About Me (Barbara Weibel)

Barbara Weibel After years of working 70 hours a week at jobs I detested, I felt like the proverbial "hole in the donut" - solid on the outside, but empty on the inside. Searching for meaning in my life, I abandoned my successful but unsatisfying career and set out on a six-month solo backpacking trip around the world to pursue my true passions of travel, writing, and photography. My blog features stories about the destinations I visit, people I meet, the crazy things...Read more here....


Remember playing tag when you were a kid? Slapping someone on the back and yelling, “Tag, you’re it!” Well, I’ve just been been ‘virtually tagged.’ My friend and fellow travel blogger, Shannon Lane, was ‘tagged’ to participate in the meme known as My Three Best Travel Secrets (a meme, which rhymes with cream, is a catchphrase or concept that spreads rapidly from person to person via the Internet). From what I understand, the game was started by Katie of Tripbase.com, the lovely folks who awarded me second place in the category of best North/South American blog of 2009 in their annual Travel Blog Awards.

After sharing three great secrets about her home state of Louisiana, Shannon ‘tagged’ me to be next in line to divulge my best travel secrets. My first reaction was, “Only three?” How could I possibly narrow it down to only three. Should I talk about little known secrets in Sarasota, Florida, such as the $40 annual membership to GWiz Science Museum that provides FREE admission to over 300 other science centers throughout the U.S. as well as other attractions around the State of Florida? Or about my list of little-known coffee shops around the country that let me work on my laptop all day for the price of a cup of coffee, like Sippin’ Internet Cafe in Key West, Pastry Art in Sarasota, or Rev Coffee in the Atlanta area?

In the end, I decided to reveal my secrets for booking last minute accommodations and transportation around the world without breaking the bank. Frankly, I detest being locked into definite travel plans. My preference is to book the first night at a destination (two nights at most), and then wing it from there. Fellow travelers are always eager to share secrets about spectacular, little-known towns or sites they have visited and not being locked into reservations allows me to take advantage of these tips, but it also means I am often looking for last minute bookings, which can be frustrating as well as expensive. However I do have a few tricks to help with this process, which I’ve detailed below:

HOTELS:
In the U.S. I regularly use HotelsCombined.com to find great last minute hotel reservations at affordable prices and the cheapest places to travel. I’ve tested them against the bigger and better-known Hotels.com and much prefer the results I get on HotelsCombined. In Europe, I use Venere.com; in SEAsia and Indonesia I have the best luck with AsiaRooms.com; and in Australia and New Zealand it’s Wotif.com.

FLIGHTS:
In the U.S. I never use the big online booking agents like Expedia or Travelocity because they do not search all discount carriers. It takes a bit more time, but I go to the AIRPORT websites that I want to fly between, search to see which of the discount airlines serve those airports, then book directly on the airline’s web site. Discount or affordably priced airlines in the U.S. include Southwest, AirTran, Spirit Airlines, and jetBlue; in Europe they include Ryanair, easy Jet, and airberlin; in SE Asia try Air Asia, Asiana Airlines, Nok Air (Thailand only), and Tiger Airways (also Australia); and in Australia check into JetStar, Regional Express (REX), and Virgin Blue.

EXTRA DISCOUNTS:
Once you’ve determined which hotel or airline you wish to book through, before making your final purchase, Google the hotel/airline name with the words “discount coupon code.” You will often discover an additional discount that can be applied at the time of making the online reservation. For example, I just Googled “discount coupon code hotels” and found RetailMeNot.com, which provided codes for 15% off Hilton Hotels and 20% off the lowest rates at Best Westerns, among other deals. (TIP: this works well for all online shopping, from Amazon.com to individual stores like Crabtree & Evelyn, and there are numerous sites that search the Internet and display all these discounts on a single site.)

So there you have it, my top travel secrets (OK, I’m cheating; I’ve given you more than three – so shoot me). Now all that’s left is to ‘tag’ five other travel bloggers, and here they are:

TAG! You’re it!!!

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  • http://voucherfree.com Bachicha

    Google helped me find your site. Thanks for posting I will be back :)

  • http://voucherfree.com Bachicha

    Google helped me find your site. Thanks for posting I will be back :)

  • http://voucherfree.com Bachicha

    Google helped me find your site. Thanks for posting I will be back :)

  • http://voucherfree.com Dicharry

    I just added your site to my favorites. I enjoy reading your posts. Thanks!

  • http://voucherfree.com Dicharry

    I just added your site to my favorites. I enjoy reading your posts. Thanks!

  • http://voucherfree.com Dicharry

    I just added your site to my favorites. I enjoy reading your posts. Thanks!

  • http://www.zahngold-verkaufen.info gold

    Sehr interessant. Kommt hier noch ein Folgeartikel? Möchte sehr gern einiges mehr darüber erfahren. Könntest du mir per Mail eine Antwort geben?

  • http://www.zahngold-verkaufen.info gold

    Sehr interessant. Kommt hier noch ein Folgeartikel? Möchte sehr gern einiges mehr darüber erfahren. Könntest du mir per Mail eine Antwort geben?

  • http://www.zahngold-verkaufen.info gold

    Sehr interessant. Kommt hier noch ein Folgeartikel? Möchte sehr gern einiges mehr darüber erfahren. Könntest du mir per Mail eine Antwort geben?

  • http://www.2b-One,com Arthur Saftlas

    Hi Barbara,
    I’ll add a secret I used alot when I travelled more. This works best when arriving by boat. I travelled light with a backpack and I never needed reservations for places to stay as there are rooms for rent if you walk through the villages. Works very easily on Greek Islands.
    Love
    Nirvan

  • Barbara Weibel

    Thanks Nirvan. That’s the way I travel as well – no reservations. Works for me!

  • Barbara Weibel

    Thanks Nirvan. That’s the way I travel as well – no reservations. Works for me!

  • Barbara Weibel

    Thanks Nirvan. That’s the way I travel as well – no reservations. Works for me!

  • http://www.mac-planet.info Burton Haynes

    thx for this one m8

  • http://www.mac-planet.info Burton Haynes

    thx for this one m8

  • http://www.mac-planet.info Burton Haynes

    thx for this one m8

  • http://www.ukdestinationguide.co.uk/ Holidays in the UK

    Sounds Great Barbara!!! I liked your post very much. Thanx for the Secrets :D
    Any wayz you guys already know that United Kingdom is the good place to enjoy your holidays. Here are some important tips for tourists who visits the United Kingdom for holiday . To enjoy the most UK places or destinations , then you must visit
    Holidays in the UK

  • http://www.ukdestinationguide.co.uk/ Holidays in the UK

    Sounds Great Barbara!!! I liked your post very much. Thanx for the Secrets :D
    Any wayz you guys already know that United Kingdom is the good place to enjoy your holidays. Here are some important tips for tourists who visits the United Kingdom for holiday . To enjoy the most UK places or destinations , then you must visit
    Holidays in the UK

  • http://www.ukdestinationguide.co.uk/ Holidays in the UK

    Sounds Great Barbara!!! I liked your post very much. Thanx for the Secrets :D
    Any wayz you guys already know that United Kingdom is the good place to enjoy your holidays. Here are some important tips for tourists who visits the United Kingdom for holiday . To enjoy the most UK places or destinations , then you must visit
    Holidays in the UK

  • http://www.cheapdiscountairlinetravelticket.net/index.html Adriene Aperges

    A cheap discount airline travel ticket can be found with some patience, flexibility and effort. Spend some more time and you are sure to find a deal your wallet can live with. I got many cheap discount airline travel ticket here.

  • http://www.cheapdiscountairlinetravelticket.net/index.html Adriene Aperges

    A cheap discount airline travel ticket can be found with some patience, flexibility and effort. Spend some more time and you are sure to find a deal your wallet can live with. I got many cheap discount airline travel ticket here.

  • http://www.cheapdiscountairlinetravelticket.net/index.html Adriene Aperges

    A cheap discount airline travel ticket can be found with some patience, flexibility and effort. Spend some more time and you are sure to find a deal your wallet can live with. I got many cheap discount airline travel ticket here.

  • Coupon Hotel

    Nice information about travel secrets…….I like it….!

  • Codes Coupon

    Good One

  • http://www.grefis.gr Simon

    Thanks for the tips… very informative article…

  • Pingback: My 3 best kept travel secrets: Street food

  • Kate adams

    the advice i always give  to my friends is  to do a
    home rental l during the staying, it’s’ a good way to save money since the hotels are so expensive …

  • http://www.besttravelingguide.net/ Mitko @ Best Traveling Guide

    Using sites like HotelsCombined.com is a great way to get the best deal when you don’t have a reservation, or when you have to make one in the last moment, thanks for sharing this great tips with us

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