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| This picture is not from our honeymoon but my shoes are! |
While pondering what to write for this week's blog post, I found this little guy in my drafts folder. This post is only a little less than 4 years late so enjoy a blast from the past.
Just a few short weeks ago I was hanging out with New Dude, in Las Vegas, Nevada. We were enjoying our Honeymoon.
I have traveled many times now as an adult. I've left the country, I've gone on cruise ships, and driving up and down the east coast. This is, however, the first time in YEARS I have been able to take a plane ride with someone, New Dude. I actually cannot even remember the last time I went on the plane with another person. That is sad actually.
I've gone on some amazing trips with my friend V., but a lot of the time we meet at the airport at our destination and then go from there. This time I was actually driving to the airport with someone. It was a good type of different.
While on my trip I had a few moments when I wished my mom was there calling all the shots.
As children, your parents are the ones taking care of transpiration, money, food, shelter, what to do, when to do it, and all of the packing/double-checking of the packing. We just had to follow along with their master plan, fill in complaints when we couldn't eat fast food for every meal or go to some crazy super-duper expensive tourist trap.
Well, that doesn't really happen anymore. It is all on me and whomever I am traveling with, in this case, New Dude.
I am getting better at it, I really am. Or at least that is what I keep telling myself, however, like all trips I had some fails. Like bringing along my computer but forgetting the charger at home. Or forgetting my socks on top of the dryer. Here are just some new fun facts that I've learned about travel from this trip.
I don't mind being told I'm a tourist by taking pictures of everything, pulling out a map more often than needed, or even smiling like a dork at something I've never seen. What I do hate about travel is when I feel like I'm being taken advantage of.
On this trip, we rented a car, and during this rental process, I felt like that. I received a quote from the Internet which was about half of what the final cost was. I think one of the places where we could have saved was the gas fee. We paid a gas fee where we could drop the tank off empty and they would fill it up and we wouldn't have to worry about a thing. Well, it sounds like a good idea because we had no idea how much gas was, or how big the gas tank was. You never know exactly what kind of car you're going to get until you get the car. Well, the gas tank for the car we were renting was only 10 gallons. At $4.00 a gallon, which it wasn't, we still would have saved money for filling up the tank ourselves. We also did the extra insurance, which I think was probably a good idea. However, because I wasn't completely sure what it covered made me like it less. If it would have been explained a little better about what it would take care of versus our own personal insurance I would have been less frustrated. I also think them giving us a breakdown of how much it would cost per extra hour would have been helpful as well. I knew it would be a little bit more expensive but for about 1 hour over we paid half a day's rental. Add in the total time of renting the car took about 2.5 hours. Two hours to rent and exit the parking garage and another 30 minutes when we returned the car. We didn't know exactly what to do or where to go and had to wander around and find a person, it was a very, very frustrating process.
If you rent a car on your next trip I would do a little bit more research and ask more questions about price. Also, the keys are probably already in the car, we did not know that. I would also ask for and write down the process of returning the car/keys. It was our fault just as much as theirs for not asking more questions. The rental car itself was very nice and was great for getting us where we wanted to be, but I feel like some stress and the nagging feeling they were taking advantage of us could have been removed.
The next thing I would do is learn more about the shuttle services that the hotels offer. The first hotel on our first night did have shuttle service, however, they had a cut-off hour of 9 pm. Our flight didn't arrive until 9:30 pm so we were calling the hotel at 10 pm just to find out that we had to grab a taxi. Honestly, I would have changed hotels if I would have known that before. Standing at an airport after traveling for over 12+ hours and not sure how to get to our hotel was not fun. A taxi brought us there but you never know if they are taking the best route and how much the actual trip will cost. More fun money I did not want to spend on transportation. If four people would have been sharing a cab it would be worth it, but not for just two people. We did use the shuttle to get to the airport the next day to bring us to the car rental place.
One of the last places we stayed also did not have a shuttle service at all. I was very bummed to learn about that but I did learn about the Super Shuttle. It is a small shuttle bus that will take you from the airport to your hotel. It just might have a less direct route because they'll be stopping off at other people's nearby hotels, possibly, first. It was cheaper, and at the same time we were getting our first ride to the hotel we were also able to set up our return pick up time. Our flight home was at 12:30 pm and they picked us up at 10:30 am that morning. That part was a nice find.
Most cities that I have visited as of late have had public transpiration like subway stations of some sort. Well, we were on the Las Vegas strip, with no hotel shuttle bus and no desire to pay for the high unpredictable cost of a taxi. We found a few very cool ways to get around. Any of the actives, we went to a machine gun ranch which was off the strip, had a shuttle service that would pick us up and drop off. That saved us a few dollars. We even had them drop us off at a different casino off the strip to go zip lining. We zip-lined and then hung around there for a little bit before wanting to get back to our hotel. One staff member told us about a bus stop but we were unsure where it was located. We went up to the player/club/member desk for the casino to find out where exactly this bus stop was. Instead, the lady told us about them having their own shuttle bus to other casinos on the strip. She told us where to wait and if anyone asked us about our member's card to tell them we forgot it our room. No one asked and we made it back onto the strip. That was a nice little surprise. The only issue with shuttle buses is that you are always waiting on other people/on their timeline. Being spoiled by living in Virginia in a less busy area where I can jump in a car anytime I want, park where I want, at any time I feel, well it makes waiting seem like forever.
The next best thing we learned was about the bus that goes up and down the strip. For anyone who wants to go to Las Vegas, wear comfortable shoes those blocks are LONG and usually hot since it was in triple digests during the day and still high 90s at night. The bus is the way to go. You can pay for two hours, 24 hours, or 3 days and you can jump on and off as much as you want and they go up and down the strip and all over. I think that was one of the best ideas we had. We were able to go all the way to Fremont Street and up to the Mandalay Bay on the same $8 per person.
Water, water, water. If you are anything like New Dude and me, we drink a lot of water. If you grab a bottle from every convenience store, shop in the airport, and mall drink station you'll spend a lot of money on just water. We, especially in the airport, would just drink all the water and hold onto the empty bottle and fill it up at water fountains. Yes, the water sometimes tasted a little different and was a little less cold, but it saved us a lot of money. Plus, you might not always be able to get water. When we were leaving the Hoover Dam the cafe' was closed and we couldn't get any water. At the car rental place, it cost us $10 for two 1 liter bottles. That is stupid, but then we had large water bottles that came in handy when stuck at the Hoover Dam with no water.
Bring snacks with you as well. Maybe not the same snacks that you have at home like cheese sticks and apples, but bring something that you can throw into any bag and eat if you are stuck away from food. We brought an entire box of Cliff Bars with us. They saved us when we ran out of time in the airport between flights, on the road stuck in the desert, waiting for the shuttle at the machine gun ranch, and a few other times. When I get hungry, it is no fun. Not much talking, low energy, mean, cranky, and frustration, which you really want to avoid on trips, goes sky high. Having one of these bars in easy reach made waiting to find a bigger meal possible. Those Cliff Bars saved useless fights, angry stares, and overall unpleasantness that we wouldn't want in any part of our trip.
The last thing I learned from this trip, especially in a city like Las Vegas, is to make sure you plan and bring about $50 or more in small bills. You're going to be tipping a lot of people. All the people on the sidewalks are dressing up for tips. All the shuttle buses, cabs, waitresses, bellhops, and it just seems like everyone you talk too would like a tip Now, I used to be a waitress, I understand how much my pay depended on tips. My only question would be some jobs, how much do they make? Then again, does it matter? I don't know, all I know is that we were always looking for ones and fives. So just plan to bring small bills and add it into your budget.
In conclusion, travel is a great way to get closer to the ones you love while exploring and visiting other places. It allows you to see all the different types of jobs people have, the ways people can live, natural beauty, and even inner beauty. With a few more questions asked about shuttles, a few drinks and snacks, and allowing for some wiggle room both in the budget and the timeline, any trips you take to be filled with fun memories.
Do you have any travel tips? If so please leave a comment below!
I don't mind being told I'm a tourist by taking pictures of everything, pulling out a map more often than needed, or even smiling like a dork at something I've never seen. What I do hate about travel is when I feel like I'm being taken advantage of.
On this trip, we rented a car, and during this rental process, I felt like that. I received a quote from the Internet which was about half of what the final cost was. I think one of the places where we could have saved was the gas fee. We paid a gas fee where we could drop the tank off empty and they would fill it up and we wouldn't have to worry about a thing. Well, it sounds like a good idea because we had no idea how much gas was, or how big the gas tank was. You never know exactly what kind of car you're going to get until you get the car. Well, the gas tank for the car we were renting was only 10 gallons. At $4.00 a gallon, which it wasn't, we still would have saved money for filling up the tank ourselves. We also did the extra insurance, which I think was probably a good idea. However, because I wasn't completely sure what it covered made me like it less. If it would have been explained a little better about what it would take care of versus our own personal insurance I would have been less frustrated. I also think them giving us a breakdown of how much it would cost per extra hour would have been helpful as well. I knew it would be a little bit more expensive but for about 1 hour over we paid half a day's rental. Add in the total time of renting the car took about 2.5 hours. Two hours to rent and exit the parking garage and another 30 minutes when we returned the car. We didn't know exactly what to do or where to go and had to wander around and find a person, it was a very, very frustrating process.
If you rent a car on your next trip I would do a little bit more research and ask more questions about price. Also, the keys are probably already in the car, we did not know that. I would also ask for and write down the process of returning the car/keys. It was our fault just as much as theirs for not asking more questions. The rental car itself was very nice and was great for getting us where we wanted to be, but I feel like some stress and the nagging feeling they were taking advantage of us could have been removed.
The next thing I would do is learn more about the shuttle services that the hotels offer. The first hotel on our first night did have shuttle service, however, they had a cut-off hour of 9 pm. Our flight didn't arrive until 9:30 pm so we were calling the hotel at 10 pm just to find out that we had to grab a taxi. Honestly, I would have changed hotels if I would have known that before. Standing at an airport after traveling for over 12+ hours and not sure how to get to our hotel was not fun. A taxi brought us there but you never know if they are taking the best route and how much the actual trip will cost. More fun money I did not want to spend on transportation. If four people would have been sharing a cab it would be worth it, but not for just two people. We did use the shuttle to get to the airport the next day to bring us to the car rental place.
One of the last places we stayed also did not have a shuttle service at all. I was very bummed to learn about that but I did learn about the Super Shuttle. It is a small shuttle bus that will take you from the airport to your hotel. It just might have a less direct route because they'll be stopping off at other people's nearby hotels, possibly, first. It was cheaper, and at the same time we were getting our first ride to the hotel we were also able to set up our return pick up time. Our flight home was at 12:30 pm and they picked us up at 10:30 am that morning. That part was a nice find.
Most cities that I have visited as of late have had public transpiration like subway stations of some sort. Well, we were on the Las Vegas strip, with no hotel shuttle bus and no desire to pay for the high unpredictable cost of a taxi. We found a few very cool ways to get around. Any of the actives, we went to a machine gun ranch which was off the strip, had a shuttle service that would pick us up and drop off. That saved us a few dollars. We even had them drop us off at a different casino off the strip to go zip lining. We zip-lined and then hung around there for a little bit before wanting to get back to our hotel. One staff member told us about a bus stop but we were unsure where it was located. We went up to the player/club/member desk for the casino to find out where exactly this bus stop was. Instead, the lady told us about them having their own shuttle bus to other casinos on the strip. She told us where to wait and if anyone asked us about our member's card to tell them we forgot it our room. No one asked and we made it back onto the strip. That was a nice little surprise. The only issue with shuttle buses is that you are always waiting on other people/on their timeline. Being spoiled by living in Virginia in a less busy area where I can jump in a car anytime I want, park where I want, at any time I feel, well it makes waiting seem like forever.
The next best thing we learned was about the bus that goes up and down the strip. For anyone who wants to go to Las Vegas, wear comfortable shoes those blocks are LONG and usually hot since it was in triple digests during the day and still high 90s at night. The bus is the way to go. You can pay for two hours, 24 hours, or 3 days and you can jump on and off as much as you want and they go up and down the strip and all over. I think that was one of the best ideas we had. We were able to go all the way to Fremont Street and up to the Mandalay Bay on the same $8 per person.
Water, water, water. If you are anything like New Dude and me, we drink a lot of water. If you grab a bottle from every convenience store, shop in the airport, and mall drink station you'll spend a lot of money on just water. We, especially in the airport, would just drink all the water and hold onto the empty bottle and fill it up at water fountains. Yes, the water sometimes tasted a little different and was a little less cold, but it saved us a lot of money. Plus, you might not always be able to get water. When we were leaving the Hoover Dam the cafe' was closed and we couldn't get any water. At the car rental place, it cost us $10 for two 1 liter bottles. That is stupid, but then we had large water bottles that came in handy when stuck at the Hoover Dam with no water.
Bring snacks with you as well. Maybe not the same snacks that you have at home like cheese sticks and apples, but bring something that you can throw into any bag and eat if you are stuck away from food. We brought an entire box of Cliff Bars with us. They saved us when we ran out of time in the airport between flights, on the road stuck in the desert, waiting for the shuttle at the machine gun ranch, and a few other times. When I get hungry, it is no fun. Not much talking, low energy, mean, cranky, and frustration, which you really want to avoid on trips, goes sky high. Having one of these bars in easy reach made waiting to find a bigger meal possible. Those Cliff Bars saved useless fights, angry stares, and overall unpleasantness that we wouldn't want in any part of our trip.
One of the many things that made this trip so much fun, besides it being with New Dude and ending with some friends, was that we made goals each day. Going into this trip that there were a million and one things we wanted to see and do on our 7-day trip, but there is only so much time, money, and hours in a day. By sitting down on the plane or car or wherever we were, we made sure that if nothing else was done/accomplished with that day that we did X. It was a great idea for a few reasons. One, it did keep us from packing our day with 80,000 things so for every moment we weren't rushing from event to event and never getting a moment to just enjoy the activity we were doing. Two it also helped keep us on budget. We had a limit on how much money we could spend per day on food and activities. If we didn't spend all of it in one day we could push it over to another day, but still, we had a limit. We didn't want to come back in the hole from vacation. And, it still allowed us to have freedom of change. On the second day, our goal was to make it from Las Vegas, Nevada to Flagstaff, Arizona. Well, because that was our only goal we stopped at the Hoover Dam. When we finished the Dam Tour, we took our time walking around and then when leaving, we walked across the new Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. If we would have been super rushed to get to the hotel that night we wouldn't have been able to go for that walk or take some cool pictures.
The last thing I learned from this trip, especially in a city like Las Vegas, is to make sure you plan and bring about $50 or more in small bills. You're going to be tipping a lot of people. All the people on the sidewalks are dressing up for tips. All the shuttle buses, cabs, waitresses, bellhops, and it just seems like everyone you talk too would like a tip Now, I used to be a waitress, I understand how much my pay depended on tips. My only question would be some jobs, how much do they make? Then again, does it matter? I don't know, all I know is that we were always looking for ones and fives. So just plan to bring small bills and add it into your budget.
In conclusion, travel is a great way to get closer to the ones you love while exploring and visiting other places. It allows you to see all the different types of jobs people have, the ways people can live, natural beauty, and even inner beauty. With a few more questions asked about shuttles, a few drinks and snacks, and allowing for some wiggle room both in the budget and the timeline, any trips you take to be filled with fun memories.
Do you have any travel tips? If so please leave a comment below!
