Our Travel Philosophy

Murray and I have been traveling together for about 17 yrs and have developed a certain philosophy (or style) of travel.  We want to share our thoughts with you about planning a trip, packing, and traveling, in the hopes that we can convince a few more travelers to follow our example.  We have four statements that describe our travel philosophy.

Only take what you really need

We travel (with a few exceptions when we travel with bikes) with carry on luggage only. Having one bag, that is airplane cabin regulation size and weight, and one “purse” can be a challenge, but we think we have it down pretty good. In this blog, we will talk alot about packing and traveling with less and we share our packing lists.

Travel to places that are not like home

The most exciting and interesting trips we have had are to those countries that are not like where we live.  These destinations sometimes put us out of our comfort zone, but we have interacted with workers in a small brick factory in Vietnam, played on exercise equipment with women in Lhasa and listened to morning singers in China.  We would not have these experiences otherwise.  Our blog will take you with us on our travels to far away places.

Maximize travel time with available travel funds

Murray likes to share this simple thought, “Why stay in a $150/night 5 star hotel for one night when you can stay in a $50/night 3 star hotel for three nights”.  We have stayed in some very clean, safe, quaint locally owned hotels for a fraction of the cost of an international chain hotel.  We will discuss how to stretch your travel dollars.

Be your own travel agent

We book almost all our travel ourselves.  With the resources available now – internet, books, friends’ recommendations – it is now possible to be your own travel agent.  It does take some time and patience, but you come out much better informed.  We will talk about our process of planning and booking a trip.

So, that is our philosophy in four simple statements.  We already have a trip planned to Bonaire in July and will talk about how we planned and booked this trip.  We will also share our packing lists and hints leading up to our departure date.  While in Bonaire, we will share with you our experiences.