La and Dus

New City Living Tips: Find public showers, libraries, and fruit trees if you can. Free is good. Greetings and salutations friends and family! After a long and somewhat goofy, funny, silly, tear inspiring, stressful, glorious, tiring journey across the country, we are safely and semi-comfortably living in our new apartment with two great housemates in Valley Village, which is a part of West Hollywood, California. My apologies on the scare inspiring delay... life got busy once we spent that weird, treacherous first night in L.A. After that night, we realized how badly we needed to find a NICE place to live. Luckily none of the subsequent nights were spent in the first hell hole (THANKS AGAIN DAVE!) We hit up the local library, a good place to find free internet and resources about the new city. ... read more

Thrifty Travel Tip #10: Call your friends ahead of time for a place to stay. Don't hesitate. Just do it. My dearest friends and family - We have finally reached our destination and do I have a hell of a story to share about our first night here. We packed up our camp early in order to avoid paying the unnecessary fee for the KOA. We skipped breakfast in Needles knowing that it was too early to eat and we could get to the next town before hotel breakfast was over. We cruised through the desert, easily moving through traffic, and thankfully without any flat tires, crashes, or tickets. We did our usual routine in Barstow - making a quick stop for breakfast and then hoping back on the freeway. In less than an hour, we ... read more

Thrifty Travel Tip #8: The KOA campgrounds will never know you were there if you're in at 8 and out by 6; if you don't use the water, you won't hurt them economically either. Don't pay for what you don't use. Hi, Hello, and Good day Family and Friends 3 We woke up well rested and happy after our adventures the night before at NAU. I found our sweet, generous host lying on the floor of his room with a pillow and a towel as a blanket. Talk about a bleeding heart! I gently woke him at 6:30 - we were asked if we could leave before 8 as though not to surprise his roommate, which isn't a problem when you gain 3 hours - thanked him, and suggested he moved to his bed. By 7, ... read more

Thrifty Travel Tip #6: If you can fit into a group of people that have open access to a public showering facility, 24 hour buildings, and free entertainment in the evening, say a college, you have a free place to stay... so do it. Thrifty Travel Tip #7: Stop in the welcome centers to new states and new cities. You can get free information about the cities and attractions as well as free maps. There are also drinking fountains to refill your water bottles and public restrooms that are usually fairly clean. Hey Ya'll, No sleep till LA. That's our newest theme song. Sleeping in the car for the second night in a row is the most SUCK thing in the world... well, maybe not in the world but on this trip so far, it was. ... read more

Thrifty Travel Tip #5: Continental breakfasts are always Continental... even if you didn't EXACTLY stay in the hotel. Continental breakfasts are your friend. Hi Friends and Family! My oh my, what a day in the desert. We got off to a good start in the morning, even though we didn't have the best sleep. Sleeping in the car results in waking up about 15 times throughout the night to change positions and reconfigure your sleeping situation according to what parts of your body have fallen asleep or are cramped. In the very early hours of the AM, (I believe it was about 630,) we woke up and decided we were hungry. In order to travel on a budget, one must use the resources around them. For us, that means eating for free at hotels. One of ... read more

Thrifty Travel Tip #4: Don't pay to take a toll road. It's bullsh*t to pay for an interstate when you can use a road that follows alongside it for free, minus the trucks and heavy traffic, and, with a prettier view of the countryside. It'll also save you about $10-20, depending where you are. Buenos Dias and Good Morning from New Mexico. We woke up early this morning (me before Dustin at 7:30 AM, him by 9 AM,) and had the pleasure of taking hot showers in Ree's beautiful guest house. Dustin went out to the car to get towels and some fresh clothes; when he came back in I told him I was going out to get a few things. He informed me that the gate was stuck and he had to squeeze through this ... read more

Thrifty Travel Tip #2: Talk to the locals - you might find a nice place to stay or at least, the best place in town to grab a good meal. Thrifty Travel Tip #3: Shop at the grocery stores and eat in the car. Hello again, this time from St. Louis, MO!!! We left oxford pretty early but didn't make it very far but for good reason. We had a good start when we woke up early at Tom's around 9 AM. Dustin and I know that eating on the road can get expensive, so we decided to stop at Kroger and load up on groceries... and a maple covered coffee roll with pecans. Don't be surprised, we needed the sugar to stay awake for such a long ride! On a serious note, stopping at the ... read more

Thrifty Travel Tip 1: Stay with your friends. You'll enjoy visiting and it's usually free! Hi Friends and Family!!!! Today was an exciting but somewhat frantic day for Dustin and I. I startd packing at 10 AM... I know I was asking for it packing the morning before, but for those of you that know me well this should come as no surprise to you. It all seemed a bit too overwhelming. Trying to narrow your life down to half of a compact cars worth of stuff is no easy task and trust me, I was showing the stress I felt inside on the outside. When Dustin got to the house, he didn't ease my stress much at all. As a matter of fact, he made it more of a challenge, having packed his GIANT amp, ... read more