So here’s a confession—I spent way too long taking the train between New York and DC before I figured out that flying could actually be cheaper. I know, I know. The train is convenient, you avoid airport security, and there’s something kind of romantic about the Amtrak ride down the Northeast Corridor. But when I’m…

I’ll be honest—I used to think the LAX to DC route was just expensive, period. I mean, it’s a major cross-country flight, right? Big airports on both ends, tons of business travelers willing to pay premium prices. For the longest time, I was regularly shelling out $350-450 roundtrip and just accepting it as the cost…

So I’m sitting in my apartment in Austin last Tuesday, scrolling through Instagram, when my friend Marcus posts a photo from the National Portrait Gallery in DC. I text him immediately: “Dude, how much did you spend on flights?” His response? “$47 round-trip from Atlanta.” I literally called him. Because here’s the thing – I…

Look, I’m going to be honest with you. The first time I tried to book a flight to Washington DC, I nearly had a heart attack looking at those ticket prices. We’re talking $450 for a basic economy seat from Austin, and that was supposedly a “good deal.” I remember sitting there at my laptop,…

So I was talking to my friend Sarah last week, and she casually mentioned she’d just paid $230 for a roundtrip flight from New York to DC. For a one-hour flight. I literally choked on my coffee. Here’s the thing—I fly this route constantly. Like, probably once a month at minimum. I’ve got friends in…

Last month, I needed to get from DC to Chicago for a friend’s wedding, and my stomach dropped when I saw the prices. $340 for a basic economy seat? For a two-hour flight? I’d rather eat ramen for a week than pay that much for what’s essentially a glorified bus ride in the sky. But…

I’ve got a confession to make: I used to think “best hotels in San Diego” and “budget travel” were two phrases that couldn’t exist in the same sentence. Like, pick one, right? You either stay somewhere amazing and eat ramen for the rest of the month, or you find something cheap and spend your entire…

Look, I’ll be honest with you—when I think “InterContinental,” my brain doesn’t exactly jump to “budget-friendly.” I mean, we’re talking about an IHG luxury brand here, the kind of place where I’d usually just walk through the lobby to use the bathroom and then shuffle back to my $40-a-night hostel down the street. But here’s…

I’m going to tell you about the time I paid $240 for a hotel room in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter just to be walking distance from Petco Park. This was back in 2019, and I was visiting for a Padres game against the Dodgers. I figured, hey, I’ll splurge this once—how bad could it be?…

Look, I’ll be honest with you—the first time I visited SeaWorld San Diego back in 2018, I did exactly what most people do. I searched “hotels near SeaWorld” on some booking site, saw prices ranging from $180 to $350 a night, and nearly had a heart attack. This was supposed to be a budget-friendly California…