Park Güell Barcelona

It's the season where we all turn our faces to the endless blue skies and puffy white clouds and daydream where our next vacation would be. If you live somewhere that remains mostly grey throughout the year, you might be wishing you could get away to somewhere sunny or even extend that regular vacation into something longer.

Globetrotting is something that everyone should try to do at least once in a lifetime. You could experience the medley of cultures across the planet and seeing the sun setting in different horizons. That’s one of the best life experiences that you could get!

Other than a lack of sufficient vacation days from work, money could be one of the biggest hurdles when it comes to travelling. But with a little thinking outside the box, you can bypass the money issue in its entirety and see the world. Sure, you might have to change up what you have in mind for the perfect vacation, but it's worth it.

A fancy beach hotel with the infinity pool might not fit your budget, but if you’re willing to go for a more down to earth experience, then there’re ways you could make your dream of travelling come true. Here’re 8 tried and true ways to bring down your budget. Let's go!

Open-air bath in the middle of Pacific Ocean

Colosseum in Rome

Save Your Airfare

Airline tickets can often be enough for someone to put their world travel dreams to bed, but it doesn't have to be a deal breaker. You can get around the high-ticket prices in many ways. For example, the credit card that you use probably has tons of travel rewards and benefits that you may not have discovered yet. Some card companies have points systems whereby you can earn points for purchases, and as you build them up, you can exchange them for miles. Another trick is to clear cookies on your computer. Your computer reads your searches and saves them, so next time, you may find that your ticket prices shoot up!

Haggle, Haggle, Haggle

There’s an art to haggling down a price. For example, when you are dealing with accommodation, you can get the price down simply by asking. If you're planning to travel for a longer duration, you might want to look for a studio apartment for rent monthly. That way, you could negotiate a lower price by paying all upfront. If you don't ask, you don't get. And that’s the harsh reality. You might get turned down in your haggling efforts, and that's okay, you can try again another time. Always smile and always keep as friendly as possible, what's the worst that could happen?

House Sitting Can Be A Winner

There’re services out there asking for house and pet sitters, and you can find these around the world. And the best thing is that you can often earn some extra cash for doing so. Hotels can put a real hole in your travel budget. Consider refraining putting your dollars in a pillow menu and a rainfall shower, instead put them towards the travel experiences. Check out sites like this and see if you can house sit your way around the world.

Self-Cater Where You Can

All-inclusive vacations can be attractive, and it's because it saves you time from planning and having to cook or clean up after yourself. However, when you’re trying to travel around the world, you’ll need to save up for the experiences as much as you can. If you have an apartment to stay in while you travel, you might want to consider self-catering. Not only you're in control of the ingredients and budget, you can choose how extravagant or economical you want a meal to be. You can even meal prep and have them ready to go while travelling.

Use Public Transit

Renting a car can be expensive, and taking the taxis everywhere isn't always the most practical. Sometimes being behind the wheel can also take away from the experience you're having as you can't even interact with locals and your surroundings as much. A great tip that is often suggested by travel sites is to walk as much as you can. And if not, look into the public transit system or rent a bike. A lot of major cities have robust public transit system that can take you almost everywhere with ease and little cost. You could meet locals and new friends and learn a whole lot more about the city that you’re visiting at the same time.

Biking around Kyoto, Japan

Cinque Terre, Italy

Think Twice About Souvenirs

Most of the friends and families might expect you to bring home some souvenirs, especially if you are traveling the world. It's time to say a hard nope. Souvenirs could add to your cost and also weight to your luggage. And you’d want to minimize these as much as possible. When you're travelling around the globe, it’s best to travel as lightly as possible. Instead of spending on souvenirs, consider sending them a postcard instead. You could even post photos on social media to allow your loved ones to see your journey as you go.

Work If You Can

Other than a lack of sufficient vacation days from work, money could be one of the biggest hurdles when it comes to travelling. But with a little thinking outside the box, you can bypass the money issue in its entirety and see the world. Now, you might not be stretching as far as to wonder how much does it cost to own a private jet, but by doing a little extra saving, you can be well on your way to being able to travel any time you wish. Sure, you might have to change up what you have in mind for the perfect vacation, but it's worth it.

Working at a bar, serving tables and pouring coffee is one of the best ways to earn some money for your adventure to prolong the time that you're traveling. You can go from place to place, seeing the world and paying as you go. It's a great way to learn the area and get to know new people, too! Check out these 15 ways to earn money while traveling.

"Isn't the Reef already dead?"

My friend questioned me when I told him about my plan to visit the Great Barrier Reef.

I pondered on the spot. I was speechless to his question. And immediately that evening, I googled about it at home. Most websites tell me the reefs were dying. But dying is not the same as being dead. So I decided that I should just go find out myself...

Flying From Sydney to Cairns

I took a detour to Cairns during my visit to Sydney via Virgin Airline. My first experience flying with Virgin was incredible! Wifi on board with spacious comfortable seats. Have I decided on traveling to GBR earlier before booking my flight to Sydney, I'd have flown directly from Toronto to Cairns. I’d save on time and cost. A flight from Sydney to Cairns took about 3 hours one way. So, for both flights to and back costed me 6 hours.

Down Under Tour Excursion

Source

After researching online and reading reviews, I joined Down Under Cruise & Dive for their Great Barrier Reefs Snorkeling and Diving Excursion with Will. The full day trip out in the reefs with a choice of snorkelling and introductory scuba diving appealed to me the most.

Some great things about this tour:

• You get on a fully equipped vessel with no more than 140 people on board
• You get proper and well kept snorkel and diving equipment
• The tour takes you to the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef to exclusive mooring locations. So you only have people from the same boat in the water with you
• The boat is spacious and air-conditioned, clean and well-maintained. Good enough size for you to walk around the boat
• Full length sundecks for sunbathing
• Complimentary Aussie BBQ lunch including steak, fish, prawns, sausages, salad, fruit and cheese platter upon departing. You get to fill your tummy after a full-day of fun!
• Live Australian Musical Entertainment on board
• Options for certified or introductory dives for additional cost
• You also have the option for scenic helicopter flights to and from their exclusive Heli-Pontoon on the Outer Reef for additional cost
• Well-trained and friendly staff on board to keep you informed 
• Organized procedures and safety precautions. They made sure everyone on board understand the safety requirements and those who are diving have done a safety lesson before diving
• Photographer on board and out in the water to help you take photos. You can purchase them individually or in a package
• Free 5 minute scuba diving lesson. If you like it, you can continue your guided scuba diving with the certified diving instructor who takes you 30 feet under water to see the most gorgeous corals and marine life.

Sounds like a great excursion so far, right? Until...

we left the dock and en route to the reefs, I started to feel sea sick. The vessel didn’t rock much but I still felt woozy. I never had motion sickness before despite sometimes I felt the motion from travelling on large cruise ships. Will purchased a seasick pill from the crew for me but it didn't help at all. Not only did I feel worse as the boat sailed further away in the open water, I felt like I was going to puke any time.

I stepped out of the lounge and headed outside to get some fresh air. Then, I realized I wasn't the only one feeling sick. Half of the people on this tour were out here with a vomit bag in their hands. Luckily, the crew members were attentive and knew exactly what to do in this situation.

Snorkeling at Our First Outer Reef Location

After an hour or so of cruising, we finally arrived to our first outer reef location. We had the option to rent out the wetsuits for additional cost ($10AUD/pp) to keep us warm in the water. But heck, we were from Canada! This was nothing compared to what we had to deal with over there. So we passed on the wetsuits. Instead, Will grabbed a life jacket and I grabbed onto one of those water noodle. Then, off we went to snorkel.

The water was cold, not as clear as the Caribbean water but we were still able to see a lot of colourful fishes.

And the moment of truth, what about the corals?

From just the bare surface, the corals looked dull and muddy. Completely different from what you’d see in Little Mermaid or any desktop wallpaper on Google. I also needed to float and tread continuously so that I wouldn’t crush the reefs beneath me. After snorkeling for about an hour, I was ready to explore the mysterious ocean for more marine life. I was happy we tried out the free introductory scuba diving. Because the experience blew our minds.

Both Will and I had never been diving before. But, we did travel over 15000 km to get here so, passing on a complimentary 5-minute lesson hadn’t crossed our minds at all.

Passing the Diving Test

The crew members helped us wear the tanks on our backs. Because, these things were heavy, like carrying another human being on my back! We dipped into the water and performed a series of fundamental diving tasks that we learned from the instructor. Such as giving proper hand signal to tell our instructor that things were okay, clearing our masks in water and putting them back on. At first try, I panicked and failed the test. I almost forgot how to breath. Dropping into the water without breathing through my nostrils was intimidating and confusing. But after calming myself down, I tried again. I remembered to breathe through my oxygen mask this time. And I could feel the compressed air filling up my lungs. I passed the test. The instructor approved us continuing, so we took the plunge and began our underwater journey!

Submerging 30 Feet Under

We submerged down to the ocean, unaware of how far we sank. I only wanted to concentrate on my breathing because the only sound I could hear was my lungs throbbing. As we sank further down, my ears started to hurt. The instructor must had felt the same way and signaled me to blow my ears to equalize the water pressure. I blew hard and my ears popped. When I got more used to the rhythm I then realized a massive, bottomless coral reef was right beside me!

Seeing the size of the reef was eye-opening! We held onto our instructor as he made his way through the reefs, showing us all the marine life. So beautiful and a lot more colourful than what we saw from just snorkeling on the surface. All the interesting sizes and shapes of the corals amazed me. Some looked like branches, some shaped like a brain and some were waving like thick spaghettis. Our adventure at the GBR had transcended to another level of awesomeness. This memory of us scuba diving would last us a lifetime.

At the end of this tour, Will actually learned how to swim (thanks to the swim fins) and me? I now know what it's like to be a mermaid underwater :)

Some pictures during our excursion to share with you. Even though these were nowhere near to describe the adrenaline that went through my body. But, I hope these pictures inspire you to scuba dive if you haven't already! I highly recommend it!

Watch My Underwater Adventure

Few Tips that I Learned to Fight Sea-Sickness While Cruising to The Reef

• Take Gravel or sea-sick pills few hours before boarding on the boat. It takes time in order to have its effect. 
• Stay closer to the center of the vessel. You’ll feel the least motion there.
• Get fresh air. Stuffy air, especially if you're in a room crowded with people will only make you feel worse.
• Look at something far away and never focus on something near you, such as never stare at the waves outside the window.
• Don't be afraid to grab a vomit bag. I promise you'll feel better once stuffs are out of your system!

Happy Divin'!

“Can I wrap myself with a towel?” I thought to myself.

When I said this out loud in my head, naked women strolled by me in the pubic shower. I peeped over as they walk, trying not to look like a creep. But, I realized I'm only allowed to bring a face cloth with me before heading out to the Japanese hot springs. I returned awkwardly into the ladies’ room and shuck off my last bit of security.

Japanese bath hopping in their beautiful yukatas in Kinosaki Onsen

Hot Spring Resort Town – Kinosaki Onsen

Kinosaki Onsen was a popular hot spring sanctuary where we got our first dip at this bathing culture in Japan. As part of our honeymoon trip, I wanted Will and I to get pampered and relaxed. The trip to the town took about 3 hours via the bullet train (one of the fastest trains in the world!) from Osaka Station. The train ride although long, was the most comfortable ever. Not only that the train was fast, smooth and spacious, the view was amazing to look at!

Japanese love their natural hot springs for a lot of good reasons. They claimed that the water was magical! The natural minerals in the water could cure a lot of health issues such as stiff muscles and pain, improve digestive problems and soften skins! Hence, many locals love spending their time here as a relaxation getaway.

Superior Service and Suite at Yuraku Kinosaki Spa & Gardens

We arrived on a quiet Thursday afternoon. And that meant fewer people to photobomb our pictures at this beautiful town! We grabbed some quick bites in the old-fashioned looking town just before checking in at our Ryokan – traditional Japanese inn with woven straw mat (known as tatami).

We felt a phenomenal customer service as soon as we entered Yuraku Kinosaki Spa & Gardens. Besides having a shuttle bus to pick us up from and to the train station, their concierge lady also knew how to speak in Chinese! And that wasn't just it. The bell boy escorted us to take the elevators up to our room while he ran 3 floors with all of our heavy loaded bags. Yet, he still managed to appear in front of us before the doors opened! All without breaking a single sweat! I always knew Japanese perform one of the top customer services but this just had us blown away!

Let’s talk about the room! I should call it a suite because it was huge, equipped with two private toilets, a great size dining area and a living room that you could section off with a sliding door! As a kid, I was always into these traditional tatami rooms. I got to sleep on a thin mattress (futon) on the tatami floor and rolled around like a baby. And the best part of the room? Definitely the balcony looking out to the exquisite garden view!

Every visitor must change into their Yukatas provided by their Ryokans before heading out to the hot springs

Bath Hopping to 7 Public Hot Springs!

With our stay at any Ryokan in Kinosaki Onsen, we also got a free pass to sample all 7 other public hot springs. I was beyond excited because bath hopping was a must-do activity in this famous hot spring resort town!

We got into our Yukata (Japanese style bath rope) and wooden clogs provided by our Ryokan and began our first bath hopping experience.  Thankfully, both men and women were separated in the hot springs. Hubby was smart enough to do his homework about its etiquette before coming here. Whereas, I thought I'd just take it as it comes.

I got into the change room. I saw ladies of all sizes stripped down to nada and showered beside each other in the bath area! I was astonished. I crept into a side corner where I sat on a stool and started lather myself with soap like all others. Everybody was supposed to shower and rinse before entering the hot spring. But I felt uncomfortable being naked around people I didn't know. But, nobody else seemed to care of my existence. I tossed a bucket of cold water over my head to rinse free of soap. I imitated others cautiously, and returned the stool to its original state as soon as I was done.

Outdoor hot spring of Yuraku Kinosaki Spa & Garden

I entered into my first outdoor hot spring and sat among all other naked bodies. The hot spring was built by natural stones and surrounded by greenery. I could even hear crickets chirping too! An experience very down to earth and soothing. To be honest, I was a little taken aback by the blatant nakedness at first. I didn’t know where to lay eyes on. But after soaking in and absorbing the goodness of nature, I felt relaxed and could care less about these strangers. I won’t be seeing them again anyway. Each natural hot spring offered a unique setting and atmosphere so I was glad that we got to try all them out.

The streets were filled with the clopping sound of these wooden clogs

14-Course Mega Feast in Our Room

Besides, bath hopping and strolling around town in wooden clogs, the feast provided by our Ryokan was a true definition of fine-dining! Our room reservation included dinner and breakfast. So, we didn’t have to worry about food during the duration of our stay at all.

The hostess set up the tables inside our room at the time we requested for each meal. And she laid out each course like a piece of art! The dining table was filled with so many dishes that she had to come back to serve us a second round! Even though, we had as many as 14 courses, the truth was some of the portions were meant to be bite-size or "fine-dining portion".

The highlight of our meal was definitely the giant crab legs and the tender Tajima beef served in two ways (grilled steak and shabu shabu)!!! I'm still thinking about them as I write this post. So delicious!

Abalone!

Breakfast in room the next morning!

Have you tried Japanese bath? Let me know what you think!

Snowboarding on the Rocky Mountains has always been on my bucket list. When Will told me he wanted to do a snowboarding trip over the weekends, I actually hesitated at first. I didn’t think I was skilled enough to snowboard on "real mountains" yet (even though I’ve been boarding for quite some years already...) But like cool people always say, yolo right? We had two destinations to choose from, Whistler, British Columbia or Banff, Alberta. I’ve been wanting to revisit Banff as an adult, so I decided to head over there and gave it all I’ve got!!!

It was -22 degrees Celsius in Banff, so much colder than what we were both used to in Toronto! Good thing was we learned a great deal out of this trip. You could read more here.

Will was very diligent in prepping me for this trip too. We went boardin' almost every other weekend to get me warmed up and "better" in my skills. We even went boxing day shopping for new gears! And that's when I finally invested in a proper ski jacket and a pair of insulated snow pants. Ha-ha. I felt much more deserving to board on the Rockies.

We went to Sunshine Village and Lake Louise Ski Resort on two separate days where we got to hit some fresh pow. Wearing 5 layers of clothes and 3 pairs of pants, we thought we were pretty much set to embrace the cold. I kept reminding myself to stay calm and to be cautious of all the surroundings around me. I seriously did not want to end up having an experience like this guy.

We took the gondola up the mountains when I realized how massive these mountains are! The gondola ride literally took 20 minutes and that was only to the start of the slopes. We still had to take another ski lifts to get us to the top of the peak! The ride was very overwhelming and frightening to look down. I didn't want to move a single muscle.

The runs were huge and wide open. But the flurries made it hard to see where we were going. Everything was white! I still enjoyed the runs regardless. The music from my iPod really calmed me down a lot. Otherwise, I'd be listening to my own breathing and every single heartbeat in my chest. The mountains and the trees were splendid. We just wished the sky was clearer so we could have a better look at this amazing view. I also rode glades for the first time in my life. It was nerve-wrecking but very exciting! (And thank God, I didn't hit a tree!)

At the end of this trip, I felt that my snowboarding skills improved tremendously. The runs were so long that they could be tiring. The trip was definitely a memorable experience for me and I'm so glad I did it! One more thing off my list! Now I could say that I'm no longer an amateur snowboarder ;)

Check out my other bucket list activities!

Mountain Biking Fun in Durham Forest
Conquering Fear on High Ropes at YMCA
Ziplining and Winery Fun
Indoor Skydiving in Niagara
Surviving from White Water Rafting

I was super excited when Will told me he's going to take me on a trip for my birthday and I get to pick the destination. Since we were planning to buy a house together, I didn't want him us to break the bank for this vacation. So, we decided we'll do an all-inclusive down to Punta Cana, Dominican.