Lori: <BR> <BR>A Tabac is a cafe (I've seen them in France and eaten at them) that serves light food and is kind of a bar that sells tobacco products. They are usually where the locals hangout and are great places for people viewing.

Oh, and to reference the question...ordering priorities is how we travel. Our friends have huge (compared to ours) homes and lots of furniture. We have trips and memories and no furniture...it's as simple as that.

Some money saving and FF acquiring tips I have acquired since I commented on this thread last year: <BR>For FF miles, if you buy things on line, join clickrewards.com and buy from their "stable" of online stores...then you get click miles that can be used as FF miles on most airlines. Also, the online stores often have double, triple and so on points when you purchase, and clickrewards.com emails you to let you know. So a $20 purchase (bought of course on your credit card that gives you FF points) can zoom up to double, triple, sometimes even quadruple that original 20 FF points. <BR> <BR>Now, to that kitchen redo. I can't stand mine any longer so we are very cautiously and economically upgrading ours. Like the previous poster, we are repainting cupboards. For bad old countertops find a local company that will refinish your old laminate. Forget marble, granite, or even new laminate, esp. if your kitchen needs a custom cut. New laminate custom cut for us would have been $1600 plus plumber, but our refinished laminte cost only $600 and looks like Corian, or so my astonished friends tell me. Make it a game to cut corners and still look good in the redecorating game, and of course you all know how to play the FF game. Europe, here we come!

Fabulous post. Up you go.

Fly/travel off season. Walk as much as possible. Eat local food and buy your lunch at a market. Make your decision about where to go partially dependent on the rate of exchange. Do all of your reading/surfing before you go in order to find out the best savings. Take your lunch to work and put away money into a travel account every week - even if it is only $25. People I work with are constantly jabbing at me about my trips but they buy their lunch every day and buy a muffin and coffee in the morning and coffee and a snack in the afternoon. That adds up to about $35 a week, translates to $1800 per year - two plane tickets and hotel for a week!

I have literally never been so thankful to have found a post as this inspiring wealth of encouragment! I cannot begin to recount all that has inspired me during my last hour of reading -- but Thank You is the best that I can do.

I Travel to Europe in March and Asia in the fall. <BR> <BR>First trip to Asia was to Hong Kong and Bangkok Thailand via Cathay Pacific. I registered as a cyber traveler and when the had their Hop to Hong Kong Internet Only Sale in 98 I went. How much did I spend...$399RT NY- Hong Kong - NY plus 150 extra for Hong Kong-Bangkok-Hong Kong, so the total was 550. <BR> <BR>Last year I saved over $400 in airfare by booking a RT ticket from Hong Kong to Singapore via Singapore Airlines online booking. <BR> <BR>I used a guide book to read up on the hotels. I decided I liked the Marina Mandarin in Singapore. The book quoted prices (this is the rack rate) of 320-360 Singapore dollars. I called the hotel directly...and asked if they had any special offers. Guess what? They did. I paid only $200 Singapore dollars. <BR>Ask the hotels for a lower price. They want to keep those rooms filled,so often they give you a good rate IF you ask. <BR> <BR>I went to Paris in Nov 96 and stayed at at inexpensive hotel,The Grand Leveque in the 7th - recommended by Rick Steves. I don't remember what I paid in Francs but I do recall the exchange rate was 5.15FF per dollar. The next time I went to Paris was March of 98. The exchange rate was then about 6.20 FF per dollar. This was a 20% gain for me. I was then able to UPGRADE to a better hotel and it didn't cost me any more money than the previous trip. <BR> <BR>Another way to 'afford' travel is to not do a lot of shopping, and to watch your food expenses, and of course limit your alcohol. <BR> <BR>Get museum discount cards, as well as buying discounted Metro tickets. <BR> <BR>Watch the airline prices as they DO fall at certain times of the year. TRy not to travel at PEAK season...ie next month. <BR> <BR>There are even more ways to cut your costs. Do your homework and you will find that you DON'T have to take a taxi into town from the airport. In Barcelona,the bus cost about $6. In Hong Kong, the Express train cost $100HK which is only about $12-13 dollars. In Paris, I flew into Orly three times. The Air France bus to Les Invalides cost 40FF ($7) and from there I was able to walk to the hotel in the Rue Cler district. <BR> <BR>Find out IF the hotel INCLUDES breakfast or not. If you get a big American breakfast buffet..you can get by with a small lunch or NO lunch. <BR> <BR>Travel doesn't have to be expensive. <BR> <BR>Michael <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

I've always been a travel fanatic so when I finished college, I went to work for an airline. Flight benefits!! For 10 years I got to travel like a fool for dirt cheap. Think first class seats to Europe (if there were seats available). I was also lucky enough to have a job where I got an extra 5 weeks off a year, on top on my 3-4 weeks vc. Now I live in Germany and get 6 weeks vc, lots of holidays and have a good enough income to save what I think I should and still travel like crazy. We really don't spend money on anything except rent and travel. We're taking 11 trips this year in Europe, each from 4-14 days. It's a blast!! No jet lag and we get to see all of Europe. I don't know how long we'll stay here but for now I'm a happy camper.

someone ask about the "real" topper in an earlier post. so for all of your info, topper is loaded!!!

I am a full-time student who works part time to support myself - I am incredibly poor, and I still make one international trip every year. I save up my change (usually amounts to around $200-$300!) and fly in March, the cheapest time of the year. I stay in youth hostels, I eat a lot of granola bars and baked potatoes. I wouldn't trade it for anything! I've made 3 trips from the U.S. (Holland, Scotland, Germany) and have never spent over $500 TOTAL for any trip (and that includes air fare!).

My fiancee is in medical school and I'm a marketing manager for a big 5 firm (don't let that fool you.. it's STILL MARKETING)!!! So we are both really watching our money. We're both 27 and love to travel. He just finished his first year and has this summer off -- the only one for the rest of his life!!! We saw tickets on USAirways from Philly to Frankurt, round trip for $349. So, basically we just sucked it up, bought the tickets and now we're going to "Discover" Europe this August, if you know what I mean... and just pay our credit cards back hopefully (maybe) 15 years from now. Travelling is our love and if we spend any money out of our financial range, IT takes priority!!!

We Charge EVERYTHING to our Visa card! I mean EVERYTHING..We have a milage plus card and traveled to Europe 1st class this Christmas...we got bumped and got $900 dollars worth/person of travel vouchers. We are going to Europe this September with the vouchers. Remember to volunteer FIRST thing when <BR>you arrive at your gate! WE are by NO means wealthy. People on this site helped us plan...If you can pay your credit card off each month I suggest you charge EVERYTHING too!

This is my very favorite thread in my three years of fodoring!!! I absolutely adore all these stories. They are so inspiring. I guess it's like that when addicts get together and share their passion.

I have a friend who always seems to have a free ticket somewhere, so I asked him his secret: Apparently, you can actually ask to be placed on a list to be called in advance if your flight is overbooked and you are willing to be bumped in exchange for travel vouchers. He tries to travel at times when a couple hours' delay wouldn't be a problem, and is always the first to volunteer to give up a seat. That practice plus airline miles keeps him in the skies constantly! Hope this helps.

Here's a hint I haven't seen mentioned yet: rent an apartment or house for a week or two or more. We rent a place in Burgundy (spring or fall) on farm, usually for three or four weeks. The house has three bedrooms and three modern bathrooms and oftentimes we share with another couple. It costs us less than $200 per week! That's total, plus electricity. While we are not in a major town, we are 15 minutes from Autun and less than an hour to anyplace we want to visit. Also, we get to know the people, which is, for us, the best part of travel. We have rented other places with wonderful results also. Only one bad experience (Capri, last month), but we made the best of it and spent a week in a hotel; what a luxury that was. (One of the most important things to take with you when you travel is FLEXIBILITY.) Anyway, by renting a place with a kitchen, you can save a bundle on food costs. By eating in for several nights, you can go out to a three star restaurant once and really enjoy the experience without blowing the budget.

My turn. Great postings. Great forum. GREAT PEOPLE!! <BR>I live very modestly, and, although, it is a mobile home, it sits on a beautiful piece of landscaped property and is tastefully decorated inside. I love my "paid for" home and my 14 year old car, because they afford me the pleasure of traveling every year!! My biggest splurge is on travel books. I never buy less than 6 travel books to read up on and study for an upcoming journey. The money I spend on those books comes back in the savings from the choices I make in accommodations and travel tips (ie passes, meals, etc.). I spend months checking out websites for additional tips and money saving advice. <BR> <BR>Now, this is how I do the savings for travelling. Tax-deferred annuities. I have a LARGE amount of money taken out of my pay check to go into annuities (mutual funds) and this amount I do not pay taxes on. I then borrow on MY OWN MONEY to take trips (interest is minimal considering what I have saved in taxes). <BR> <BR>I would reiterate on housing. Do check out hostels (most have 2 and 4 bedded rooms as well as larger dorms and they are not "youth" hostels anymore. We 'fiftysomethings' can now take advantage of these cost savings accommodations (they have changed considerably since the 60's). While doing research on Ireland, I was amazed at how cheap the self-catering cottages were (these are available in most countries). For a week they rang from US$200 on up. Of course, the savings comes when you're traveling with a group and you can use it as a base for sight seeing. I also found that RyanAir is cheaper (and FASTER) transport between Ireland, Scotland and most European countries than traveling by train or bus!! <BR>(check their website) <BR> <BR>One sidebar to rooms. By checking out the websites for tourism in different countries you get so many links to sites that tell you about the kinds of accommodations, prices AND in most cases, they provide you with pictures of the place and what the rooms look like. No more shots in the dark. And I truly appreciate that so many have their own websites and e-mail addresses. (My BIGGEST problems is, though, I am running out of "folder" room!!!) <BR> <BR>Happy Travels.....

Hey, who are you guys kidding? I've read enough posts on this site in the last year to know that there are very, very few Americans stuck for the cash to travel, if they were to moderate their comfort standards. For gawd's sakes, does any American even consider staying in a hotel for less than $100 a night, travelling on local transport, eating in anything but the best tourist restaurants, or leaving the time-worn, and hence expensive, tourist trails to get out into the real world. There are such things as Rough Guides, Lonely Planets etc that can cut your costs by 80% if you adhere to their recommendations AND get you to stunning destinations you never even dreamed existed. <BR>I can only laugh when I hear it's $300 to get to Europe. I can't even get to the other side of my own country for that. And the mighty dollar has historically never been mightier than at present. My dollar is at its lowest for the last 20 years. You guys all have well-paid jobs. I am retired without a cent in pension or superannuation. But I get away two or three times a year to South-East Asia, and every three or four years to Europe. <BR> <BR>Get real, please. <BR> <BR>Harzer

Don't really understand Harzer's post, but I'm just a dumb, rich American. <BR> <BR>Anyway, if you really want to travel, here's the best money-saving tip I've ever heard: Don't have kids. My husband and I travel basically as much as we want because we (a) don't have kids, (b) don't feel the need to go first class with everything; and (c) have friends and family that live in strategic locations (mainly Europe and the U.S.) who like us enough to let us crash. Luckily, we live in a city that people want to visit (Washington, D.C.) so we can reciprocate. <BR> <BR>Consequently, we don't have to scrimp and save the rest of the year, which is great, as we both grew up in rather poor families. <BR> <BR>Sorry--just don't want to give up my new car, gazillion cable channels, eating out often, going to bars, the few new clothes I do buy, or all the books and CDs my husband and I like to buy. Twenty-two years of being poor was enough for me. <BR> <BR>And don't think I'm being cynical, or that saving money to travel is the only reason we don't have kids, but I have to tell you, it's a great benefit!

To the top for those who haven't seen this one yet!

After reading everyone's posts, I guess I am quite well-off. So thats how I afford all my travel. Still, I like to get bargains and save money just as much as the next person, so I look for e-savers and airfare-consolodating travel agents. If you want to go to central america (I recommend belize), try capricorn leisure. Very highly recommended. For carribean packages, try skyauction.com, but this is realtively less recommended.