TRAVEL! how we do it: the nitty-gritty-details.

Preface

I hope this comes across as helpful more than it does like I’m on a soapbox? People ask us all the time how we travel as often as we do- I think people judge us. It shouldn’t bother me, but it does. Sometimes. And then, I remember that this is something we love- we don’t ski or boat. We aren’t foodies. We don’t drive fancy cars, or have car payments. We lived in less than 864 sq. feet for the first 8 years of our marriage.  We make certain, deliberate, sacrifices. I moved around a lot growing up, maybe it’s one of the lingering side-affects? I get hives at the concept of living in one state consistently, so Mike & I made the deal that if we stayed here in Utah, we would be frugal and travel as often as possible. We don’t spend $1 without checking in with the other (really.)- call us weird, but it works for us! We don’t go into debt for anything- cars, gadgets, etc., let alone for travel. We have a separate “travel” savings account. We cut back in other areas to make this hobby work for us. A lot of people have asked how we still manage to travel, so I wanted to share some tricks.

I am a strategist through and through. I am cheap. I am always thinking of what’s efficient. It’s a sickness, really. Mike says that as long as I can channel these compulsions in fun ways, he’ll leave me alone:) Every trip we make, we know we are extremely fortunate, and we repeat, “This could be our last for a while!” Here is what we’ve learned…

1. Flights

We choose where we go based on what we can afford... and we 100% utilize travel credit cards!! We don't say, "Let's go to Paris in August!" We choose the priority- the location, or the dates. A few years ago we chose to go to Cancun because we only had 5 vacation days, and we could fly there on a direct flight, fast! We frequently choose destinations closer to the west coast because there are often better deals, and travel-time is cut waaay down.

(Paris, 2005)

(Cancun, 2008)

Award Miles

Best. Trick. EVER. Two years ago I discovered we had unused SkyMiles on Delta. I also discovered that I could sign up for an American Express card, get bonus miles, and have the annual fee was waived for first year. Promos change often and vary. I signed both Mike & I up for the cards, and after 2 months we had enough miles to travel, free. The redemption of miles was the same for a flight to Washington as it was to Honolulu- this is a key piece- be strategic! We booked our trip almost 9 months out to get direct flights in the lowest mileage bracket. We chose the location that fit the mileage we had. Success! Two roundtrip tickets to Hawaii cost about $25 if I remember correctly (a few taxes/fees).

 SkyMiles can be used for hotels and cars as well (rates are high, however). I will say that although Delta waived Mike’s annual fee the next year, they wouldn’t budge on mine. We renewed both our cards to get companion tickets, but I regret it. They are sitting in a file unused for the time being. I doubt we’ll renew our cards next year. (If you're interseted in a Detlta by AmEx card let me know- I have some really good specials laying around.) **Update, we cancelled our cards, but signed Mike up again a year or so later. We scored another free flight, just because he got a mailer! Sweet.

We signed up for Southwest CC’s, again, on a promo. The three of us flew free to Ohio in December to see family, and will fly almost-free to Florida soon (our 2012 “trip"). We chose the slowest season to travel, waited for a sale, and got 11 free one-way tickets- all we paid for our upoming Florida trip was Mike's return ticket (about $175). Not too shabby! The SW CC’s required the annual fee payment up front ($70ish, each), but that’s ok. We’ve gotten our money’s worth! We also get great deals (and bonus miles) on rental cars. I’d recommend Southwest in a heartbeat! We’ve spent about $300 to get over $2500 in free airfare. Again, this is a huuuuge piece- we base travel on when and where it is the cheapest. Holidays are holidays for a reason. Don’t travel over them. **We've flown to Florida and Hawaii again using points since this was first posted.

Accruing Miles

We put all our expenses on CC’s and pay them off weekly. This way, we get points/miles for every dollar we spend. Beee caaarefuul. It takes some serious babysitting (and compulsive organizational tendencies) to keep things in-check, and paid-off, but it works for us. This is how we accrue miles so fast.

(As a side note, I’ve seen very little of a negative effect on our credit- we both have kept “excellent” credit scores- never below 810- and so far so good?) I also love this site! 

2. Hotels

Value-season, value-season, value-season. I could say this a trillion times. We go to Vegas in July. It's tradition! It’s scorching, but we stay at the Mirage (our fave) for about $70/night. We could get a cheaper hotel… but we love their pool! And it’s July... so we go to the pool a lot:) Generally, we plan this annual Vegas trip in the summertime, and choose specific dates based off when fares are at their lowest. We avoid travel the night before a holiday, or over a Friday or Saturday. We are at a hotel we know we love- great food, pool, location, etc. It may cost a bit more, but we save on other things by staying here.

(Vegas, 2011)

Summer is generally an insanely expensive time to travel (other than Vegas I guess:). Let’s take Disney World since that's where we are headed next, it’s on my mind! I know people are off school in the summer, but I would never in a million years go to Disney World in the summer. Never. It’s blazing hot, busy, and expensive! Paying four times for the exact same hotel room? No thanks. I literally found out the cheapest days to go in the entire year, and that’s when we’re going! In addition, I booked through Disney directly and got a free meal plan for the 8 days we’ll be there. That saves a ton. We wouldn’t have done the meal plan since we are cheap-o’s and bring our own food (more on this below), but who can pass up free? As a side note, we also chose Disney when Elle is 2 because she’s free! Once they hit 3… you pay. She’s young, but I think she’ll have fun, and I know we will. I love Disney World! We’re staying at one of their Value Resorts since they are… cheapest… but also because they have the best variety of food and lots of fun pools for Elle. Toddlers don’t understand luxury- they understand fun, right? I worked at Disney for a while, and have visited probably 50 other times, so I’m pretty familiar with the hotels. Disney hotels are incredible, and I’d recommend on-the-park anyday! It’s completely worth any extra money you may spend. Disney is a whole ‘nother beast, so if you have questions... let me know.

Never ever be afraid to cancel and re-book a hotel. I cancelled and rebooked our 2011 Hawaii trip hotel rooms probably 5 times. Sometimes companies will price-match theirs/others rates, other times you have to cancel and rebook entirely. I don’t mind. I’ll do it to save $20… oftentimes, much more.

This past trip to Hawaii, we booked a cheaper hotel in Oahu since I was more familiar with the area, and knew we’d be in the hotel very little. I went to a travel site and got a post-trip rebate; I sent in our 3-night hotel receipt and got a $60 voucher. That made our hotel even cheaper! We purposely went cheap-cheap in Oahu so we could splurge in Maui. We booked the cheapest room at the Sheraton Maui (I check reviews constantly on Oyster.com & TripAdvisor)- why the Sheraton? Because I read that they were great at upgrading! Because we went during non-peak season, the hotel was slightly quieter. I asked at check-in if we could be upgraded, and sure enough! They moved us from a Standard Room (parking lot view) to a Deluxe Ocean View. No joke, folks. It was heaven. All we had to do was forego a king size bed for 2 queens. SOLD! $600/night for about $275 (although it was even less because we bought a hotel/flight package deal)? Hawaii is fab, but know that oftentimes, you get what you pay for. Hotels in Hawaii are pretty pricey. We’ve tried other alternatives, but I think hotels are still at the top of our list (vs. rentals, B&B’s, etc.).

(View from our Lanai - Maui)

Thanks to friends who’ve let us stay with them a night or two when we travel- it’s great to spend time with people you don’t see very often, and a lot of times, that night or two of hotel savings means your trip cost drops substantially. While we’re on the subject, we LOVE meeting up with friends and asking them for lists of their favorite places to see, eat, etc. Locals know what’s best! Travel is verrrry personal- we aren’t big on museums and historical locals (sorry). Give us shops and beaches, and we’re happy campers! Remember this when you’re looking at/budgeting vacation activities. Do what you like to do!

Hotel Promos

Recently there was a Club Carlson (Radisson) promotion- if you stayed by 12/31/11 you received 50,000 points- I signed both Mike & I up for the promo, and when we went to Ohio to visit family, we purposely picked out a Radisson hotel. We made TWO reservations for two nights (meaning we had to check-out and back in again), but when we got home, I transferred my 50,000 points to Mike’s account, and we were able to get three free nights in Florida (we saved about $350)! We extended our Florida trip a few days for practically nothing. If we would have stayed somewhere not-so-touristy, or farther away from the parks, we could have EASILY racked up a 5-10 free nights. And we still have some points to spare. (Yes, I know I made a speech about Disney hotels being the best, but we extended our vacation and will spend a few extra days bumming Orlando around post-Disney).

3. Food

We’ve come a long way. We aren’t as cheap as we used to be- the first time we went to Hawaii we were poor. We spent $1300 TOTAL. That’s for airfare, hotel, food, everything. We know we could never do that now! We’re not that dedicated. We ate Ramen packed in our bags from Utah for 5 days straight. That being said, we still strategize.

We always share food (not just when we travel- we always do this- Mike and I can count on ONE hand how many times in 7+ years we have spent more than $25 eating out. Seriously. This is a golden rule for us).

When we travel, we try and save restaurants for a once-a-day event.

We eat out at lunchtime (it’s cheaper than dinner).

We try and go to “quick” or local places (non sit-down) where we don’t have to leave a tip (those tips add up fast, fast!).

We bring our own snacks.

We drink tap water (ok, he totally sneaks at least 1 fun drink/trip).

Mike always says, “When you’re full, you don’t remember if you’ve eaten steak, or canned soup. Full is full!”

We budget every dime before we leave, and after we come home we add up all our receipts to make sure we’ve stayed on budget (or under. That’s my goal!).

Another tip? Get a room with a fridge, and grocery shop at a local store! We do this alllll the time, especially at breakfast! Breakfast foods are uber cheap at the supermarket, produce stands, even convenience stores! Breakfasts at hotels/restaraunts? Much, much, much (much) pricier. Spend $15 on groceries when you arrive- if you're committed, you can save tons!

(Fruit stand on the North Shore - Oahu; Bread, cheese, papaya, and ramen from home = dinner! Hawaii, 2011)

If you have great travel tips & tricks, do share! I'd love to hear.

Here’s to traveling!

(Hanauma Bay)

hawaii: in motion (via photos & iPhone videos).

m&m: oahu & maui, 2011 from amanda petersen on Vimeo.

*p.s.- you have to mute the sidebar music >
that "duh" moment brought to you by me. i was totally confuised where "that" song came from- after all, it wasn't part of the video! sheesh.

hi instagrams.

"hawaii finale?"

ha! i found more.

here are some isntagrams from my phone...

1) elle the morning we left... eating her fruit loops with her loco ocean-spray-wave hair do! photos really don't do justice; 2) our first time at the SkyClub- we felt so posh. do posh people go there? sure. lots of important church people were in there. free food (we loaded up. cheap, huh? :). free wifi. nice airport bathrooms...; 3) flying out of salt lake and 4) into oahu.

1) mike outside our room- any & every time we're on vacation he spends all evening+night either on the balcony, or exploring! no joke; 2) diamond head from waikiki; 3) a family experiencing my nightmare: their baby's first time on sand is being filmed... & she instantly has a nervous breakdown! she hated it; 4) wolfgang puck express on waikiki- delishhhh!

 1) our first view of the beach from our room in maui; 2) dinner at kimo's on the beach- maui, night 1;
3) hammock at the sheraton; 4) when we were in hawaii in '09 we found out jon gosslin was cheating on kate. this time? osama is dead! way better news, yah?

1) ululani's shave ice; 2) all of the sudden i had a fabulous flashback to childhood as the couple next to us ordered pool drinks: when i was little my dad would order shirley temples! we'd never ordered a drink poolside, so i made asked mike to go get me one! i felt so special; 3) gigantic monsoon after we got back from hana. the luau that was planned outside our window was cancelled- shoot! that would have been a free show! 4) mike at a subway in honolulu... look how big this place is! are we in manhattan? i'd say it was only about a footlong (HA! get it?).

1) how appropriate. it was pure luck that the last shirt i wore leaving maui read 'i can still hear the waves...' tender! 2) the road to hana. we won't go into detail a second time; 3) our last night in maui... we were beat; 4) gobbling up some yogurt- this place was amaaaazing!

1) aloha, beach; 2) aloha, hammock; 3) aloha, maui, 4) aloha, last sunset which was viewed from the 12th floor of the honolulu airport hotel...

aloha & mahalo.

peace out for real this time.

or until i miss hawaii & find more hidden photos.

hawaii finale...

We woke up on Monday in intense sunburn pain. The worst part about sunburns is that they’re always in places that don’t matter- back, kneecaps, shoulders, toes… why can’t my face and arms be the ones with the (now) glowing tan? :) Irony. Either way, we quickly agreed that we needed to stay “undercover” all day. The Road to Hana was something I’d heard super positive, and super negative reviews- but it was a Maui-only thing to do, so we decided this was the perfect activity! After popping a couple Dramamine, we were off!

 Started off in good spirits... 

  

To make a long story short: this was the most awful elective experience we could have had on any vacation! It was 10mph (max), it looked like we were on a green treadmill (the first 3 miles were pretty… but this got old after another 40). There must have been 30+ one-lane bridges. There was nowhere to pull off and park. The waterfalls were all 1-4 mile hikes off the main road. All the guidebooks said break-ins were very common so I was paranoid to leave anything in the car when we did get out. The “famous” banana bread was 2” x 3”, expensive, and not so great. We were nearly hit head-on by a stupid local. The road was under construction. All the pictures we’d seen of the Road were aerial- but from our narrow road, all we saw was greenery and black pavement. We did stop at the “Black Sand Beach” which was really just big black rocks and rough waters. As we searched for Oprah’s house we must have missed the mile marker sign leading us to the “Seven Sacred Pools-" the one place I did want to stop… I flipped out that we’d wasted hours… 7.5 total to be exact… so we went back to Lahaina. We pulled into the hotel with our eyes barely open! exhausted and super queasy, the rest of the day was pretty lame. I’m glad we went so we can no spread the word that the experience is NOT worth an entire day in Maui! Many people suggested staying in “Heavenly Hana” overnight… no thanks. Oh, and it rained most of the drive, so that nice convertible top had to stay up. Not that it could go down in the sun because we were too burned:)

That was long after all. I do feel better ranting though.
Hana? Not recommended. But that's just me. Or... us:)

Now, for our last day in Maui...

We headed straight to the Gazebo- once again, we heard that this was one of the best breakfast spots! It was our only our 2nd breakfast out, so we were veery excited!
We showed up when they opened, but we still waited about 45 minutes...

We whale watched while waiting! :)

 I ordered macadamia nut pancakes & Mikey ordered a traditional breakfast plate w/ rice instead of home fries. Different & really yummy.

So. Full.
Good thing we went early! The line was over an hour long when we left...

We played in the water until it was time to check-out, & then we spent time exploring the hidden hotel spots. The hotel is built on Black Rock, so we went around the backside & hiked up to find THIS! So pretty. Why didn't we look here sooner? Shame, shame.

I'd just like to point out that somehow Mike captured a butterfly in the above photo.

This was the view towards our room, from the other side of the resort.
I'm pretty sure this was paradise? Yes.

 

We flew back to Oahu, stayed overnight near the airport, & flew home on Wednesday.

Travel took all day, and we got home after our Elle was sleeping peacefully.

Thank you a million times to my parents for taking such wonderful care of our sweet girl. She had a GREAT time while we were away- much more fun for her & us than she would have had in Hawaii at this age.

Thanks, too, for my sweetie for being such a great travel buddy. We had such a wonderful "couples retreat!"

Until next time... whenever that may be:)

Mahalo,

Me

more hawaii: oahu 1, oahu 2, oahu+maui, maui 2, maui 3, instagrams from this trip, film from this trip, & finally, hawaii, in-motion.

maui, day 4.

the hotel grounds were so beautiful! next time we go to maui & spend all our time here!

greenery + sand + ocean teal + the blue umbrellas made for the most beautiful color palate, don't you think?

kaanapali beach here on black rock was such a perfect spot to sit. sleep. stare. anything, really:)

we met up w/ ryan & his wife, gift, in a little town outside the iao valley. we had lunch at a quaint little bake shop. this business was right next door- how great is it that there are still people who call themselves "bookkeepers?" :) ryan is a great friend from hign school, and someone who has randomly lived in many places at the same time as me! ohio, florida... california for a tiny time, & he has been our hawaii tourguide on oahu, & now on maui! 

the iao needle.

gift & ryan.

cooling off in the stream. trying not to fall on my face.

like normal.

this crazy family was jumping from the main bridge into the shaaaaaallllow water below. we waited like 10 minutes for this kiddo to jump. he never did. talk about peer pressure- his family was calling him 'chicken!' classy. when we first saw him, no one was around... then a crowd started forming! some hawaiian's are... well, they live a very different lifestyle than we do:)

outside the grand wailea.

ryan & gift took us to big beach w/ a plan to boogie board...

um. these waves? unreal. they were more pipeline-on-the-north-shore-ish than they were tourist waves! bless pale, old, tourists who think they can brave the water... the lifeguards were just standing in the water, literally waiting for someone to drown:) that's a sign you shouldn't be in the water.

speaking of pale tourists! we need some color. it's been 4.5 days- where's our tan?

ryan & mike went in the water for... a fraction of a set of waves. and soon, came running/dragging out of there with their eyes the size of dinner plates:)

oh, and yes: scratch the boogie boarding idea.

on the drive back to lahaina, mike decided he wanted sugar cane. so we pulled over. why not?

mike's reaction to the sugar cane:)

since we went out to lunch, we had a fancy petersen picnic on our lanai: cup-o-noodles (carried in our suitcase from utah), bread & cheese, & a fresh papaya! for those who always ask- this is how we save mucho dinero. we eat out very seldom, & when we do eat out we share. always. it makes such a big difference! and it's super fun:)

headed down to the sand to watch the sunset... & nightly torch lighting & cliff dive ritual (below).