We had a full car: husband, cousin, son, and self. We were on the road for twelve hours, but it was more relaxing and more fun then I thought it would be. We entertained ourselves with jokes, conversation, napping, music, movies & games on the ipad, reading, blogging, and staring out the window.

Round trip costs were minimal compared to flying. We filled up the tank five times for a total of about $200. Lunch and dinners on the road totaled about $150. Road and bridge tolls were about $20. On the way back, we split the trip into two parts, in anticipation of slow-going on the blizzard-affected roads in NY and NJ. With my AAA discount, our room at the Hampton Inn in Pennsylvania cost $103. All totaled, we spent less than $500 to transport four people from New York to Michigan comfortably and safely. If we had flown, airfare, long-term parking, bridge toll, snacks at the airport, bag check fees, and rental car in Michigan would have cost a whopping $2,500, six times more. Choosing to drive instead of fly saved us over $2,000!

The amount of money we saved was staggering. But the bigger benefit was the improved experience. Even before the naked scanners and manual body searches, I’d begun to feel the stress of having my personal space invaded at the airport. Taking off clothing at security checkpoints, submitting to random searches of my personal items, and sitting in a seat so small and cramped, that I often spent hours pressed arm and leg against a perfect stranger was more stressful than I had recognized. Air travel has become unsafe, inconvenient, uncomfortable, and expensive, but I travel for business, so I engage in a purposeful (and necessary) denial about how awful the ordeal is. My business traveler state of mind made me almost forget that there are alternatives; I tough it out at the airport for the sake of my job, but I don’t have to do it on my own time.

Luckily, the scanners jolted me out of my denial and motivated me to try driving once again. Sitting in my roomy car seat, next to (but not touching) a family member was downright relaxing compared to the narrow, dirty plane seat. And I had forgotten how much I like staring out the window for long stretches. In my busy work-a-day life, I get few (actually no) opportunities to zone out for hours at a time and recharge my mental batteries. The long drive gave me plenty of time for quiet contemplation, which felt luxurious.

As an added bonus, driving allowed us to avoid the hassles associated with the blizzard of 2010. While everyone else was stranded at the airport, we sailed along highway 80 and didn’t see a flake of snow on the road until we were about twenty miles from the George Washington bridge. Traffic slowed a bit, but there are so few cars on the road that we moved along briskly and got home ahead of schedule. Our wonderful neighbors even shoveled the walk for us!

It was a long drive, but a good experience and a huge money-saver. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to flying.

But then, slowly, things started to change. I suspected the courtship was over when they stopped leaving the little pillow on my seat. Then they decided not to make dinner for me, or show me a movie (unless I bought a pair of headphones). I also noticed that they didn’t bother to clean up before I arrived. I’d find crumbs on my seat, used cups and tissues in the seat pouch, sticky goo on my tray table. They didn’t seem to care about impressing me anymore. And they didn’t care about my comfort either; I had to haul my luggage on board with me or pay an exorbitant fee, my seat got smaller, and each flight was packed like a subway car.

Over the last few years, the relationship has gone from exasperating to downright creepy. They started making me take off some of my clothes before entering the gate area. They look through my personal items and throw out whatever doesn’t conform to the rules. The other passengers are uncomfortable with the new relationship too. Many of us have fallen out of love, but we don’t dare say so. We are too afraid of being marked as a troublemaker and subjected to additional humiliations. Passengers reluctantly strip off their shoes, sweaters, belts, hats, coats, empty their pockets, take out laptop computers and put them in a separate bin, take out their private toiletries and place them in see-thru baggies. We all earnestly strive to conform to the bizarre rituals at the checkpoint. “They are designed to keep you safe,” the airlines say. The atmosphere is tense with impatience and anger. Occasionally, frustration will overwhelm a passenger and she might say something like, “This is ridiculous; I am not a terrorist. Why are you treating us like criminals.” Outbursts like this are dealt with severely.

Unfortunately, the mistreatment of airline passengers continues to worsen. Airports have begun installing refrigerator sized x-ray machines that will strip-search every traveler. I understand that we need to stop crazy people from blowing up planes, but there are other ways to do this. Strip-searching and exposing passengers to dangerous x-rays does NOT contribute to their safety and well-being.

“No exposure to X-ray is considered beneficial. We know X-rays are hazardous but we have a situation at the airports where people are so eager to fly that they will risk their lives in this manner.” Dr Michael Love, who runs an X-ray lab at the department of biophysics and biophysical chemistry at Johns Hopkins University school of medicine, told AFP.

There are two ways to look at this. Either air travel is one of the most dangerous things you can do, so dangerous that every passenger has to be strip-searched before getting on a plane; or airports and airlines are paranoid, controlling, and abusive, forcing passengers to submit to ever-increasing harassment with little regard for their comfort and safety. Either way, I’m declaring my freedom from this icky relationship. I’m breaking-up with the airlines. Excepting business trips mandated by my employer, I don’t HAVE to fly. And I won’t. I can take the train, drive, or stay close to home.

This holiday season, I’m driving to Michigan to visit family. Statistically, driving is more dangerous than flying, so for the past six years I’ve opted to spend the extra thousand plus dollars to fly. But now the equation has changed. I can’t expose my kid to the radiation scanners. I don’t want the TSA to have naked scans of him, and I don’t want him to undergo the alternative “enhanced pat down” which involves a grown-up stranger touching him where they shouldn’t (shudder). According to my calculations, I won’t even save much time by flying. It’s a 2-hour flight to Detroit, but I have to drive to the airport, deal with long-term parking, deal with the long lines and inevitable flight delays, deal with the additional time it will take to avoid the scanner (if that’s even possible). All totaled, I figure it will take five to eight hours of travel time via plane compared to twelve hours of driving. It doesn’t make much sense to spend an extra thousand dollars to save four or five hours, and now that the safety factor has been offset by the dangers of the scanners, driving is a no-brainer.

If you haven’t made your travel plans yet, consider alternatives to flying this holiday season. If you have already committed to flying, check the “we won’t fly” site for ways to opt out of the radiation chamber

Wish my luck on my holiday road trip!

Tasting Table – The writers of Tasting Table keep me filled in on all sorts of NYC foodie fodder. Their mission is “to deliver the best of food and drink culture to adventurous eaters,” and while that usually inspires worth-the-splurge editorial (in this city, anyway), Tasting Table also offers a fair amount of frugally-minded suggestions for everything from recession-friendly dining deals and cheap $2 tacos to drinks at Depression-era prices and recipes for culturing your own curds.

Epicurious – Because I like making food and assembling meals and I like pairing them with wine or cocktails (and I even like to do all of this on the cheap, whenever possible)…

…because it’s often cheaper to prepare my own food than to pay someone else to do it…

…and because Epicurious sends me recipes from Bon Appétit and Gourmet (which I no longer buy)…

I am a longtime subscriber to the Epicurious newsletters. They currently offer 2 versions. The first, Recipe Flash, is more food and recipe oriented, while the other, Tasting Notes, focuses on wine reviews and pairing recommendations.

Fodor’s Travel – While Fodor’s may still be suffering from its reputation as, well, your parents’ travel guide, I urge you to look at Fodor’s with a fresh eye. Their editorial and design has really changed for the better over the last few years. And I’m not just saying that because I sometimes write for them (though not for their newsletters). I recommend checking out Fodor’s because their editorial focus has shifted to include more sophisticated drinking and dining coverage, a better range of offerings (in general), more compelling features, full-color guidebooks, and a vibrant community. Fodor’s isn’t as interested in traveling on the cheap as they are in getting you the most for your money, but with that being said, their newsletters often offer value-conscious features that are beneficial for both the tourist and the local, alike. Here are a few recent ones for our fellow New Yorkers:

• New York City Deals: Fine Dining for Less
• New York’s 12 Best Free Summer Events
• Cheap NYC Lunches: Fodor’s Top 5 Favorite Food Carts & Truck

EuroCheapo – I admit it: at any given moment, I’d rather be in Europe, and that’s why I love EuroCheapo’s reminders about how easy – and sometimes surprisingly satisfying – it can be to travel or live like a cheapo over there. EuroCheapo newsletters feature suggestions for cheapo (and often free!) fun things to do, as well as cheapo places to eat, cheapo places to stay, and cheapo ways to get around in both major and off-the-beaten path locations. While EuroCheapo has recently experienced a few fancy upgrades (they now offer hotel & city guides for 28 cities, as well as budget flight, car, and rail finders on their site), their newsletters still have a real DIY feel to them with helpful insights and authentic snapshots from cheapos on the go.

Daily Candy – It’s not a specifically frugal guide to anything, but sometimes whatever cool “candy” they’re promoting fits the bill. Especially on Sample Sale days. One of the best things about the Daily Candy newsletter – aside from how cheekily it’s written – is how it faithfully informs you when, where, and which designers are hocking their goods at a discount. Why pay full price to look fabulous when you can splurge just a bitty bit (or a biggy bit, depending on the designer – ahem, Fendi)? If you can slip out in the middle of the day with some cash and the balls to stand up to any feisty fashionista that tries to get between you and your new skinny jeans, you have the potential to win big.

• Recent/Current Sample Sales
• Upcoming Fendi Warehouse Sale

We decided to drive, keeping costs low to transport 7 people from NY and NJ to DC. Although gas and tolls add up for 2 cars, it’s still cheaper than flying or taking the train (I get sick on buses so that is not even an option, although I’ve heard that the Bolt buses are good.) You can get detailed driving directions from Google Maps.

Next, I had to determine where we would stay. Living in Manhattan, I’m a big proponent of the ‘location, location, location’ mantra, and wanted to be sure that we’d be able to enjoy the city within steps from our hotel. I went to my favorite website for finding great rates at great hotels, Travelzoo. Most of their listings are at chain hotels which allow you to make reservations in advance and cancel within 24 hours of arrival without any charge. I reviewed the 6 to 10 options presented for DC on a weekly basis for a month or so. Whenever I found a hotel that seemed like a good fit, I would make a reservation. So yes, by the end of the month, I had at least 5 reservations at hotels around the city. Since we were celebrating my mom, I decided to choose the hotel that was closest to Embassy Row, my mom’s favorite neighborhood in DC, and a bit luxurious. I picked The Fairfax at Embassy Row near Dupont Circle, for $99/night on weekends, and $149/night on weekdays. And then I quickly cancelled all the other reservations so I wouldn’t forget!

I like to use local newspapers and magazines to help me determine where I am going to eat and what I’m going to do because they tend to provide all price ranges, give a good listing of free events, and stay up to date for local city dwellers. The Washington Post has great reviews in their “Going Out Guide” and “Visitors Guide” listings online. And, best of all, the site has a tool that enables you to save specific places to a list that you can print out and bring along on your trip. Also as a resource, Time Out magazines and guides never disappoint.

My whole family loved The Fairfax (my nephews don’t know that one of the other hotels had a heated indoor swimming pool.) Our rooms were larger than my apartment and beautifully appointed. We were 2 blocks from Dupont Circle’s restaurants, small museums, and the Metro stop. There were apples and newspapers waiting for us every morning, and candies and chocolates each night. We frequented Kramerbooks for breakfast each day (one of the spots on my list!), a much more affordable option than the hotel restaurant. And of course, we ventured off the list for some meals based on recommendations from the hotel.

Just like in NYC, once we got to DC, public transportation was the easiest and most cost effective way to get around (and my nephews loved the extremely long escalators at the Dupont Circle Metro stop.) And most important, in DC all the best attractions are FREE – the Lincoln Monument, World War II Memorial, Washington Monument, all the Smithsonian Museums, and more!

Just so you know (because we didn’t), if you want to check out the White House, the top of Washington Monument, or Congress, you need to book or request a ticket up to 6 months in advance from their websites. It’s very easy to plan everything out if you go to The Washington Post’s Visitors Guide. However, we did happen upon one of the two weekends per year they allow visitors on the White House lawn to view the gardens, see the trees the Presidents planted, and be steps away from the Oval Office and Sasha and Malia’s swingset!

It proved to be a great, affordable family vacation, and everyone agreed that I should be responsible for planning all future trips. (Yikes!)

3 Prosecco Cocktails (+ a cordial glass of strawberry mint syrup)

It’s easy to be a frugal foodie in Italy. Food, for the most part, is pretty cheap. And wine, I noticed when I was living in Rome, was sometimes even cheaper than bottled water (though it should be noted that free drinking water is available from water fountains all over the city, so there’s no need to ever even buy water). When I moved back to NYC from Rome a couple of years ago, I realized that the Italian way of thinking about gastronomy had gotten to me. Simple, seasonal, fresh, and delicious food is both a basic principle and something to be celebrated there. Italians are passionate about eating and drinking; meals are rituals; and the way things are done matters. A mere 2 ounces of carelessly prepared espresso is sure to cause a fight at the bar; pasta cooked a moment past al dente is unforgivable.

One of my favorite, celebratory Italian foodie/drinky rituals is the aperitivo. It’s sort of the Italian equivalent to our American “happy hour” or the French aperitif, but rather than getting a little bowl of salted nuts or pretzels with your drink, you’re presented with a veritable buffet of Italian delights – for no extra charge. This can range from a modest antipasto of sliced meats, cheeses, bread, olives, and vegetables sotto aceto (under vinegar, a.k.a., pickled) to a feast of bruschetta, pizza, pasta, cous cous, grilled vegetables, fried zucchini flowers stuffed with mozzarella and anchovies, marinated sardines, prosciutto with melon or figs, caprese salad, fresh fruit, and more, depending on which bar or enoteca you go to. It’s a fantastically frugal way to dine out (not that you’d actually want to miss out on a full Italian meal) or just to sample regional specialties – all for the price of a cocktail.

Prosecco Normale

Prosecco is a classic aperitivo drink. If you’re not familiar with it, prosecco is a dry or off-dry Italian sparkling or semi-sparkling wine. Here in the U.S., it’s sometimes known as the poor man’s champagne, since at $9 to $35 a bottle, you can drink it on the cheap. It’s my aperitivo favorite and the inspiration for my deeming the early evening hours of aperitivo – 5 to 7 p.m. – prosecco o’clock. Campari drinks and cocktails with other Italian bitters (Amaro, Cinzano, Cynar) are also quite popular. And for some reason, so are mojitos, though they’re a long way from home.

ROMAN APERITIVO

If you’re lucky enough to be traveling to Rome and want to try the real thing, these are a few of my favorites places for aperitivo and an unadorned glass of prosecco:

Freni e Frizione
http://www.freniefrizioni.com
Via del Politeama 4-6 (near Piazza Trilussa in Trastevere)

Enoteca Ferrara
http://www.enotecaferrara.it
Piazza Trilussa 41 (in Trastevere)

‘Gusto Wine Bar
http://www.gusto.it
Piazza Agusto Imperatore 9 (near Piazza di Spagna & Piazza del Popolo)

DIY APERITIVO

Potluck Aperitivo at Casa di Jen

Hosting an aperitivo can be a fun and frugal way to spend a “happy” hour with friends. It’s an early evening event that requires nothing more than an alcoholic beverage and some nibbles – much less labor-intensive and also less costly than a full-fledged dinner party, and everyone is freed up afterward to go enjoy their dinner and other nightlife plans.

What You’ll Need:

1. Prosecco – Ideally, your prosecco should be served in champagne flutes.
2. Nibbles – You can pick up some tasty no-prep-required nibbles (prosciutto, salami, cheeses, olives, bread/crackers, sliced veggies, fruit, etc.) or prep some of your own small plates to serve. You could also host a potluck-style aperitivo and ask your guests to bring something to share (extra prosecco, if nothing else).

FRUGAL & FANCY

If you want to try your hand at a bit of mixology, you can take your bubbly to the next level by making prosecco cocktails. They may not be as artisanal as the ones concocted by expert mixologists, but they also won’t be as expensive. The great thing about prosecco is that it goes very well with many fruit and floral flavors.

Some Fixings for Prosecco Cocktails

Prosecco Juice Cocktails

• Fill ¼ of the flute with juice (or more, if you like) – orange, peach, berry, cherry, pomegranate, passion fruit, lychee – and fill the rest of the glass with prosecco.
• Garnish with fresh fruit, either on the rim or dropped into the glass.

Prosecco with Muddled Berries

Prosecco Cocktails with Fresh Fruit

• Muddle fresh fruit, such as raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, blood orange, black cherries, grapefruit, star fruit, melon, plums (or even a cucumber), and fill ¼ to ½ of the flute with muddled fruit and its juice (or strain it so you just have the juice if you prefer your cocktail senza solids).

• Garnish, if you wish.

Prosecco with Strawberry Mint Simple Syrup

Prosecco Cocktails with Flavored Simple Syrup

• Make a simple syrup by boiling 1 part water and 1 part sugar until the sugar is dissolved. You may add chopped or crushed fruit, herbs (mint, rosemary, sage, thyme, or Japanese shiso), or other ingredients, like vanilla beans, ginger, lemon, lavender, or fennel to the syrup. Just be sure to strain the solids after they’ve served their flavoring purpose. Let syrup cool at room temperature or in the fridge.
• When syrup is cool, add it to prosecco according to your taste.
• Garnish, if you wish.

Prosecco, Calvados & Sugar Cube

Prosecco Cocktails with Spirits

Fill ¼ of the flute with one of the following liqueurs/bitters/spirits and then fill the rest of the flute with prosecco:

• Cassis (currant flavored; used in French Kirs)
• St. Germain’s Elderflower
• Poire William (pear flavored)
• Chambord (blackberry flavored)
• Limoncello (lemon flavored; also lovely with a little rosemary simple syrup)
• Calvados (apple flavored; a little sweeter if you add a sugar cube)
• Cointreau (sweet & bitter orange; also nice with fresh-squeezed orange juice)
• Campari or Amaro (bitters from citrus peel; garnish with lemon peel; also refreshing with a little grapefruit juice)

Prosecco Tea-sers
I don’t know if anyone else does this (or would drink this), but a few summers ago, I decided to start adding teas that I’d brewed (and cooled) for iced tea to prosecco. It seemed to me that the delicate flavors of fruit, berry, and floral teas would result in a light and pleasant riff on the more traditional prosecco cocktail. I like it, but you’ll have to taste for yourself.

• Brew the tea. Let it cool, and then fill ¼ to ½ of the flute with tea and the rest with prosecco.
• Garnish with a sprig of mint.

Of course, if you want to get even more creative, you can experiment with any combination of juices, fruits, flavored simple syrups, spirits, or teas.

Prosecco Punch

Jen's Prosecco Punch

You can also make a big batch of prosecco punch from any champagne-based punch recipe or just fill a bowl with prosecco and a delicious combination of fruit juices (spirits optional). When I make punch, I usually prepare 2 kinds of oversized ice cubes to keep it cold. I make frozen juice cubes (so the punch doesn’t get too watery when the ice melts) and I also make regular ice cubes with berries and citrus slices frozen into them because they look pretty floating on top of the punch.

If you would like to share a favorite prosecco cocktail recipe or if you know of any other great aperitivo spots, please send them my way. Salute e cin cin, amici!

Old stone houses in Recife, Brazil.

My first trip was to magical Salvador de Bahia in the northeast where music is everywhere and the vibe is relaxed and super fun. Subsequent trips took me to to Recife (above) to study with a yogi, the urban centers of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, and the island city of Florianopolis where my Portuguese teacher (from Brooklyn) spent 2007-2008.

Brazil was wilder than I could have imagined: the food was strange and intriguing, the people were warm and funny; the country had a rich, dark history and could be fantastically beautiful.

Breakfast in Brazil consists of lots of delicious fresh fruit, cakes, coffee, eggs, ham, cheese, yogurt and some unidentifiable things.

But at almost 5,000 miles from New York, Brazil is not a weekend destination. For my last trip, in 2007, I paid with points—otherwise the ticket would have been around $1300 US.

This year, a friend in Rio (who had lived in New York until 2002) tipped me off about cheap airfares. Through BACC.com, a company that specializes in travel to Brazil, I got a ticket to Rio for $361 US (with taxes, $474) just 8 days before departure. Since this kind of bargain is so rare (probably a product of the swine flu scare), I hustled to clear my schedule and get on a plane. (Which, by the way, I almost missed with the slow subway connections and my obsessive avoidance of downtime at the airport!)

It’s pretty much impossible to get a ticket that cheap–and yet I was anxious. I’m supposed to be saving money, not spending! And even as a great deal, $500 is still $500.

But I went. Suddenly—almost absurdly fast—I was in Rio! Damp stone walls, erratic drivers, miles and miles and miles of favelas (shantytowns), men in long shorts and flip flops, that languid walking pace, people sitting in botecos (little bars with finger foods), drinking choppe (draft beer)–and of course, the incredible beach.

Guys playing paddle ball in Florianopolis.

I needed an afternoon nap to shake off the flight. For dinner, we went down to Copacobana to an Italian place, Trattoria, whose special was “Obama Spaghetti with Mussels!” We had golden sole with garlic sauce, and rice cut with greens, a bottle of wine. The exchange rate is just better than 2:1 right now, and in the end my friend paid. Very frugal!

The next night I paid. We went to a place called Galeto, a counter-style rotisserie, also in Copacobana, open into the street, where you eat roast chicken (galinho is a rooster). There was a line. But when we finally got a stool at the “S”-shaped counter, we had a plate of galeto (two small cut-up chickens), and other plates of salad, rice with greens, and farofa (toasted manioc meal) with egg. And very cold Bohemie beers. Delicious! All served by a serious, licensed roaster in a vest and glasses. $20 for two.

Although it’s fall there, we had some hot and sunny days. The day after my arrival was in the high 80s and the beaches were packed—an incredible variety of people swam, surfed, read, napped, played volley ball and paddle ball. It was easy to spot the tourists–they just didn’t look as comfortable in their skin as the locals. The constant stream of vendors made sure you were never without anything, from ice cream to beer to hot cheese (the hot-cheese guys carry around a little brickette-powered oven). I didn’t buy anything except a fresh coconut for the water (coco gelado) overpriced at $1.50, but still worth the experience.

On Sunday I went up to the hill-top neighborhood of Santa Teresa, an artists and ex-pat community far from the beach throngs below. There, I met friends of friends for afternoon choppe and a workout of my rusty Portuguese. Someone bought a litre bottle of beer and all of us had little cups from the bar, then, people who joined the conversation topped up our glasses as is customary. It’s easy to drink a lot in a short time, with all the comings and goings. Especially when you’re nervously covering up your language skills….

From the bar, Bar do Mineiro, I was invited to a lunch party, a big spread of traditional feijoada, at a nearby house poised on the side of a cliff. Monkeys swung in the trees, kids played in the pool, and adults from Brazil, Germany, Argentina and the US drank on the vast stone veranda that overlooked the city. The food never stopped coming–rice, beans, 5 kinds of meat, thinly cut cooked greens, farofa, fired aipim, and then three kinds of dessert. A tour of the enormous, 4-floor house made me wonder if perhaps I should give up my frugal ways and try to live more decadently…

At the end of the afternoon, after a stroll down the cobble-stoned streets in the lowering sun, I stopped with a new friend for a coffee and we listed to a trio play chorro, a melancholy music with a sweet lilt to it. I recognized many of the songs as traditional favorites. I bought my friend his espresso, my only expense of the day.

Tips
Bargain hunting, friends in the know, and the ability to leave at a moment’s notice are all key moves for the frugal traveler to South America.

Travel organizations will often tout themselves as experts only to serve up higher fares than you can find yourself on Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, or airlines’ sites. So ask friends and acquaintances who frequently travel to your dream destination where to shop for low fares. Often, they will tip you off about which companies to trust and which to avoid—and what have changed since the last time you went.

Check Travelocity or Orbitz first, then check out the airlines that they list as offering low fares. Often, Delta or United or American Airlines‘ prices are slightly lower still. And, buying tickets directly from the airline means the tickets are more flexible—easier to upgrade or change if necessary. Once you buy from outfits such as Orbitz, you can get locked in without easy or affordable ways out. 

Always fly direct unless you have lots of time to spare.

Going when the low fare is offered is also a help. True, because my trip was last minute, I could only secure a week away from work. But, with a friend picking me up at the airport, a free place to stay, and a 2:1 exchange rate in my favor, the trip was doable. And an affordable week on the beaches of Copacobana and Impanema is something I will never turn down. Nor should you.