Abandon Nest

I’ve done a fair share of traveling in my life. I guess you could call me seasoned. Therefore, today I’d like to share a few travel tips that I’ve picked up along the way. Hopefully these will make your life easier and better. Make sure to read attentively:

• Leave the big bag at home - If at all possible, try to pack everything you need into a carry on bag. This applies to both air and bus travel. When the journey ends you can grab your bag and bound off the plane or bus, headed straight for your destination. There’s no waiting at a baggage carousel or at the side of the bus. You’ll feel liberated and closer to home than if you had packed some bulky package.

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• Eat before you go - Airports and bus depots (and rest stops and train stations, etc.) are notoriously expensive when it comes to food. That same burger you can buy for $0.60 down the street from your apartment costs $1.80 in the airport. Eat before you go and eat enough so you won’t get hungry. Otherwise, you’ll end up spending a lot more money than you want to.
• Bring some entertainment - As much as it seems some people want to hear your life story, they probably don’t. You’re better off bringing your own entertainment when you travel so you don’t talk some stranger’s ear off to alleviate your boredom. Some common options are MP3 Players, books and magazines, and laptops. Try not to listen to music too loud, though, or you’ll make everyone around you very irritable.
• Pack your toiletries in your carry on - In the event that you’re packing a bigger bag, you should put your toiletries (shaving cream, deodorant, toothbrush) in your carry on bag. That way if your main bag is lost in transit you won’t be without the most essential items that you need.

Those are my tips, and I’ll definitely be following my own advice as I travel this holiday weekend. What rules do you follow when you’re traveling?

I’ve talked a lot on this blog about proper money management. Balancing a budget and seeing to it that your money goes where it ought to should be of prime importance to everyone. However, I know that every person has at least one money weakness. It’s that one thing that you can’t stop yourself from buying even though you know you shouldn’t. For some people it’s fine food, for others it’s expensive electronics. For me, though, it’s books and other reading material.

That’s right, I can’t help but buy books and magazines all the time. Even if I have a perfectly good unread novel sitting at home, I feel like I have to purchase a new one. This is particularly bad because I tend to read so quickly. That, combined with the fact that my technical instruction books are often pricy, do not bode well for my financial well being. As such, I’ve come up with a couple of ways to satiate my thirst for the expensive and new products that I want.

• Stay away from stores that sell it - This may seem obvious, but many people don’t realize that just being near a store makes you more likely to buy something. Your mind plays a psychological trick on you that lets you justify your purchase somehow. For me, this means stay far away from Border and Barnes & Noble. I also have to avoid Amazon.com for obvious reasons.

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I was never really a big family guy growing up. Once I hit high school I had football in the fall/winter and a job in the spring/summer so I was always gone. I spent almost no time at home, and that was normal for my family. After my brother got a car, he was always gone too. In spite of the fact that we’re only a year apart, we never really hung out. My sister, quite a few years younger than I, was too small to do the things that I thought were cool until recently, so she was out of the picture too. Parents? I didn’t hang out with them, what teenager does?
After moving out on my own, I began to realize how important the intangible relationship with your family members is. I’ve never really been that lonely while I’ve been down here because of the support and love that I get, be it in person or over the phone. My family has been very supportive since I’ve moved away, and I’m thankful to them for this.
Because of my experiences, I’ve come to feel it is of the utmost importance to keep in touch with your family when you move out on your own. You can have all your independence and freedom and responsibility and still call home twice a week. I know that talking to my brother for a half hour every couple of days really cheers me up and makes me happy. It’s something that I really can’t explain, and needs to be experienced by each person individually.
So, get on the phone and call your mom, your dad, your brother or sister. Why not call your grandma or grandpa and tell them what’s going on in your life? I’m sure they’ll be glad to hear it and happy to know that you’re doing all right out on your own (grandparents are like that). Shoot your aunts and uncles an email every once in the while and send a card on holidays. Do whatever you’ve got to do to reach out to those in your family and you’ll soon realize the emotional, mental, and physical boost they can give to your life, even from afar.