This is not my ATM. The name of the bank is Caixa. It charges me something like a 10% commission. I consider that a form of usury that the Mafia would be proud of. There is no way that I would take any money out of their ATM machine. Okay, maybe if I was dying of hunger and I needed to get some money or die. Other than that, no way. Just a note to the wise. There are always ATMs that do not rob you. It just may be a hassle finding them.

I’m working on my airfare skills. I’m giving myself 30 minutes to find cheap R/T airfare. Results: OKC -> BAH = 575;CDG = 727; FCO = $798; SHA = $877; DFW -> BAH = 498; BRU = 595; DUB = 736; FCO = 771; SHA = 836; MNL = 863; IAH -> BAH = 501; IST = 567; EUROPE = <700 (10+). It turned out all those less than $700 fares in Europe were bogus. Most were in the $720-$900 range. Sad. This fare is for two weeks in Dublin, which is an expensive city. However, you can get really cheap airfare out of Dublin to lots of places in Euopre. Sounds like a twofur or eve a threefur. Or, catch a ferry to England or Scotland.

I’m working on my airfare skills. I’m giving myself 30 minutes to find cheap airfare. Results: OKC -> DUB = 749; SHA = 877; DFW -> HKG = 908; MNL = 863; BAH = 498; DOH = 604; KWI = 631; DUB = 710; IAH -> SHA = 693; CAI = 755; TLV = 752; EUR = 650 (10+). All fares in dollars. EUR = Europe (multiple destinations). Time to find and record was 20 minutes. Remember, they’re rumors. Well, maybe not the Houston to Tel Aviv in January, 2015. I verified that one. Now why would anyone want to go to the Holy Lands for two weeks instead of freezing their tush off in OKC?

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Want to save money on hotel roomss? Want to get a better hotel room for your money? Want to know how to avoid places to stay that you wished you hadn’t stayed in? Don’t have the luxury of utilizing a corporate credit card for booking a hotel room? Like comfort and cleanliness?

Hotels can be expensive. I know. Continue reading →

It seems that most escorted tours to Europe cost in the $150 to $200 a day range. You’ll probably get a really nice hotel, transportation, guide, breakfasts, maybe some dinners, maybe some attractions, and maybe some other stuff like discounts and the factories where they take you to see the “local” attractions. Yes, I’ve been on escorted tours. Here are some places where you can get tours for around $100 a day. Continue reading →

This is the start of the South America Bus travel post. You know what it’s for.

General
Busing from Santiago to Lima, Peru – TripAdvisor
Bus trip Cartagena to Caracas – TripAdvisor

Continue reading →

My plan is to catch a ferry from Corsica to Nice, France at the end of May or first of June. But, I’d like to spend some time on Corsica. Due to the fact that Corsicans seem to have higher prices for accommodations and a lack of hostels, I’ve taken to changing my approach on finding budget accommodations in Corsica. There’s not much in English on the Internet. I’ve now started polling hospitality network members to see if they know of any budget accommodations in Corsica. I sent off a few inquiries and I’ve gotten one back from a gentleman in Bastia, France that looks interesting. He told me to contact the tourist information office in Bastia. I hadn’t really thought of that. So I went to their website and sure enough, they list accommodations. It seems that they had links for Hotels, Rentals, Homestays, Rental Organizations, Collective Accommodation, Campsites, and Hotels & Residences. Now I have some more research to do.

This following a post I made in the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Forum. It discusses my Corsica Problem.

I will be in Sardinia the last week of May. I want to take the ferry from Santa Teresa Gallura to Bonifacio. From there I want to go to Ajaccio, Bastia, Calvi or L’Ile-Rousse to catch a ferry to Nice, France. I’ve looked on LP, HostelBookers, Hostelworld, Wikitravel, airbnb, TripAdvisor, etc. There isn’t much under €50. I don’t want to depend on finding a CS host, as there are aren’t many active ones in Corsica. I’ve traveled a little (100+ countries). Sometimes, you get off a train or a bus and people are standing there with signs for accommodations. I doubt that will happen in Corsica. However, there’s often pensions, small hotels, zimmers, and, of course, the basic flophouse. Sometimes you have to locate the “bad area of town” to find them. I can sleep rough, but I’m not bringing a tent this trip. I do have room for a bivy in my carry-on rucksack. I’m looking to find cheap accommodations in Corsica. Do I simply need to wait till I get there to find them? Do they exist? It’s pretty rare that I can’t find something cheap on the Internet. I’m open to opinions, advise, BS, wisdom, recommendations, observations, suggestions, etc, etc, etc. And, yes, I do know that money can solve this problem. But, what’s life without some challenges? TIA.

Did I get a lot of response? No. One reply. But, it was fruitful. I was told “look for gites d’etape or Chambres d’hotes on the Internet. In May Corsica is not packed with tourist, but if you want to bargain you need some French or Italian language and don’t call them French ever, this always double the price.” That started me thinking. The language issue could be part of the reason why I’m having trouble finding something.