Travel bargains

It’s important to remember one key point when you are traveling: your hotel rate is negotiable. This is especially true with non-chain international hotels. Whether you are booking a hotel, a hostel, a guesthouse, or a bed and breakfast, the price you will pay for your room is probably open to bargaining.  Most backpackers figure …

I’ve talked before about how great the Mexican bus system is, but this is one method of transportation that keeps getting better. I am writing this blog post on the bus itself, on my 4-hour ride from Zacatecas to Leon. Yes on the bus—they have Internet access now on the executive class ones from ETN …

A week ago I returned from my first journey to New Mexico (as opposed to many journeys to Old Mexico) and spent the last few days of it in Albuquerque. This is another one of those mid-sized cities that’s a great value and it does a pretty good job of appealing to all age groups. …

Not France, that’s for sure. According to the latest “Arbitrage” rundown from the Wall Street Journal, a large Pizza Hut pan pizza with pepperoni will cost you 19 euros, or $27.60 in today’s dollars. It had better be good! I think I’d rather order one in Manila, where it’s $6.58. These comparisons are always kind …

There are a lot of good reasons for visiting the Moravia area of the Czech Republic, which gets about 1/100 the crowds of the country’s capital city. My previous Czech trip posts were on rural Czech prices, the sleepy town of Znojmo, and what it’s like to go cycling through Moravian wine country. Of course …