Intro to Travel Like a Scotsman





My husband and I had travelled quite a lot before he retired, but primarily in the U.S., either visiting friends or family.  Once we went to his homeland of Scotland so that I could see where he grew up until the age of 10, and meet some of his family who were still there.  While our daughter was in college, there really wasn't enough money for us to travel as much as we would have liked, so whenever we could we drove from our home in New Jersey down to Alexandria, Virginia where we knew some people to stay with.  During these visits we became closer to one couple and in the years since, we have travelled with them to Costa Rica, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, and Ecuador.  We have also done trips from our home in Phoenix up to the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest, and the Painted Desert, over to the Great Sand Dunes National Park, Mesa Verde National Park, Yellowstone, Glacier, Yosemite, and the Grand Teton Parks.  We have also explored the Midwest, starting out from Cincinnati, Ohio and going north to Lake Michigan, seeing Chicago, and points in between.  Our next trip is to Belize this March.

We have found that we can travel quite inexpensively since we can split the costs of some things with our partners.  For example, we rented a beautiful two-bedroom condo complete with Direct TV and wifi in Ecuador for $600/month.  So, for each of us, that was $300 total for accommodation for an entire month.

The title of this blog is appropriate because my husband is, in fact, a Scot, and he knows how to squeeze a nickel!  There are a lot of things we have learned since our first trip abroad in 2005, and this blog will attempt to share some of them with readers.  We were in our mid-60's then, and have no plans to stop anytime soon.

The posts that I will be completing in the next few weeks will be about our visits to South America, Europe, China, Central America and the good, ole United States.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Countdown - Before You Go

So, it’s finally here. One more day til our adventure in Thailand begins.   In addition to packing, there are a few other things I’ve learned are important before you take off. The first is to go to your bank and order some currency of the country(ies) you’re visiting.   You can always get more when you arrive, but it’s nice to have a bit so you can tip your driver or others for services. Also, it’s important to either go online or call your credit card issuer and tell them your travel plans, so they don’t think your card has been stolen or lost and put a hold on it.   While you’re at it, make copies of the front and back of the credit cards you’re taking and of your passport(s).   We met a man once in Costa Rica who had been robbed at the market and didn’t have copies of anything, so was in a panic waiting til Monday morning to see someone at the American embassy. Even though it’s not mandatory, I advise you to download the apps for whichever airlines you may be flying.  
Read more

Taipei at 4 AM

Arrived in Taipei about 4:00 AM, but God only knows what time our bodies think it is.   Everything shuttered up, no coffee or tea to be had.   Super clean, and at this time of night, pretty empty.   The girls immediately wanted to know if there was Wifi, and calmed down as soon as they were online.    Signs are in both Hokkien and English. Hokkien is a dialect of Chinese, but unintelligible to Mandarin speakers.   Ella slept about 10 hours, but the rest of us slept little as there was a lot of turbulence. The food on the plane was 50-50.   We were served dinner even though our flight left at 12:05 am, and mine was rice with beef, carrots, some interesting sort of coleslaw, and a tiny piece of Toblerone chocolate. However, the breakfast was weird.   Some sort of noodle, with some kind of “fishy” tasting meat, yogurt, and a banana. Strong, strong coffee, too. Exhausted after a 14-hour flight, we now boarded yet another plane for a 3-hour flight to Bangkok.  Fortunately
Read more