membership option). The North American Reciprocal Museums Program lists their participating museums. If you enjoy botanical gardens, many gardens also offer a reciprocal membership. The American Horiticultural Society has a list of participating gardens. If Nature Centers are your thing, there is also a group of reciprocal Nature Centers. If you’re visiting two or more National Parks on a trip, purchase the America the Beautiful National Park pass at your first park (passes are good for one year from when they are purchased so I don’t recommend buying them in advance). If you are a veteran/Gold Star Family, National Park volunteer, have a permanent disability or have a 4th grader, you are eligible for a free park pass.

Kolb Studio – Grand Canyon National Park

Plan meals strategically: Eat a big breakfast so you don’t need to get a full lunch. Split meals. Bring snacks from home. Search TripAdvisor for restaurants with a single $. You can find really good places that a lot of tourists don’t visit that are also easy on the wallet. If you’re visiting parks, many have grills that allow you to cook even if you’re not staying at a place with a kitchen. These tend to be busy at lunchtime but empty around dinner.
Be open to different brands/chains: If you only stay at Holiday Inn, you can be missing out on better prices at other brands. I recommend TripAdvisor for hotel research and bookings. They allow you to read reviews from real travelers and compare prices on similar hotels.

Wild Horse of Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Wild Horse in Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Pack light: We’ve become masters of packing a personal item for a long weekend. Look for a bag that fits just within the baggage specifications without going over (I have a new backpack I love that works as a personal item on Spirit and Frontier) and you may not need to pay extra for a short trip. I have mastered the art of packing for multiweek trips in only a carry-on bag. If you need a little more room, check out wearable luggage clothing like ScotteVest.
Camp: Do you have camping gear or know someone who would lend your their camping gear? You can find campsites as low as $15/night or even free. Camping can be the cheapest way to travel, especially if you enjoy the outdoors.

Cruise ship in Juneau harbor

Take a cruise: Cruising can be a very extravagant vacation but it can also be a way to see the world on a budget. When you think about the fact that cruise fare includes lodging, dining, entertainment, and transportation, it can really be a very good value. In general, $100/per person per night or less is a good value for a cruise. If you’re able to cruise last minute, after final payment (about 90 days in advance) cruise prices tend to drop to fill unsold cabins. I usually need more notice than that for traveling, so I like to look farther out. I browse a cruise search site for dates that we are available and bookmark ones that look interesting or like a good deal. Then, I revisit those saved cruises until they seem like a price I would want to pay. I recently found a 7-night Pacific Coastal cruise for $400 per person (which works out to $57 per person per night) for an oceanview cabin over spring break on Celebrity, a higher-end cruise line. If the price goes down after you book, you are usually able to get it repriced until the final payment. After final payment, the policy varies by cruise line, but you may be able to get onboard credit for the difference or upgrade to a higher category cabin.

Thanks for stopping by! Do you have any money-saving travel tips? Let me know in the comments! To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! For my list of gadgets to make your travels easier, click here. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.

Pin This:

Camping Leelanau State Park

By Ashleigh

On February 6, 2023

In Michigan, Project: State Parks, Wine Travel

Flying over Leelanau State Park

Leelanau State Park is located at the tip of Leelanau Peninsula (Michigan’s pinky finger) and is home to the Grand Traverse Lighthouse, 8.5 miles of hiking trails, and a rustic campground. We decided to give it a try this fall and it was a great base for exploring Sleeping Bear Dunes and all there is to see on the peninsula.

The campground has 51 sites with no electrical hookup or modern bath facilities. Outhouses are scattered throughout the campground. About half of the sites are located on Lake Michigan and the other half are tucked up in the woods. The view from the waterfront sites is beautiful but windy. When camping in the cooler months (like during our visit in October) having some trees between you and the water can help keep you warmer. None of the sites are too far from the water and this would be a great campground to enjoy in warm weather!

While this campground is on Leelanau Peninsula, it is far away from a lot of the things to do. It is a 10-minute drive from Northport, 30 minutes from Suttons Bay or Leland, and an hour from Glen Arbor and Sleeping Bear Dunes. We pretty much left in the morning to explore our favorite places on the peninsula and came back to camp at night. If you are looking for a campground to explore Sleeping Bear Dunes, D.H. Day is probably a better option. But, if you want a beautiful, quiet, rustic campground on Lake Michigan, Leelanau State Park is a great place to stay!

Leelanau Peninsula from the Air

We used our time on the peninsula well. Of course, we flew the drone (see photos above) and then headed down to Sleeping Bear Dunes. Since we have the America the Beautiful National Park Pass, we had to make use of it, so we drove Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive for the first time in a few years. Of course, we did some wine tasting and found a few new favorite vineyards on Leelanau. I haven’t been anywhere in Northern Michigan that I didn’t like and Leelanau State Park did not disappoint! To book your stay at Leelanau State Park, visit MiDNRReservations.com!

Wordless Wednesday: Skagway Pano

By Ashleigh

On February 1, 2023

In Cruise, Travel, Wordless Wednesday

Takeaways from my first Travel Show

By Ashleigh

On January 16, 2023

In Travel, Travel Tips

Some of the links below are affiliate links and as such, I earn a small commission from purchases that allow me to continue telling you my stories without costing you anything extra.

This past weekend we took a last-minute trip to Chicago for their annual Travel and Adventure show. When I saw that Samantha Brown was speaking, I knew I had to go. Without much notice, we bought train tickets and reserved a hotel for the following weekend.

Samantha Brown at the Travel and Adventure Show

The Travel and Adventure Show features a few big-name speakers including the aforementioned Samantha Brown along with Brian Kelly (The Points Guy), Pauline Frommer, and Peter Greenberg of CBS News. At the Savvy Travel Theater, experts shared their tips and tricks to get the most out of travel and the Destination Theater highlighted trips that could be booked through the featured exhibitors. Hundreds of exhibitors shared information about destinations and allowed you to book your next trip right then and there.

While I enjoyed browsing the exhibits, some of the intense sales pitches were offputting. I much preferred the booths from locations that just shared their love of their town and encouraged you to visit over the travel agencies and timeshare salespeople who needed you to commit to booking a trip right then and there.

I like to think of myself as a savvy traveler who knows how to find deals, but I really did walk away from the show with some new tricks. Probably my favorite presenter (besides Samantha Brown, of course) was Russell Hannon the author of Stop Dreaming Start Traveling. He shared 99 tips to save money while traveling, some of which I was familiar with and I have shared with you, but many of them were new to me. For example, I had no idea you could get money back by buying Groupons through Rakuten. You can read many of his tips for yourself at BreaktheTravelBarrier.com.

One thing all of the experts at the show seemed to agree on was to use search engines to find the best price for a flight but to purchase airfare direct from the airline. With all the flight disruptions lately, you don’t want to have to go through an intermediary (like Expedia or a cruise line) if you need to get rebooked. Samantha Brown took it a step further and suggested that for each flight you take, you should have two backups so if the one you are booked on is canceled, you can call the airline and say “My name is Jane Doe and I was booked on flight 123 which was canceled can you rebook me on flight 147?” instead of having to wait in line to talk to customer service with everyone else.

They also all suggested downloading the airline’s app. While this lets you skip the desk if you don’t have to check luggage, it also gives you up-to-date information if your gate changes or if your flight is delayed (this was not our experience on Frontier, but more on that later).

For international travel, I learned that there is now a Mobile Passport app that allows you to use a much shorter line at customs if you fill out your information on your phone when you land. While this is available at most airports, I was disappointed to learn that the Detroit airport has not yet implemented it.

If you are like me and love getting new ideas from other people who love to travel, definitely check out the Travel and Adventure Show. There are several more around the country over the next few months. The speakers vary at each show. Samantha Brown will be at the New York Show. Rick Steves is coming to Los Angeles. Dates, locations, and pricing can be found at TravelShows.com.

Wordless Wednesday: Fjord

By Ashleigh

On January 11, 2023

In Cruise, Travel, Wordless Wednesday

Camping Straits State Park

By Ashleigh

On January 9, 2023

In Camping, Michigan, Project: State Parks

For the Labor Day long weekend, we headed to one of our favorite campgrounds in Michigan, Straits State Park near St. Ignace. I got lucky and managed to score two waterfront sites for the holiday weekend since we had some family that was camping with us. Straits was the perfect home base since we were planning on walking the Mackinac Bridge on Labor Day. The campground is right next to the base of the bridge and even has a trail to the bridge walk for campers. From Straits, we also took day trips to Sault Ste. Marie, Mackinaw City, and Mackinac Island (more on those trips in upcoming weeks).

Mackinac Bridge at night from our campsite

The view of the bridge from our campsite

The first time we camped at Straits one of our neighbors walked up to us and told us that he thought we had one of the best views in all of Michigan State Parks and he is not wrong. Being able to see the Mackinac Bridge from the campfire at night is pretty special. The waterfront sites don’t have electricity, so in the past, it has limited them to just tents and popups, but with solar and battery technology, bigger rigs are utilizing them now, which makes them harder to get. It also makes the view from sites farther back in the campground not as good. I booked exactly 6 months in advance (on Fat Tuesday, to be exact) and I wasn’t able to get two sites next to each other, but the sites weren’t too far apart.

Even though it was a holiday weekend and the campground was full, it was a quiet, calm camping experience. We had the last site on the end which is actually very close to where the Bridge Walk starts in St. Ignace. We could hear the announcer and even the Lt. Governor giving his speech before the walk began as we were getting ready at our campsite. We had such a good time, we plan to do it again this year. I have my countdown going for when to book this year’s campsites. Maybe this year we will figure out a shortcut to get from the campground to the base of the bridge for the bridge walk!

Thanks for stopping by! To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! You can purchase prints on Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.

Wordless Wednesday: Del Morro Lighthouse

By Ashleigh

On January 4, 2023

In National Parks & Places, Travel, Wordless Wednesday

Camping at Traverse City State Park

By Ashleigh

On January 2, 2023

In Camping, Michigan, Project: State Parks, Wine Travel

With our love of Traverse City, it is surprising it took us this long to camp at Traverse City State Park. The previous summer we had camped nearby at Interlochen State Park, about 15 miles from Traverse City, but this year we decided to try out the park in the heart of the city.

Traverse City State Park is located just east of Traverse City in East Bay Township, across the street from all the bayside hotels. There is a pedestrian bridge that connects that campground to the beach on Grand Traverse Bay. This is a modern campground with several bathhouses and electric service at each site, some of which have 50 amps. For being a city park, the campsites are good sized but are lacking in privacy.

The campground is very close to Cherry Capital Airport so there is a lot of air traffic and early morning you can hear the jets warming their engines. It is also on a busy street with road noise pretty much 24 hours a day and it was near impossible to turn left out of the campground to head into Traverse City. I wouldn’t recommend this campground for tent campers unless you are a very heavy sleeper.

The Old Mission Lighthouse is a 30-minute drive from the campground

The best part of camping at Traverse City State Park is the location. It is about a ten-minute drive to all of the shops and dining in downtown Traverse City or ten minutes to the wineries on Old Mission. As mentioned above, the campground is just on the other side of Munson from the beachfront hotels, which can run over $300 per night in the summer. A campsite in the state park is only $45 for a summer weekend night, granted you have to bring your bed with you, but it is quite a savings to be in the middle of the action.

If you are looking for a campground close to Traverse City with beach access, look no further than Traverse City State Park. If you are looking for a quiet, private, nature-centered camping experience not too far from the city, I would recommend Interlochen State Park instead.