We originally envisioned our visit to Martha’s Vineyard last week as our final farewell to New England. But as soon as we disembarked the ferry, we started using it as a practice run for our year of budgeting on the road. (Though technically it was more like a practice power walk: We paid for the Airbnb months ago and set aside a separate slush fund specifically for the trip. Because $100/day on the Vineyard? Impossible.)
Chocolate lollipop, Inkwell Beach, Martha’s Vineyard
Sean and I are generally very frugal people. In our regular life, we make our own iced coffees and avocado toast, wait for new releases to come to Redbox, and wear clothes we’ve owned since college. But when we’re traveling? The purse strings get a bit looser. We’ll have a cocktail with brunch before heading to a museum, then perhaps do a bit of browsing prior to dinner. Now that traveling is becoming our regular life, we have to adjust our habits.
So while we were on the Vineyard, we strolled around the Gingerbread Cottages on our own instead of paying for a tour. We took the city bus and walked instead of Ubering. We shared two huge appetizers for lunch and a huge ice cream for dinner instead of buying four separate meals.
Gingerbread Cottage, Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard
We ate donuts from our Airbnb in the morning and snacks from the grocery store on the beach in the afternoon so we could enjoy dinner and drinks on the waterfront in the evening.
Fish tacos & cider, Coop DeVille, Martha’s Vineyard
We still allowed ourselves to splurge, but only for the things we truly wanted: our last New English lobster rolls ($40), beers at a brewery ($20), a ride on the country’s oldest carousel ($7). And we actually put thought into things we might’ve otherwise spent money on impulsively: a $36 museum visit just to get out of the rain? No. $10 to climb to the top of a lighthouse? We did that already in Maine for free. $80 for a bus tour to the Aquinnah cliffs? We could get there on a city bus for $16. And aren’t we going to see better cliffs in Portugal next month anyway? (Yes.)
Flying Horses Carousel, Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard
When all was said and done, we ended up saving a few hundred dollars just by being a little more mindful. And we still had a great time. That’s what our year of budget travel is about: cutting back on frivolous expenses so we can indulge in the experiences we don’t want to miss out on.
Sunset, Oak Bluffs harbor, Martha’s Vineyard
What’s the first thing you think of when I say Colombia? Cocaine? Pablo Escobar? Narcos? FARC? Terrorism? That’s fair. But what if I told you everything you thought you knew about the country is wrong?