FLIGHT 419 – Finding Comfort outside of America

When I first began my solo travels abroad it was to push myself out of my comfort zone. Things back home in Toledo are so convenient because it’s our own familiar culture. We aren’t often challenged to adapt, or at least I’m not.

For me, however, 2013 was a year full of pushing my limits, both mentally and physically. In January I made the decision to lose weight–and not just 5 or 10 pounds but 100 pounds. By May, I was down 50 pounds, and an associate who was also dieting suggested we reward ourselves for winning the war on our waistlines by taking a cruise to the Bahamas.

Although she didn’t bring it up again, she had lit a spark in me to pursue a trip abroad. I even branded my personal Instagram @regularseatbelt as a way to merge my weight loss journey with my journey abroad. I just needed my passport first.

In late June my passport arrived. I flipped through the empty pages, half excited to finally own one, but at the same time annoyed by the feeling that I had just flushed $180 down the toilet. From the time I had filled out my passport application I had asked several friends to go on a trip with me, and while they all were enthusiastic to talk about it, once the plans were being put in place their excuses came rolling in.

For some reason our culture thinks that travel is something that only those of a certain tax bracket can afford. We only think of places like Cancun or a cruise to the Bahamas, which don’t give you any of the culture but all of the American amenities. We exclude so many countries because we’ve been told that it’s far too expensive or it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I was a 28-year-old freelance web designer and photographer who had just booked her first solo trip to Europe for 3 weeks. Clearly, cultural perceptions aren’t true.

The total spent on my trip was just under $3,000, and that included airfare, airport shuttle, apartment rental in both Spain and Italy, and spending money. While I wanted to jump right into my journeys in this collumn, I felt I needed to explain how I got to this point and how I am able to afford the trips that you will soon be reading about.

So how did I do it? I wasn’t a tourist; I was a traveler. I skipped the hotel route ,which would have cost me $2,000, and rented a beautiful apartment from a doctor in Barcelona using the travel website Airbnb.com. I watched the airfare and studied the best days and times to book. Using apps such as skyscanner made flight-watching a breeze and websites such as Airfarewatchdog.com emailed me with daily updates on fare specials from my departing city.

In this day and age, it’s easy to be your own travel agent. You have much of the same information at your disposal as the professionals do. Using that information the right way will get you on foreign land in no time and it will not drain your bank account. Now that we’ve met, see you in Spain! (Did I mention I did all of this speaking English only?)

Follow Gabrielle Martin on Instagram for more images! @MsTravelAddict

When I first began my solo travels abroad it was to push myself out of my comfort zone. Things back home in Toledo are so convenient because it’s our own familiar culture. We aren’t often challenged to adapt, or at least I’m not.

For me, however, 2013 was a year full of pushing my limits, both mentally and physically. In January I made the decision to lose weight–and not just 5 or 10 pounds but 100 pounds. By May, I was down 50 pounds, and an associate who was also dieting suggested we reward ourselves for winning the war on our waistlines by taking a cruise to the Bahamas.

Although she didn’t bring it up again, she had lit a spark in me to pursue a trip abroad. I even branded my personal Instagram @regularseatbelt as a way to merge my weight loss journey with my journey abroad. I just needed my passport first.

In late June my passport arrived. I flipped through the empty pages, half excited to finally own one, but at the same time annoyed by the feeling that I had just flushed $180 down the toilet. From the time I had filled out my passport application I had asked several friends to go on a trip with me, and while they all were enthusiastic to talk about it, once the plans were being put in place their excuses came rolling in.

For some reason our culture thinks that travel is something that only those of a certain tax bracket can afford. We only think of places like Cancun or a cruise to the Bahamas, which don’t give you any of the culture but all of the American amenities. We exclude so many countries because we’ve been told that it’s far too expensive or it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I was a 28-year-old freelance web designer and photographer who had just booked her first solo trip to Europe for 3 weeks. Clearly, cultural perceptions aren’t true.

The total spent on my trip was just under $3,000, and that included airfare, airport shuttle, apartment rental in both Spain and Italy, and spending money. While I wanted to jump right into my journeys in this collumn, I felt I needed to explain how I got to this point and how I am able to afford the trips that you will soon be reading about.

So how did I do it? I wasn’t a tourist; I was a traveler. I skipped the hotel route ,which would have cost me $2,000, and rented a beautiful apartment from a doctor in Barcelona using the travel website Airbnb.com. I watched the airfare and studied the best days and times to book. Using apps such as skyscanner made flight-watching a breeze and websites such as Airfarewatchdog.com emailed me with daily updates on fare specials from my departing city.

In this day and age, it’s easy to be your own travel agent. You have much of the same information at your disposal as the professionals do. Using that information the right way will get you on foreign land in no time and it will not drain your bank account. Now that we’ve met, see you in Spain! (Did I mention I did all of this speaking English only?)

Follow Gabrielle Martin on Instagram for more images! @MsTravelAddict