Hello everyone!
Oh man…summer is almost over. I hope you all had fun!! In case you still think you need some vacation I’m going to tell you some of my travel tips!

1. Think ahead! If you plan on flying somewhere keep checking flight tickets in advance to save some money. Often there are special offers you can take advantage of! Another cheap way for closer destinations is traveling by bus. There are a lot of cheap buses out here (such as Megabus, Greyhound, Lucky Star) which bring you almost everywhere! Just check online! Megabus often sells cheaper tickets if you buy them in advance.
2. Find an accommodation. This you should definitely do at least 1-2 weeks before departure otherwise you might not able to find a place, especially in main seasons. My tip for that is to find yourself a cheap hostel. Check pages like hostelworld.com, read reviews, always check location, too because you want to be in the center. My advice for Philadelphia is the Apple Hostel located in the old city. It’s very nice and has a great location. And in L.A. Lisa (picture) and I found a very modern, clean and big hostel in Santa Monica, close to the beach, called HI Los Angeles which is definitely worth to check out! But if you want to travel even cheaper check out the website couchsurfing.com where you can find people who offer you to stay over for free for a couple of nights.
3. Inform yourself! Get books in the library, read about the new city you want to explore, make a plan to make sure you can see what you want to see. Check public transportation…e.g. already look up the way from the airport to your hostel so you know where to go. Maybe you want to buy yourself the Citypass which offers you great deals on attractions for a lot of cities. Lisa won 2 Citypasses for California and so we were able to see Disneyworld, Sea World, Universal Studios and the San Diego Zoo for free which was really great!!
4. Save money once you’re arriving by cooking your own food in the hostel kitchen and finding 3-day or week passes for public transportation instead of paying every time you step in a bus. This way you can spend more money on attractions and shopping!:)

I hope I could help out with some ideas to organize your trip a little cheaper, so go have fun!! Have a nice vacation!

Special greets to the best person to travel with- Lisa!:)

Larissa