New Year's Resolutions

The next three posts are going to be a lot of lists. And our first list is....some goals for the year 2012! 

1. Practice/ brush up on Spanish
2. Draw and paint more
3. Successful move to Colorado
4. Read more
5. Get a climbing gym membership and go climbing once a week
6. Go backpacking in Colorado
7. Pick a destination for our 2013 trip
8. Try flyfishing
9. Try skiing or snowboarding
10. Fight less

Movies that will touch your soul and open your eyes

“Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can.” 
― Dalai Lama XIV

1. Beyond Borders: A movie about a young woman who oscillates between domestic life in London and life as a humanitarian aid worker. This contrast provides quite a unique perspective on some of the world's most pressing humanitarian crises.

2. Trade: A movie about sex trafficking in America. Young girls trafficked through Mexico City to be sold in the US.

3. The Road to Guantanamo: A true story about the destructive reality of Guantanamo Bay.

4. Under the Same Moon: A movie about the plight of illegal immigrants in the United States. A mother and a son desperate to reunite.

“World peace must develop from inner peace. Peace is not just mere absence of violence. Peace is, I think, the manifestation of human compassion.” 
― Dalai Lama XIV

Social Awareness Posts: A Preface

Dear Readers,

This genre of post needs a bit of prefacing before writing.  Those of you who know me know that for my job I spend my time reading about human rights abuses around the world.  Because of this I come across many, many horrifying crimes committed against innocent people every day. While some may find this very difficult to do on a day to day basis, I believe that awareness is one of the most powerful tools to stopping these violations.  Once in awhile a certain pattern of crimes or type of crime really stands out to me and hits me right at my core.  Something so horrifying and systematic that I just have to turn around and let others know what is happening on our very planet.  That is what these posts will be about.

You may be wondering, why is this on a travel blog? For me, travel is about understanding the human experience.  It is about seeing and feeling the lives of our fellow man, woman, and child.  It is about realizing that there are people out there who live lives completely different than our own.  It is about appreciating what we have and reaching out to help those who need it.  It is about cultural understanding and appreciation of all things "different" from our daily reality.  In order to effectively travel we must understand the world around us.  Travel has taught me nothing if not the fact that the world is so full of beauty.  There is so much...life and vitality in every new place I see.  Everything is pulsing, living, breathing, new, different, and so much the same. Nothing strikes me more than going on what for me is a vacation, and just taking a moment to realize that these are people just living. Going to work, feeding their families, spending time with friends, passing the time.  Same as we do at home. There is so much beauty in the simplicity of that understanding. That everything and everyone has its place. Every little thing means something, if not to you, than to someone else.  I believe that the majority of people are good and want to do good for themselves and others.  However, amid all the beauty there is evil and there is pain. 

Sometimes when reading reports of human rights abuses I find it hard to remember that it is just people, human beings, fathers, sons, sisters, who are committing such atrocities against their fellow man.  They eat and drink, laugh and cry, feel fear and confusion, just like the rest of us.  These perpetrators aren't some new breed of monsters, they are just people.  How, then, can they torture, rape and kill another human being? How could they possibly get to that state of mind that they could orchestrate horrific acts of violence?

To me in life there are some "non-negotiables".  Some things that are just wrong or right no matter what.  Some circumstances in which "everyone is entitled to their opinion" no longer applies.

Torture is bad.  Killing is bad. Rape is bad.  Non-negotiable.

Every human life has as much value as the next.  Non-negotiable.

NO ONE should be deprived their human rights to live their lives free of pain and fear. Non-negotiable.

Knowing that these things still occur, perpetrated by simple human beings, nonetheless, makes me feel pain that is hard to describe.  I weep thinking of what my fellow human must endure at the hands of others.  Things that I cannot imagine having the strength to endure.  

These things are important to understand for anyone going out into the world to travel and understand the human condition.  We must spread awareness of the horrible things so that we can savor the beauty that much more.  We must understand the terror that some people face every single day so that we can do anything in our power to help them along the way.  We must stop on our vacation or journey and think about those around us and how we are impacting them with our presence.  That is why I want to write these posts.

Now, all that being said, I know these realities can be hard to face.  I would not recommend my social awareness posts for children as they should not be troubled with the real life villains just yet.  If you do not want to read them, that is your choice.  I will try not to be graphic but the very nature of some of these atrocities are horrific and I know that many people do not wish to read about such things.  That is your prerogative. I will label the posts accordingly but please be forewarned that any Social Awareness Post will not be about pretty sunsets and fun times with locals and make your choice to read accordingly.

Sincerely,

Megan

“Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.” 
― Dalai Lama XIV

TripIt

This will just be a quick post about my favorite travel planning website: TripIt

This handy website (and phone app) is amazing! Just forward all your reservation confirmations for flights, hotels, rental cars, buses, etc. to TripIt and it compiles a customized itinerary with all the information you need for your trip.  No need to carry around 30 sheets of paper with all your reservation information on it.  TripIt includes confirmation numbers, check in times, maps to hotels and airports, phone numbers, flight information and everything else you need to stay on track while travelling.

The Android app is my favorite because you can just click on your hotel and immediately have it entered into your GPS or with another click, call and confirm your reservation. 

Additional features include seeing where your friends are and have been, tracking your mileage and trips on a cute little map, and saving all your past trip itineraries for future reference.

So useful and so much fun to play with--- definitely would recommend this for the organized traveler!

Budgeting Overview and Tips

Now for some specifics on what we spend on a trip.

First of all, the way we prioritize saving for a trip goes like this:

at the end of every month we look at how much we earned and subtract that month's expenditures. With whatever is left over (no matter how little) we put 1/3 into a travel fund and 2/3 into long term savings. Since our expenses are fairly consistent, we have a basic goal of what we want to put into our trip fund every month. This is what we use to estimate how long it will take us to save up enough for our next trip and this is how we know when to book our plane tickets.

Plane tickets we have a habit of buying way too early. Rick Seaney, the FareCompare.com CEO, recommends buying tickets around four months ahead of time and towards the beginning of the week. He notes that Saturday is one of the cheapest days to fly while Sunday is one of the most expensive (see article here). Tips like these are available all over the internet.

However, if you're like me and are too excited to wait to buy tickets when you decide on a destination, try some of these tips.

• My airfare booking website of choice: kayak.com
  
  This site is easy to use and compares flights from all different carriers quickly and allows you to see the full price of your ticket (with fees, taxes, etc.) quickly. It also lets you compare with sites like Travelocity and Orbitz instantly so you cover all your bases. Additionally, Kayak allows you to set your dates with complete flexibility so you can find the cheapest month, week, or day to travel if you have a pretty open schedule.
  
  The "Explore" feature helps you decide on a destination by showing you prices all over the world from your designated home airport. The "Buzz" feature allows you to find the cheapest time to fly to a given destination.
  
  This is pretty much a traveler's dream as it gets rid of the rigidity of other fare searching sites and allows your travel dreams to wander.
  
  In addition to all this, Kayak allows you to set price alerts. I would HIGHLY recommend doing this even if you don't think you will be taking a trip for awhile. With this feature you get the lowest prices to certain destinations emailed to you at set intervals. Even if you do not end up booking these trips it gives you a great idea of what a ticket should cost and what would be a good price to aim for. Knowing this ahead of time will get rid of that "I have no idea if this is a good deal or not!" feeling when searching for airfare.

• After you book your ticket, sign up for a free account with Yapta.com. This site tracks the cost of your flight and alerts you if you are eligible for a refund from your airline if the ticket prices drop lower than what you paid.
  
  For our tickets from Minneapolis to San Jose, Costa Rica (with no overnight layover this time, thank God) we spent about $600 each. I have seen them go as low as $500 but as high as $900 since then.

After buying a ticket it is important to make a budget for the rest of your trip. While this might seem a bit premature, it is easy for pre-departure expenses to get lost in the shuffle. We like to count things like guidebooks, luggage, and travel gear into our trip budget so we get a better idea of the real cost of our vacation.

• For Costa Rica- Nicaragua we are planning on spending $600 a person for 16 days. This includes food, lodging, transportation, activities/ tours, souvenirs, the works. That's $37.50 a day.
  
  As you can see, plane tickets are a HUGE part of your expenses. Time at the destination is actually quite cheap (depending on where you go). You may actually be thinking "Whoa, I spend more than that living HERE!"
  
  During our trip we will post daily budgets to show what we spend where and to see if we make our budget goals.  It's always important to have more money than you budgeted for your trip in case of emergencies but so far we have completed every trip on (or very close to) budget!

• From past experience, lodging can cost the most but if you travel with another person, it is cheaper than two individuals traveling alone.  In other words, travel for two (or more) is not equivalent to double the expenses for one. You are able to share rooms, transportation costs, food costs, etc. which makes a huge difference.

• Also, as much as we enjoy trying local cuisines, we always look for hostels with shared kitchens.  Going to the grocery store can be a cultural experience in itself and you can save so much money by not going out to eat for every meal, even just for breakfast.

So we will see just how close we can come to our budgeted goal...

Gear, gear and more gear

One of the fun things for us about traveling is buying all the cool gadgets that make it that much more enjoyable.  Here is a list of gear we have amassed for our upcoming trips.

• Packs (REI Crestrail 70 for Solomon, Gregory Jade 65 for Megan, and a sweet 70s backpacking pack for Nick)
• Sleeping pads (Thermarest Z-Lites)
• Tiny inflatable travel pillows (Cocoon Ultralight Air-Core and Cocoon Hyperlite Air-Core)
• Travel towel (Sea to Summit DryLite)
• A universal sink stopper for doing laundry in sinks
• A clothesline
• A first aid kit
• A camp stove (MSR Simmerlite)
• Rain ponchos
• Anti-bacterial hand wipes
• Mosquito netting
• Duffel bags to cover packs for checking at airport (REI Airporter)
• GoPro video camera
• Money belts
• Power adapters/converters
• Sleep sacks for hostel beds (sleeping bag liners)

What we still need:

• Water purifier
• Travel locks for our baggage

Now, not all of this will be dragged along to Central America and some of it is for use exclusively in the US (like the stove).  When we pack for our trip I will make sure to give you an updated packing list of what we are bringing along to help anyone else prepare for a similar 16 day excursion.

Itineraries: A Work in Progress

In planning our itinerary for Costa Rica-Nicaragua 2012 (now only a little over 2 months away!), I've tried to stay flexible while maximizing our time.

Here's what I have come up with so far:

Arrive March 18 San Jose, Costa Rica around 1pm
Stay at Aldea Hostel in San Jose (close to the bus station to grab the early bus to Managua)
March 19- Get on international bus to Managua around 5am (if tickets were successfully purchased the day before)
9 hours later arrive in Managua and get on mini-bus to Leon, Nicaragua

After this it gets much more open ended: From Leon we will head to Granada, from Granada we will make our way to the Isla de Ometepe, from there to San Juan del Sur and then back into Costa Rica.  Our last stop will be the Manuel Antonio National Park in Costa Rica before heading back to San Jose for our flight out.

The logistics of all of this isn't quite figured out, but this is the plan thus far. 

We are currently working on getting travel vaccinations and prescriptions. For Nicaragua the CDC recommends getting Typhoid, Hepatitis, and Rabies shots.  In addition they recommend anti-malarial drugs for certain regions in addition to insecticide treated bed nets.  Medicine to treat travelers diarrhea is also suggested.   Phew, sounds like fun.  Finding a travel clinic open convenient hours is almost just as fun.



Stay tuned for more specific details of these adventures that will hopefully help any future travelers navigate pre-travel preparations as well as in country transportation.