This past weekend, my wife & I took a weekend trip to Austin, and had a great time.  There were a few lessons learned to pass along.

The DOs & DON’Ts of Weekend Travel

• DO clean your home before you leave; DON’T come back to a messy house.

On any vacation, it’s nice to come home to a clean house, isn’t it?  We don’t always follow this advice, but it is a relaxing feeling to come home and know you don’t have any chores to do for a few days.

• DO use priceline.com or some discount hotel website to book a cheap hotel.

If you’re not camping, it’s the best way to get a good deal on a weekend getaway.  We pricelined a 4-star hotel in Austin for $90, and may even been able to go lower.

• DO make it a road trip; DON’T fly.

Drive somewhere.  Spending time on a drive can be as much fun and quality time as being in the actual destination.  Also, given the current gas prices, it’s just cheaper.  You also have the freedom to take the “back way” home and explore small-town America.  We did this by driving through part of the Texas Hill Country on the way back home.

The only exception to this might be a weekend trip to Vegas, since there’s such great package deals, and plenty of direct entertainment in the casinos to keep you occupied for a weekend.

• DO pack a bottle of wine and some snacks; DON’T spend all your money at bars & restaurants.

You may be eating out all weekend, but if you pack a few snacks and drinks, it will cut down on your weekend food tab.  This is especially true with alcohol, which can often double your restaurant bill if you’re not careful.  To help soften the blow of a high bar tab, we brought a bottle of wine with us to share at the hotel, and grabbed some cheese & bread from the local supermarket.

• DO find a way to make it an extended weekend; DON’T only make it a one-night adventure.

Weekends go fast enough as it is.  Find a weekend where you can take a Friday or Monday off to extend your time.  It makes your schedule a little more flexible and a little less stressful.  We took off Good Friday and made it a three-day Easter weekend.

• DO see something of historical significance.

We arrived in Austin on Friday afternoon, with just enough time to stop by the state capitol building.  It was free to park that day, and free to enter the capitol and look around.  Texas is rich in history and it was a nice semi-educational detour to stop by and look around.  Next time we’ll have to go when the legislature is in session, so we can meet our local representatives.

• DO ask for your friends’ recommendations; DON’T travel somewhere without some knowledge.

Everyone we knew, especially the native Texans, had been to (or went to school in) Austin.  There was not a shortage of excellent information.  Friends will give you the ‘insider’ information, like the hole-in-the-wall restaurants that don’t cost much, but have excellent food and atmosphere.  We found a great restaurant & bar by calling and getting a recommendation from a friend who went to college in Austin.

• DON’T spend money at the chain stores; DO visit the local establishments.

I can eat at Chili’s or On The Border in Dallas; there’s no difference from one suburb to another.  The real fun is tasting the local cuisine or finding the mom & pop establishments.  It is more hit & miss this way, but ultimately you’ll have more memories of visiting the local shops or restaurants.

• DON’T buy spa packages from the hotel.

This goes along with the chain vs. local establishments I spoke of above.  The hotel spa packages are overpriced, and don’t get you out into the town.  We found a day spa down the road that was local and had better prices.  The massages were great, although the pedicures unfortunately were a disaster.  Maybe we should have used more of my advice above, and asked a friend for a recommendation!

• DO attend an out-of-town church service

I know growing up, being gone for a weekend meant no church service.  However, if you’re a person of faith, I highly recommend attending a church service while you’re out of town.  It gives you a fresh perspective on how other churches worship & operate.  A different pastor or speaker can also give you a fresh perspective on fairly common topics.  It also helps you realize that God is a whole lot bigger and encompassing than your local church, with all its joys and flaws.

How about you — What would you add to this list?  Any that you agree or disagree with?  Let’s see some comments below!

photos by veganstraightedge & nicolasnova

Travel alcohol, Austin, church, food, hill country, holiday, hotel, massage, pedicure, priceline, restaurant, road trip, Travel, weekend, wine

WHAT’S ON TAP THIS WEEK?

I’m in the middle of a very busy stretch of life these days, some of it planned & some of it not!  Here’s a few QuickHits to give you an idea of what’s on my mind, and what I plan on blogging about this week.  Take a look and enjoy!

Pet Insurance

As I wrote about last week, one of my dogs swallowed an entire sock, had to have surgery to remove it, and may force the use of our emergency fund this week.  While I was at the vet spending my future kids’ college fund to save my dog’s life, I picked up some brochures on pet insurance.

So to briefly continue my pet-related theme here at MyMoneyMinute, I’d like to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of purchasing pet insurance vs. self-insuring through these times of calamity with our furry loved ones.  I guess that’s the beauty of blogging — you never know what life will throw at you (or in this case, what it will swallow).  So you get to adapt with me in these quick changes in life!  A scripted life would be quite boring anyway, wouldn’t it?

Happy Birthday to Me!

Wednesday is a landmark day in the MyMoneyMinute household, as I hit the big 3-0.  That’s right, I’ll be turning 30!  I’m sure I’ll provide some obvious self-reflection on that day, and somehow I’ll shoehorn in something that’s money-themed with it.  This may fall under the “and all that implies” part of MyMoneyMinute.  We’ll see.

Vacation to Mexico

It has been quite a while since we have been able to take a vacation that didn’t involve flying home to see family.  Don’t get me wrong, I love our families, but it will be nice for the two of us to just get away and recharge the batteries without any other responsibilities or obligations.  We’re flying off to Riviera Maya, near Cancun, on Saturday!  Four nights of all-inclusive resort bliss.  Expect a vacation-related post this week.

New Edition on Website — Find Cheap Gas!

All right, I guess I’m misleading you a bit here.  I am not interviewing New Edition, the pop group from the ’80s.  But I do have a new addition to my website.  Available on the tabs at the top of my page is a link that allows you to search for the lowest gas prices in your area, courtesy of gasbuddy.com! I’ll probably post a QuickHit on this later in the week, but feel free to navigate over and see where the lowest gas prices are in your city.

That’s about it for now.  I’m looking forward to this week’s batch of posts.  Here’s hoping it all goes according to schedule!

Photos by:

COmfH & Toots Fontaine

What's On Tap Energy, Gas, Pets, Travel, Vacation