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6 Life Changing Things You Can do for the Price of an Average U.S. Wedding

by Brian on June 15, 2012 in How To, Lifestyle, Money & Finance, Travel

Courtesy of Freedigitalphotos.net

I’m a big fan of marriage. It has been very good to me. And despite the bad rap it usually gets in our popular culture, marriage really is a terrific arrangement – especially, but not surprisingly, for men. Married men earn 20% more than their single counterparts, report higher levels of happiness, and live longer. If men could get those results in a pill it would outsell Viagara ten to one.

What isn’t so beneficial is the ridiculously elaborate ceremony our culture demands to commemorate the occasion. Reuters recently reported that the average U.S. wedding now costs a staggering $27,021. A wedding in high-price Manhattan averages $65,824.

You’d think young couples would have far better uses for $27,000 than a single day’s celebration. In case they need help breaking with tradition, here are six life-changing suggestions for how to use that cash.

Travel Reward Card Smackdown

by Brian on May 16, 2012 in How To, Money & Finance, Travel

The best reward card for travel is not what you think

courtesy of Stuart Miles

There is a dirty little secret in the world of Mileage Reward Cards. It’s a secret no one else will tell you. In fact, most mile-hoarding travelers don’t even know.

Those miles you’re accumulating on your reward card. They’re not free!

You’d never know that listening to the countless travelers who brag about the “free” flights they get courtesy of their mileage cards. But it’s true. You pay a large price for using a mileage card. I’m not even talking about the annual fee most travel cards now charge.

This dirty secret holds true even for efficient card users who avoid interest charges and late fees by paying off their balance each month. (Anyone who pays credit card interest should strongly consider cutting up their cards regardless of any reward program, but that is a topic for an entirely different blog post).

Travel Agents for Do-it-Yourselfers

by Brian on May 11, 2012 in How To, Planning and Prep, Travel

When you live an unconventional life you realize quickly that the world isn’t designed to meet your specific needs. From the silly (30 day limits on credit card travel notifications) to the serious (difficulty obtaining health insurance without a fixed address), a range of inconveniences go hand-in-hand with going your own way. Even internet travel resources, as great and as liberating as they are, are built to answer questions different from the ones we need answered.

Sites like Expedia and others are great for pricing airfare on a specific itinerary. If you know the where and the when of your travel, the internet is awesome at aggregating flight options. But what if where and when are secondary considerations to price? The internet is less helpful in answering the question we’re currently asking: what is the best travel deal for a winter flight to a warm weather destination anywhere in the world from any southwestern U.S. city?

What We Learned Backpacking for 2 Months

by Brian on April 23, 2012 in Belize, Central America, Guatemala, How To, Planning and Prep, Travel

40 liter packs are (almost) all you need

Imagine living out of a suitcase no bigger than a 1.5 square foot box. That’s basically what Shannon and I did for two months backpacking around Central America. We’re proud to report that not only did we have the smallest bags of anyone we met but that our 40 liter packs were perfectly adequate for this specific trip.

While “perfectly adequate” is a true enough description of what we experienced, “barely adequate” fits too. We’d have been in trouble if we needed to plan for colder weather or multiple seasons. Traveling through Central America we had the luxury of packing lightweight clothing, although the highlands of Guatemala got surprisingly chilly. I was happy to have a heavy fleece I didn’t originally intend to pack but brought along because Houston was so damn cold when we left.

Even in colder climates, we probably could have made the 40 liter backpacks work if not for all of the electronics we hauled: two laptops, a digital camera, a video camera, an iPhone, a surge protector, a universal power adapter, battery charger, and the cables needed to power all this junk. Leaving the electronics at home would have freed up almost an entire bag – but we’d never do that.

No Reservations

by Brian on April 18, 2012 in Belize, Central America, How To, Travel, Travel Tips

Over the course of our three hour commute from Punta Gorda to Placencia in Belize we got to talking with a couple from the U.K. When the boat docked we said our goodbyes. They turned to their guidebook to look for accommodations and we consulted a map to chart the best course to the guest house we had booked a couple days earlier.

As we waited for our room to be ready we pulled up a seat at a “road”-side restaurant and watched the throngs of tourists from what looked like a cruise ship convention amble by. Apparently it was the last day of some kind of festival and the place was mobbed.

Before we finished our lunch we saw the U.K. friends we had traveled with earlier in the day, only this time they looked dejected. They couldn’t find a room and were leaving. From Placencia they’d have a four hour bus ride to Belize City, on top of a likely hour or more wait for the next bus. By the time they arrived in Belize City the last water taxi to their next destination, Caye Caulker, would have long since sailed. “All part of the experience,” they said.