Road Trips, House Swaps

It's true that the Euro has the dollar cowering in a corner so, for many pragmatists, European travel is out for the immediate future. For others this can be a long awaited opportunity. With fewer Americans traveling abroad hotels are less crowded and there are last minute bargains to be found. Over the past few years I've taken advantage of booking internal travel within Europe through European providers at significant savings. Check the numbers. It is frequently far less expensive to fly into a hub European destination (London, Paris, Berlin, Milan) and take an ongoing locally originated flight over booking direct through a US carrier. True, you have to schlepp the bags through customs etc. but then if you're a smart cookie, you'll be traveling light and that won't be an issue. By booking Tucson/London on AA earlier this year and then switching to Ryan Air for a flight to Pisa, I saved $390 USD.

See the USA! and if choruses of "are we there" from the back seat have you cringing, consider train travel. I love road trips and have, in the past two years, done little booking ahead. For large cities I've depended on Hotwire.com for last minute hotel deals and have scored big time. For along the road nowhere stops I've found some initial research on B&B's helpful. Twice now I've not bothered to book along the Oregon coast and found showing up at 6 p.m. looking for a room has got me a place to stay for significantly less than listed price.

Hotel bills have you blue? Think house swap. Seriously, there are many people who consider where you live to be their dream destination. A savvy friend went into the site VRBO.com (vacation rentals by owner) looked at places she wanted to visit, checked out availability and were bookings were obviusly down, contacted the owners and negotiated a great deal. I did the same with a favorite destination and have a place on Orcas island for a week in September in exchange for a winter week at my home in Tucson. Thinking out of the box can get you out of a rut and on your way!

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