budget travel – Page 9 – PalmTreeMusings

Christmas on the Coast: the Gulf Seashores of Mississippi

December 30, 2019May 19, 2023Posted in North America, US City GuidesTagged bay St. Louis, best things to do in, Biloxi, bozos seafood, budget travel, Christian pass, friendship oak, gulf coast, Gulfport, Jimmy Buffett bridge, Mississippi, Pascagoula, po’boy, secret coast, travel, travel blog5 Comments

If you’re dreaming of a white Christmas, but don’t like snow- then I suggest a trip to the US Gulf Coast. Stretching from Florida to Texas, the white sand beaches and quaint coastal towns, coupled with 70 degree days, are a delight in the off-peak winter months.

A “sandman” greets us at Christian Pass, Mississippi

The Gulf Coast isn’t complete without a ‘Pascagoula Run’, so avoid I-10 and take Highway 90 instead to Pascagoula. Are you a Parrothead? Look for the Buffet Bridge near Buffet Beach, a 2015 honor for local-boy-made-good Continue reading “Christmas on the Coast: the Gulf Seashores of Mississippi” →

Housesitting in Monterrey, Mexico

December 3, 2019March 20, 2022Posted in Central AmericaTagged Barrio Antiguo, best things to do in, budget travel, cabrito, Mexico, Monterrey, parque fundidora, paseo Santa Lucia, Petsitting, travel, travel blog, Trusted Housesitters3 Comments

For Thanksgiving week, Chris and I got to experience travel with a twist: we went as certified housesitters and cared for a cat while her owner was away. We’ve been members of the website Trusted Housesitters for a year now, and we finally found a gig that would match up with our schedule, plus a place we wanted to visit.

Although we could have flown from our home airport of Austin, there were cheaper and more direct flights from Continue reading “Housesitting in Monterrey, Mexico” →

Volunteering for Hurricane Relief Efforts in the Bahamas

November 21, 2019June 23, 2020Posted in CaribbeanTagged Abaco Island, Bahamas, Bahamas Strong, budget travel, Caribbean, Disaster Relief, Hurricane Dorian, travel, travel blog, Volunteering, World Central KitchenLeave a comment

On September 1st 2019, a category five hurricane passed through the northern Bahamas. For 24 hours, the hurricane- the strongest to EVER hit landfall there- stalled out over Abaco Island in particular, pummeling the island with 185 mile-per-hour winds and a 25 foot storm surge. By the time the hurricane passed on to other parts of the Bahamas, more than 80% of the buildings on Abaco Island were damaged. An untold number of lives were lost- as much as 25% of the population of Abaco are Haitian refugees, who are not counted by the Bahamian government- and an estimated $3 billion of infrastructure was damaged.

Homes, cars, shipping containers, and boats were tossed around in the storm

An organization I volunteer with, Team Rubicon, was one of the first Continue reading “Volunteering for Hurricane Relief Efforts in the Bahamas” →

The Art of Burning Man 2019

September 30, 2019May 19, 2023Posted in North AmericaTagged Black Rock City, BM2019, budget travel, Burning Man, folly, metamorphoses, Temple, travel blog5 Comments

Chris and I returned to Burning Man again in August of 2019. This was my second year and his fourth. The theme this year was “Metamorphoses”. The sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of Burning Man are pretty hard to describe, so I’ll just post a few of my favorite art pictures (all taken with my iphone):

“The Temple of Direction” by Geordie Van Der Bosch

“The Folly” by Dave Keane and the Folly Brothers

“Giant Harmonic Pendulum” by Gyuszi Suto

“Wing Portal” by a group of California artists. After the Burn, it will be publicly installed in a part of California that was affected by the wildfires last year

“Bee Dance” by Andrea Greenlees, Andy Tibbetts, and Josh Haywood

“The Man” by Yelena Filipchuk and Serge Beaulieu

For more pictures from Burning Man 2018, visit my post from last year.

Beautiful Belarus

August 13, 2019March 20, 2022Posted in Asia, EuropeTagged backpacking, Belarus, best things to do in, budget travel, Deah, draniki, how to get to, Minsk, Mir castle, things to do, travel blog, VitebskLeave a comment

I have to admit, we arrived in Minsk a little travel fatigued. It was our 26th country on this trip, and we’ve been traveling for over a year. But as Chris and I spent more time in Minsk, the city really began to grow on us and we kept discovering more fun areas to explore. Since hosting the 2019 European Games, the country has rushed to modernize, including a free visa for most nationalities (if you arrive by air to Minsk). If you take your time and get to know it, Belarus might surprise you.