Friday, April 22, 2011

New Ideas for Affordable Travel

When you click on the Affordable Travel Club link above, you will discover that there other ways of traveling affordably.  Listed there you will find the names and addresses of people who are looking for house and pet sitters and those who are willing to look after your house or pet in return.  My wife and I recently looked after 4 cats in the Basque Region of France and were able to stay in a beautiful home in exchange for that service.  The cats were gone most of the time, giving us an opportunity to visit the area at our leisure.  

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Traveling affordably in Australia

As part of our trip through the state of South Australia, we had arranged to stay for 4 nights with 2 couples who are members of The Affordable Travel Club.   The first two nights stayed in the city of Adelaide.  When we arrived in the late afternoon, we asked our hosts for suggestions regarding places to dine.  They suggested they would come along and join us at one of their favourite dining spots in the Adelaide Hills. It turned out to be a wonderful experience in a place we would never have been able to find by ourselves.  The quality of food was superb and the views breathtaking.  Those poor people at the Hilton or on cruise liners!  There is just no substitute for staying like this with people who know their area and are proud to show it off.

The next two nights, we stayed with a wonderful couple in the Barossa Valley, famous for its wonderful vineyards.  Again, only affordable travel enabled us to enjoy this fabulous area and savour the best shirazes we have had anywhere. 



 

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Affordable Travel in Australia

While visiting our daughter and her family in Melbourne, we decided on a one week trip to Adelaide in the state of South Australia, giving us a wonderful opportunity to visit the city of Adelaide and explore the vineyards of the Barossa Valley, famous for their wonderfull shirazWe had arranged to stay with two families, two nights  in Adelaide and two nights in the Barossa Valley,  as members of the Affordable Travel ClubThe first stopover was disappointing.  While our hosts were gracious and hospitable, their home premises were anything but clean.  In fact, after our first night stay, we wondered if we should stay a second night.  However, the next stopover was totally different:  not only were our hosts friendly and accommodating, their home was impeccably clean. Our first experience, thankfully, is an exception.  Friends of ours, recently spent a month in Australia as participants in the Affordable Travel Club and came away with glowing reports of the experience.  We continued our trip to Kangaroo Island where we enjoyed the wonderful scenery and wildlife