Champagne Travel on a Beer Budget

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I read an interview recently with the Nobel prize-winning author Toni Morrison in which she described her writing habits in the early days of her writing career (when she had small children). She explained that she had to get up well before dawn to write as she didn’t have a chance to write once her children were awake.

It led me to consider that when we are passionate about something, be it writing, learning a language, travel etc., we will do whatever it takes to make ‘it’ happen. Just as Toni Morrison could have thought that she simply couldn’t be a writer at that time in her life as she didn’t have the time, so we can often dismiss our dreams for similar reasons.

If it is travel that you desire, what is stopping you? Or perhaps a better questions is, how can you make it happen?

Stick some pictures on your wall of your dream journey or destination, do some research and discover just how much your trip would cost, read blogs that give you tips and tricks for travelling well regardless of budget and then go about figuring out how to make it happen! How could you spend less? Earn more? Give yourself a deadline and work to it.

And if you’re in the mood for sharing, where will your next journey take you?

Happy travels!

Gorgeous luggage is not only an essential element to traveling with style, but having loved, timeless pieces at your side adds to the pleasure of travel (and isn’t that what it is all about?)

If your budget allows, a designer investment piece of luggage will last you many passport stamps to come. But even if your  funds are lacking, stylish luggage can still be found. Why not search Ebay for vintage hat boxes and vanity cases, browse your local flea market for pre-loved suitcases whose used status just lend you travel-cred, or trawl for handmade beauties on Etsy.com (I fell in love with this one, and this one, oh, and this one too).

Still not convinced? Be inspired by the lavish luggage below.

For modern-day holiday lovers, the staycation seems to be seen as either a ‘better-than-nothing’ option when finances are hard to come by or a complete abomination to the philosophy of vacationing.

What is a staycation? Simply, it is a vacation at home. You have time off work but for some reason (usually financial) you are unable to travel away from home and so decide to holiday at your abode instead. The question is, can a staycation be luxurious or are they just plain lame?

Whether you choose to try out a staycation or if your circumstances negate that it is a case of a holiday at home or no holiday at all, there are several things you can do to make sure you return to work with that post-vacation glow, regardless of how far from home you actually strayed.

So here it is, the Champagne Travel on a Beer Budget Guide to Staycations:

1) Find what makes a holiday special for you.

Take a moment to think about what it is you enjoy when you’re taking a vacation and think how you can work that in to your staycation. Maybe it is getting up early to watch the sun rise, sleeping in til midday, trying out different restaurants, eating dinner in bed, having lots of fun things planned to do or being completely spontaneous. Whatever it might be, make sure you have plenty of it whilst holidaying at home.

2) Don’t fall into familiar routines.

It is important that your staycation ‘feels’ like a holiday and that will never happen if you are doing the same old same old. So make sure that you don’t fall into the rut of laying on the lounge watching television and mix things up a little. Think about it, when we’re on holidays we tend to eat different foods, wear different clothes and do things we don’t often have the time to do during ‘normal’ life. Live it up a little!

3) Put some thought into your surroundings.

What would give your house a holiday feel? A big bunch of exotic flowers? A bowl of tropical fruit? A mini bar set up for afternoon cocktail hour? It can be a good idea to have objects that are clearly visible to you that really give the message that you are on holidays. On the other hand, it is equally as important to hide things that will make it feel like any other day, whether that be a stack of unread documents, your Blackberry or a pile of clothes to be ironed. Your staycation surroundings should make you smile, not cringe.

4) Go exploring.

Chances are that there are great bars, parks, museums, art galleries, cafes and botuiques in your area that you have never really noticed or had the time to appreciate. Use this opportunity to get out there and look at your town with the eyes of a tourist (a very stylish tourist of course) and you might be amazed at what you find.

5) Consider a themed staycation.

Can’t get to that health retreat? Why not do an at-home detox and get along to daily yoga classes? Were you dreaming of a wineries tour? Stock up on a  variety of wines and cheeses and have friends over each night for ‘tastings’. Wish you were on an adventure trek?  Find adventure in your local area - go mountain bike riding, take a bellydance class or do some rock climbing. Dreaming of relaxing on a beach somewhere? Buy a hammock, some trashy magazines and the ingredients for some long island iced teas. You get the picture…

I’d love to hear from you, what are your thoughts on staycations? Have you holidayed at home recently? Was it fabulous or a failure? Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

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Champagne travellers appreciate life-changing travel which enables them to experience different cultures with touches of style and luxury. As opposed to generic package tours and dime-a-dozen itineraries, savvy travellers are searching for sensory stimulation that doesn’t insult their intelligence.

What is this new travel philosophy? Intelligent travel.

The National Geographic ‘Intelligent Travel’ blog defines it as such:

‘Intelligent Travel is about exploring the intersection of authentic and sustainable travel. We want to showcase the essence of place, what’s unique and original, what locals cherish most about where they live’.

For this champagne traveler, ‘Intelligent Luxury’ is all about bypassing travel that includes generic experiences focused on making sure that you are constantly surrounded with the familiar, such as chain resorts that look and feel exactly the same in every country they are located.

To travel and immerse yourself (or at least dip your feet) in another culture is a luxury in itself (when you consider that the majority of the world’s population will never see the inside of an airplane). To be able to do so with touches of style & luxury whilst still allowing for an authentic experience of the local culture is true intelligent luxury.

So, don’t turn your brain off when you plan your next adventure, travel with style but be open to the unique adventures and experiences of the location you are journeying to, as that is what makes travel the life-changing experience that it is.

With such an abundance of travel blogs and websites out there, excuses are few to not be inspired and resourced to travel in style.

But if you don’t have the time or inclination to search these sites, you’re in luck. Champagne Travel on a Beer Budget does the searching for you and presents the finds in our monthly ‘Link Love’ post. Let the link love begin…

My latest travel blog crush would have to be The Jet Set Life. Check it out and see why.

New website Backpackability is home to a handy list of Budget Travel & Backpacking Resources.

Via Gridskipper, check out the article on the Best New Residence Hotels. I mean really, can you get more champagne travel than setting up digs at a glam hotel? I think not…

I think you are either a quote person or you’re not and I definitely fall into the camp of people who love a good quote. If you’re like me, you’ll love Brave New Traveler’s compilation of The (Next) 50 Most Inspiring Travel Quotes Of All Time.

If you’ve found any other great resources online, feel free to share them in the comments.

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What would happen if you were to question the status quo of working hard for 40+ years and then taking a long break at the end of it all?

What if you were to take mini-retirements throughout your life rather than placing all your eggs in the ‘one big holiday when I retire’ basket?

Would these mini-retirements add value to your life as well as give you increased inspiration and energy for your career, business or life in general?

There have been a few articles floating around on this topic, mainly inspired by or in response to the concepts found in Tim Ferriss’ book ‘The Four Hour Work Week’.

Check out Tim’s ideas and the related articles below:

Mini-retirement related posts from The Four Hour Work Week Blog

Freeing Yourself from the Daily Grind on Yahoo Travel

Using Mini-Retirements to Get More out of Life from Get Rich Slowly

A large part of the Champagne Travel on a Beer Budget philosophy is the concept that travelling with style whilst on a budget means thinking differently than the average tourist, getting away from packaged tours, living like the locals and not missing the opportunities that often lie right under your nose.

These concepts line up with much of what Tim talks about in ‘Four Hour Work Week’, with Tim even explaining how taking mini-retirements actually saves him money.

I had the pleasure of meeting Tim at the Sydney launch of ‘The Four Hour Work Week’ last month and the guy definitely lives what he talks about.

So, the question remains…. are mini-retirements for you? Why not leave your thoughts in the comments?

One of my favourite weekly (if not daily!) reads is Icing by Gala Darling. She writes beautifully and has a unique voice that entices me back to her site again and again.

This week, Gala has put together a wonderfully comprehensive post on ‘How to Have the Best Holiday Ever’

It is a fabulous read for all champagne travellers and there are lots of points I couldn’t agree with more, such as:

• Allow yourself to be swept away
• Learn some local phrases

I would also add:

• Decide to have the time of your life.

This would tie in with the idea of allowing yourself to be swept away.

So many unexpected things can happen when you’re travelling but how we respond to these situations has little to do with the circumstances themselves and more to do with our perspective towards them.

Bus broken down on the way to your next destination? Stuck on the side of the road for 6 hours with a bunch of strangers? This could be a fantastic opportunity to make some amazing friends, hear tales from around the world and have a hilarious story to tell everyone back home. This same situation could also have you complaining and grumbling for the next 6 hours on how this would never happen where you come from or something as equally painful for everyone around you.

And the wonderful thing about perspective? We are each completely in control of it and we have the daily choice of what our perspective will be. Some of the most interesting and inspiring people that I have met whilst travelling (and in life in general) are people that have an amazingly positive perspective. They are a dream to travel & ‘do life’ with.

Decide in advance to have a fabulous holiday and chances are you will!

What tips would you add? Would love to hear from you in the comments…

Here’s the latest online offerings in the world of budget travel:

The ever useful Frommers Price Index for May 2008. Find out just how far your dollar will take you everywhere from Trindad to Tokyo.

Budget Travel provides great ideas for making European travel more affordable by travelling by bike.

Brave New Traveller has us thinking about the importance of travelling with an open mind.

Budget Globetrotting posts on learning languages while travelling . And the best bit? All the resources they mention are free.

So pour yourself a glass of champers & settle back for some great travel reading this weekend.

As for me, I am off to spend the weekend in New South Wales’ Hunter Valley Wine Region. I’ll be sure to report back with lots of great tips for budget travel in wine regions.

Have a great weekend Champagne Travellers!

Cheers

Tara x

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