Out last stop in Australia was Melbourne, a lovely city on the South East coast, a quick flight from Sydney.

I was getting pretty excited about visiting Melbourne as we had arranged to stay with a friend of mine I hadn’t seen in nearly a decade. (Wow, that makes me feel really old.) We were planning to meet up with my friend, Victoria, and her family and head to nearby Phillip Island to relax a bit.

Before meeting up with Vic, we checked out some of the scenes in Melbourne. Personally, I liked Melbourne a lot because it was so “green.” I don’t mean in the environmentally friends sense, although it may be, but that it was literally very green with beautiful flowers everywhere and Gardens to walk around in for hours.

We started with the Royal Botanic Gardens, which was just a short walk from our hotel. We could literally have gotten lost there and enjoyed the colors the whole time. We wandered around and checked out the huge variety of plant species. Everything is nicely labeled, which is awesome so you can know just what are looking at and finding some cool facts out. There are gazebos everywhere for relaxing while taking in the scenery. All around awesome place.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Griffin’s favorite bird of all time, which we found in Melbourne, the Cassowary. We like to call it the Dino Bird because of the oddly shaped crest on the top of its head that looks prehistoric in our minds, if to no one else. Anyway, Griffin has become obsessed with this bird.

After checking out the garden for a while, we stopped in the nearby Shrine of Remembrance, a military museum detailing Australia’s journey to freedom and contributions to world wars. It’s a solemn place of remembrance and touched our hearts even as foreign visitors. The place also boasts a pretty amazing architectural feat, which can be seen in the Sanctuary. A sunken stone plaque which reads, “Greater love hath no man” is read by the visitors in such a way that they much bow their heads to read it. The quote is part of the Bible verse, John 15:13, which states, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Every year on November 11th at exactly 11:00am, the sun shines through a open block in the roof and lands directly on the word “Love.” Daylight savings time has caused the necessity of a mirror to be placed to continue to tradition, but it is no less powerful. During the rest of the year, visitors can enjoy a simulation.

Finally we were ready to meet up with Vic’s husband, Chris, for the ride down to Phillip Island. I was happy to see my friend again and meet her sweet family. We had a great time catching up. As it turned out, we also got to meet Chris’ parents and Victoria’s parents as well, which was a blessing to us.

Vic and Chris offered lots of advice for things to see around the island, so we started with the Phillip Island Wildlife Park. This place is getting up close and personal with all kinds of animals and we loved every minute of it. We got to pet Kangaroos, Wallabies, and Emus and saw Koalas, Eagles, and so many more animals I can’t even think of them all. Basically, I didn’t want to leave there and tried to talk Griffin into letting me have a Kangaroo to take home. He said no. =(

We took an extended family trip with all ten of us to The Nobbies, a nature park with one of the most beautiful coastal walkways I’ve ever seen. There is a small island off the coast with hundreds of seals sunbathing, which we enjoyed seeing as well.

Finally, we had to do it, we went to the Penguin Parade. This is a natural phenomenon that occurs nearly every evening at the same time, when hundreds of penguins arrive on shore after a day of fishing and waddle to their beach homes. These are not just any penguins, though, they are “Fairy Penguins,” tiny little fuzzy penguins that stand about 12 inches tall. They are some of the cutest things you’ve ever seen. People have been coming to watch the penguins come home since the 1920’s and it’s still extremely popular. I tried to talk Griffin into letting me have a penguin to take home. He said no. =(

After a few days of seeing the sites on Phillip Island, we tagged along to Vic and Chris’ home back in Melbourne and had a great time hanging out and playing with her cute kids. From there, we booked a rushed flight to continue our journey in New Zealand!

If your in the area, I can’t recommend beautiful Melbourne or Phillip Island highly enough!

After spending several weeks enjoying the coast of Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef, we decided to continue down the east coast to Sydney.

Griffin had visited Sydney before, but I hadn’t, so I was getting pretty excited.

Upon landing we headed out to Bondi Beach to catch up with Griffin’s friend, Joel, who was letting us crash at his place for a few days. Bondi Beach is an awesome place and we had a great time relaxing there for a few days.

After a couple of days at Bondi Beach, we hopped a train to just outside the city center, where we were greeted by Kathryn, a friend of Griffin’s from his previous travels, and her husband James, who had graciously offered to let us stay with them during our visit.

We arrived to a wonderful home cooked meal, which we had been missing for a while. And, after a good night’s sleep we were ready to go explore Sydney.

Our first stop was the most recognized landmark in Australia, The Sydney Opera House. The place is huge and it was interesting reading the placards and learning a bit more of the history of it. We opted out of the tour because it was a little too expensive for us and we were having a hard time fitting our Australian expenses into our budget already. We took a fun walk around the Royal Botanic Gardens and then walked across the Harbor Bridge for a great view of Sydney Harbor and another look at the iconic Opera House.

We did, however, decided to tour “The Rocks,” which was the area where the British Prisoners, who would become the first Australians, initially settled upon arrival into Sydney Harbor. Since it was a national holiday, the tour was only two Australian Dollars. Sweet! The tour was interesting and I highly recommend checking it out as it really gives you a feel for Australian history.

Later we went down to the harbor to watch the fireworks for Australia Day, which was a nice surprise since we hadn’t planned that!

We spent the next couple of days catching up on work. You may have noticed that pattern by now. Usually, our travel schedule consists of touring for a few days and then working a couple days. While we saved up for our travels while we were in Korea, we decided that we didn’t want to deplete our savings and then have nothing when we arrived back home, so Griffin ramped up his business and I’ve been doing what I can to help. If you are thinking of long-term travel and can do some work remotely, I encourage you to try it! It can also be a nice break from the constant barrage of tourism.

So, after relaxing and working a couple of days, we went back into town and took a ferry out to the Manly Beach area. Basically, all of Sydney is beautiful and lined with beaches. I love Sydney!

Kathryn and James could not have been more gracious hosts. They took their free time on the weekend to drive us to the Blue Mountains to see the view. I’m sure the scenes there were beautiful, but unfortunately we weren’t able to see them! There was a fog that moved in and we couldn’t see a thing! We settled for checking out some postcards of what the scene would have looked like. We hope to visit again one day when the weather is better. Kath and James are such a fun couple that we really didn’t need to see the mountains to have fun.

We spent a total of about a week and a half in Sydney, which was not nearly enough for this beautiful city. We hope to visit again some time after we’ve saved enough Aussie Dollars to see everything!

I have rested my head on everything from plush amazingness, to a couch cushion, to nothing at all. A couple of months in, I was a little worried about the possible future pillows I might encounter, but I wasn’t thrilled at the thought of lugging around a giant pillow or fighting to stuff it into my bag every morning. So, I did some research on what other travelers suggest for the best travel pillow.

This is not ideal.

This is really not ideal.

It didn’t take long to figure out that a down pillow is the way to go. Firstly, I love down stuff. If I could surround myself in down cushiness all the time, I totally would. It’s comfortable, it has a nice cooling affect and it’s lightweight. Additionally, a travel size feather pillow can fit almost anywhere. Believe me, if there is an inch of open space in my bag, I can force my travel pillow into it!

The best travel pillow I came across was from GooseFeet Gear, a one-man company that makes custom down gear including everything from down socks to pants to pretty much anything you want.

I got in touch with Ben, the main man over at GooseFeet to ask about his options for a travel pillow and he quickly gave me some great advice. This guy really knows his trade. He asked me all kinds of questions about how I sleep and what I like in terms of firmness and loft in pillows, etc. By the time he was putting my pillow together, (and Griffin’s, who had to have one as well), I was getting pretty excited about it. Ben actually makes all his products by hand and to order. You can’t beat that!

Optimal.

The pillow was perfect! I chose a black color so as not to show much dirt and Ben chose a rip-stop material to make sure it was durable. The first thing I did was spend some time squishing the pillow down and checking to see how long it took to regain its shape. Then I practiced stuffing it into the smallest spaces I could find and then taking it out and shaking it back to its original form. The pillow passed every test I could throw at it, so I thought it was time for the ultimate test, sleeping. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, my hostel-provided pillow granted me a great opportunity as it was basically a rock with a pillowcase. I whipped out my down travel pillow and was ready to go. I woke up the next morning and decided Ben had done me a huge favor. The thing slept great and I woke up feeling refreshed, without the sore neck I knew would await me with the cotton rock I would have been sleeping on.

From that point on, the pillow has stayed with me on planes, trains, buses, cars, etc. I just shove it into my day pack and I’m ready to dream. It adds no weight to my bag, which is ideal, it’s withstood everything I can throw at it, and grants me the ability to sleep on those rocky overnight trains.

If you’re a traveler looking for lightweight, durable, stuffable pillow, GooseFeet Gear is the place to shop. If you’re like me and your idea of heaven has down clouds, just drop Ben a line and he can hook you up with pretty much anything you want! Don’t sleep on this advice… just get the pillow.

We’ve all sat through the recorded information that bores people to tears on a hop-on-hop-off bus tour. The information is fed to you through an ear piece, if it’s working, and then you’re left to wonder what’s been left out and wish you could ask someone directly about particular points that interested you. But there’s no one there but the driver, who may or may not speak your language.

Gray Line Tours was a refreshing change. Everything was streamlined and the tour ran like a well-oiled machine. The bus rolled on in a timely manner to all the places on our list, while a very knowledgeable guide told us information about places we were passing as well as the places we would soon visit. She answered questions for us about the tour bus operations and any other little questions we could come up with about the city and tourist attractions. This was extremely helpful as we had a limited time and wanted to make the most of it. Since we both love European history, having someone we could get facts from was welcome part of our time in Munich.

As guests of the Munich Tourism Board or, München Tourismus as is it official called, we were so excited to get tickets to Gray Line Tours Grand Circle tour, which visits virtually every touristy area in the city.

We decided that to get the most of our experience, we would take the tour around in a complete circle, listen to all of the information uninterrupted, and then choose the specific places to “hop-off” at during our second time around.

This plan worked out great for us and we enjoyed getting to glean as much information about the city as we could before getting out and about at the sites of interest.

All in all, we can highly recommend Gray Line Tours in Munich. We very much enjoyed getting to see the city from the open top of the tour bus, get some extra information and avoid losing precious time by having everything organized for us. If you have the opportunity, please check Gray Line out in any city. You won’t regret it!

When someone says Munich, most people immediately think of Oktoberfest. Yes, this famous festival does fill up the city for 2 weeks each year, but there is so much more to Munich than beer and pretzels.

We had the opportunity to visit Munich as guests of the Munich Tourism Board, officially known a München Tourismus. Their website, with information on just about everything available in Munich, may be the only guide you need. It’s certainly one of the most comprehensive city websites I’ve ever seen… and I’ve seen a lot.

Upon arrival at the main train station, we walked just a few hundred meters to King’s Hotel, which was exactly what we needed to get rested for our whirlwind tour. After a quick and delicious dinner at the famous Augustiner Keller and a tour around the beer cellar, we spent the next several hours before bed trying to decide what to see for the next two days. It was no easy task! We could easily have stayed two weeks and still not see everything! Instead I turned page corners in a city guide book and then tried to cull it down from roughly 30 of my favorite activities listed.

We jumped up early the next morning and headed off to the city center to take in some of the sites. Munich has so much history to learn about that we barely had time to take it all in. We even passed by a little known building with just a plain marker indicating the place where plans for the holocaust were first hatched. From there we took a short walk over to The Frauenkirche, also known as The Cathedral of Our Dear Lady, a beautiful church with several unique aspects, including the legendary “devil’s footprint,” and a curious menorah on the ceiling. You’ll have to visit to find out why it’s there! (It’s quite a touching story.)

By then it was nearly 11:00am and we rushed back to the Marienplatz to get a glimpse of the Glockenspiel in action. We were delighted when the hour struck and the giant clock came to life. You really can’t miss it and it wasn’t at all disappointing to us! Below is a video of the clock in action. It’s a bit long, but fascinating, especially if you’ve never seen it before. Although, I highly encourage you to head there and see yourself!

We settled down to lunch with Isabella from München Tourismus and took her advice on some traditional Bavarian menu items. I think we would weigh entirely too much if we stayed in Munich for any longer than a few days. Wow, that food is amazing.

Finally we headed off to meet up with the famous New Europe Free Walking Tour group to catch some more history for a couple of hours. If you’ve never tried one of these walking tours, you don’t know what you’re missing. They are informative beyond belief, entertaining and will help you get oriented in the city in no time. Plus, they’re free! You should tip your guide at the end according to what you think their tour was worth. What a nice business plan.

When I say that it’s important to get into a tour, I really mean that. Any walking tour will take you around the city to places you never knew existed and give you more information than you could find in a thousand guide books. We had no idea about some of the landmarks in Munich as they are so subtle, yet so important. We saw an extremely unique memorial to the German resistance, the place where the army tried to block the Nazi’s from marching, fun things like the May Pole in the city center, markets, beer gardens and so much more, all while being thoroughly entertained and enlightened about each of these places. The more you know about a city, the more you will love it! München Tourismus can also set you up with a tour, and personally knowing how thorough they are, I know it would be a great option for sure.

When the tour was finished we took a closer look at a couple of beer gardens and had a bratwurst dog for dinner. Yum. Griffin tried out the famous Weissbier, or Wheat Beer, but I’m not crazy about beer so I settled for a Fanta. After Griffin grabbed some night photography time, we headed back to the hotel to catch up on rest.

As if day one didn’t hold enough, we quickly headed out the next morning to see what else we could get into. We were delighted to “hop” onto a Gray Line tour bus to hop on and hop off throughout the city. What’s great about this company is there is a live tour guide to give you information about the upcoming stops and different landmarks about the city. Other companies tend to have a recording, but recordings don’t answer questions, so we were happy for the change. A complete circle takes around an hour and half, which we actually did just to have some uninterrupted information about the city. Then we jumped off at the different stops that interested us the first time around.

Of course, no tour of Munich would be complete without a visit to BMW Welt (World). Here you can catch people driving their new cars around the indoor test facility or venture over to the BMW Museum and see how the company got started as well as all the makes and models! It was really cool, but there was no free gift of a new BMW at end! Too bad!

BMW Welt is the same tour stop as the Olympic Park, which is a beautiful site in itself. It’s easy to spend hours wandering around taking in all the athletic history.

We were also able to check out the English Garden, Opera House, City Hall, and the Nymphenburg Palace, all within a few steps of a Gray Line stop.

After picking up a few souvenirs, we finally and regrettably had to leave the beautiful city of Munich all too soon. I am absolutely sure we’ll be back again! If you get the chance, please make sure to visit Munich… even if it’s not Oktober!

We were greeted at the King’s Center Hotel by a friendly staff and a smooth and quick check-in. (Also a plus when you’ve still got those backpacks on!)

Our greatest greeting, though, was when we entered our room. The room was absolutely beautiful. It included a large, wood-framed bed carved with beautiful designs, a desk, a beautiful wardrobe and others. I have to admit to you that I love a clean bathroom… I wasn’t disappointed with the bathroom in our room. It was spacious and clean and had everything we needed, including plush towels. We’re both into nice linens, so we love good towels! Is that weird? =)

We asked reception for a recommendation for a good restaurant nearby and we were so glad we did. The staff didn’t hesitate in directing us to Augustiner Keller, the famous beer garden and cellar that we didn’t even realize was close to us. We had a wonderful dinner there and then took a walk around the cellar as well.

After dinner we settled into our room and spent some time looking through guidebooks at the limitless things to see in Munich. (No easy task.)

We both slept like rocks and awoke feeling so much more rested and happier. If you’ve done long term travel, you know the importance of good sleep and recuperation to help you travel well. Cranky travelers are not good to be around!

We crept downstairs in our PJ’s to have breakfast and we were, again, pleasantly surprised. A buffet of deliciousness awaited us and we couldn’t wait. I love breakfast food and I could eat it three meals a day. This buffet had everything I wanted and then some! I definitely ate too much, but it was so worth it!

It is so much less stressful to go see the sights of a city when you know you don’t need to worry about the place you’re coming “home” to that night. We knew our hotel was centrally located, comfortable, clean, offered good sleep and a delicious breakfast the next morning. You can’t beat that.

To top it all off, when we were getting ready to leave, the staff made it leisurely by offering to hold our luggage for us while we spent the last day in the city seeing the rest of the sites on our list.

I will say that we encountered one slight issue, which was a slow internet connection. Internet is not included in the room prices, which is annoying this day and age, so we purchased it separately. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t the connection we were hoping for, which slowed us down in our work a bit. Overall, not a big deal, but something we feel the hotel should work on.

If you’re looking for good accommodation in Munich, we can definitely recommend King’s Center Hotel, a fantastic place to get rest and then get involved in everything Munich has to offer!

Griffin and I have had pleasure and opportunity to see some of the most beaufiul places on the planet. But, sometimes, it’s not the most beautiful things that are the most interesting.

Deep in the heart of China’s mainland, sits the city of Xi’An, one of China’s Four Great Ancient Capitals. Though it’s not much to look at, it holds one of the most fascinating scenes in the world.

Xi’an, with over 3,000 years of history, took its place as China’s capital city during several different ruling dynasties for a total of more than 400 years. Its significance is far reaching as the start of the “Silk Road,” one of the most important trade routes in history, interconnecting Africa, Europe and Asia.

Since we’re not trading anything, we came to Xi’an to see something different. That is, something different that you can find anywhere else on earth.

During the days of Qinshihuang, the first emperor of unified China, one thing became abundantly clear: this guy was paranoid about death. Though the man is credited with many of China’s historal feats, including the beginning of construction of the Great Wall, he is perhaps best known for one thing, the 8,000 life-size clay soldiers that now guard his tomb.

First discovered by a group of farmers in 1974, archaeologists unearthed the now famous, Terracotta Army, still standing at attention and in perfect formation for their job as the attendants of the emeror’s soul. Every soldier is unique, with their differing facial features most likely being attributed to the unpaid laborers who constructed each one. The soldiers are also ranked and stand ready for their individual jobs as messengers, horsemen (complete with horses), officers, and even those tasked to accompany the carriage believed to house Qinshihuang’s soul.

There are four known pits where the soldiers are burried, located about 1.5km away from the emperor’s burial mound. Each of the soldiers was once painted from head to toe, but the oxygen that reaches it upon excavation instantly fades the colors and the true clay color emerges with minutes.

Standing at the enourmous warehouses, where the army members are still being systematically excavated and restored is truly mind-blowing. The details of their armor and the eyes that search out enemies are hallowing.

We toured the grounds with a guide who filled us in on the history, as well as the rank and job of each of the soldiers. What struck me, was just how life-like the army actually is. They are not only life-size, but they are actually set-up to be efficient. There are clay guards at the meeting room doors of clay officers. There are clay horses at the ready for messeges that may need to reach the clay ears of an officer at another camp. Some soldiers stand at attention and some kneel in reverence, to an emperor who was afraid of being vulnerable in life and in death. By the time we left there, we were talking about the Terracotta Warriors like they were real men, suspended in animation.

This experience was one that I will truly never forget. Looking out at this sea of soldiers made me feel small and and yet safe. I can’t recommend this destination highly enough.

If you’re making your way to China, it’s good to remember that Qinshihuang built more than a wall. His creations are still standing ready to greet you.

This article was originally published on Indie Travel Podcast

On from Jaipur, we took about a 5 hour train ride to Jodhpur, also known as The Blue City.

We were pleasantly surprised that The Blue City is actually blue. Since visiting Jaipur, which was supposed to be pink, but really wasn’t, it was cool to look out over the city and see a whole lot of blue.

Jodhpur boasts an amazing asset, its incredible Mehrangarh Fort, which is set up on a hill, visible throughout the city. What’s more, the tour of the fort itself, is fantastic. A thorough tour of Mehrangarh will take several hours. What’s unique about this fort is that it’s not just old city walls, it’s an actual museum throughout the tour. You can visit the rooms where former Indian kings met with foreign dignitaries, see the actual palanquins (lifted chairs carried by servants) that the royal families used to ride on, battle tested armor and swords, and other really amazing artifacts. The fort is actually one of the best stocked museums in India.

Jodhpur also has a pretty cool building, which we didn’t take the time to visit, called Umaid Bhawan Palace. The palace is actually split up into three parts, a museum, a hotel and the primary residence of the Erstwhile royal family. If you do get the time, please go visit it.

Another cool thing we did see was the Jaswant Thada, a really cool white marble mausoleum which has walls thin enough that the sunlight shines through the marble and creates a cool glowing effect. It’s a small place, but well worth the visit.

We knocked out everything we wanted to see in Jodhpur fairly quickly, so we headed on to our last stop, Jaisalmer.

Travel Tips:

Our visit in Jodhpur included some work time, which worked nicely for us because although Jodhpur is a great city to visit and I highly recommend you stop there, the tour time you need there isn’t that much. I recommend only 1 1/2 -2 days.

Hotel: We stayed at a place called Shivam Paying Guesthouse. The cost, per night was about $8 per night for the two of us. This included a free breakfast and free wifi. The food was good and the beds comfortable. We did have a couple of problems. Our first night was spent with an “air conditioner” that was actually an extremely loud fan which just circulated hot air. We had to open the windows for fresh air, which invited mosquitos. We finally upgraded to a room with an actual a/c. We then had some trouble with the free breakfast, which they wanted to charge for. We had a discussion with the manager guy and eventually got what was advertised.

Transportation: We took an AC 2 Tier class train to from Jaipur to Jodhpur, which cost about $11 per person. Remember, if you want to book a train in India you need to do that as far in advance as possible. For help in booking train tickets, you can always e-mail us, or check out seat61.com and click on India on the left hand side.

For Jodhpur, we actually didn’t hire a driver and just talked with the autorickshaw guys for the one-two times we wanted to ride instead of walk. This is mostly a walking city, so no need to secure a tour guide or driver. Your one-way trip in an auto-rickshaw should cost you no more than $1-2.

Daily Budget: Our daily was $41.78 for 3 days including train travel, accommodation, food and all attraction entrances.

1. Paying Off Debt

Our first year living in Korea we were able to save a lot and also pay off more than $10,000 in student loan debt! We were able to do this while still traveling a lot to visit Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, China, Mexico and visit our friends and family back home in Alabama and Georgia. We still have $7,000 left to go on Griffin’s student loans, but are taking a break from paying that down as we save for what will be the trip of a lifetime. We are also thankful and blessed to have no other debts of any kind.

YOU CAN DO IT, TOO!

Griffin graduated with $25,000 of student loan debt. At his first job he made $14/hour but was still able to pay off about $4,000 of that while also saving up more than $12,000 for a six month trip around the world. We share these numbers to let you know that if you focus hard on your goal of paying off debt, or traveling, or whatever it is you love and are wiling to work hard and focus, you, too, can achieve what many dismiss as impossible.

2. Saving

This year we have been saving and cutting back on expenses. We are very well taken care of here in Korea. As part of our teaching contract here, Valerie’s school pays for our housing and Griffin’s school pays us 400,000 Korean Won/month as a housing stipend. Between this and the fact that after tithe, taekwondo and everything else we do each month, we’ve still only spent about one fourth of our total income. So, as you can see, we have been able to save a lot of money relatively fast and easily.
On top of all this, Valerie also works part time on writing projects and Griffin’s design business has been really blessed with a lot of projects he does in his spare time.

HOW YOU CAN START SAVING TODAY

Rich |ri CH |

adjective, -er, -est, noun

1 having no debt/more money than you need each month

2 having anything more than basic food, shelter and clothing

Becoming rich is not as hard as people think.  Actually, if you are reading this on your own computer, smartphone tablet device etc, you are already rich.  But since no one realizes they are rich and many people who are rich spend all they make, we will give you some tips to bring your lifestyle down bellow your income.  It’s not hard, but it does take focus and some sacrifices.  I want you to ask yourself a question.

What is one thing you can stop doing today that can save you a substantial amount of money this year?

I’m not talking about your five dollar lattes, although that is always an option. Think of something bigger. Do you have a subscription you pay monthly that you can cancel? Can you watch many of your favorite TV shows on the internet for free and cancel cable? Could you stop watching TV altogether and spend your time and money paying off debt or saving for your dreams? Is there a magazine you subscribed to a while ago that you hardly ever read now? Call up and cancel it. Have you been paying a high interest rate on some credit cards without asking them to reduce the interest for you? Call them up, ask and push a little. The worst thing that can happen is they will say no. The best thing that can happen is the reduction of your interest rate, allowing you to put that much more toward your principal.

Do you have a system set up to help you pay off debt first, before you spend lots of money on things you don’t need and won’t use in a couple months? Many banks offer auto bill pay and some allow you to set up a reoccurring auto withdrawal to savings/investments. How about setting up an auto pay to put as much as you can toward your debt today, or into a high yield savings account if you have no debt.

MAKE $25 RIGHT NOW!

If you have at least $250 you want to put into savings, send me an email and I’ll send you a link to sign up for ING online banking. Once you set up your account and fund it with the $250 or more from your bank, you will get a $25 sign up bonus within about a week. The process takes about 30 minutes and once you’re finished, you’ll have at least $275 in an account that is purposefully inconvenient to withdraw from, making it a good savings buffer AND $25 of it was free.

3. Acquiring Additional Income

Once you start saving, one thing that can really help accelerate your finances is to pick up a side job, weekend work, or even web based projects.

Valerie spent about four Saturdays putting together an excellent eBook to help others know what to expect if they are planning to come to Korea. Every couple days or so we wake up to an email letting us know someone has purchased another copy. We see this as a double reward. We get to help others who may follow in our footsteps and they help us with a little more money for the trip. Valerie has also worked many extra hours every week to improve her writing and market her copy writing skills to others. She has written quite a few guest posts as well as most of the posts you see here, in an effort to pick up some work while we are traveling as a writer and/or copy editor for others when she is not helping me out with all of my spelling and grammar errors;-)

Griffin has started focussing on pursuing his dream of being able to work from home on web, graphic and industrial design projects. He has set up a website for his company called The Traveling Designer and used a technique he read about in The Recession Proof Graduate to get a lot of ongoing and enjoyable work with Trey Ratcliff and other clients. For those who haven’t heard of Trey, he is probably the most famous HDR photographer in the world and is a successful entrepreneur with his popular photoblog, excellent free HDR tutorial, eBook store, iPhone and iPad app and more. To see all the work Griffin has been up to, Check out his facebook page here and give it a Like if you want to;-)

Between these two new sources of income and our current income from teaching, we are on track to save more than $30,000 this year alone, for our upcoming trip.

4. Selling

We had already sold many of the things we didn’t need before we came to Korea, but we have been stepping up that effort as we prepare for our trip. This has reduced our belongings and also helped us put more money into saving for our future. There is a strange mental block against selling/giving things away, even if we never use them any more. One thing that has helped us get over this block is converting our belongings into days of travel. Our travel budget will be $60/day, so if we sell an old TV for $120, we look at it as gaining two amazing days exploring the Italian Riviera. This new currency conversion helps us let go of the things we don’t need while also helping us focus on our future goal – exploring the world.

YOU CAN DO IT, TOO!

What can you sell today that can go toward your future hopes and dreams?

What have you not used in the last year that is really just taking up space and could be converted to cash to pay off debt, invest for the future, or even just provide a fun weekend getaway as a reward for meeting a personal or financial goal.

5. Buying –

Thanks to the generosity of our friends and family we already had most of the long term travel gear we needed from our wedding registry or from previous trips. We have been purchasing a few things for the trip like some good hiking boots, quick drying clothes, sleeping sacks, etc. We started planning for this trip six months ago and will have about 11 months in total to order everything, so we have been spending some time trying to find the best deals and discounts for the few things we still need. Valerie used the popular website steepandcheap.com to get an amazing deal paying only $30 for a $150 pair of hiking boots that fit her great and that she loves.

IF YOU MUST BUY, SEARCH FOR THE BEST DEAL

One of the best ways to save/pay off debt is to limit your buying. Sometimes, however, we need to buy new things in order to replace something that is broken or needed for a new task. We have started using the 30 day buying rule. If you think you need something, wait 30 days to buy it. If, after those thirty days, you still think it necessary, then get it. If not, put the money you just saved into a savings account/paying off debt and move on. If you still need it after 30 days, spend some time online or in the stores looking for the best deal. Please note, this does not mean looking for the cheapest version. We have found time and time again that you get what you pay for. I would encourage you to find the best deal on either a middle quality, or, if you really need it, top quality version of the item you are looking to purchase. This will usually get you the best deal since you will get more use out of it and cut down on having to re-buy/repair a cheaper version. One other thing to look for is a lifetime warranty on the item. If a warranty is available and it makes sense with the price difference, go for that version. This way you are protected from any manufacturing issues in the future as long as you take care of it and don’t lose it.

These are the simple steps we’re taking to ensure that opportunities to save money and reach our dreams don’t pass us by. We hope they have been helpful and remember,

YOU CAN DO IT, TOO!

So, after spending some time talking about where we’d like to work next, we decided that we’d like to work… well, nowhere. At least nowhere in one place. We’re going to travel… and work around the world.

We’ve been planning and saving for about 6 months now, and while we don’t know our exact route yet, we do know one thing for sure, we want to serve as many people as possible along the way.

There are so many organizations around the world that need volunteers. From orphanages, to special needs camps, to family support centers. We’re excited to see who we can meet and how we can impact their lives.

As we’ve researched different organizations, we’re found one important thing. Volunteering isn’t free. At least not for organizations that are doing the most good. We’ve found that if an organization allows you to come stay there and volunteer for free, it usually means that you’re taking money away from the people you’re trying to help. So, in an effort to benefit instead of hinder, we’ll be paying for volunteer unless we hear of a reputable organization that doesn’t require it..

Now we have a question for you:

If you could help people around the world, would you?

For the last two years, our website has informed you of our lives in Korea and our travels. We’ve called our site, “The Adventure Continues.” As of today, we are changing the name, to “Join the Adventure.”

Here is your chance to help us help others.

We will be establishing an account to be used solely for volunteering and giving. We have already contributed about $2,000 to this account that is beyond our regular tithes. We are asking for your help so we can help more people in more places. While we cannot establish a tax exempt status for ourselves, we would love it if all of our friends and family would get involved and donate to these world-wide causes.

We will be putting every dollar received towards volunteering and let you know how your money is being used. Each donor of $15 or more will receive photos of the people you are helping and a certificate showing which organization benefitted from your donation. You will also receive a personal Thank You from us as well as mention on our website.

So, how will you answer the question? Are you ready to Join the Adventure?

An-yang-ha-se-yo!

As we have begun to adjust to life in Korea, we thought it would be fun to tell you a little more about the customs and culture here in our new home. Check back often as we will update periodically with the interesting finds we make here.

Today, we wanted to tell you about Korean food.  If you’ve never been to a Korean restaurant, you’re missing out!

First, you should know about the three staples of a Korean diet: Kimchi, Rice, and Soup.  All three of these items are eaten for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.  Kimchi is… and acquired taste.  =)  There are many different types of Kimchi, but mostly it consists of either cubed radish or cabbage leaves, smothered in a distinctive, spicy red paste.  Seriouly… three meals a day.

As you probably know, Koreans, like in a lot of Asian countries, still use chopsticks.  In the words of Jerry Seinfeild, “They’ve seen the fork.  They know about the fork.”  However, these are not the chopsticks you might see at P.F. Changs.  These chopsticks are metal and flat and very difficult to grasp.  (I used to think I was pretty good with chopsticks until I came here.)  So, eating is always a fun endeavor.

Along with the three constants you will find at any Korean table, you will also see several side dishes.  These can be anything from extremely small, garlic roasted tiny fish (complete with head and eyes), to bean sprouts in spicy sauce.   There is usually some sort of meat, though we may not recognize it because of the shape or the spicy sauce.  You  may also notice that a lot of things here can be described as spicy.   We have yet to taste dog, but plan to try it pretty soon.

Griffin and I have decided that it would be a good idea to try at least one new Korean dish each week.  My co-teacher has said he is  happy to make recommendations.

Now that you have eaten your spicy meal it’s time to discard your leftovers.  That’s right, if you didn’t eat it just go ahead and put it in your soup.  That’s what everyone does here for easy discard.

You may have noticed that I did not mention drinks.  Here in Korea, it is customary to wait until you finish your meal before you have a drink.  In our schools, the water coolers are actually outside the cafeteria and you pick up a cup on your way out.  This is difficult for me given the spicy foods.  The cups are always tiny and we have wondered how Koreans don’t become dehydrated during the day.

After your meal, don’t forget your toothbrush.  We quickly noticed that most of the students and staff members keep a toothbrush and toothpaste at school and quickly dash off to the restroom to brush their teeth after lunch.  In an effort to fit in, we went right out and bought spare toothbrushes and toothpastes to keep at our respective schools!

At home we keep our food pretty Western.  We do purchase some Korean food and definitely try new recipes, however you will find hotdogs and sandwich dressings in our apartment on any given day.  Unfortunately, the Korean version of saurkraut is… Kimchi!  We won’t be putting that on our hotdogs!

Check back soon for more updates about our assimilation into Korean cultures.

Valerie and Griffin

__________________________________________