As much as we may wish for them, clear skies don’t always grace us while we’re travelling, especially in some parts of the world where it’s more likely to rain than shine. Of course, rain doesn’t need to stop you from getting outside and exploring whichever destination you have visited but if you’re feeling a little more like staying dry then here are 5 activities that you could do to escape the rain.
Go bowling Bowling is a popular sport all around the world which means you probably won’t need to look too far to find a bowling alley near you. A great way to stay inside and away from the rain, bowling is also a really easy sport for people to understand so even if there’s a language barrier between yourself and some of the people you have met on your travels you’re bound to still have a great time and make some fun memories.
Visit an indoor museum It’s likely that museums were on your travel itinerary anyway so why not switch around what you had planned for certain days and visit the museums on a day when the weather isn’t being so kind. Don’t rush your way around the museum, take your time and purchase the audio guide to make sure you really take in everything that the museum has to offer and remember to check out the gift shop to help support the museum.
Go swimming If you’re going to get wet anyway why not go swimming! If you’re in a city then you’ll be able to find a swimming bathe or leisure centre near you for you to have a splash around in, or if you’re by the beach and the waves are still safe, then why not take a dip anyway and enjoy the beach while it’s a little quieter. Snorkelling can be a whole new experience when it rains and the raindrops landing on the surface of the sea look magical from underneath, an experience you have to try at least once.
Check out a shopping mall Another fun rainy day activity is to go shopping and find some gifts and souvenirs for your friends and family back home. To stay dry and undercover try to find a shopping centre, market or mall which is all enclosed and undercover, or if you are going to brave the streets then just pack a trusted umbrella and make your way from shop to shop ensuring to have plenty of food and drink stops along the way.
Visit the local library Almost every major city has a library and many smaller ones do too. Libraries are great places to cosy up on a rainy day, you can either bring your own book and simply enjoy the ambience and read or why not do some more research on your travel destination by searching for some local maps, guide books and magazines? Some libraries also have postal services which make them a great place to sit and write your postcards before sending them off to your friends and families.
Hostels are known as a great way to save money on accommodation while still getting amenities such as breakfast, information services, a central location, and free WiFi. But what if I told you that you could stay at an already-affordable hostel for even cheaper? In fact, what if I told you that your next hostel stay could be FREE?
Here are four ways that you can get a free night (or more) at a hostel. Every single one is legit: no stealing or sneaky work is involved at all. I’ve done all of them myself, so I guarantee they can work!
1. Win a Contest
I won free hostel nights by leaving a Facebook comment about this eggplant meal I ate overlooking Niagara Falls over five years ago.
I’m getting two free nights in a hostel on my next trip to Europe! I just found out that I won a contest on St Christopher’s Inns’ Facebook page. Of course, I’m excited. (Although they have a lot of hostels in a lot of European cities to choose from, I think I’ll check out their new Berlin hostel.) But it has been a numbers game.
I started entering their weekly contests when I first found out about them, hoping to get some free nights for my trip to London. Instead, I paid for my stay there (but I did save some money by booking all my hostels directly). I stopped entering the contests for a while after that trip, but then when I decided to go back to Europe in 2020, I started entering the contests again. Last week, only about a dozen people entered versus the usual 50-90, so I had greater odds when they picked my comment as the winner!
Other individual hostels and hostel chains may occasionally offer contests. Booking sites like HostelWorld do this every now and then as well. The best way to make sure you’re notified about any upcoming contests is to follow social media pages and sign up for newsletters. This may not be a guaranteed way to get a free hostel stay, but it’s worth trying!
2. Check Out Promotions
The hostel even gave me a free ticket to access this evening concert in addition to my free birthday stay.
I got a free night in Dublin on May 10th. Why? It’s my birthday, and I found out Isaac’s Hostel offers a free night’s stay to celebrate! Originally, I wasn’t planning on arriving in Ireland until a day or two after my birthday, but when I discovered this promotion, I booked my flight accordingly. (Upon my arrival, the hostel staff even gave me a few freebies, like a rental locker that normally had a 5-euro deposit and a free evening event.)
A more common promotion is if you pay to stay a certain number of nights, you’ll get one night free. (Most of the offers I’ve seen are either three nights for the price of two or book a week and your seventh night is free.) To find the most up-to-date offers with specific hostels, check out the hostel’s direct website or social media pages.
3. Do a Work Exchange
A fantastic fireworks view on the hostel rooftop was one of the many things I got to help promote in Niagara Falls.
If you’re planning on staying somewhere for a month or longer, it makes sense to try to get a job at the hostel. A lot of hostels don’t actually pay most of their employees, but they do provide free housing. Usually, the work exchange is part-time so you still have time to get a paying job, attend classes, travel, or do whatever else you were planning to do in the area.
If you don’t want to stay long-term, available work exchanges are rarer, but still sometimes possible. I’ve done a few short-term hostel work exchanges by doing some promotional work. Some social hostels will give a free night to musicians who are willing to do a performance in their commons. If you have a special skill that a hostel business will find useful or marketable, start asking around.
4. Be Loyal
I ended up with a stomach bug during my two free nights in Venice, but that meant I could afford to pay for an extra two nights and get these great Venetian nighttime views.
Why are people still booking on HostelWorld? There are better hostel booking sites out there that actually reward you for using them. I got two free nights in a private room in Venice (just steps away from St. Mark’s Square), because I made several of my bookings for my Mediterranean Trek using HostelsClub. This site is great at rewarding loyal customers, as reviewing the hostels you’ve stayed at can get you a discount off of your next booking!
Hotels.com also has hostel listings in addition to the hotels they’re known for, and many of them are affiliated with Hotels.com Rewards that allows you to stay a free night for every 10 nights you book through this site. I’ve only made one hostel reservation for my trip to Germany so far, but because I booked through Hotels.com, I got the best price AND I’m already close to getting a free night!
The downside to loyalty rewards is that you’ll have to pay for some nights upfront. Because of this, I suggest that you compare the rewards booking site you’re using to the website of the actual hostel. Sometimes it’s significantly cheaper to book directly with the hostel, making the booking site’s offer worthless. But some booking sites, like Hotels.com, offer a price match guarantee, so it’s still more economical to book through them. You may not get a completely free hostel stay, but saving money will add up over time.
Big news! I when I say big, this time it literally means BIG! You can now order all my books in bulk!
Yes, you are still more than welcome to order single copies of my books from places like Amazon. But if you want to save money and at the same time get a lot of books, then you’ll want this personal author service from yours truly!
To request a bulk order for any of my books, shoot me an email at lippejl@gmail.com. I’ll get back to you promptly with the exact details about your order.
Below are some FAQs about this bulk order opportunity. If you have any additional questions, ask them in the comment section down below.
Any of my books published in the future will likely also qualify for bulk discounts. I will keep this page updated if that changes.
Do I have to manage a store or business to qualify for bulk copies?
No way! Of course, if you DO have a store interested in selling these books, you’re welcome. But bulk copies are also great for people like:
Camp leaders who want to equip their counselors or other staff with relevant reading material.
Book club and Bible study participants who’d like to save money for their entire group.
People who want to get great Christmas gifts for their relatives, coworkers, neighbors, and friends.
Teachers who would like each student to have their own copy of a book, or to provide each classroom in the school with the same book.
Book collectors who have always dreamed of having an entire shelf filled with the exact same books.
YOU! Just by coming to this page out of all the places you could be on the internet, I can tell that you’re a great candidate for this deal.
What kind of discount are we talking about?
The discount depends on two factors: which book you want to order, and how many copies you’d like. For example, Uncommon Adventures sells for $6.98 on Amazon. But with bulk ordering, you can get it as low as $3! And Girls Who Change the World, retailing at $9.99, could be bulk ordered for anywhere between $3.50 and $6.
Is this available outside the US?
Certain countries may be able to receive books in bulk, but note that shipping will be higher than in the US. Contact me with your specific request and we’ll see what we can work out.
What’s the minimum order?
A minimum of only three copies is needed for bulk orders. If you just want one or two books, considering asking a friend to chip in for a third. However, keep in mind that the more you order, the bigger your discount will be. Ordering three copies might save you a total of a few dollars, but ordering twenty copies could save you a few dollars on each and every book.
Please note that the three-book minimum applies to each title. You can’t order one copy of Uncommon Adventures, one copy of Girls Who Change the World, and one copy of The Ultimate Survival Guide to Working at Camp and expect to get a discount. While we’re at it, I should mention that there’s also a maximum. Please keep your order under 1000 copies; that would be way too heavy of a box!
Am I getting a lower quality by ordering these bulk copies?
Nope! You’re getting the exact same paperbacks that everyone else is getting. You just get them for less money because you’re a smart shopper and I appreciate you ordering extras to share.
But there’s gotta be a downside, right?
Okay, the shipping time may take longer than if you order it on Amazon. So if you need it rushed, go here.
How do I make a bulk order?
I am handling all bulk orders directly, so you can get the personal service of the author herself! To get an estimate, email me at lippejl@gmail.com with the subject “Bulk Order”. In your email, please include order details like which title(s) you want, how many copies, and the shipping address. I will respond with the total cost and instructions to finalize the order. Then you should be seeing your books arrive at your doorstep soon!
Some food I made for work the other day. Savings tip: Don’t limit cooking to your own home. You can often cook while traveling and even at work!
Now that it’s November, we are in the month that I’ll get to take my first trip to The Bahamas! I’m counting down the days both for this cruise and my 2020 backpacking trip around Central Europe.
If you’re new to this blog or haven’t been following this series, you can click here to find out how I got this incredible deal on a cruise to The Bahamas. I write up a recap as each month passes, so that you can see my travel savings progress and get some tips for how you can save, too!
Travel Agents Aren’t Helpful
Although I booked the cruise months ago, not all the pieces for this trip happened all at once. Later, we booked plane tickets. My mom and I decided to catch a flight that arrived in Florida the day before the cruise departs, so we knew we’d eventually need to book a night at a hotel.
Then, the airline we were taking there decided to cancel our flight.
Of course, since we’d already paid, they automatically booked us on another flight. The problem was, it would be a day later, so we wouldn’t get to Florida in time to board the ship. My mom called and had them change it to the day BEFORE the original flight. So that’s how we ended up making plans to spend Thanksgiving in Florida! (Do they serve flamingo there instead of turkey?)
The benefit to that was we each got $100 travel credit with the airline. So I guess I’ll soon have another trip to plan!
Now that we had to book two nights at a hotel instead of just one, my mom suggested that we visit a travel agent at AAA. I don’t know if I’ve shared this here before, but the one other time I met with a travel agent at this company, I ended up spending more on a Niagara Falls Pass than if I’d just bought one at a tourist info center when I got there. So I didn’t have a good feeling about seeing another travel agent.
I should’ve trusted my gut.
We gave the travel agent our requirements for a hotel, and everything he showed us was NOT what we asked for. All of them were too far away from the area we wanted to stay in, or too expensive. I thought maybe that’s just what the going rate was, but I was still skeptical and wanted to do my own research at home.
Does this mean I should become a travel agent? Maybe. But the sad thing is, even when you do pay upfront for a service like you do with AAA, travel agents are still looking for the biggest commission possible. Do your own research to find out what the best deal will be for you instead of them.
What to Do in Florida
No, Disney isn’t in the plans. This will actually be my first time going to Florida for something other than Walt Disney World.
Having a beach-side hotel pretty much takes care of our entertainment needs while we’re in Fort Lauderdale. So the only other expenses to consider are food and travel (from the airport and then to the cruise port). I’m covering all that for free with Swagbucks.
On Swagbucks, I got free gift cards to a few restaurants in walking distance from the hotel. I also got a free Uber gift card. I’d recommend this site as a way to earn some extra money and cover some costs of any kind of trip you’re planning. They have free gift cards for airlines, cruises, restaurants, gas stations, and more!
I’ve also been working on the final touches for my next book that will be hitting shelves in just a few weeks. You can pre-order The Ultimate Survival Guide to Working at Campas an ebook, with the paperback coming soon.
Speaking of camp, I started back up helping at weekend retreats. That’s been a fun way to spend my weekends and reduce my expenses. (Free travel!)
I worked a few extra shifts, which will help fund my European adventure. And there’s some more exciting things in the works for my work. I can’t share them with you yet, but I should be able to by next month’s update!
My biggest goal is to make sure I have a great time at the end of the month as I leave for my trip! The cruise goes into December, so I will not be giving a December update. I am choosing to not use WiFi on this trip, partly to cut costs and partly so I can be in full break mode. And I won’t have as much savings updates to tell you because I’m not going to be miserly on this trip! But don’t worry, this website has lots of other travel content for you to read, and I’ll probably make a few more posts until then.
I’m working on a launch for my next book. It’s more a niche audience, just people who work at or are interested in working at camps. But I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from beta readers in the professional camp industry, so that’s encouraging.
As far as Europe goes, I still have a lot of planning to do for that. I have a rough itinerary, but a large part of that depends on if I’m accepted into the Diverbo program. I have yet to hear from them, but I loved my time with them in Spain and hope to continue this voluntourism in Germany. If/when I’m accepted, I’ll start booking hostels. Here’s hoping!
Oh, and Christmas is coming up, isn’t it! I guess I have some shopping and preparations to do!
Jessica Lippe 