Speaker 1: Episode three eighty six, Best vacation Destination Dupes aka more
Speaker 1: Affordable with Jen on a jet Plane.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to
Speaker 2: save money, embrace simplicity and life. Here your hosts Jen
Speaker 2: and Jill.
Speaker 1: Welcome to Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen, my
Speaker 1: name is Jill, and I am not on a jet plane.
Speaker 1: I am here with Jill And we just had a
Speaker 1: conversation with Jen on a jet plane. But spoiler, she
Speaker 1: was also not on a jet plane. She was also
Speaker 1: actually in St. Petersburg, just not in the same room
Speaker 1: as us. Figure that confused yet, Yeah, figure that out.
Speaker 1: But we had a really great conversation with our friend Jen,
Speaker 1: who has traveled all around the world. It's what she
Speaker 1: does for a living, and we are sharing some of
Speaker 1: her favorite affordable places to travel.
Speaker 3: Yeah, she's incredible. She travels constantly and her whole job
Speaker 3: is giving people tips and what to expect when traveling.
Speaker 3: And even though her primary goal in life isn't to
Speaker 3: always be saving money because it's within her value system
Speaker 3: to be traveling, but she's got some really awesome tips
Speaker 3: on how you can go to some of these places
Speaker 3: for a more affordable rate or alternatives to some of
Speaker 3: these places that we think we want to go just
Speaker 3: because we.
Speaker 1: Don't know about where else we can go.
Speaker 3: So she's an incredible one to chat with, and we
Speaker 3: will do that shortly. But first, this episode is brought
Speaker 3: to you by inside Jokes. We love it when we're
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Speaker 1: You had to be there, Yeah, you had to be
Speaker 1: there inside the cheese cave.
Speaker 3: Oh, if you don't know what Jen's talking about, the
Speaker 3: other gener will tell you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you haven't. If you don't know what I'm talking about,
Speaker 1: you haven't listened to today's episode yet or taken our friend
Speaker 1: letter vacation dupes pole because we asked you, guys, where
Speaker 1: would you like to vacation this summer, and all of
Speaker 1: you surprisingly said cheese caves. I'm just kidding. Most of
Speaker 1: you said national parks, mountains, trees please, And then the
Speaker 1: second biggest answer was cheese caves.
Speaker 3: She's telling inside jokes right now, is what's happening. Yeah,
Speaker 3: so sorry, folks, but soon you will be on the inside.
Speaker 3: Anywhere with a beach was the second place. So we
Speaker 3: definitely included some international destinations in our conversation, but we
Speaker 3: kept a lot of it domestic while integrating some of
Speaker 3: the feel of Europe, which was probably your big with
Speaker 3: the biggest like international destination request, but how you can
Speaker 3: kind of get that feel with some domestic locations. But yeah,
Speaker 3: we kept a lot of our conversation domestic. But if
Speaker 3: you do want to travel internationally, still listen to the episode.
Speaker 3: There are gosh including like a Italy dupe in Guatemala.
Speaker 1: That one was mind blowing. So today's episode is great.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of you are going to love it.
Speaker 1: It's going to be one I think that you come
Speaker 1: back to again and again to get affordable travel ideas.
Speaker 1: Jen does so much research. I love following her on
Speaker 1: social media because she goes places that aren't stereotypical. She
Speaker 1: goes to all kinds of domestic locations, international and things
Speaker 1: that you just wouldn't see from a normal travel blogger
Speaker 1: or somebody trying to be a travel blogger. She is
Speaker 1: a lawyer, termed full turned full time travel blogger, influencer,
Speaker 1: and author, and you can see her her research background
Speaker 1: shines through with just how thoroughly she helps people travel
Speaker 1: on a budget. So if you love traveling, which we
Speaker 1: know that a lot of you do, episode three twelve
Speaker 1: is a good one to queue up after this if
Speaker 1: you're looking for specific ways to travel on a budget.
Speaker 1: That one I was not there for. It was our
Speaker 1: friend Chloe who travels full times digital nomad, and that
Speaker 1: one's about traveling full time on a budget. And then
Speaker 1: episode two fifty how to save money on travel. That's
Speaker 1: where we go into the needy, gritty how to save
Speaker 1: on hotels, flights, all of that. Today is all about
Speaker 1: the destination.
Speaker 3: It's not about the journey.
Speaker 1: It is not about the journey. Today's about a destination.
Speaker 3: Well, let's get into the journey with Jen.
Speaker 1: Now, Jen, welcome to Frugal Friends. We are super excited
Speaker 1: to this. We just wrapped up our mega survey for
Speaker 1: Frugal Friends and we asked our listeners what do you
Speaker 1: love to spend money on? Like, what are the things
Speaker 1: you'll say no to? The impulse purchases in order to
Speaker 1: get more of this and hands down travel. It was
Speaker 1: no competition and so everyone's gonna love this episode. So
Speaker 1: thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, I definitely am a big fan of all things
Speaker 4: travel and it's and I spend the majority of my
Speaker 4: money on, so I'm happy to talk.
Speaker 5: More about it.
Speaker 3: You are so fun to follow on Instagram. Jen on
Speaker 3: a jet plane. If you're not doing it, y'all need to.
Speaker 3: And I especially love the way that you really break
Speaker 3: down the spots that you're going to for someone who
Speaker 3: might want to do it but they don't know what
Speaker 3: to expect. You are the pinnacle of giving people here's
Speaker 3: what to expect and kind of breaking down that barrier
Speaker 3: to entry that some people might have. So with all
Speaker 3: of that said, with all of the various countries and
Speaker 3: destinations that you are constantly bebopping around to and sharing
Speaker 3: your expert tips and advice, we want to know kind
Speaker 3: of some of your favorite spots that are lesser known
Speaker 3: and talked about, and particularly you know, you hear all
Speaker 3: these people I'm going to Paris, I'm going to the
Speaker 3: Islands of Greece, I'm going to and posting all these
Speaker 3: beautiful photos. But yet there's so many other destinations world
Speaker 3: and we're curious, like, where else should we be considering
Speaker 3: that might even be more affordable, possibly not as many
Speaker 3: tourists there. So so start us off. It could be
Speaker 3: international and domestic.
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's start. Want to go to France. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: So let's start like our favorite your favorite dupes that
Speaker 1: are international, Let's start there.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 4: So, I think that France is a big one for
Speaker 4: a lot of people. It's a dream destination. People want
Speaker 4: to see the Eiffel Tower in Paris, they want to
Speaker 4: go to the South of France. And I love France
Speaker 4: and I definitely recommend it. I think it's something that
Speaker 4: can be done more and more easily now with the
Speaker 4: advent of budget airlines. So airlines like French Bee airlines
Speaker 4: like play Air, they get you to and from these
Speaker 4: locations for maybe four hundred dollars round trip per person.
Speaker 4: They're more of a no frills airlines. You add things
Speaker 4: on ala carte as you decide that you want, you know,
Speaker 4: checked baggage, seats, all of the above. And so I
Speaker 4: think that France is a great destination to aim for
Speaker 4: and a lot of people get so intimidated by not
Speaker 4: necessarily being able to plan that big trip that because
Speaker 4: of that, they don't travel at all. And so I
Speaker 4: think a great way to start when you're somebody that's
Speaker 4: aiming to get overseas is to start traveling domestically, just
Speaker 4: you know, get out there and see more of the US,
Speaker 4: because we have so much to offer here in the US.
Speaker 4: So one hack that I've found for France specifically is
Speaker 4: New York State, which is very similar along you know,
Speaker 4: geographically located, and they have a wine trail in the
Speaker 4: Finger Lakes where you can get wine that has outrant
Speaker 4: France in international awards. You can get delicious cheese again
Speaker 4: with you know, been to the Wegman's cheese caves there,
Speaker 4: and they have an a French cheese expert. There's a
Speaker 4: word for like cheese expert, like somaliir for whe caves.
Speaker 1: No, I've never heard of a cheese caves. Yes, okay, okay,
Speaker 1: go on, yep.
Speaker 4: So you're Traditionally in France a lot of cheese is
Speaker 4: prepared in caves because of the temperature, the atmosphere. It's
Speaker 4: just really good for you know, maturing these cheeses. And
Speaker 4: in in New York State, there's definitely been a lot
Speaker 4: of replication of that because in New York you actually
Speaker 4: have they're the third highest dairy producing state in the US,
Speaker 4: and so they make a lot of cheese and they
Speaker 4: have these local artisanal cheeses. They have Wegmans that has
Speaker 4: you know, gone so far as to try to replicate
Speaker 4: the cave effect in their laboratories where they're making all
Speaker 4: of this really delicious cheese. And so it's a big
Speaker 4: cheese place that pairs really nicely with the wine there.
Speaker 4: And so already I feel like you have that field
Speaker 4: of France. In the summer, it's a beautiful time to visit.
Speaker 4: You can find these really lovely lavender fields that are
Speaker 4: not going to be necessarily, you know, like the South
Speaker 4: of France where they're endless in many ways, but they're
Speaker 4: really gorgeous and you know, you can get your pictures
Speaker 4: amongst lavender fields that looks like you're in the middle
Speaker 4: of the South of France. So like King Fisher lavender
Speaker 4: field is one in Scaniatales in Upstate New York, they
Speaker 4: have lavender fields there and they have the mirror boat
Speaker 4: in an spa. They actually have a monet replica of
Speaker 4: the Givanci the gardens and so you can walk through
Speaker 4: these French gardens. So it's really a beautiful place to go.
Speaker 4: You know, you can get fresh honey. It's just like
Speaker 4: really lovely if you want to have that experience. Similarly,
Speaker 4: in Washington State they have during April they have tulip
Speaker 4: fields that are you know, very much reminiscent of the
Speaker 4: tulip fields in the Netherlands. If you're somebody that can't
Speaker 4: make it abroad for something like that, you can see
Speaker 4: these are bulbs that have been flown over so they
Speaker 4: are you know the same bulbs that are grown over there,
Speaker 4: and they have fields and fields of tulips very similar
Speaker 4: to what you would see in the Netherlands. So there's
Speaker 4: ways that you can get a lot of those you know,
Speaker 4: things that you're looking for in France in the US.
Speaker 3: Jen, we're jaw dropped.
Speaker 1: I never here. I am actively like searching as you're saying,
Speaker 1: and I'm like looking at cheese caves and lavender fees.
Speaker 3: We don't even need to go on with this episode.
Speaker 3: We all know where we're going. See all you frugal
Speaker 3: friends in Upstate New York. Yeah, this is amazing, I think. Yeah,
Speaker 3: we can just see so much propaganda, for lack of
Speaker 3: a better word, of all these other places we have
Speaker 3: to be going, we should be going, and we're missing
Speaker 3: some of the things that are right in front of
Speaker 3: us that can be less expensive, maybe zero to get to,
Speaker 3: and just as beautiful and stuff.
Speaker 1: My gosh, if Upstate New York wasn't great enough by
Speaker 1: having the Bills, is their football team the cheese caves
Speaker 1: you can have? They have? This place has a cave
Speaker 1: intern program and it just says love cheese. Our cave
Speaker 1: intern program offers a front row seat to expert orphanage
Speaker 1: for enthusiasts. You could man if you're not in the
Speaker 1: cheese cave in Upstate New York. This is really a
Speaker 1: business trip that we should be taking just for science
Speaker 1: to see the bills.
Speaker 4: Yes, it's amazing, and yes, I think that that's the case.
Speaker 4: We underestimate, you know, how much there is to see.
Speaker 4: The US is a beautiful place that people from all
Speaker 4: over the world come to visit. There's so many, you know,
Speaker 4: different bucket list things that you can do here. You know,
Speaker 4: salt flats that you can see, ice caves that you
Speaker 4: can see, things that people are going their places to
Speaker 4: see you can see in the US. So I think
Speaker 4: that's the first point. But if you are looking to
Speaker 4: get abroad, there are a lot of destinations that can
Speaker 4: be a more affordable alternative to the most popular destinations.
Speaker 4: I think one of the ones that I love to
Speaker 4: point out is how affordable it is to go to
Speaker 4: Guatemala for people especially that want to have that feel
Speaker 4: of Italy. Like Lake Como is very comparable to Lake Atitlan.
Speaker 4: There's actually a hotel there on the water that people
Speaker 4: take videos of because it looks so much like like,
Speaker 4: you know, that kind of Mediterranean architecture right by the water,
Speaker 4: that kind of feel and so and the difference is
Speaker 4: that it's much more affordable you're looking at, you know,
Speaker 4: maybe one hundred dollars a night versus several hundred dollars
Speaker 4: you know.
Speaker 5: Things in general.
Speaker 4: And that's you know, for that really popular property because
Speaker 4: you can get a property for thirty bucks a night,
Speaker 4: maybe less or so, depending on where you are in Guatemala,
Speaker 4: and they have so many amazing things there. You can
Speaker 4: do your own cacao chocolate making, so you can learn
Speaker 4: about the process, and they have some of the best
Speaker 4: in the world there, so you can have your fancy
Speaker 4: desserts and feel like you're getting that culinary experience as well,
Speaker 4: but you're doing it at a fraction of the cost.
Speaker 4: You can get this, you know, experience with volcanoes. If
Speaker 4: you wanted to see Vesuvius, you could hike and actually
Speaker 4: see an erupting, live active volcano, spend the night. So
Speaker 4: that's you know, something you can do.
Speaker 5: You can eat.
Speaker 4: Pizza cooked on an active volcano. That was an activity
Speaker 4: that I did.
Speaker 1: You're blowing our minds.
Speaker 3: Yes, I thought I knew I thought I knew things
Speaker 3: about the world.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so if you know you can have that little
Speaker 4: piece of Italy, you can have so you hike to
Speaker 4: the top of this volcano. It's the only place in
Speaker 4: the world where you can have pizza cooked on the volcano.
Speaker 4: And it's a gentleman that you know. It was a
Speaker 4: restauranteur and a chef, and he figured out that you
Speaker 4: can cook with the heat of the volcano. They figured
Speaker 4: it out original with marshmallows. And for years tourists had
Speaker 4: been you know, toasting marshmallows when they reached the top
Speaker 4: of the volcano. But this man want to step further
Speaker 4: and actually made like a little peisa oven in the
Speaker 4: volcano so that you can go and you have your
Speaker 4: table that's built out of stone on the volcano and
Speaker 4: it's brought out to you and made fresh for you
Speaker 4: there after your hike, and so you have these epic views.
Speaker 5: And so I think that.
Speaker 4: That's and that the entire day, you know, cost me,
Speaker 4: because two other people came on the tour, cost me
Speaker 4: about ninety dollars for the hike, the piisa, you know, transportation,
Speaker 4: everything included. So it could be much more affordable to
Speaker 4: do these things in these alternative destinations.
Speaker 3: How risky did it feel to be that close to
Speaker 3: an active volcano?
Speaker 1: It fell not risky for these girls in these pictures
Speaker 1: look at that enjoying their pizza. Yeah, pizza.
Speaker 4: It felt definitely like an adventure, and I think that's
Speaker 4: the fun part. And also they're so well versed because
Speaker 4: there are communities that live there on the base of
Speaker 4: the volcano. Because you learn that actually the volcanic land
Speaker 4: is very fertile, and so even though maybe there's you know,
Speaker 4: eruptions that are disruptive and burn things down, they'll still
Speaker 4: continue to live there because it's so hard to find
Speaker 4: land that.
Speaker 5: You know, it's just so good for the crops.
Speaker 4: You can grow pretty much anything there, and so communities
Speaker 4: will build and congregate and have you know, hundreds of
Speaker 4: years history around these volcanoes, and so they know the
Speaker 4: warning signs, they know, you know, ahead of time what
Speaker 4: to expect. They have a plan on where to go,
Speaker 4: and Uh, it's definitely it's a little bit scary to hear,
Speaker 4: you know, it's it's erupted recently. It erupts pretty frequently.
Speaker 4: But again, you feel like it's not today fingers crossed.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 1: I didn't know that and that you could anticipate it
Speaker 1: until Kai brought home a book on volcanoes and we've
Speaker 1: been reading it like it's a short you know kids book,
Speaker 1: but they say what it is like before a volcano,
Speaker 1: and sometimes there will be tremors for like a couple
Speaker 1: months leading up to it, so I kind of know
Speaker 1: it's coming, yeah, having but this is Pecaia volcano. Writing
Speaker 1: it down in Lake Adeline, I'm okay, I have it.
Speaker 1: All the spellings will be in the show notes.
Speaker 3: I'm so excited. So alternative to Italy, Guatemala never would
Speaker 3: have considered never. So you are also talking about some
Speaker 3: European towns. Can you give us some other dupes for
Speaker 3: if we just want that European feel?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think that there's a lot of cities in
Speaker 4: the US that are European inspired and where you can
Speaker 4: feel immersed Again, I don't think you have to necessarily
Speaker 4: leave the country to feel like you're getting a really
Speaker 4: cool vacation. So Helen, Georgia is one such place where
Speaker 4: you can step in and feel like you're in this
Speaker 4: you know, German town. Levenworth, Washington is another one. They're
Speaker 4: known a lot for their kind of winter and ski
Speaker 4: chalets and that kind of.
Speaker 5: Feel to it.
Speaker 4: Even Saint Augustine, Florida has really wonderful history. They have,
Speaker 4: you know, Spanish castles and Spanish architecture, and so you
Speaker 4: can really get a feel for that Spanish vibe even
Speaker 4: if you are still in Florida. So I think that
Speaker 4: there's a lot of different European inspired cities in the
Speaker 4: US that you can see, And in general, if you
Speaker 4: still just really want to get to Europe, I definitely
Speaker 4: recommend looking at those budget airlines that I've mentioned, so
Speaker 4: Play Air, Tap, Portugal, French Bee, all of these different
Speaker 4: airlines can get you to Europe from major hubs, and
Speaker 4: it doesn't necessarily.
Speaker 5: Have to be East Coast.
Speaker 4: You can fly from La San Francisco for very affordable
Speaker 4: and then once you get to Europe it very easy
Speaker 4: to hop around. I've, you know, flown from Athens to
Speaker 4: Santorini for twenty five dollars on Ryan Air. So if
Speaker 4: you get a ticket to one of these places, you
Speaker 4: can kind of figure out how to get to your
Speaker 4: final destination once you're in the general vicinity. And in general,
Speaker 4: Eastern Europe is always going to be more affordable than
Speaker 4: Western Europe. So these other kind of countries that now
Speaker 4: have been seeing a lot more tourists, like Croatia has
Speaker 4: become very popular now and it's a very big destination
Speaker 4: after Game of Thrones as a nearby you know, like Montenegro, Albania,
Speaker 4: things like that are still places that you can visit
Speaker 4: for very affordable. You can find meals for like a
Speaker 4: five dollars lunch kind of thing, you know, thirty dollars
Speaker 4: a night, hotels pretty regularly, you know, while they're still
Speaker 4: relatively untapped, and in general off season, if you really
Speaker 4: want to go to Italy because you love Italy and
Speaker 4: you want to go there and nobody, you don't want
Speaker 4: anything to deter you. It's your dream. Same with Paris.
Speaker 4: You know, there's a reason these destinations are popular. I
Speaker 4: think off season's a great time to consider visiting them.
Speaker 4: I've been in Milan in January and it's significantly more affordable.
Speaker 4: Everything for the most part is still been much easier
Speaker 4: to get tickets. I was able to see the Last Supper,
Speaker 4: which is something that you know, tickets sell out months
Speaker 4: in advance, to be able to see that painting on
Speaker 4: the fresco on the walls, and so that's something that
Speaker 4: in the off season, it's easier to find tickets, it's
Speaker 4: easier to find accommodations. You can pay much less to
Speaker 4: get there, and so if you really want to go
Speaker 4: to these destinations, you know you have that dream, you know,
Speaker 4: maybe Paris in January is a good idea for you,
Speaker 4: and you can warm up with a delicious hot chocolate.
Speaker 4: You know, they have really thick hot chocolate in Italy
Speaker 4: that just basically you have to eat it with a spoon.
Speaker 5: It's that thing. So you know, you'll.
Speaker 3: Fell I can deal with being a little cold.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3: Eric and I did a vacation to Paris and Spain,
Speaker 3: so France and Spain in November, which was a little
Speaker 3: bit off season, but it really didn't limit us from
Speaker 3: doing anything. We were still able to get on a
Speaker 3: boat down the Seine, we were able to walk a
Speaker 3: ton of places. We just bundled up and it almost
Speaker 3: It made it really cozy and fun. So I would
Speaker 3: definitely recommend considering off season as well.
Speaker 1: If you had to choose one place to go in
Speaker 1: Eastern Europe that you would deem affordable, where would you
Speaker 1: where'd you pack up and go?
Speaker 4: Right now, I want to get back to you on
Speaker 4: that because I have an upcoming cruise with Viking where
Speaker 4: I'm going to be doing like six countries in two weeks,
Speaker 4: and so I think after that I'll have a much better.
Speaker 5: Idea of which one I prefer.
Speaker 4: Right now, I have limited and that's part of the
Speaker 4: reason why I'm partnering with them to do that cruise,
Speaker 4: because I've been that's like the Czech Republic that was
Speaker 4: really lovely, and a couple other places as well.
Speaker 5: But I really want to see more.
Speaker 4: Before I can make a full opinion on Eastern Europe,
Speaker 4: because I think there's.
Speaker 5: A lot I'm missing.
Speaker 1: Okay, Viking Cruise, say no more, It's fine. That's how
Speaker 1: I want to see Europe is on a cruise ship
Speaker 1: because I can see, I can hop around the cities.
Speaker 1: I don't have to carry my luggage from hotel to hotel.
Speaker 1: It's just right on the water. Got a hotel right
Speaker 1: on the water. Literally, That's how I want to travel.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 4: So I had partnered with them before for Christmas on
Speaker 4: the Rhine. So we had done a Christmas market cruise
Speaker 4: where we had gone down the Rhine River and seen
Speaker 4: a lot of markets in Germany, Switzerland and then ended
Speaker 4: in the Netherlands. And so this we're going to be
Speaker 4: going down through the capitals of Eastern Europe. So like
Speaker 4: Budapest and Mania and like a bunch of other places.
Speaker 4: So I think it's going to be amazing. But I
Speaker 4: agree with you that cruisers are great because they're done
Speaker 4: for you and they're usually pretty reliable, and that they
Speaker 4: are the price that you've been quoted, like, you know
Speaker 4: already what's included in it, what meals are included, what
Speaker 4: you know how much extra it's going to cost to
Speaker 4: that excursion. In Viking, with fighting in particular, they have,
Speaker 4: you know, a guide in every port, so you have
Speaker 4: at least the one hour walking activity included and every
Speaker 4: time that you're out a new city. So I agree.
Speaker 4: I think that's a great way to see everything and
Speaker 4: kind of know your price ahead of time. It's not
Speaker 4: necessarily the best for solo travelers, so I think better
Speaker 4: for families. And to your point, Joe Quickly, I actually
Speaker 4: think that Thanksgiving is also a great hack because while
Speaker 4: it is a holiday in the US, and you know,
Speaker 4: domestic flights are really expensive, that's a great time to
Speaker 4: go abroad. It's not a holiday anywhere else, and it's
Speaker 4: you know, those flights are much cheaper, and if you
Speaker 4: wanted to take a family trip, you could do Thanksgiving
Speaker 4: in a different way.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I didn't think about that. I just want to
Speaker 1: follow up. I googled Leavenworth for their because I'm not
Speaker 1: a big fan of Helen Georgia, but I do I
Speaker 1: want to see more like European stuff in the United States.
Speaker 1: Levenworth has a reindeer farm. I just want everyone to
Speaker 1: know that February nineteenth through eleventh is calving season, so
Speaker 1: after April twelfth you can go meet baby reindeer.
Speaker 3: Cute.
Speaker 1: I just want everyone to know if you're near Levenworth,
Speaker 1: is this Washington, Yes, yes, please go see the baby reindeer.
Speaker 3: Okay, jen h Now let's talk about I mean, you've
Speaker 3: already covered a lot of spots in the States, but
Speaker 3: for those who want a city, and maybe even New
Speaker 3: York City is top of the list. What would you recommend?
Speaker 3: Maybe not even a.
Speaker 1: Dupe for it, but how to do new dupe? Dupe me? Yes,
Speaker 1: what are your best tips?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 4: Absolutely? I love New York because I think that you
Speaker 4: can get to New York City from pretty much every
Speaker 4: major airport. It's an easy airport to access. I actually
Speaker 4: use New York as a hack to find cheap flights,
Speaker 4: Like if I know I'm looking to go somewhere internationally,
Speaker 4: I'll maybe search instead for New York to Tokyo versus
Speaker 4: like you know, Tampa to Tokyo, because I can get
Speaker 4: the more affordable rate from New York and get to
Speaker 4: New York for like one hundred bucks round trip. So
Speaker 4: I love New York yes as a hub, especially when
Speaker 4: doing major international trips. And I never rule out deals
Speaker 4: from New York because they have really great deals from there.
Speaker 4: But in general, I just got back from doing a
Speaker 4: week there again in January, which is a good time
Speaker 4: to go. Everything is open. New York is busy. There's
Speaker 4: so much growing on so many people that the weather
Speaker 4: doesn't really impact you in the way it maybe does
Speaker 4: where where you're out in nature. Because it's busy, it's
Speaker 4: a city scape, you know, there's a lot happening. And
Speaker 4: I was able to see Harry Potter and The Curse
Speaker 4: Child on Broadway. I saw that using today Ticks. It's
Speaker 4: an app and it takes a spelled ti X and
Speaker 4: it basically gives you these half off tickets, you know
Speaker 4: or more on Broadway.
Speaker 5: So I found.
Speaker 4: Tickets as low as sixty seven dollars. I had a
Speaker 4: seat that was kind of front row right at the balcony.
Speaker 4: So mine was ninety seven, but I paid less than
Speaker 4: one hundred dollars for a Broadway show, which was amazing.
Speaker 4: I was able to meet the actors afterwards, like really wonderful. Well, yeah,
Speaker 4: they come out onto the street, they take pictures with you,
Speaker 4: they signed your playbill. So I had a very you know,
Speaker 4: authentic Broadway experience and it felt really fun. And I
Speaker 4: was able to treat myself to that for what felt
Speaker 4: like a very reasonable price, definitely much less than it
Speaker 4: would have been if I bought it, you know, retail.
Speaker 4: And I also another kind of luxury hack I have
Speaker 4: in New York is I fly when I come into
Speaker 4: the airport, because most airports will take you about an
Speaker 4: hour to get into the city center from where I.
Speaker 1: Saw this, Jen, I saw this on your social media.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so.
Speaker 4: Like JFK, like Wordia New York, like they take a while,
Speaker 4: you have to call and haal the ride share.
Speaker 5: It takes a while to get in. So I actually
Speaker 5: have a hack. I fly with.
Speaker 4: Blade and so when you fly with them, and my
Speaker 4: very first ride was one hundred and forty five dollars
Speaker 4: because I had a fifty dollars Cubon off my first ride,
Speaker 4: and now at this point I've referred them so much
Speaker 4: that I have different affiliate credits built up and so
Speaker 4: I'm able to use that. When I arrived to get
Speaker 4: airport transport from you know JFK Newark or like Guardia
Speaker 4: into Manhattan, it takes me five minutes and I fly
Speaker 4: via helicopter.
Speaker 1: I think you're burying the lead. You're burying the lead.
Speaker 1: You take a helicopter from the air report into the
Speaker 1: city like career, that's you don't take an uber, you
Speaker 1: take a.
Speaker 5: Helicopter, correct a private helicopter.
Speaker 1: And your first time was one hundred and fifty bucks,
Speaker 1: which how much would it how much would a cab
Speaker 1: be into the city from.
Speaker 4: About one maybe ninety dollars, Yeah, and it could be
Speaker 4: more on rush hour.
Speaker 5: So that was what made my first.
Speaker 4: Video go viral because I had a screenshot of a
Speaker 4: rush hour uber quote that was like two hundred dollars,
Speaker 4: and so I was like, actually saved fifty dollars by
Speaker 4: coming in via airplane via helicopter.
Speaker 5: And so.
Speaker 4: Essentially it's like a shared helicopter service. And that's girl math,
Speaker 4: by the way, but it's like a shared helicopter service
Speaker 4: where you have up to six passengers on there. But
Speaker 4: most of the time it's not going to be packed
Speaker 4: because I come in on like, you know, first thing
Speaker 4: in the morning, and I'm not coming in like on
Speaker 4: Christmas Day. So all the times I've used it, I've
Speaker 4: only had one other time where there's someone in there
Speaker 4: with me. Otherwise just me and the pilot. And so
Speaker 4: what happens is they pick you up from the airport
Speaker 4: in their private like Escalade, Cadillac, I don't know, fancy
Speaker 4: black vehicle because I don't know cars, but it's the
Speaker 4: fancy kinds, and they open the door for you. They
Speaker 4: take your luggage and everything, and then they escort you.
Speaker 4: They drive you to the heliport like area which is
Speaker 4: adjacent to the airport, and then you have your luggage
Speaker 4: that they take onto the helicopter. You know, you walk
Speaker 4: on the runway area tarmac area to the helicopter. They
Speaker 4: let you in and then it's all luxurious. It's like
Speaker 4: leather seats, you know, you have your really nice headphones
Speaker 4: you have to wear so that you don't hear the
Speaker 4: ambiance when you're taking off, and then when you're actually
Speaker 4: I think it's coming in from Newark, you actually go
Speaker 4: over the Statue of Liberty. So it also kind of
Speaker 4: doubles as a helicopter tour of the city and it's
Speaker 4: you get really amazing.
Speaker 3: Views, transfer and experience.
Speaker 5: I shook.
Speaker 3: Yeah when you see it that way too. It's a
Speaker 3: two for one and kind of like five for one.
Speaker 3: That's all you need. Yeah, that's beautiful.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you're six to add on to it when you finish.
Speaker 5: They also have free drinks.
Speaker 4: No, you're like, oh, welcome, yes, so it's like, yes,
Speaker 4: welcome to Manhattan. You just have your cop I usually
Speaker 4: do like a vodka pineapple juice, and they give it
Speaker 4: to you in this like little to go cup thing.
Speaker 4: So you also get your souvenir cup that you're taking
Speaker 4: with you. So it's like a million things in one
Speaker 4: and it's just so pleasant.
Speaker 3: Oh that's so wild. You know, you're reminding me. I
Speaker 3: have done helicopter rides two times, not as a transfer
Speaker 3: from an airport. This is an incredible tip that Yeah,
Speaker 3: I can't wait to hear our listeners take advantage of this.
Speaker 3: But you can find them for relatively inexpensive. It seems
Speaker 3: like such a cool, luxurious thing to experience and fly
Speaker 3: over a city. But I've done it with Eric a
Speaker 3: couple of times in various places, and they've been so
Speaker 3: affordable compared to what I would have previously thought it
Speaker 3: would be. And then, especially when you're talking about ubers
Speaker 3: and lyfts out of the airport in New York City,
Speaker 3: it's like, this is actually more affordable than getting a ride.
Speaker 3: You are giving us so many good things. I don't
Speaker 3: know if you have any more to say about New
Speaker 3: York City, but we were also chatting about other cities
Speaker 3: or destinations within the US kennities second tier destinations. Curious
Speaker 3: to hear some of your top ones here you would.
Speaker 1: Talk second tier cities for summer travel.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so when we.
Speaker 4: Say that, we mean just like kind of cities that
Speaker 4: are maybe not the capital city, maybe not the one
Speaker 4: that's super well known, like these cities that everyone knows
Speaker 4: San Francisco, San Diego, New York City, Orlando, you know,
Speaker 4: versus maybe some counterparts that you weren't aware of. Like
Speaker 4: I love Madison, Wisconsin. You know, while we're on the topic,
Speaker 4: I have keys.
Speaker 5: On my mind.
Speaker 4: They're an amazing city. If you're fan of architecture, you
Speaker 4: can see Frankloyd Rights Taliessen there, but also a lot
Speaker 4: of other architecture pieces by Frankloyd, right like Unity Church
Speaker 4: in the city itself. So it's a really fun place
Speaker 4: for you to geek out about American architecture, which I'm
Speaker 4: a big fan of. It's a college town, so they
Speaker 4: have really great museums, they great food, and I love
Speaker 4: college towns.
Speaker 5: For that reason because they're diverse.
Speaker 4: They usually have a lot going on, Like there's not
Speaker 4: a slow period, there's usually always something happening. Another great
Speaker 4: example of that is Tempe Arizona, so they're home to ASU,
Speaker 4: but they're a great place there. You fly into Phoenix.
Speaker 4: They're twenty minutes outside of Phoenix, but there's so many
Speaker 4: beautiful things you can do there. They have a desert
Speaker 4: botanical garden where they had a Bootero exhibit, which was
Speaker 4: at the time of his passing last September, he was
Speaker 4: the highest paid Latin American artist in the world, so
Speaker 4: they have his pieces there currently. You know, amidst the garden,
Speaker 4: they've had some Chouli pieces before, so they do beautiful
Speaker 4: integration of like art and the outdoors. Again, I'm a
Speaker 4: big nerd and so I just love that these things
Speaker 4: are available. And again because they're always busy, you can
Speaker 4: go year round. Tempees warm year round, like Arizona's high
Speaker 4: at any point in time, So if you wanted to
Speaker 4: get away from the winter, like, that's a great place
Speaker 4: to go. They have a lot of good hiking. I
Speaker 4: like light adventure, So I like adventure where you can
Speaker 4: feel like you're getting a lot of things, like getting
Speaker 4: out of nature, like you were being active, you got
Speaker 4: your steps in, but also like your life was not
Speaker 4: at risk and there was never men.
Speaker 1: That is my kind of adventure as well.
Speaker 4: And you know for travelers that's not always the case.
Speaker 4: But for me, I'm like, I just really I want
Speaker 4: to feel okay about this, and so some really cool
Speaker 4: things I've done, you know, in that regard Outer Banks,
Speaker 4: North Carolina, they have the Home of Flight where the
Speaker 4: Wright brothers discovered flight, and you can go hang gliding
Speaker 4: on the sand dunes like they did when they were
Speaker 4: seeing the concepts cool. And I would never hang glide
Speaker 4: like off a cliff, right because again I preserve my life,
Speaker 4: but sand dunes, like the sander natural cushion, You're never
Speaker 4: going like more than ten feet off the air, like
Speaker 4: it's like a ten second thing, like.
Speaker 5: It feels super safe.
Speaker 4: But you're like, I went hang gliding on sand dunes
Speaker 4: today like the Ripe Brothers. You know, Wow, I just
Speaker 4: did a partnership with Yosemite National Park and we were
Speaker 4: able to see the giant Sequoia trees there, which are
Speaker 4: the tallest trees. So, you know, if you wanted to
Speaker 4: see this and the family of Redwoods and experience something
Speaker 4: outside of the most popular places in Yosemite, a place
Speaker 4: like Mariposa Grove is beautiful and they have so many,
Speaker 4: you know, different entrances to the park that you can
Speaker 4: kind of go around a different way if you know
Speaker 4: that the main ways are a little.
Speaker 5: Bit more crowded.
Speaker 4: So you have a lot of fun, beautiful natural escapes
Speaker 4: that you can have here in the US with cities
Speaker 4: that maybe would surprise you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're giving us so much.
Speaker 3: I just want to talk to you for days, not
Speaker 3: even hours, but I don't think that that's gonna be
Speaker 3: possible for us right now.
Speaker 1: You've given I both like leaned back, but we're like
Speaker 1: taking it all in.
Speaker 3: We're just gonna be talking about all of our future plans.
Speaker 3: But you know what else is a really good thing
Speaker 3: to talk about, and I am also excited about that.
Speaker 1: I think now officially we're gonna have to take a
Speaker 1: work trip for research for this.
Speaker 3: Uh huh.
Speaker 1: The bill of the week.
Speaker 7: That's right, it's time for the best minute of your
Speaker 7: entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name
Speaker 7: is William. Maybe you've paid off your mortgage. Maybe your
Speaker 7: car died and you're happy to not have to pay
Speaker 7: that bill anymore. That's bills, butfalo bills. Bill Clinton, this
Speaker 7: is the bill of the week.
Speaker 4: Jen.
Speaker 1: Every week we yell at our listeners and our guests
Speaker 1: to share with us their bill of the week. And
Speaker 1: maybe it's a buffalo bill that you went on a
Speaker 1: cheese cave tour. I don't know. It could be anything.
Speaker 1: We'd love to hear yours.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So I thought an interesting one to share is
Speaker 4: one that I've actually been really excited about paying every month,
Speaker 4: Like I have a bill I've actually been looking forward
Speaker 4: to pay.
Speaker 5: So I recently joined.
Speaker 4: Class Pass, and I still have my LA Fitness Pass,
Speaker 4: and I still, you know, have kind of like my
Speaker 4: gym Pass, but I love the class Pass lets me
Speaker 4: try different studios in the area. So like, if I
Speaker 4: want to try this yoga class, I don't have to
Speaker 4: sign up for this yoga membership. Same thing with a
Speaker 4: bar class that they have like six month memberships, and
Speaker 4: I don't go to bar classes.
Speaker 5: That often, so it allows me to be you know,
Speaker 5: mix and match.
Speaker 4: But when I really love about it, that I realize
Speaker 4: that they have because I was a member years ago
Speaker 4: and this is a new feature that I've fallen in
Speaker 4: love with, is that they have wellness so you can
Speaker 4: have like facials and beauty treatments for these passes. So
Speaker 4: I've been able to get like I went to the
Speaker 4: blow dry bar here in Saint Pete and it costs
Speaker 4: like seventy dollars to get my hair blow dried and
Speaker 4: get a deep conditioning treatment. And that same thing cost
Speaker 4: me like twenty credits, which was like the equivalent of
Speaker 4: less than fifty dollars a month through class past, so
Speaker 4: I've been saving a lot of money. Yes, so I
Speaker 4: was able to get my hair blown out for a
Speaker 4: conference where I felt like really affordable, and I was
Speaker 4: able to do a facial, so I did like a hydrofacial,
Speaker 4: which would have been like one hundred and fifty dollars.
Speaker 4: Again for enough credits that I had from one month,
Speaker 4: so it was saving a lot of money. And it's
Speaker 4: a way that I can actually like feel good about
Speaker 4: treating myself to these things versus like, you know, they're
Speaker 4: really unaffordable or they are a group on so I'm
Speaker 4: only getting this discount for the first time, Like this
Speaker 4: is something where I can continue to go back to
Speaker 4: the same place. Yeah, So I'm like really excited about it,
Speaker 4: just because I splurge on travel and things like that,
Speaker 4: but I want to splurge more on myself, and so
Speaker 4: things like getting my nails done, I never do it
Speaker 4: because I'm just like, you know, I could be buying
Speaker 4: other things.
Speaker 5: Usually travels more my priority.
Speaker 4: But I love that with this, I feel like if
Speaker 4: I have credits again, it feels different with redeeming the
Speaker 4: credits versus like paying money outright. And so I feel
Speaker 4: like I have the credits every month anyway, if I
Speaker 4: don't make it to that yoga class of that bar class,
Speaker 4: I still have my only fitness membership and I can
Speaker 4: use those credits for a beauty treatment and that makes
Speaker 4: me so excited.
Speaker 3: We love a bill that we don't mind paying, and
Speaker 3: especially one where it aligns with our values and where
Speaker 3: it can be saving money on the things that we
Speaker 3: want to be spending on. This is really awesome. I
Speaker 3: amn't considered class past four. All of it's different things
Speaker 3: that you can get through it. It's not just one thing.
Speaker 3: It's not just a gym membership. It's all of these
Speaker 3: things so cool that it makes sense for you and
Speaker 3: all the things that you're able to do as a
Speaker 3: result of it. We love it when we can spend
Speaker 3: freely on the things that we value. If you all
Speaker 3: listening want to submit a bill, if it's about a bill,
Speaker 3: you don't mind paying a bill that's getting you all
Speaker 3: the luxuries for less than you would typically spend on
Speaker 3: it full price.
Speaker 1: Or your name is Bill.
Speaker 3: You're a regular old Buffalo bill out here, Buffalo.
Speaker 1: Bill in the off season. For you, call.
Speaker 3: It and to us, we'd love to hear from call it, Google, Friends, podcast,
Speaker 3: dot Com, slash Bill, leave us your boot.
Speaker 1: What else are you doing? Buffalo Bills aren't playing right now?
Speaker 3: And now it's time for.
Speaker 1: Round pooh. All right, So for today's vulnerability round, I
Speaker 1: think what destinations are you currently eyeing for future travels? So, Jen,
Speaker 1: you mentioned your Viking crews but do you have anything else,
Speaker 1: any affordable destinations you're looking at?
Speaker 4: Yeah, so I always plan a big trip for my birthday.
Speaker 4: This past year's trip was not affordable at all, but
Speaker 4: because like the opposite of affordable, that's okay. This coming year,
Speaker 4: I've already picked my new destination and so I'm going
Speaker 4: to be heading to Vietnam for my birthday my next birthday.
Speaker 1: Oooh and how like what are you like why Vietnam?
Speaker 1: Like what drew you there?
Speaker 4: I'm going to get an entire custom made wardrobe. So
Speaker 4: and you can do so in Vietnam because they have
Speaker 4: so many amazing specialty fabric stores and people that you know.
Speaker 4: You go and they take your measurements and then they
Speaker 4: make you this clothing that is fit to you.
Speaker 5: It's beautiful for you.
Speaker 4: People men go there to get their suits done because
Speaker 4: it comes out much more affordable. And so I want
Speaker 4: to go and get like a whole new wardrobe made
Speaker 4: in Vietnam, and like, go and get it so that
Speaker 4: it fits me versus me feeling like I have to
Speaker 4: get this tailored or I have to fit into these
Speaker 4: pants that don't really you.
Speaker 1: Know, wild, You're the coolest you. I want to be
Speaker 1: you grow up.
Speaker 3: You know so much, you're just doing it all.
Speaker 1: Wow, custom Wardrobe.
Speaker 3: You know that there's so many things I want to
Speaker 3: say about this, because so Jenny and I recently got
Speaker 3: our colors done, and that felt luxurious but also money
Speaker 3: saving in many ways. We've been going to these consignment
Speaker 3: stores and thrift stores and finding quality clothing reused at
Speaker 3: an affordable price, but within our colors, so we're not
Speaker 3: just collecting stuff and hoarding clothing, but we can know
Speaker 3: that it looks good on us, that these colors are
Speaker 3: going to accentuate our features. But now that that's done,
Speaker 3: I have been thinking about fit of clothing and what
Speaker 3: looks best on my body, and I can take some
Speaker 3: guesses at it, but I'm not an expert at this.
Speaker 3: I don't totally know what exact style looks good on me.
Speaker 3: I know you've been talking about that Gen two kind
Speaker 3: of post babies and kind of coming into a new
Speaker 3: style and also realizing that most of what I pick
Speaker 3: up at the store, especially my pants, don't fit me
Speaker 3: the way that I want to, and my sewing skills
Speaker 3: aren't good enough. And maybe that's something I could learn
Speaker 3: to do, is tailor my own clothing. But wouldn't it
Speaker 3: just be so nice as someone else to tailor it
Speaker 3: and to tell you what looks good on you?
Speaker 1: I love this?
Speaker 3: So are you going to send an entire suitcase back
Speaker 3: of the clothing that you purchase there?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 4: So usually if I know that that's the case, and
Speaker 4: I expect that I'm going to be doing some shopping,
Speaker 4: I will pack an extra bag and then my roller
Speaker 4: carry on bag will end up getting checked.
Speaker 3: You've mentioned so many things today that I'm so glad
Speaker 3: that I already follow you on Instagram now just can't
Speaker 3: wait to see, like how this all shakes out. We're
Speaker 3: gonna live vicariously through you. That'll be our ultimate dupe
Speaker 3: on how we save money but we still have fun.
Speaker 1: We follow Jen on a jet plane. We do, especially
Speaker 1: if you are a Harry Potter fan. You absolutely need
Speaker 1: to follow Jen on a jet plane because you have done.
Speaker 1: We'll do a follow up with your coolest Harry Potter
Speaker 1: things after this lightning round. I think we're not done
Speaker 1: here yet. Oh wow, we'll do a thirty second lightning
Speaker 1: round after.
Speaker 3: Okay, wow, Okay, your turn, Okay.
Speaker 1: My turn. Okay, So this year, not this winter, but
Speaker 1: next winter. We want to take the boys to see snow,
Speaker 1: specifically Kai because Atlas still doesn't know what's going on
Speaker 1: in the world. But we were already thinking about Upstate
Speaker 1: New York because I have a friend in Buffalo and
Speaker 1: Travis has friends in Upstate New York. And now I'm
Speaker 1: thinking about Cheese Caves. So that is a is a possibility. Uh,
Speaker 1: I am. We're going to Cancun over the summer. That
Speaker 1: is something we already have booked. Jen and I. We
Speaker 1: are not our spouses, a work retreat, yeah, me and
Speaker 1: my work wife. Yeah. And then I'm doing a cruise
Speaker 1: with my sister in law.
Speaker 3: Oh, I didn't know about that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's yeah, okay, okay, okay, too quick. You don't
Speaker 1: have to run everything by me.
Speaker 4: Wow.
Speaker 1: Okay, it's a fun story how it happened. I'll tell
Speaker 1: it later, Okay.
Speaker 4: I will say, if you're going to cancuon during the
Speaker 4: summer months like June to August, you can swim with
Speaker 4: whale sharks, So I would look into that.
Speaker 1: And does that under your your qualifications of light adventure?
Speaker 5: Yes?
Speaker 4: So they okay, okay, it says sharks, but they're actually whales.
Speaker 5: They just they're just massive up.
Speaker 1: Okay, okay, okay, yes, yes, yes, I'm not the type
Speaker 1: of person who needs that.
Speaker 3: I can look at them. I'm not the one who
Speaker 3: needs to be like, get me up close to them,
Speaker 3: let me touch them.
Speaker 5: They're not.
Speaker 4: Them.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's the hivic.
Speaker 1: You're just in the You shouldn't touch whale sharks.
Speaker 3: They're massive.
Speaker 1: I don't know if I could do it.
Speaker 4: It's just getting in the water with them. It's a
Speaker 4: really cool experience and it's hard to find. They're really
Speaker 4: like in the Philippines, like you have to follow their
Speaker 4: migration patterns, and so since you're already there during the
Speaker 4: time when they're there, it's.
Speaker 3: Already been with their jill all videotape you jen.
Speaker 5: It's just throwing it out there. If you also want
Speaker 5: to do light adventure.
Speaker 4: In the area, they have where you can scuba dive
Speaker 4: the Underwater Museum, but you don't need a full patty
Speaker 4: dive certific Yeah, so you can get certified the day
Speaker 4: off because it's a mini dive. It's like really sure,
Speaker 4: it's really you know, not that deep. So you can
Speaker 4: get certified within like two to three hours, and then
Speaker 4: you go and you do this dive around the statues
Speaker 4: and then you come back up. No whale sharks include it.
Speaker 1: I saw that in another kid's book that we read
Speaker 1: to Kai. I learned so much from children's books.
Speaker 4: I know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you become smarter. Yeah, I become smarter by listening
Speaker 3: to Jena and a jet plane. Okay, So for me, actually,
Speaker 3: I'm going to throw it out to you, Jen to
Speaker 3: tell me where I should go. I've got a couple
Speaker 3: on my list, thinking of Columbia being I in that
Speaker 3: one up seems to have some of the really cool
Speaker 3: architecture in your cobble stone streets. Affordability, Mexico City. I
Speaker 3: cannot tell you the amount of people who have said,
Speaker 3: because you know, we've been to a lot of the
Speaker 3: coastal cities throughout Mexico, but never Mexico City. But at
Speaker 3: least five people have said, you got to get to
Speaker 3: Mexico City. So that's on the list. In Portugal, So
Speaker 3: where should I go?
Speaker 1: Where should she go?
Speaker 4: I love all three of those. Are you looking to
Speaker 4: go by yourself or with family?
Speaker 3: Me and my husband, it's coming up on our twelve
Speaker 3: year anniversary, so probably one of these spots for our anniversary.
Speaker 4: And you what time of year you go April, that's
Speaker 4: a good time of year to travel.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you should just go wherever has the cheapest hotels,
Speaker 1: where has the cheaps Oh well, and flights those that's
Speaker 1: oh yeah, okay too.
Speaker 4: I think Yeah, from Florida, you're going to be able
Speaker 4: to find really affordable flights to Mexico and Colombia. But
Speaker 4: I think April and Portugal could be really beautiful too,
Speaker 4: if you want that kind of romantic, kind of memorable
Speaker 4: getaway because you want to do something different.
Speaker 5: But I don't think that there.
Speaker 4: I think you have good destinations in all three of
Speaker 4: those and the option to make it romantic and really
Speaker 4: beautiful and memorable no matter where you go. So it
Speaker 4: really just depends on what memory do you want to make,
Speaker 4: Like do you want to be eating tapos and going
Speaker 4: to the Freedom Museum in Mexico City, or do you
Speaker 4: want to be climbing on those stairs and seeing like
Speaker 4: the colorful city of Gape in Colombia. Or do you
Speaker 4: want to go to like CenTra Castle and like listen
Speaker 4: to Fidele music in Portugal? What are you most excited
Speaker 4: about and go from that? But they're all great destinations,
Speaker 4: so I don't think you have, you can't go wrong.
Speaker 3: Beautiful, Jen, You're an incredible person. Thanks for being here
Speaker 3: with us. I know people want more. I know we've
Speaker 3: already told them where to go, but give us more information.
Speaker 1: Where can people make sure they're.
Speaker 3: Following you and hear all of your amazing expert tips
Speaker 3: on travel.
Speaker 4: Absolutely so you can find me at gen on a
Speaker 4: Jetplane on all social media channels gen on a Jetplane
Speaker 4: dot com. I believe that you have a link for
Speaker 4: flight alert programs that you can sign up for if
Speaker 4: you wanted to get notified of flight deals. So that's
Speaker 4: something that I have for anybody that wants to sign
Speaker 4: up for that and just kind of be in the know.
Speaker 4: So maybe you can find that three hundred dollars round
Speaker 4: trip flight to Portugal. And yeah, that's pretty much it.
Speaker 4: And you can find my books on Amazon, Jen Ruis,
Speaker 4: but come hang out, find me on any of these
Speaker 4: socials or platforms, and I'm happy to keep sharing more tips.
Speaker 1: Yes, thank you so much.
Speaker 4: Jen.
Speaker 1: I mean, I've never done so much research on cheese
Speaker 1: caves in such a short amount of time.
Speaker 3: It's all you've been doing. It's literally all I've been doing.
Speaker 3: And I say, you can't truly multitask. You can't truly
Speaker 3: do two things at once. So I do think what
Speaker 3: you've been primarily doing is researching cheese caves, and I
Speaker 3: was interviewing on a jet plane.
Speaker 1: That's rude.
Speaker 3: Sometimes the true hurts that.
Speaker 1: What is the point in having a co hosted podcast
Speaker 1: if you can't hand it off to your co host?
Speaker 1: You google cheese saves. I'm here.
Speaker 3: I learned a lot from chant on a jet plane,
Speaker 3: and you learn a lot about cheese caves. Anything stand
Speaker 3: out to you that you now want to lay upon us.
Speaker 1: I want to want to go take a work trip
Speaker 1: to see the Buffalo Bills and then go drink wine
Speaker 1: in a cheese cave.
Speaker 3: That would be beautiful.
Speaker 1: I think we need those experiences together when we are
Speaker 1: doing that. You're gonna thank me for doing this while
Speaker 1: you interviewed Jen. I'm not mad about it.
Speaker 3: I'm just stating how it happens.
Speaker 1: You're stating the behind the scenes how it went for everyone.
Speaker 1: So thank you so much for listening to Jill's interview
Speaker 1: with Jen. Many of you know we have a newsletter
Speaker 1: called the Friend Letter. We just told you about it
Speaker 1: just an hour ago, and it's where we give you
Speaker 1: tips three times a week, freebies, those travel hacks that
Speaker 1: are going to help you get to these destinations, all
Speaker 1: kinds of stuff, and we love reading your sweet emails.
Speaker 1: When you reply to the friend letter, it goes to
Speaker 1: our inbox. So if you have mean things to say,
Speaker 1: I see those, and if you have really that's actually
Speaker 1: not happened yet, but but it will probably hear about
Speaker 1: saying it should it should happen should when they hear
Speaker 1: how you know how lacks I take my job. But
Speaker 1: we receive this really sweet email before that was exposed
Speaker 1: from Monica and she says, Hi, did I do the
Speaker 1: no spend challenge? No, but I did try to not
Speaker 1: spend as much as I can see why I was
Speaker 1: impulse buying stuff emotions, pay off one credit card, put
Speaker 1: stuff on it again, but will be paid off again
Speaker 1: next paycheck, and make extra payments to my other credit card,
Speaker 1: along with opening a high yield savings account thanks to
Speaker 1: your emails. Part of why I can pay off one
Speaker 1: card and plan to open one with ally. So the
Speaker 1: c I t is my emergency fund I while other
Speaker 1: while the other I'm I can't even read. Thanks for
Speaker 1: the pod, Monica.
Speaker 3: Oh Monica, that's mine.
Speaker 1: I'm so sorry. I'm the person relaying the information.
Speaker 3: You know, there's a spectrum when it comes to doing
Speaker 3: these challenges, and there isn't like exactly one way of
Speaker 3: doing it. So I am encouraged to hear that. Just
Speaker 3: hearing us talk about our woes and successes through it
Speaker 3: and seeing other people within the group do it or
Speaker 3: within our community, really yeah, is inspiring you to at
Speaker 3: least take a closer, more intentional look at your spending.
Speaker 3: And having opened a high heeled savings account and pay
Speaker 3: down credit cards. Those are big moves to have done
Speaker 3: in the month of January. So well, don and thank
Speaker 3: you for thinking to share that with us. We love
Speaker 3: hearing from you. We love the kind emails, we love
Speaker 3: the reviews. We love it when you sign up for
Speaker 3: our friend letter so that you can keep getting more
Speaker 3: from us, so that you can take a part of
Speaker 3: our polls and respond to us and give us helpful
Speaker 3: information on how to give you better content. It's also
Speaker 3: we're so grateful.
Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely, And I think if you're not sure if
Speaker 1: your no spend challenge was successful, I think a lot
Speaker 1: more people think they fail than truly do fail. I
Speaker 1: think The marker of success is that you learned something
Speaker 1: about your spending, and now after the challenge, you're doing
Speaker 1: something to improve it. What you've learned about that's the
Speaker 1: true measure of success. It's not what happened during the
Speaker 1: thirty days, it's what you do after the thirty days.
Speaker 1: So take heart, be encouraged.
Speaker 3: It's not about the journey, it's about the destiny for sure.
Speaker 1: See you next time. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni.
Speaker 4: Jen.
Speaker 1: We don't usually invite our guests on the after show
Speaker 1: because it's a little unhinged, but we know you can hang.
Speaker 1: And I want to know more about Harry Potter around
Speaker 1: the world. I want to know. I want to know
Speaker 1: the coolest things, because yes, you've done in Harry Potter
Speaker 1: World at Universal. You even did it in Japan. You said, yes,
Speaker 1: just tell me the coolest Harry Potter things you've done.
Speaker 4: Yeah, which the Japan one was pretty cool because you
Speaker 4: could see the shows and performances in half English and
Speaker 4: half Japanese, and so I just thought it was so
Speaker 4: fun to see that. And they have a cool black
Speaker 4: lake around their Hogwarts there that looks very authentic black lake.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I don't know how.
Speaker 4: They make it super dark, but it's just it's a
Speaker 4: black lake and so it feels very Hogwarts.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 4: But aside from Universal Studios Japan, I would say the coolest,
Speaker 4: most authentic Harry Potter experiences I've had have been like
Speaker 4: riding the Hogwarts Express, the real life Hogwarts Express. It's
Speaker 4: called the Jacobite steam train and it's in Scotland and
Speaker 4: it goes over the viaduct and that's that famous scene
Speaker 4: where you see the train on the way to Hogwarts,
Speaker 4: and so the viaduct Ben Finnian Viaduct has become super
Speaker 4: famous and people go there to see the train and
Speaker 4: take pictures of the train passing. But you can also
Speaker 4: ride the train itself if you get tickets super far
Speaker 4: and in fans they have different cabins, so they have
Speaker 4: like your regular economy seats, they have your first class cabins,
Speaker 4: which is where Harry Potter and his friends sat in
Speaker 4: the cabins when they were filming. And they take you
Speaker 4: to a fishing town a leg and then you come back.
Speaker 4: It's a seven hour experience. It's like three hours there,
Speaker 4: three hours back, an hour of lunch, so a full
Speaker 4: day and I don't recall sitting much. They have the
Speaker 4: little like trolley that goes through and it has like
Speaker 4: chocolate frogs and Birdie box, every flavor beans and.
Speaker 5: All that stuff.
Speaker 4: So it was a really fun experience, so both riding
Speaker 4: the train and then getting the iconic view of it
Speaker 4: passing by, and both of that is in Scotland, and
Speaker 4: Scotland had a bunch of different Harry Potter locations in general.
Speaker 5: Like I took a whole week long road trip.
Speaker 4: I went to the site of Hagrid's Hut where they
Speaker 4: filmed you know, Hagrids.
Speaker 5: The hut itself.
Speaker 4: Isn't there, but you can see where it was, and
Speaker 4: you can see the lake in the background, so you
Speaker 4: recognize the scenery different film sites like waterfalls and you know,
Speaker 4: just everywhere around Scotland. I went and actually took a
Speaker 4: broomstick flying lesson in the Hogwarts courtyard. And this was
Speaker 4: technically in in England at that point, so in on
Speaker 4: with England, and so it's at on Wick Castle and
Speaker 4: you go and it's seasonal, but from like April to
Speaker 4: October or so they have it open. The train is
Speaker 4: also seasonal, and so you go and you you know,
Speaker 4: have your broomstick and you take a lesson out in
Speaker 4: the courtyard with twenty other people and you're all going
Speaker 4: around riding your broomsticks. And it's where they filmed the
Speaker 4: first flying lesson. So that was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: What does this look like? People running around with brooms
Speaker 1: between their legs. Tell me that's what it looks like.
Speaker 5: That is exactly what it looks like.
Speaker 4: And and you have to make a noise because that's
Speaker 4: part of the magic that you make it.
Speaker 5: Yes, every everybody has to have.
Speaker 4: Their unique noise, and so like one instructor noise.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I love it, your own magic noise. How do
Speaker 5: you make your room?
Speaker 6: Gor I honestly I don't recall it so in the moment,
Speaker 6: but like different examples of noises, and we're like it
Speaker 6: would be like or like or like boom boom or like,
Speaker 6: I don't know, just any kind of noise you want
Speaker 6: to chill.
Speaker 1: What's your magic noise? Mine is pute pute.
Speaker 5: That's perfect.
Speaker 1: Your play.
Speaker 3: And I also love not this is like turning into
Speaker 3: a whole other like tip section, but as an alternative
Speaker 3: to like Universal Studios, which is very expensive. Universal is
Speaker 3: actually more expensive than Disney World and actually going to
Speaker 3: these spots, so you're having the experience similar to some
Speaker 3: of the experience as you would get in an amusement park,
Speaker 3: but also the international travel and some of the additional
Speaker 3: just life activities and cool things to do beyond just
Speaker 3: going to an amusement park in the middle AFFORDA. I
Speaker 3: love it.
Speaker 1: Jen. Are you excited for Epic Universe for the new expansion?
Speaker 5: I am. I hadn't heard much about it.
Speaker 1: Oh, there's a They are adding another Harry Potter world.
Speaker 1: It's the I don't know much about Harry Potter, but
Speaker 1: it's another thing that people are excited about. Who are
Speaker 1: excited about Harry Potter.
Speaker 3: Cool. So yeah, well, okay, Jen, we've taken all of
Speaker 3: your time.
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 3: Through a last little bit.
Speaker 1: Thank you for humor some people with your magic sound.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 4: I loved your sounds. Guys, I think you would have
Speaker 4: been naturals. Yes,