How I Travel Abroad at Least Once a Year…On a Budget ;-)

So I’m back from my #Almost30 #Solotrip (those were my hashtags on the Gram :-)). I’m contemplating where to go next so I thought I’d walk you through how I prepare for my annual trip.

Step 1: From Ground Zero, there’s nowhere to go but up. I’ve got bills to pay and I live in the most expensive city EVER so it’s time to get my bearings before I start searching on Kayak. At this point I start thinking about who I may want to invite (if anyone!)

Step 2: After I know that I am in the clear, I start putting a reasonable amount into a separate, middle account each pay period. If you can afford it, $200-$400 per month is ideal. This will cover your airline ticket, food and activities.

Step 3: After I save about $800, I start looking for flights. I have found the cheapest flights from February to Early April and Mid-September to Early November to most places. I put all kinds of places into Kayak.com with flexible dates and wait to see what happens.

Step 4: Book your ticket. Give yourself 4 additional months to keep saving the amount you initially designated. The purchased ticket will keep you on the Saving Train to be sure that you can afford to have a good time. Amp up the amount if you can!

Step 5: Book your hotel/hostel/couch. I really like Booking.com because you can cancel most places without a fee, BUT make sure you cross-reference with other sites like Tripadvisor for additional reviews. Check out the actual traveler photos.

Step 6: Book excursions and activities. Tripadvisor is CLUTCH for this.

Step 7: Get on that plane and have the best time ever!

Granada Spain, 2013

Traveling Solo is Awesome...Right?

Can you picture it now? Breathing in the air, skipping through the city’s main plaza and scooping up a baguette as you head to take on the town for the day. In theory, it sounds wonderful and I know my trip looks amazing on The ‘Gram, but I have to be honest y'all...solo travel isn’t for everyone. I’ll start from where the idea of my "Almost 30" trip began.

 Two years ago, I visited my friend Jillian in Spain. The first thing you should know about me (since we're just now getting acquainted via internet) is that if you invite me to visit you somewhere abroad I.WILL.COME. I met Jill in Valencia after exploring Madrid for a day by myself. I surprisingly liked Madrid alone, but what I enjoyed even more was the major girlfriend bonding, pans of paella, late-night churros and partying into the morning at the Falle Festival with Jill. We also talked a lot about what we wanted to do with our lives on that trip. The late-twenties crisis was looming over our heads and as we chatted about jobs, love, and our future, Jill revealed her amazing bucket list.

 Visually it was simple; written in her iPhone notes above her packing list. To me, it was nothing short of amazing. It included outlandish, yet possible ideas and some simple ones too. I was so inspired that as we sat at a cafe in Granada, watching the sun set over the Alhambra (sounds romantical right?), I made one of my own. Besides wanting to be an "important " extra on Law and Order and perform just one song at the infamous Village Underground (I may have stolen that one from Jill), I added "Travel Abroad Solo for at least a week" to my bucket list.

If you know me well, then you know that I am wildly adventurous and extremely extroverted. My life is not complete without "doing something." Solo travel was a personal challenge for me to spend time with myself and reflect. For some, fear of getting lost or not knowing the language would freak them out. My anxiety about going solo came from the idea of not being able to have my daily talk with my besties and my mom. Pitiful, I know. If you want to better understand my intense extroversion, check out this buzzfeed link that perfectly captures my life through GIFs: http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicamisener/frustrating-things-about-being-an-extrovert

This year I am turning 30 so I felt like it would be the ideal time to take my trip. I love looking up flights on Kayak for fun so I started playing around with dates. It seemed that October and early November were the cheapest options. Ever since the time I spent 24 hours in Istanbul, I have yearned for that spiritual, mysterious, culturally rich experience again. A friend of mine had recently visited Morocco  and after gathering some info, I decided Marrakesh would be my destination. But wait...tickets were mad expensive. So instead, I booked a roundtrip flight to Madrid and then a separate flight from Madrid to Marrakech. The ticket was just $145 from Madrid! I love a good deal.

I'll speak of my specific experiences in each city in another post, but I want to get back to the idea of solo travel. When you are heading to another country and you don't speak the language or know the culture well, it is bold and brave. Yes, I'm giving myself a gold star for this one. I truly enjoyed the idea of creating my own agenda and being self-indulgent. I woke up when I wanted to and I planned activities based on my own interests. The highlights of my trip were taking a Quad Ride through the desert towards the Atlas Mountains and a Paella Cooking Class in Madrid. Everything that I did required my full attention because I could only share each moment with myself. (Especially since the only French words I know are "Oui! and "Merci!")

 There is, however, a downside to solo travel. At night, Marrakech gets a little rowdy and for women, it isn't exactly the safest place. I’m a New Yorker and I definitely had a few moments when I told myself "Kaycee, take a cab instead" or "Kaycee, go back to the hotel". That part sucked. I wanted to be out in those streets, partying it up! Another struggle was the language barrier. I know a little bit of Spanish, but in Morocco, everyone speaks French and Arabic. I did not consider how lonely this could make me feel, but in a way it was a good challenge to force me to spend quality time with myself. Lastly, there was that little devil called technology. Thanks to the modernization of everything, everywhere, I had wi-fi in all restaurants and in my hotel. When I wasn't out exploring, I found myself checking out Insta and texting my closest circle of friends and family way too often. I hated that I did this, but I won't beat myself up. I'm an extrovert, remember?

I realized during my trip that while I love my job and I am very happy with where I am in my personal life, I really wanted to travel solo as my last "hurrah" before 30. As life often happens, the most perfect moment occurred on my last day in Madrid. I booked a cooking class and met a couple in their early 40's. The woman was a nurse and had done the Peace Corps, traveled a ton and she and her husband had two young daughters, ages 4 and 5. The fact that they were on a hubby/wifey trip and having a blast was exciting to me. They took a to-go sangria from the class so they were definitely my kind of people. Besides being awesome and giving me hope, they told me that they were planning a trip with another family to Morocco...with their kids! I know it sounds bad, but I've always thought that kids and “real life” would be the end of Fun Kaycee. I thought that she'd get lost somewhere in the midst of changing diapers and balancing checkbooks. Through my solo experience I realized that 30 is just the beginning of a new decade and it will be as awesome as I decide to make it. So who wants to go on the next trip with me?! LOL!