travel secrets – North to South

March 2, 2020March 3, 2020

How to Fly from the U.S. to the Galápagos Islands for Under $200

How to Fly to the Galapagos Islands for Under $200

Last month when I found $89 flights from Chicago to Ecuador, I was dumbfounded. And flights from mainland Ecuador to the Galápagos were less than $100, too. It must have been some sort of mistake… right?

I simply couldn’t miss out on this amazing deal to my top bucket list destination, so within 24 hours of finding the flights we were booked and officially planning our trip to the Galápagos Islands! How did we manage to find such affordable flights to the Galápagos? I’ll share my secrets with you in this post!

January 1, 2020January 1, 2020

Norwegian Air’s interactive route map is my new favorite toy!

Norwegian Air's Interactive Route Map (my new favorite toy) | northtosouth.us

With the new year upon us, it’s the perfect time to start making travel plans. That’s how we’re kicking off 2020, so today I began consulting with our favorite low-cost international airline to see what deals I could find for flying to Europe.

While perusing Norwegian.com, I discovered a new tool that makes searching flights easier. A new interactive route map lets you select your departure airport, set your budget, and choose your destination type — you can even set a temperature range for your destination.

January 1, 2020March 13, 2020

How to Fly from the U.S. to Europe for Under $200 [Budget Travel Secrets]

How to Fly from the U.S. to Europe for Under $200 dollars

Updated: January 2020

I used to expect to pay over $1000 for round-trip tickets to Europe. Now I’d never pay over $500. And one-way tickets for $200 or less are more common than you’d think. When we started traveling full time, our frugal beginner’s travel budget forced us to find the cheapest method to fly to Europe. And now I’m sharing it with you.

Traveling on the cheap from the U.S. to Europe is quite simple, really. It involves just three things:

a flexible travel schedule
packing light
my new favorite airline

July 7, 2015June 22, 2017

How to Make Money While You Travel

Do you want the freedom to quit your job and live and travel where you please?

Ian and I did, and after having a serious discussion about the possibility, we planned carefully, saved substantially, and lived frugally to get started. Now we pour our hearts and souls into several online projects, making sure they’re profitable, enjoyable, and diverse enough to keep a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, and smiles on our faces.

We’ve already talked in detail about the other steps we took to prepare for our travel life, but the money-making part is what we’ll discuss in this post. If you want to realize a sustainable traveling life for yourself, you need to have a reliable source of income.

Here we’ll talk about three common approaches to making a living while traveling. Continue reading “How to Make Money While You Travel”

March 13, 2015June 22, 2017

How to Find a Safe, Comfortable and AFFORDABLE Place to Stay on Airbnb [Budget Travel Secrets]

How to find safe, comfortable and affordable accommodations with Airbnb

As budget travelers, we search for budget accommodations (on average $600 or less per month). But that doesn’t mean we’re frequenting skeezy hostels or crappy motels. Even a year after quitting our jobs to travel, we’ve continued to avoid the summer camp housing scene. If you’re searching for a way to make travel more affordable without kickin’ it bunk-bed style, Airbnb could be your answer.

If you’re searching for a way to make travel more affordable without kickin’ it bunk-bed style, Airbnb could be your answer.

To sustain our traveling life, we book most of our accommodations through Airbnb, a website I HIGHLY recommend for finding unique and affordable places to stay. It’s especially great if you’re traveling to an unfamiliar place, as a helpful host can be priceless when you’re exploring someplace new. We typically book what I refer to as a “home away from home” — a private room in a local family’s house or apartment — but you can find everything from private vacation rentals to shared rooms to traditional bed and breakfast inns on Airbnb. They even have some crazy cool accommodations like tree houses and geodesic domes! Continue reading “How to Find a Safe, Comfortable and AFFORDABLE Place to Stay on Airbnb [Budget Travel Secrets]”

January 27, 2015June 22, 2017

Intro to Hypermiling: How to Save Money & Increase Your Car’s MPG [Budget Travel Secrets]

How to Maximize Your MPG through Hypermiling

What if you could stretch the gas in your tank an extra 50 miles? Or, even better, 100? This past summer Ian and I did just that by hypermiling our 2008 Yaris across the western U.S. — increasing our gas mileage by up to 25 percent! Want to learn how you can save substantially on gas money and get better mileage than the EPA’s estimate for your car? Well, read on, because that’s what I’m going to share with you here. Continue reading “Intro to Hypermiling: How to Save Money & Increase Your Car’s MPG [Budget Travel Secrets]”