This Made Me LOL

Actual headline at cnn.com today:

"37 items you need to add to your summer vacation packing list"

Uh...INCLUDING underpants, sox, and what I'm wearing for the flight/drive, I don't think I pack/bring 37 items.  I mean.  JEEZ! Are you moving or traveling?

Wear:

Shoes (2 items)

sox (2 items)

undies 

bra

jeans

tshirt

sweatshirt or buttondown

belt

reading glasses

IF it is winter or will be when I get there, i wear a coat with a zip out liner that turns into a jacket

 So far...12 items.

Pack:

2 undies

2 pairs sox

2 t-shirts or tank tops

yoga/jammy pants 

That's 8 more items for a total of 20.

Toothbrush

comb

epi pen set (3 items: 2 pens and a little bag for them)

Current count: 25.

Misc: 

notebook

pencil

Phone

ipodthing

1 charger

2 cords

backpack (which is what I carry the stuff in)

wallet (1 item even though there is a credit card, ID and spare car key in there...I mean...give me a break on this one.  There is probably a melted linty chapstick in a random pocket too but that will get thrown out)

corded headphones

small shopping back with lunch in it.  I am not counting the lunch items because they get eaten before the plane takes off.  Sometimes before I even board the first flight.

Water bottle

That's 11 items for a total of 37

Optionals:

If I'm goin to santa fe, then about 12 items of jewelry which makes 49 (ooo...gettin' fancy)

Elsewhere: 2 items jewelry which makes 39

Midwinter: hat and mittens/gloves which makes 40.

So how would adding 37 more items...nearly doubling my count...make my trip better?

Most of the items are extra fancy chargers, cords, various bags and inner stuff/pack bags.  I've lived without them so far!

PANTS!!!

 I went through 2022 with zero clothing purchases.  Full disclosure:  I got 2 bras before the start of 2022 to make sure I could do this.  And 3 undies.  I broke out the 2nd fresh bra just a month or so ago.  The old bras are "bra shaped" but...man...not enough elasticity left to bother with most days.

So, there we go.

I have a conference coming up and while I have a pair of fishing pants with the zip off legs that are in great shape...they are also made of thin fabric that really shows when you sweat.  So if I got swamp arse or otherwise sweaty at the conference, it would look like I'd had an unfortunate accident.

And ALL my jeans, well, the ones that fit, are in rough shape and faded, ripped, about to fall apart.  No one sees them on zoom meetings but an inperson conference...no.   

I hit a couple of thrift stores yesterday after an out of town appointment and TA DA! nearly new black jeans.  "Idaho Business Casual".  7$ plus tax.  This is the last thrift store in the area that hasn't raised the price to 15$ for used pants.  Jeez.  I grabbed them.  Didn't even wait for the colored tag discount day because they were not going to stay on the rack.    I will wash them this weekend during the laundromat run because this store washes the clothes before putting them out.  They must use an entire box of cheap detergent on each small load because the clothes are crusty with it.  

These jeans have NO SPANDEX...I think we all know how I feel about stretchy pants.  Ugh!

https://simplicityandfrugality.blogspot.com/2010/10/dear-universe-get-your-spandex-out-of.html

It makes me have this disorder:

So hard cotton jeans with NO SPANDEX in good shape for 7$...SCOOOOOOORRRRE

All Hail ACV!

No, I don't mean "OAC," though  she is also the bomb.

ACV.  Apple Cider Vinegar.

I'm just back from Santa Fe, NM.  Yay Santa Fe!

BUT...and this is a big butt...I ate most of the green chili chicken stew, posole, and sopapillas in the tricounty area.  As a result, I have a Santa Fe food baby that won't quit.

Half way to work today after a twisty yoga class, I though I was going to barf or have the drizzling poops.  Gross.

So, I get to work and still feel sick.

2 tablespoons of ACV in a glass of tepid water, drink it down, and I fell much better in aout 15 miutes.  A nap would help, but I'm at work so instead, I'll blog and watch a couple of youtubes while the rest of the food damage settles out.

Alas Poor Spor(ic)k, I Knew Him.

I've lost my spork.  DAMMIT!  I loved that thing.  Used it every day for years.  I got it at a restaurant/deli thing in Washington DC called "The Silver Spork."  It was stainless steel, but silvery anyway. 

I finally gave up on finding it and went online to see if I could call the place and have them send me a new one.  THEY ARE CLOSED!!!  How dare they?  Where am I supposed to get one now?

I have real spoons and forks that I could carry around and use, but that's not as fun as the spork.

Oh well.  Another gadget/souvenir will come along someday.  It was good while lasted.

R.I.P Spork.

Western Montana Artisanal Kombucha and Good Food

I took a work trip to Whitefish, Montana.  While the hotel wasn't thrifty, frugal, or particularly impressive for the $$, it was paid for by work so what the hell.
For the record, it was the "Lodge at Whitefish Lake."  It's fine, but at about 100$ a night I got much less than I get at my usual 50-70$ a night hotels.  No free breakfast, slow wifi, no control of room heat (several of the conference attendees agreed that the thermostats had no effect on the room temp).  My room was 71degs F the WHOLE TIME.  I can't sleep that warm.  I only had a sliding glass door to a patio, which was lovely, but no window to crack and leave open in hopes of cooling off a bit.   The gas fireplace had 2 temperature settings, 1: world's biggest pilot light  2: center of the sun.

The good bits were the food elsewhere.  I didn't try food at the "Lodge."  The prices were not in my approved range for standard fare.

So, road trip!

Just down the road 1/2 mile was the Montana Tap House.  The food...meh.  Cheap and edible.  It looked like the "cook" had to go out the back door and back in to bring food.
The brews though!  Good!  My colleague tried a beer and said it was excellent.
I had a beet kombucha on tap from Dark Side Fermenters.   It was most excellent!!!

I know one of the fermenters...kombuchers...one of the people who owns the company who makes the stuff.  OK, I sort of know him.  He's adorbs.  Hi Pete!

Had I known I could get them to fill a growler I would have gone to a thrift store and gotten one of those football-sideline-beverage-cooler things and brought home about 5 gallons.  Damn.  Next time.

The colleague and I headed south one day to tour some work relevant sites.  Really.

We of course, had to eat as well.  

Polson, Montana...who knew the food was so good???  

First we stopped at Flathead Lake Cheese.  Go get some.  I don't even eat cheese (damn you dairy!)

I tasted a tiny bit.  It was good.  I got some for office gifts and it was well received.  Smoked gouda and some garlicky cheese curds.  The place is all solar and you buy cheese out the side window of the old house.  It's the bomb.

Next door, across the alley actually, is the Cherries BBQ Pit.  OMG!  Brisket sandwich is awesome.  For reals.  It came with 2 sides, 8$ total.  I got "ribbon fries" and coleslaw.  A ribbon fry turns out to be a giant russet potato sent through a veggie spiralizer into hot fat.  It was HUGE.  And delicious.  The coleslaw was quite nice.  I also ordered some pork rinds for the table.  They come sprinkled with the house rub.  Very very very good.  And huge.

This was the first time in ages I could not finish a meal.  I took it with me and had it for supper.  2 meals for 11$ (including the rinds).  I tried to buy a bottle of the jack daniels sauce, but the waitress lady never quite figured out that my saying "I want to buy a bottle of that" meant that I wanted to buy a bottle of that.

There is a drive through but I went inside and sat down like a grown up.

No great meals on the way home sadly.  We had to just drive straight through.  Oh well.  I plan to take a road trip to the area again as a leisure trip and to bring my stretchy pants.

Testing Testing: Basic Economy on United Airlines, GEG to SFO

So, I'm cheap.  BUT I like to travel.  Well, I'm thrifty and I have itchy feet.  Same difference.

Last year I visited my favorite Aunt* in Bodega Bay, California but I was sick. Sick sick sick.
I've been trying to get back there and see if the place is just as good when one is not just sleeping, drinking tea, and taking showers.

It is.

Back to cheap.  I mean thrifty.

To make this trip, I put an alert on google flights (which I like) for a reasonable ticket.  A notice came up that I could get a ticket on United for a doable price.  Of course when I went to buy it, it was "Basic Economy"...the new steerage only with less food.

It is a big risk because there are tight restrictions on changing or refunds.  Those restrictions are: NOT.  No changes. No refunds. No nuthin'.
If the car breaks down on the way to the airport, as far as I could tell, that would just be too bad.

This was my best shot to test the fare in general because it was a vacation and missing it would be sad, but not a major life challenge.  If I missed the return flight, SFO is a big place and I could probably get SOMETHING to get me home.  I flew out of Spokane because that is my best possibility.

I did have to get a hotel near the airport before the flight out.  That is normal.  It's 2 hours from my house to the airport in perfect weather.  I try to take the first flight of the day on a given airline because that flight will have an airplane.  GEG can be foggy and icy and seems to be an airport that is not on the top of the service list if there are shenanigans elsewhere in the country.  Sometimes the planes don't come in.   It was a surprise that I had to get a hotel room on the return flight. It was supposed to get in at 9pm ish.  I can JUST make it home before falling asleep if I get in at 9pm.  The flight was rescheduled about 2 days after I bought it to come in at 11pm or later.  I went in to the system to try for something better but the system said, "Seriously, you are in steerage with the cattle.  Suck it up." or something like that.

I booked the most reasonable hotel I know of that doesn't have bedbugs (Quality Inn, Liberty Lake, WA, 71$ tax included)

Now for the "Basic Economy" portion of our blog.
I LUCKED OUT.    One can not pick one's seat on that ticket.  Unless one pays 25$ to check a bag, one may not check in online.  One may take a personal item on the flight (small backpack OR briefcase OR purse, pick one or none.  NO regular size carry on.  NO checked bags without paying at least 25$ per direction).  The personal item MUST go under the seat in front of you.  You may NOT use the overhead bin even if all the overhead bins are empty.

I usually travel with a backpack that is about the size allowed.  So I used that and underfilled it a bit to allow for squishage if they made me test it in the carry on and personal item tester thingy at the gate.

I went through the online process as far as it would take me and then just showed up the full 2 hours ahead for my outbound flight.  I went right to the counter.  It was 4am so no line.  Then RIGHT through security.  That was a good idea.  Minutes after I went through apparently security got backed up.  People missed the flight.  It was supposed to be 100% full.  I was randomly assigned a window seat which was fine and the people in the other two seats in my row were stuck in security.  After take off, a woman from the sardine like row behind me moved up and took the aisle seat.  Not bad.  Plenty of room for me.

ALSO!  The new thinner padding on the United steerage seats means more leg room. I have a 34 inch inseam (long legs at 5'6" tall..) and a flat butt.  If I had a bubble butt I would still have been OK in these seats.  

I was allowed to have the "snack" and a free beverage.  Just like the regular economy people.

On the return flight, check in was a bit tougher.  SFO is a bigger airport and it was later in the day.  There was no line and NO ONE at the counter other than the "premiere" counter.  So, I went to a kiosk.  That is allowed.  BUT (there is always a big 'but'), to finish check in even at the kiosk, I had to have an agent come use a badge to confirm that I am not sneaking on a real carry on.  There were 3 agents having a long chat about 10 feet from me.  My credit card was in the machine and it told me that an agent would come.  They just kept chatting.  I had to go get them, turning my back on my credit card in the machine.  I don't like that.  Finally one came and grudgingly did his job.  Sorry to interrupt your day with my shitty ticket.

Then, on through security.  Since I was in boarding group "go to hell"...I mean "5" (keep in mind that group 1 is AFTER military, people needing extra time, people with kids, anyone who paid more for a ticket, anyone with some sort of premiere membership etc etc etc so functionally one is in group 20 or so.  They hadn't started boarding yet but it was close and I ran to the bathroom and right back.  When I get back, there is no one in the gate area and the door to the flight is open so I ask the gate agent if the flight to Spokane is boarding.  He says "yes."  I say "which groups?"  "all of them".  The flight was 25-30% full.  EMPTY.  I had again been assigned a window seat.  Just behind the wing.  The attendants kept announcing that the "economy plus" seats are ONLY FOR THOSE WHO PAID FOR THEM and they'd be happy to let us PAY to sit in a slightly less shitty seat.  No one did.  I ended up with a whole row to myself and sat sideways with my feet up for the whole flight.  Again...just dumb luck.

I got the snack and the attendant gave me the whole can of gingerale.  That is rare these days but I think he just wanted to not have half a can to pour down the tiny sink in the galley.  The miniature bag of pretzels is awaiting adjudication by the Guinness book of world records as "World's Stingiest Freebie."  The same service as the rest of economy.

So basically Basic Economy on this United flight worked OK.  I would not do it if I needed to check a bag or have a full size carry on.  The extra fees would outstrip the savings.  I would not do it if I needed to actually get somewhere on a particular date.  Nor in winter when the odds of getting stuck on the way to the airport are fairly high.

It was fine for this or for any other non-crucial flight but the savings are minimal and the risk of being uncomfortable, inconvenienced, or out of the ticket cost are a bit high.





*All my aunts are my favorite.

Boise, Idaho...Less Boring Than I Thought It Would Be

I was in Boise last weekend.  It was the first time I had stayed downtown with any free time at all.

There was plenty to do and some of it was thrifty.
The parks are great.  I happened by a community garden on or near State Street, checked out the architecture of a couple of historic districts, and got a reasonably priced donut at DK Donuts (Guru Donuts looked good but I wasn't in the mood for hipster donuts.  I wanted traditional donuts and plain coffee).  The donuts were VERY good.

I splurged a bit with a movie at The Flicks.  Independent films...so much fun.  I got to eat a cookie and see "The Little Hours."  I had been leery of the film based on a trailer I watched, but it was that feeling that I could either love it or hate it.  I LOVED it.  So funny.  Apparently it is based on a medieval story so now I need to read the original story...but in modern English so I can actually get through the stories.

I stayed at the Safari Inn downtown.  I loved it!  I didn't make it into the lobby for the free cookies from 2-9pm.  Oh well.  Next time.  The breakfast isn't bad.  Boiled eggs.  Some sort of pre-fab omelette thing, and peanut butter for proteins.  Oatmeal packets, bread selections, a few small pastries, fruit cups, yogurts, coffee, tea and juice were available.  I can start a day with a couple of boiled eggs and some fruit.  The fruit cups were recently made, not canned or in prefab shelf-stable tublets.  They were in the fridge!  As if they could actually go bad.  As much as I'd rather have an apple, I realize that we'd all just take an apple for later and that ups the cost.  If the fruit is already diced up, you need to eat it sooner. 

The room was big, a king bed with dining table and chairs in a semi-separate area, good functional bathroom.  There was one hair on the pillow, but it was probably just a maid with long hair.  It happens.  The sheets were clearly clean as was the bathroom.

One feature I really liked was the clothesline in the shower/tub!  It is a retractable deal with a connector on the far end of the tub.  You could wash the delicates and hang them to dry over the tub. There was a guest laundry for only 1$ per load for the washer and the same for the dryer.  That's not bad.  The workout room was pretty good as well and had a sauna, but I didn't try those out.

The location is close to all of downtown and over a few bars and things but with the window shut and the AC on, very quiet. I didn't hear the people above or beside me in rooms.  That impressed me.
Overall, not a bad value.

I did have some spendy coffee because I love that.  It was a treat.  I ate meals with family and friends so didn't spend on those (the brats wouldn't let me).

2016...goodbye and good riddance

2016 is a year that will live in infamy.  For me anyway.  Bit up and down.  Too much down.

Simplicity and frugality-wise, it wasn't terrible.  I managed to re-supply my savings enough to think about getting the real cabin started in 2017.

And thank goodness, and frugality, I had enough savings to do what needed to be done during some rough times.

Starting last December, ok, end of 2015, but it rolled right on through the new year so I'm lumping it all into 2016.  Why ruin 2 years?

Last December, I lost two people.  First a really good old friend passed away suddenly.  She was younger than me.  I didn't stay to help her family because I was heading back to the folks to visit my father.  He had the "big C"...no, not that one, cancer.  It was bad.  Really bad.  He died.  But at least I had the cash in savings to help my friend's family and to go back for the visit over the holidays and the vacation time to stay through the end times and the memorial.

Then, 11 days later, Gramma falls and breaks a hip.  Frankly, I think the hip broke, and then she fell.
I didn't go home immediately.  I already had another trip planned for Feb to help with my father's stuff.  Instead, helped pack up Gramma's apartment as she had to move to a nursing home. I got to visit her and Mom and the rest which was good.

In June my godson graduated college which was/is AWESOME!  SOOOO proud of him (he got out with very little debt..yeay him!!!).  I went for the graduation, helped with a move.  Then he and I took a celebratory road trip back to the family homesite for my father's memorial.  Drove Idaho to Iowa, and back.  We thought we could take a leisurely tour on the way back to Idaho, but alas, he GOT A JOB!  Yeay him!!!!!   So, we booked.  The graduation and trip were the highlight of 2016.  And again, glad I had saved up and could do this.

In Sept, another trip to Iowa.  Flew out and an Aunt (a very young fun one) and I drove a moving van back to Idaho with my stuff and a couple of her things out of Gram's apartment.  Got to visit Gram again.  And Mom and the rest.  The trip with the moving van went really well until the end.  The end SUCKED.  But the company and the scenery were excellent. Thanks Aunt!

Alas, a few weeks after I got back, a person I had worked with and who filled the role of uncle or grampa for me, passed away.

Next Gramma died.  She had decided it was time and that there would be NO memorial or funeral or anything.  Nothing.  She did want my sister and I to take a vacation with Mom.  So we went.  It was great and once again I was glad I had saved up and had the money to do this for Gram. (We all paid our own way so actually: yeay all of us.)

Finally, I got word that a friend from college had passed suddenly.  He was almost exactly my age.  I miss him. 

That's enough now.  Just one more day of 2016 to go. 

More on the good stuff:
The graduation and road trips were great!

The vacation with Mom and my sister was fabulous.  We love Vancouver BC.

And I love my wee shed cabin thing!  It is a BIT tough to keep warm when it is below 10degs F, and windy.   The rest of the time it is awesome.

I splurged and spent 20$ on a sled!  RETAIL and NEW.  Very unlike me but I had enough screwing around looking at thrift stores and the snow wasn't going to last forever.  I have been sledding and snow shoeing on my land.  That is now my favorite thing.

The solar got fixed and the well works!  I spent a bit to get the good electricians out, but now it works.  That was worth it.

And I got bees!!!!!

Tiny Car Pantry

Faithful readers (of which I assume there are none) will remember that I had mice in the car last year.  Followed by at least one dead mouse in the car which stunk.  I never found the carcass.

And yet!  I have NOT learned my lesson.  I am in the car a minimum of an hour per day on weekdays, and often that much on the weekend.  Many weekdays I also drive another hour or more during work.   Lots of car time.  I end up eating in there and since I don't live in a town, I shop when I am in a town.  That is often in the middle of a work day or during a full day of errands.  Food will be in the car for extended periods.

When I had the mouse/mice last year, I eventually found a stash of almonds in the spare tire compartment. I didn't remember having almonds in the car!  Cripes.  I later found part of a bag that must have fallen out of a grocery bad or off the seat when I was snacking. 

My hope is that with the tiny car pantry I can at least keep full track of the food and keep it mouse proof.  If the little bastards MUST come in the car, and I'm sure they must, at least they will have to leave to find sustenance.

I should have taken a picture but I didn't.
At a thrift store (obviously) I came across a lovely BIG metal tin with a tight fitting an hinged (hence can't pop off and roam away to parts unknown) lid.  It is about 8"x12"x5" with a domed lid. When I do a shop, I put the shelf stable car lunch ingredients in there.  Right now there are 3 small boxes of Lara Bars (cashew and some lemon), a tin of sardines, some high-end onion crackers that come in a box that will fit in the tiny car pantry, fig bars, a package of dried figs, a plastic spoon and fork and for no apparent reason, a hotel size hand lotion.   All the food was on a SUPER sale.  Normally it would be a jar of nuts.  Sometimes there is a bit of fresh fruit, apples or oranges, in there but with the current freeze/thaw weather that's a bad idea.

I think it also saves me a bit of cash because I can eat before I go into the grocery store.  I had been going in too hungry and indeed, one ends up buying too much when shopping hungry.  It's prevented me from stopping at cafes and coffee huts too.  When I get hungry, I can have a Lara bar and make it until I'm back that the office or home.

It's also winter so never a bad idea to have food in the car in case one gets stuck.

The tiny car pantry now lives in the back of the car now.  It used to live in the passenger seat but I ended up just eating what was in there because it was there.  That does not save money or make sense.  It's been a life saver on driving trips too!  The snacks are already in the car.

10 Frugal Air Travel Tips

For the first time in YEARS I'm traveling for the holidays.   Flying. Through Minneapolis.  My mantra will be "at least it's not Chicago."  Sometimes you do these things.

Anyway.  I saw on my favorite frugal website, The Dollar Stretcher, an article titled "10 Things to Make Travel Easier" and was stunned that it was basically 10 things to BUY to make a flight or road trip more pleasant.  Uh...hello people..frugal!  NOT!  Don't buy stuff.  Repurpose and/or think ahead.

So here are 10 things I've done to make travel easier/frugaler:

1) Bring a refillable water bottle.  Buying water is for punks (nothing against punks).  I have 2 stainless steel water bottles.  I take one of them.  Bring it through security empty (because no liquids) and fill it up at a drinking fountain.  Many airport drinking fountains now have a water bottle filling station like this:

If you don't have a refillable bottle for the love of all that is thrifty DO NOT BUY ONE...at least not retail.  I used to travel with an enamelware cup carabinered to my backpack.  That works too though you really must take it off the carabiner to use it.  You can use an old pop bottle, the left over bottle from your purchased water.  You COULD use a mason jar but traveling with a glass jar is not the world's best idea.  Anyway, you get the picture.  Bring something to drink out of.  Then don't buy drinks.  Use the vessel you brought.

2)  Pack in a single carry on item.  EVEN if there is a free checked bag, you are going to have to wait for that and it's weight and hassle you don't need.  You can also bring a personal item like a purse, brief case, or laptop in bag on most flights.  Do check ahead.  I have a purse that goes totally flat and can jam inside my single carry on bag.  I usually carry on the backpack I use all day every day for everything.  To achieve this plan ahead and pack light.  No, even lighter.  I wear the bulkiest items which is a pain for about 2 minutes during security screening when I take off my coat, my giant sweater or hoodie, and lace up boots, revealing a hefty turtleneck or long sleeve tee-shirt, thick wool socks, and a belt.  The belt of course must come off.   Sure, the first layer gets a bit sweaty but you can take off the coat and sweater once on the plane if you must.  I usually just open up that tiny vent fan thingy in the ceiling and hope for the best.  I do remove the coat. 
In winter I usually pack, in addition to what I'm wearing 2 pairs of wool socks, jammy pants (hopefully something tatty that I want to throw out or put in the ragbag anyway...these will be abandoned at the destination), 4 pairs of undies, a bra (again, pack or wear undies and bras you want to throw out anyway, avoid the painful wedgie makers though or you'll ruin your trip), a few long sleeve t-shirts, a thin button down shirt, one more heavy overshirt like a sweatshirt or sweater.  All the clothes more or less go together and it's cheaper to grab an item at a thriftstore if an unanticipated need comes up, than to check a bag.  And of course, I pack toiletries, just a toothbrush, any meds I might be on or need like immodium, a comb, and a hairbrush.  When is the last time  you were somewhere without the possibility of getting shampoo and soap and toothpaste on arrival? Liquids are a hassle and waste space.  In the summer my clothes are usually thinner and I can sometimes jam in a pair of shoes so I can switch off.  If you pack shoes, fill them with the socks, undies and bras before putting them in.  Leave no airspace in anything.   A carry on, like nature, abhors a void.
This trip, I will want my laptop so I'll need to cram that in .  I may end up taking the carry on I got from  Rick Steve's website  rather than my backpack. Easier to get the laptop in with that one.


3) Bring a snack with you!  Seriously.  I like to carry nuts, jerky, whole fruit, and/or a boiled egg.  Jam those in the carry on.  You can do it!  You freed up all that space by stuffing the underpants in your shoes.  Nuts to not take up much room.   Also nice to mix dried fruit into the nuts.  A bit of that and some water from your bottle and you will save time, money and potential stomach distress (which will save carrying that extra pair of undies for when the airport food makes you poop your pants).  On my last flight I had locally made jerky and the other suckers in economy class were super jealous. 

4)  Use that giant sweater or hoodie you are wearing as your neck pillow.  You do not need to buy or lug around a neck pillow.  Or any stupid pillow.  Just roll up an article of clothing and brace your neck/head with it, or stuff the hood of the hoodie you are at that moment wearing under the side of your head and nap on it.

5)  Always pee an extra time before you get on the plane.  When they announce preboarding, which you won't be doing because you bought the cheap ticket, head to the turlets and pee again.  Not having go get up and flail your way through the overcrowded economy class cabin simplifies your life.  If you must you must, but do what you can to avoid it.

6) Keep your entertainment item SMALL if you must bring one.  If  you are incapable of occupying your mind without outside stimulation, bring something small.  A magazine (that you can throw out once you've read it), a book from a tiny free library to return to a different tiny free library at your destination, an ipod.  I don't know how many times I've watched people drag out enormous tomes to read or multiple items of electronics.  Meanwhile, there I am playing solitaire on my ipod, or even more likely, looking out the window or people-watching (and obviously judging) the others on the flight. 

7) Be kind to ALL airport and airline staff.  I always thank the janitors if they are cleaning an airport bathroom.  I've been a janitor.  It was like I was invisible.  People completely ignored me.  Weird.  I truly appreciate a clean airport toilet so I thank them.  Same with the flight attendants.  If you want your free cola with a gobbit of spittle or a dose of anger, by all means be a high maintenance twat.  But when it's time to put someone in the vacant exit aisle, they are going to go with the nice one, not the persnickety whiner.  Also, why make someone's day crappy?  Just no point to it.  Life is easier if you are polite.

8) At each layover, and you bought the cheap ticket so there will be at least 1, walk around.  Since you packed light, you can do this.  Get a drink.  Have a pee.  Get the  blood out of your legs before you get back in the fetal position in your economy seat.  You won't be quite as exhausted upon arrival.

9) Put your tiny carry on under the seat in front of you if at all possible.  This saves time on the way into and out of the seat.  You're more likely to catch that bad connection that saved you 100$ on the ticket.  You can jam your toes under it for a while, then rest your feet on it for a while during the flight.   You can have your coat in your lap or use it as a pillow once the flight is in the air.  Maybe practice taking it off and putting it on in the confined space of an airline seat.  Punching your seatmate in the face while getting comfy is not a way to have a pleasant trip.

10) Pee again and fill your water bottle before you leave the airport.  The taxi/bus/train/friend taking you to your final destination may get waylaid along the route in construction, a traffic jam, who knows.  If you have a full water bottle and an empty bladder, this situation won't be nearly as trying.  Hopefully you also still have a wee bit of jerky or a few nuts to share.

Guest Blog: Amtrak Cross Country Trip

I asked a relative who was taking a cross country trip on Amtrak for a review.  It's a fairly thrifty way to travel, especially one way travel.   She booked just a seat, not a roomette.

Here is her review of the experience:

The train was not a bad experience at all and I could say I would recommend it to others.  I might suggest using the train for shorter distances, the trek from Spokane to La Crosse did get a little rough on the 2^nd day.  I was on the train for a little more than 36 hours and at around hour 30 I was ready for my train experience to end but it was not bad overall.

*If you don’t want my jabber then there is a summary of pros and cons at the bottom*

The positives of the train would be the seating, the carry on luggage, the food, and the views/sights.  There is no doubt that the best thing about the seats is the leg room, being a tall person this is very important to me.  I, like many others traveling alone, was lucky enough to get two seats to myself which allowed for maximum space but I don’t think it would have been bad if I did have to share the seat next to me.  The seats if front of you have foot rests as well as your seat having a leg rest or leg extender (I have no idea what to call them).  So when it came time to sleep I could lift up the leg rests on both seats and make a kind of couch to sleep on.  The seats also recline fairly far as well so I had no trouble sleeping at all. An awesome feature of the train is also that they have electrical plug-ins for every seat so I could charge my phone or iPad which was great. Another pro of the train was that the staff really couldn’t care less where your carry on luggage is.  On planes they are really strict about placing you carry on bags in the overhead compartments or under your seat but on the train everyone just had their stuff in the seats next to them or on the floor. It was nice because then I had easy access to things when I needed them.   

The food on the train would be another positive thing. It is definitely not the best food you will eat in your life, like it’s not crème brulee or anything but it is decent enough.  I was brave enough to try one of the breakfast sandwiches and it was not bad.  The food is a positive just because they offer different options.  Passengers can eat in the dining car or go to the lounge to buy food, and they have a fair amount of things to choose from.  The final pro of the train is of course the sights; you see many mountains and landscapes that are really beautiful.  I unfortunately went through Glacier National Park during the night but woke up in the morning just as we were leaving and saw a really pretty sunset. North Dakota was a little boring and offered much of the same but the Dakotas are just in an unfortunate flat and super boring geographical area. Anyway, I saw many beautiful animals and trees on the trip and the train went through some interesting cities also.

Now for the negative aspects of the train; the bathrooms suck, there is no delay information, and it may be easy to get motion sickness. The number one negative is without a doubt the bathroom.  The bathrooms are microscopic and tiny, there is barely enough room to turn your body to wash your hands.  All of the locks suck and are broken so you play a sort of toilet Russian roulette (which in my opinion is worse than the real game) when you open the doors.  I had a person walk in on me while I was going and I accidentally walked in on another woman.  A random old woman peeing is not what you want to see at 6 in the morning after you have been sleeping on a train all night (just saying).  Plus, the bathrooms are gross like you would expect them to be, they see a lot of traffic. Another con would be the lack of knowledge about delays.  They may announce an unexpected stop or how long they will be at a station but they do not announce how far off schedule the train is.  During the night they make no announcements on the train at all so then you have no idea about stops that happen while you sleep.  It was frustrating because I ended up being 2 hours later to La Crosse than I was supposed to be.  The last con would be motion sickness. Most of the passenger seating is on the upper level but the train tends to sway in the wind and I can see where it would be easy for someone to get sick.  Also, many people lost their balance when trying to walk around so I would recommend caution to older individuals taking the train because they seemed to have the most trouble with balance.

Overall, if you are accustomed to the plane experience but cannot afford to get a plane ticket the train is a very similar experience for less money.  It has the same atmosphere as a plane but more leg room, there are plug-ins, you can use electronics while on the train, there is better food, and you get to see more than just clouds all the time. The bathrooms do kind of suck but if it is for a shorter trip then it’s not so bad. So the train is a great travel option!

Pros:

-a lot of leg room (leg rests and foot rests)

-most people have two seats to themselves

-Plug-ins for electronics

-food/dinner options

-views/sights to see

-similar to an airplane experience

 Cons:

-bathrooms (gross, small, and no real locks)

-no delays are really mentioned

-motion sickness

They Just Don't Get It.....Seriously

OK, so apparently people think I'm denying myself something, many things, possibly "important" things.   What the hell?     I'm one of the only people I know who has everything they want.   There are more things I wouldn't mind having (like if anyone has a spare Johnny Depp lying around going unused....that would be fine).

So, here's how this came up today:

I got a call from a colleague this morning asking if I was coming to a group work event. I said that I was stranded on the wrong side of the mountains by weather, 6 hours from home, so nope. She asked if that was a problem and I said, thinking she knew me well, that nope, I had a plenty of savings at this point in my life for these sorts of little "emergencies" so it was no hardship to find a budget hotel and spend a night in Portland Oregon (actually...it's really fun with the cheap efficient public transit and the Powell's bookstore and the amazing food).

She said something like, "but you deny yourself so much to get those savings"
.......I am still sort of stunned. I have everything I need! And most of what I want. In my mind I don't deny myself anything.   I wanted to say, "But I'm talking to you from a one bedroom apartment in Seattle (that I rent instead of a hotel room because it's cheap and private and I enjoy having a kitchen when I travel), and I'm on my way to Portland to wait out a storm while I find books on my list (resource material for things I WANT to do on MY land) and eat delicious food (just because I WANT to...).  I mean for cripes sake, I went to Paris for Christmas (thanks Unca Pat for the room!) because I wanted to.  Then I went to Amsterdam for New Years because what the hell, I was already in Paris.....oh the denial of not staying in Plummer...boohoo.

This woman has been connecting me with inexpensive resources and whatnot since I've bought land so I sort of thought we were on the same page, but I guess not.

Part of it is that long ago I started sorting my wants from my real "needs" and setting priorities for both. Once that was sorted, the rest started fall in place financially.   For example, I "need" somewhere to live. I want privacy so I have lived alone in low cost housing. Decor and fashion and large amounts of space are not things I want, so not having them isn't "denial" to me, it's cool. I didn't want or need debt the last several years so I paid it off. That's not denial...that's awesome for my financial goals. I want savings. I have some. I need clothes...don't car about fashion...so I get 2nd hand clothes. Back to the savings and debt pay off priorities with the left overs. I wanted to ask her if she understood that I wasn't denying myself anything that interests me.   I wonder if people who buy into the mainstream wants, or who maybe just don't get that we all want different stuff, will never get that for those of us who are outliers from the norm.  I have friends and relatives who have much more gracious and spacious homes.  My assumption was that that was what THEY want, not what EVERYONE wants.  Some people really enjoy fine art.  I think it's great.  What I choose to spend my money on and get the most enjoyment out of is art by someone I have a personal connection with.  Some day I'd like to own a Jim Denommie.   I already own a Carly Bordeaux,  a Gerald Nailor Jr (thanks Marcie!), an Erika Greenwell (hi Erika!).   Sometimes something grabs me like the handmade plate I saw in New Mexico...I do know the potter now so in that case the art came before the personal connection.  But you get the theme.  These aren't all high dollar items but I really like them.  I LOVE my original Bree (Hi Bree) and my Jon Hostager (Hi Jon!) and my Annnnnggggela (Hi Ange!) and my Laurie Koenigs (Hi Laurie!).   I have several Pamela's  (Hi Pam).   Where's the denial?

I wanted to go on a canal boat trip. So I did. I wanted to see ancient Roman and Druid ruins. Saw both on the way too and from the canal boat in Wales. Wanted to see Paris again. So I did. Wanted to spend the night in Portland rather than make a long and dangerous drive through ice and snow and freezing rain. So I did. Wanted to buy land for cash. So I did. I want to live in a home of my own design. So I'm working on a design. I want to learn to build things so I've taken classes and now that I bought land, I can start putting those things into practice. I want to know if I can build a home without debt. So I am giving it a shot. I want to live with a low impact on the environment, so I bought a composting toilet and started thinking about how to implement it's use.   I wanted to learn about gardening so I built a couple of raised beds.

Perhaps my loyal readers could clue me in on what I'm denying myself.  I can't think of a thing  (as I sit in my hotel, typing on my new computer, eating organic dark chocolate covered edamame beans from Trader Joe's and drinking delicious homemade chai from my purple stainless steel designer French press travel mug (hot water from my teal stainless steel Stanley thermos) wearing my organic cotton jammie pants and t-shirt (all of the things were bought at thrift) and wearing a lovely silver ring a friend just gave me after a giveaway/funeral on the reservation   For breakfast I've got an assortment of organic goodies to supplement the complimentary breakfast.

Seriously, where is the huge gap in my life I should feel bad about?  The part where I don't worry about whether I can pay my bills?   The part where I pay some giant corporations huge amounts of interest for credit?  The part where I stress about losing my job because of the crushing debt hanging over my head?  The part where I would lose my home and car if I lost my job? The part where I'm 1 paycheck from desperation? The part where if an opportunity comes up I can't afford to take advantage of it?  The part where I can't help people because I have no savings?  The part where ...I got nothing.

Travel: Getting There Thriftily

Bogus title, I know.  Oh well.

Getting there seems to be the toughest place to cut $$ in my travel.   Here are some things I try but I'm really and truly open to suggestions on this topic.  This is a weak spot for me.

Flying.
It's convenient, fast, etc, but it also means you have to get to an airport.  When you live in a populated area it's a bit easier.   You can take public transport, or a cab, or a shuttle, or whatever.   I live in the boonies.  Taking the bus to the airport would be cheap, but for a 6am flight, I'd need to leave the house at about noon the day before the flight.  If I arrived back at the airport anytime after noon, I'd be lucky to be home before 10pm.  Still, I may try it sometime.

As it is, I end up driving to the airport, often the night before if it's an early flight, and paying to park.  The convenience and safety and flexibility outweigh the cost for me.  There are two hotels within walking distance of the airport which allow you to park your car for up to 1 or 2 weeks (they differ) for the price of a room.   I calculate that cost vs parking in the airport lot and walking to the hotel.  The benefit is, I don't miss flights.   Counting on driving in the wee hours of the morning isn't a good idea for me.  6 months of the year we risk bad roads from ice, black ice, freezing fog, freezing rain, snow, fog, etc.  And I'm just not up for driving at 3am anymore.   Much safer to pay for the hotel.


Driving.
Since I'm not near a major airport, it can be quite expensive to fly.  Especially when you add in parking.  When the inconvenience of the flight schedules and the time to get to the airport, arriving 90min before the flight, etc, is added in, I often drive to places even when I could fly.   For example, Seattle.   There ARE cheap flights, but, I would need to drive to the airport, more than an hour each way, and pay to park, arriving 90 minutes before my flight.   90 minutes of wait time at the airport plus 90 minutes for the drive...now we're at 3 hours.  The drive to Seattle is 5 hours.   Once I would fly to Seattle, the airport is a good hour from where I need to be in the city.   There is another hour.  Now the total is 4 hours of drive/transit time and we haven't even added in flight time and tarmac time yet.  It's basically faster to drive.

I found a similar issue when I calculated a trip to Portland.  The flight times were  extremely inconvenient and would have meant a night at a hotel in Spokane.  For the cost of the hotel, I could drive and park at the Portland airport.   So I did.

Bus.
I haven't taken a cross country bus lately.   One issue is the boonies location noted above.  About 2 years ago regularly scheduled bus routes started up in this area again.  Since then the number of trips through has steadily decreased.   Then there are the connections.  It would take me about 11 hours to get to Seattle by bus given the bad connections.   I could cut 5 of those hours off by driving to Spokane, but there is no where to park in the vicinity of the bus garage.  I COULD park out at the airport and take the city bus back into town to the cross country bus terminal...but now we're paying for parking and adding hours to the trip again.    There is a possibility of driving south to Moscow Idaho and catching a Seattle bound bus and I may try that sometime.  If someone will let me park in their driveway.  I can't just leave the car on the street in the winter due to snow plowing.  I won't just get plowed in, I'll get towed.

Train.
I love the train in Europe.  I'd love to take the train here.  It leaves Spokane, for Seattle, at 2am.  From a scary part of town with coin-op outdoor, unmanned, parking!   By the time I add in the cost of getting a new car and the aggravation of dealing with the insurance after my car is stolen/stripped/smashed (or all three), it wouldn't be worth it.   Taking the bus into Spokane...see above.  I'd arrive about 8 hours before the train left.   And then there is the cost.  It's cheaper to pay for gas and drive myself.   The train to Iowa would be fun too.  I could possibly catch it in another town, also in the week hours of the night.  It takes a day and a half to two days to get within 3 hours of my folks' house.  So that is not particularly convenient.  Trying to carry food for that long and to keep clean would be gross.  Again, I'll pay less to fly or drive.


From all that it seems there is no cheap way to get places, distant places, when one lives in the boonies.   So, here are a few ways I minimize the costs:

Flying:  I keep "alerts" on cheap ticket prices for places I go regularly.   I've never bought a ticket when one of these alerts emails me, but it gives me an idea of the lowest price I can get on a flight to that area so when it's time to go, I can shoot for something in that range.
I also keep track of websites that tell the best day to buy tickets and explain the current trends in flexible pricing (e.g., right now purchase on Tuesday and be ready to travel any day of the week.  It used to be cheapest T-Th, but not always anymore).    That also shows that I keep my dates somewhat flexible.  I have a job and can't travel just any time, but I can usually shoot for anytime within a 2 week window.  I use the aggregator sites like Travelocity and Orbitz, and I also call the airlines and check their websites and purchase whatever is cheapest.    NO ADD-ONS.   Not even a checked bag.   I'll wear two sweaters and a coat onto the airplane but I will not pay 25$ for someone to kick my bag around the tarmac.    For 25$, or whatever the bag fee is, I can go to a thrift store and buy several outfits if need be.   I take whatever seat I can get and I suck it up.   I will not pay to get on earlier, more leg room, marginally more edible food, etc.   I carry nuts and a refillable water bottle so I don't starve on the flight. 
And of course there is finding the cheapest parking, taking into account everything from delays, shuttle times, etc.   Since I have a bit more $$ now than when I was in college, I no compromise a bit for convenience.
If you have the time and the airline offers, take the $$ to get off the plane.  I could have done this on the way back from my most recent trip to Iowa, but the offer wasn't real cash, just flight vouchers that had to be used in a limited time frame, and would have meant getting back a day late.   I skipped that offer but when I was in college I would have run off the plane for that sort of thing.
 Find the most cost effective way to get from the destination airport to the final destination.  Talking someone into picking you up for free is the cheapest.  Check into shuttles and other group transportation.  Not always the fastest, but it might work.   And of course, public transportation. This worked fabulously in DC, will not work well in Waterloo, Iowa.


Driving:   Keep the car in good shape with oil changes and air filters and proper tire pressure.  Carry drinks and food from home to save $$ on road snacks (and the inevitable dose of Imodium from ill-advised road snacks).  Drive slower.   I gain 10-20% on gas mileage if I drive 60 or slower.   That really adds up on long trips as well as regular driving.  Leave plenty of time to get where you're going.  I find that this cuts down on stress, which cuts down on snacking and speeding so indirectly, it saves me $$.    Once you get where you are going, still use public transportation if you can.  In Seattle I have a hotel that is thrifty and includes free parking.  I take the bus and walk once I'm there.  Driving downtown means gas, aggravation, and parking fees.  Riding the bus means seeing strange people and getting good stories.

OK, that's a lot of information. 

Travel Souvenirs

When you travel...do you really need souvenirs?  
Maybe.

I like to have a little something to remember a place by.   I've gone through a few phases.
At first, I would buy books...uh, heavy and expensive and how many of those have I actually read?   Zero.

Than I went through a calendars and whatnot phase.  Better.  But again, done after a year or so and other than the calendars, they weren't things I would just see on a daily basis, so not much remembering going on.

Now I get tiny things that I'll see now and then...and smashed pennies.  The smashed pennies take up almost no space and cost 50 cents or a dollar each.  And you usually get to turn the crank thingy which is fun and a little obnoxious so double fun.   I'm thinking about having the pennies from a trip joined on a chain into a bracelet (by my sister so cheap).

The daily use souvenirs that have been great successes for me:

Tea towel from the tea and coffee museum in London.  I use it as a cozy for my kitchenaid mixer and so I see it most days and think "That was a great trip."

A handmade pottery plate from Santa Fe.  I met the potter and her husband and chatted.  I really liked the plate and use it most days and think "that was a great trip."   Since I had bonded with the potter and husband, they even stopped by Idaho for a visit on their way through.  Fun.

Thin cheapo reproduction plates of English royal dishware from olden tymes.   (I think Chris got me these...still love them).  They are a bit fragile so I don't let guests use them...I wouldn't mind the damage so much but they are tin and the paint comes off in your food if you're not careful and I figure guests don't want to eat paint chips.   They are cool and I remember the trip when I use them.

In DC, I tried to go even smaller.  I got quite a few smashed pennies, kept the Van Gogh decorated metro pass card, and got chapstick from the Smithsonian.  I put the pass card up with other tickets I've posed in a little space in the kitchen.  It gives me things to think about while I cook.  The chapstick is in my pocket.

In Wales (trip described in past post), I got a pen at a thrift store.  It was new, but had a logo that reminded me of the store and of Wales.  It just gave up the ghost.

I've got ticket stubs from Italy, Wales, Seattle, Santa Fe, Denver, pretty much everywhere I've been.  These are fine souvenirs.

I guess my recommendation is tiny and cheap.

Thrifty Vacation Housing Options

Moving along on my list of topics I said I'd cover about vacationing....frugally and simply (or fairly frugally and fairly simply since the MOST frugal and simple would be to sit at home in the cold and dark).

So, I've tried hotel/motels...some are a fairly good deal.  Some are not.
I've tried vrbo.com (vacation rentals by owner), not bad.  Prices go as high or low as you want.
And the DC trip was through airbnb.com.  Again, price range is quite wide.

3 of us shared a 2 bedroom apartment in DC, with full kitchen, one full bath, and a washer dryer (nice ones, not those crap stacking ones with a top loading washer), breakfast foods included for about 35-40$/each per night.   That was really good.
Here's a link to the place if you're curious:
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/339208?guests=2&s=19fa

The beds were great.  Pam (Hi Pam) got the couch so she'll have to give us a ruling on that.   It was very private and no steps other than the front porch.  It is in a working class neighborhood in DC.    The Metro stop is literally yards from the front door.  You can see the place when you get off the Metro.   4 stops to the Mall.   So, we didn't feel we spent too much time or money on transportation.

Having the washer/dryer meant we could pack with only a small carryon that fit under the seat in front of us.  The airlines sometimes require you to check the roller bags these days with the overloaded flights.  That doesn't cost you money, but it does cost you time waiting for the bag.  I personally don't want to pay to check a bag so the washer facilitates that savings.

By staying in a working class neighborhood rather than at trendier or more "nightlife" type area, we also got a less expensive place.

With airbnb.com much of your experience depends on your host so read the reviews and communicate with the host before committing.  The host, Wayne, was awesome!   Good directions and suggestions.   He encouraged us to take a bus to the national cathedral rather than the metro.  Even cheaper AND it's like getting a free tour of DC.   Some people might not care for the bus as the poor people take the bus along with everyone else, but we didn't mind at all. 

What you don't get with airbnb: a round the clock concierge, linen service, a cookie-cutter-predictable-chain-hotel experience, reward points, etc.

When I've managed to get excellent prices on hotels/motels, it's largely been in "mom-n-pop" type places.   They don't have advertising and often don't have websites so there is some risk.  But isn't life full of risk?
One of my favorite cheapy hotel/motel experiences was at Paul's Motor Inn in Victoria BC
www.paulsmotorinn.com/
This was several years ago and I cannot vouch for their current conditions.   The room was clean and quiet (due to the cinder block walls...those don't transmit much sound).  The onsite restaurant hadn't been redecorated, or restaffed, since the 1970s.  If you like vintage you'd love it.  If you like modern and exotic then probably not for you.   The place came with parking.  Since I drove there and it costs to park in the city, free parking is important savings for me at a motel/hotel. 

In Seattle I generally stay at the Travelodge University.  It's not the cheapest, but the location is good, the price is very good for the location, free parking, and there are some 1 and 2 bedroom apartments with full kitchens.  These cost a bit more than the regular rooms but I'm usually able to recoup much of the difference by having 1 or 2 meals a day in the hotel.

I no longer go so far as to sleep in the car to save money.  I have a job and find that sleeping inside with a toilet and shower available is way better and worth the money these days.

Thrifty Packing

So, as noted in the previous post, I pack so that I have ONLY a carry-on.   This saves baggage fees and the hassle of hanging out at the airport waiting for bags.  I don't want to pay extra fees and I want to get the most vacation for my flight dollar.

This trip, as with most, I packed in an ancient day pack I used through much of grad school (so purchased sometime before 1997...I think...it might be a lookalike that's only a decade old but I think it's closer to 20 years old).   It has one main compartment and one outside front pocket, 2 shoulder straps.  That's it.   I have an alternate bag for trips where I need a bit more or expect to bring back a bit more, but we'll stick with this bag for now.

We knew we had a washer and dryer in the apartment we'd rented (more on the apartment at a later date) so we knew we could do laundry easily.  Even without a washer/dryer, I find I can wash everything but jeans in a gallon ziplock bag. 

Here's the total of what I brought, clotheswise, including the outfit I wore on the plane:

2 pairs of jeans
2 turtlenecks
1 silk thermal undershirt
1 shortsleeve t-shirt (for jammies)
2 longsleeve t-shirt
1 button down overshirt
1 nice sweater
5 undies
3 pairs of wool socks, various weights
1 pair of light hiking boots
1 pair sturdy walking shoes
2 bras
1 leather coat
1 color coordinated scarf

All clothes are in one color range and yes, I pretty much looked the same every day since I ended up wearing the button down shirt as a jacket.  Oh well.  I wasn't in DC to impress people with my fashion sense (of which I have none).

I could have left the coat home and just worn a thick thermal undershirt.  I don't have a decent light jacket at the moment and the weather forecast indicated some chilly temperatures...which didn't really appear.  I never took the coat out of the apartment once I'd arrived.

To get all this, and my toiletries and sundries, in the pack, it's important to pack tight and be willing to carry the weight.
Wear the heaviest things even if you'll be a bit too warm on the trip.  Once you wear it onto the plane, you can stuff it under the seat in front of you, or roll it up for a lumbar support in those CRAP airline seats.   So, the boots, coat, a turtleneck, button down, scarf, socks, undies, bra and jeans were the outfit of the day.
The rest went in the bag.  First, I put the undies in a thin, and clean, veggie bag left over from a grocery trip, then stuff them in a shoe.  There was room left over for a rolled pair of socks.  The other shoe got more socks, a bra, and the silk undershirt.  I also packed an extra pillow case as I had recently put henna in my hair and didn't want to dye anything at the apartment.  This pillow case was an old one so if I needed to lighten the load, I could leave it behind.   One pair of undies was beyond the pale and was chucked rather than brought home.  1 t-shirt and 1 turtleneck were also potential donations if there wasn't room on the way home.

So, the stuffed shoes went into the bottom of the bag for rigidity.  Then the jeans.  Fill in around the edges with rolled or tightly folded shirts.  The pillowcase was folded to the size needed to make a layer across the entire bag and the packing thus far, then the sweater and the rest were layered on.  I had about 4 inches of space left in the top for my neti-pot and sea salt and threw in a cloth handkerchief for good measure.  Also in the top were the phone charger, ipod charger, etc.  The toiletries bag goes in the small outside pocket along with the travel journal.

I have an expandable, but still very small, travel purse that I can take on the plane as well.  It was purchased because with the expando-zipper around the bottom open, it will hold a water bottle upright.  The purse had the water bottle (filled at a drinking fountain after passing security...saves on those stupid expensive bottles of water at the airport), a bag of almonds and craisins, a pencil, tiny earbud type headphones, and the like.  

The combined weight of pack and purse was maybe 10 lbs.   That didn't include the clothes I was wearing.

Packing tight like this, also makes for easier travel on public transportation.  I took the Metro from the airport to the apartment and it was no problem.   On the Metro back to the airport at the end of the trip, the only problem was when I set my backpack on a bench to wait for a train...then got on the train without it.  I immediately noticed and was able to jump back off and grab the pack and get back on.   Thank goodness!   In DC, and at the Arlington Cemetery stop, that bag would have been taken by security and possibly blown up had I left it behind. 

Arlington Cemetery stop you ask...Why yes.   We (Mom and I) stopped at Arlington to watch the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on the way to the airport.  Since we'd packed light, we just took our bags along.  I wouldn't choose to hike that far everyday with a pack, but it meant we could make the most of our final day in the city.  Nice.

Mom also packed VERY light.  She did put a few things in a clothing donation bin before we departed.   I had plenty of room so went ahead and brought my potential-donation clothes home to take on the next trip.

A final note:  I did not take along any toothpaste, shampoo or etc.  I don't use them anyway.  I took a small jar of sea salt (fits in the neti pot) which I use for tooth brushing.  I wash my hair with baking soda and rinse with dilute vinegar and figure I can get that at pretty much any store.  The apartment was well stocked and had both on hand.   The apartment also had plenty of lotions, potions, soaps and shampoos so that if you do use such things, you wouldn't have needed to bring any.

Thrifty Travel

OK, the THRIFTIEST travel is to stay home but that's not really what I'm about.  So, I'm going to do a little series on thrifty travel based on my recent trip with Mom (Hi Mom!) and Pam (Hi Pam) to DC for 10 days.   It was a blast and pretty dang thrifty.

Topics to be covered:
Packing:  ONLY a carry-on and keep that small enough to go under the seat in front of you. 
Choosing a place to stay:  we used airbnb.com to find a nice place, good price and with a washer/dryer (helps with the packing bit)
Sights, museums, eating, entertainment: Get the most bang for your buck
Souvenirs:  Do you need them?  (probably)
Getting there: This can be the toughest place to really make deep cuts in the travel budget without sacrificing time and enjoyment so balance may be a key consideration.

And there might be more.

The 10 days in DC were amazing and a pretty darn thrifty for the three of us.

Cheap Entertainment!

So now I'm in Missoula at another cheap conference. Sadly, the keynote speaker for this conference could not make it due to a health issue, and I'm not interested in the pinch-speakers so I probably DID pay 25$ for a banquet I won't attend. That's a bummer, but wasting 3 or 4 hours of my life on something that I would find mindbendingly dull just to "use" the 25$ ticket would be worse.

Anyway, the cheap entertainment is not at the conference. I left after my paper and hanging around just enough to be seen and kiss some professional-butt...I mean networking. My friend Jeanne's (Hi Jeanne!) daughter goes to school here and is a very nice young woman. She treated me to lunch in the cafeteria. Then I treated her to a dinner downtown. Then she treated me to roller derby! The roller derby was a double header so for the price of the ticket (which she paid...she's quick) we got over 4 hours of entertainment! The roller girls were great. There were some excellent athletes, and some who were on the team just to use their giant butts to block the skinny jammer girls. The jammers are sort of the quarterbacks or forwards. Then there is a pivot, who is sort of the main guard. Then there are the slammers. Some of these were BIG gals. Big butts. And yet, never once did the DJ play this:



I think that showed great restraint on his part. The jammers tend to be pretty skinny, even wiry. They slip through the bigger gals to get points. I totally want to do roller derby now.

We spent part of the evening discussing great names for roller derby teams.
For the older set: The Menopause Mob (the name my siblings and I use for Mom and her friends...Hi Mom). On that team, my derby name would be Polly Estrogen

Or: The Betty Crackers (we'd wear our tights very low). On that team my name would be The Plumber

Or: The Golden Ragers. My name: Mick Jugger

Or: The Mother Loads. My name: Saggy Maggy

Or...well, you get the drift. I think it was 10$ a ticket (I'll find some way to slip the girl some $$). 4 hours of entertainment for 10$ is a pretty good price. Some of the profits went to boob cancer research too so we not only had a good time, we helped save the world.

In reality...I'm a big chicken, a bad roller skater, and I don't like getting hurt so I probably won't pursue the whole roller derby thing.

Tomorrow morning we plan on going to the conference again....HA! Kidding. I sat through my session, since I was pressed into being the session host, and 1.5 other papers. I just cannot listen to people talk about fragments of fragments of fragments of information in 20 minute chunks. Especially when it comes to the joy of pointy rocks. I just can't do it. Ultimately, the minutea (spelling?) do not help me in my job. Big picture stuff is really where it's at. Big new areas of significance? OK, I can use that. Slight variation in sourcing methodology for chert? Don't care and can't use it. Does it make me self centered that I can no longer sit through those papers? I used to GIVE those papers back when I was in the tenure game. No more.

Anyway, enough bitching about conference papers. It could be worse. It's in a nice building and if I'm ambitious I could put on my name tag and get some breakfast rolls and a coffee. But I'd have to walk quite a ways to get it so probably won't.

Rather than going to the conference, we're heading over to some outdoor markets. It might be a tad chilly, but there will be goodies and interesting people. And we'll be in a good area for some cheap lunch.

OK, it's LATE! Like MIDNIGHT! I'm rarely up this late. Off to bed to rest up for more vacation fun tomorrow.