hosteling | Going Places, Far & Near

Free sightseeing with a local and cheap eats: Athens with a Native, a free program through MyAthens, matches visitors with a volunteer who takes you on a walking tour. My guide, Constantine E. Cavoulacos introduces and the owner/chef of Panagiotis © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

When I first Eurailed across Europe when I was in college, I was among the minions clutching Arthur Frommer’s “Europe on $5 a Day.” A new budget travel guru, Matt Kepnes, has come on the scene with a tome for today, “How to Travel the World on $50 a Day (Travel Cheaper, Longer, Smarter)”.

Kepnes shared his strategies for traveling on a shoestring at the 2017 New York Times Travel Show, in his talk, “12 Easy Ways to Save Big Money When You Travel” to a standing room/sitting wherever you could find floorspace audience, in which he shared tips on how to bank smart, save on flights, book quality budget accommodations, eat for cheap, and save on transportations and attractions.

*Budget travel guru Matt Kepnes offers easy ways to save when you travel to a packed audience at the New York Times Travel Show © Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Here are Kepnes’ key strategies:

Use Your Money Wisely:

Avoid ATM fees

Buy in the local currency

Never exchange money in airports (Travelex is bad)

Never use travelers checks

Never use random ATMS

His recommendations: CapitalOne, Fidelty, CharlesSchwab (open an account and get a card), Global ATM Alliance

Collecting points or miles to fly free is an art that lately has stymied even travel experts. There is even a term for it, Kepnes says: Travel Hack is the art of collecting points/miles that can be used for free flights and hotel rooms (see nomadicmatt.us/HackTravel)

Kepnes offered these strategies, beginning with the notion that you can get 50,000-100,000 points as a bonus just for signing up. He says he recently took a flight from Germany to Austria for just $7 out of pocket.

Get a Travel Credit Card

Get a card that gives something back, even if you only travel once a year

That offers consumer protection

That avoids foreign transaction fees

Use everyday spending to amass points or miles

Pay your taxes to the government on a credit card (to accumulate points).

Get a new card and pay your taxes on it

His favorites: Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Ink, American Express SPG, Barclaycard

Find Cheap Flights

Be flexible with date/time/destination

Fly budget airlines: WOW, Norwegian Airlines (Ny-Oslo-Bangkok for $400)

Ignore the “myths” (such as the best day of the week to book is a Tuesday)

Search in other currencies (choose a weak currency, like New Zealand and search in that currency; often, prices cater to a local market)

Search as one person

If you are a student or educator, you can take advantage of discounted travel at such sites as. STATravel for students and teachers; ISIC (he says he traveled Athens to Bangkok for $350).

Best sites to find flight deals:

HolidayPirates – great for Europe

The FlightDeal – out of US

SecretFlying-flights anywhere

Cheap Flight resources:

Googleflights

Kayak (Don’t book through kayak, he says, just use for reference and get a second opinion)

Momondo (search websites around the world)

SkyScanner (search websites around the world)

Stay Cheaply

Stay in Hostels:

Hostels are budget friendly

Made for socializing and meeting people

Have a kitchen to cook your own food

Usually offer the option of a private room and private bath

Centrally located

Knowledgeable staff (know what’s going on, where to go)

Great source: Hostelworld

Green Tortoise hostel in San Francisco: Staying in a hostel isn’t just inexpensive, but provides for social interaction, let’s you save on eating out by cooking your own meals. Green Tortoise also organizes dine-arounds and tours © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Hostels have really upped their game, Kepnes says. They are nicer, typically offer WiFi, rooms are cleaned daily, offer breakfast, and even organized tours

Hostels offer a social aspect even if you are staying in a private room (because there are communal facilities and the people who stay tend to be outgoing)

“Cheapos stay in hostels so the staff are experts about cheap restaurants, what to do for free or inexpensively.”

Sharing Economy

Bypass the traditional travel industry

Gives access to locals using their own assets and skills to become small tourism companies with cheaper prices.

Locals know where to find

Share Accommodations:

AirBnb

A Camp in My Garden (which directs you to places where you can pitch a tent in someone’s backyard)

Where to stay with locals (for free) – these sites do vetting and offer reviews:

Be Welcome

GlobalFreeloaders.com

The HospitalityClub

Couchsurfing

Kepnes notes that these kinds of shared accommodations are not just for youthful backpackers; a lot of families take advantage as well, and see it as an opportunity to expose their kids to other cultures.

Eat Cheap:

Eat cheap, skip fancy meals, don’t eat out every meal; cook your own meals; take your own water bottle.

Avoid eating near tourist areas (he has a five-block rule)

“Don’t ask ‘Where should I eat?’ (because you are a tourist). Ask ‘Where did you eat?’ That’s how you find the local, cool restaurants.

Use apps to find local hotspots, like FourSquare, OpenRice, Yelp

*Dining out in Gjirokaster, Albania, where the dollar goes far © Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Sharing Food Economy:

EatWith

CoLunching (feed your network)

MealSharing

Get Around Cheaply:

Use public transportation

Ask hostel staff for timetables and cheap transportation options

Avoid taxis

Get a train pass (ie. Eurail, or in-country pass)

Hitchhike

Rideshare

*Best tour in San Francisco is, of course, the cable car: just $7 to ride. And definitely visit the San Francisco Cable Car Museum, admission is free © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Ride Sharing sources include:

BlaBlaCar

Liftshare.com

Gumtree

Zipcar

Flightcar

Jayride

Kangaride

Kepnes says he hopped a ride from Geneva to Zurich with a father who was driving his son back to school, which cost him $10)

“You save money and meet people in a way you wouldn’t if you just booked transportation.”

Seeing Things/doing Things

City Tourism Cards, which you can find through tourism offices and/or online, often provide admissions or discounts to multiple museums and attractions, city tours, public transportation, restaurants, shopping.

You typically purchase these by the number of days, (1, 3, 5, 7)

CitizenCards: Some places have passes only for country, county or city residents, like London restaurants for UK residents, Kepnes suggests you can get around this by using your AirBnB address.

Find Free or Inexpensive Activities

Ask tourist offices (and go online) and hostel staff

Time Out

The Local (Europe)

Take free walking tours (New Europe; Free Tours By Foot)

Google It! (Use as terms “free things to do in…”; “free activities in….”; “cheap events in…”, “what do locals do for fun in NYC?”)

NYC: Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the greatest museums in the world, let’s you pay a donation, rather than admission fee and there are free tours led by docents © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Tour with Locals

Connect with local guides (for example, Athens tourism bureau matches you up with a volunteer guide, myAthens.org; Big Apple Greeters through the NYC visitor bureau connects travelers with a local tour guide)

These tend to be small, intimate groups and offer quirky experiences like

Hidden Treasures of Paris

Florence: Bike the Local Backroads

A Photojournalist’s NYC

Melbourne’s Street Art

San Francisco: Urban Night Hiking

Istanbul: Learn to Bargain

Sources: ShowAround, Rent-a-Guide, Vayable

Where to Meet Locals:

Online communities

Forums.nomadicmatt.com

BootsnAll

Lonely Planet’s forums

Couchsurfing (host travelers; stay with locals; grab coffee with travelers/locals; travel events)

Sources: Couchsurfing, TravelMassive, Meetup

Matt Kepnes (nomadicmatt.com) is the author of “How to Travel the World on $50 a Day” (Travel Cheaper, Longer, Smarter), nomadicmatt.us/amz50nm; Instagram.com/nomadicmatt; Facebook.com/nomadicmatt; Pinterest.com/nomadicmatt; Twitter: @nomadicmatt

The New York Times Travel Show, which just marked its 14^th year, is the largest and longest-running trade and consumer travel show in North America, featuring the Travel Industry Conference, Consumer Seminars, and an interactive Exhibition including more than 500 exhibitors from Africa, Asia, Australia/South Pacific, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, Mexico and the United States. In addition to discounts and special offers, the show provided educational seminars and live entertainment for families, individuals, couples and seniors. Seminars focused on home exchange and rentals; festivals and markets as a window into the soul of a place; wellness travel, family travel, global travel tips for women, LGBT travel, traveling solo, senior travel, cruising, planning the perfect African Safari, Italy, Japan, Cuba; ethical travel; choosing a travel agent, travel photography, travel writing; Expecting the Unexpected-Planning ahead for When Disaster Strikes (nyttravelshow.com)

Pauline Frommer at NYT Travel Show: How to Get Best Value for Your Travel Dollar in 2017

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© 2017 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Send comments or questions to [email protected]. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

The Green Tortoise Hostel in hip North Beach district captures the San Francisco vibe © 2015 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

by Karen Rubin, goingplacesfarandnear.com

It is rare to stay in an accommodation that makes you smile constantly or that imbues you so completely with the spirit of a place. That’s the Green Tortoise Hostel, in the North Beach section of San Francisco.

There is no better way to immerse yourself in San Francisco ‘vibe’ – it literally embodies the spirit of San Francisco.

From the outside, the Green Tortoise Hostel is a modest wood-framed Victorian building that somehow escaped destruction of the earthquake and fire.

The North Beach District where the Green Tortoise Hostel is a lively neighborhood © 2015 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Don’t be discouraged by the glass door that looks pretty institutional, or the sign that tells you the door is locked after 7:30 pm and you have to be buzzed in or the steep staircase to the lobby floor or the warning “no visitors!”. Once you present you enter the lobby area, the trepidation fades away and you feel like you are part of something special.

I am immediately pleased by the beautiful architectural features that hint at the glorious past of this building.

Hostels always have a special personality and this one is particularly special. A sign on the “ballroom” (apparently, once a restaurant) invites you to partake in free vegetarian dinner on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights (Pasta Primavera, Mexican taco night, and Curry, rice and salad; come at 5 pm if you want to help cook, dinner is 7-ish), and a day-by-day list of activities: free sangria, pool tournaments, pub crawls, $5 dinner nights, dinner crawls (Sunday: 4 North Beach restaurants, $9.95), and outings to popular San Francisco events like the San Francisco Beer Olympics), and even tours (Saturday: Redwoods & Pt. Reyes bus trip, $40).

I get my key (handing over a $20 cash deposit; I can rent a towel for $1), walk through the lobby, through the computer/lounge area where there is a pleasant sitting area (they even have drink holders in the chair), and climb another set of steps to a narrow, labyrinthian set of hallways.

I’ve booked a “standard private room” (you can also book a shared room). It is small but not claustrophobic – clean, a queen-sized bed (very comfortable), a sink, a flat-screen tv (but only accesses a video library). It is most pleasant. (The rate, $131 was comparable or less than Air BnB.)

The main difference with an actual hotel is that you don’t have a private bathroom – this is European style. But that isn’t really a problem, either. There are five bathrooms on the floor – each clean and comfortable, one person at a time.

Hanging out in the ballroom at the Green Tortoise Hostel, in San Francisco's North Beach district © 2015 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com — Hanging out in the ballroom at the Green Tortoise Hostel, in San Francisco’s North Beach district © 2015 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Enjoying breakfast in the ballroom of the Green Tortoise Hostel © 2015 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

The biggest surprise is on the main floor: The Ballroom. You can see how this was once a very grand place –the stained glass, the intricate moldings in the ceiling which may have been gilded at one point but now is coated in peeling brown paint. It used to be a restaurant and hotel, I am told and has been a hostel since the 1970s. Now, it is charmingly faded from that glory (though not decrepit, with colorful new carpeting and such), as you would imagine if the proletariat overtook the bourgeoisie.

The ballroom is where you can help yourself to free breakfast every morning 7:30- 10:00 am—bagels, cream cheese, jams, fresh fruit, make your own eggs, organic oatmeal, coffee, tea, hot chocolate and OJ (you wash your own plastic dish when you are finished). There is also a refrigerator where guests can keep their food, or take from “shared” items.

During the day, people can hang out in the ballroom, like a giant lounge – there is a small stage and some musical instruments. The ballroom is open until 2 am.

Green Tortoise Hostel has beautiful architectural features that evoke its historyin San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood © 2015 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com — Green Tortoise Hostel has beautiful architectural features that evoke its historyin San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood © 2015 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

There are more surprises here: the hostel offers a sauna (dry) on the second floor accommodating up to six people at a time –you can check it out for 1 hour (free).

They have an arrangement with Dylan’s Bike Rental to rent for $21 for 24-hours (a discount from the $30 rate), and the hostel provides a bike storage room, as well as lockers where you can stow your stuff.

Before I arrived, I received a confirmation letter describing the place quite honestly saying:

We are a comfortable backpackers hostel in North Beach with European style accommodations made up of shared and private rooms.
Our median age of guest is between 20-30 years of age, but we welcome all ages.
Our hostel is about community and creating a social experience. Our guests are made up of travelers from around the globe.
We promote ourselves as a PARTY hostel, so we welcome all guests to participate in our nightly events.
All our bathrooms are shared along the corridors, but private use (no en-suite bathrooms in the rooms in any of our buildings).
Our reception is on the 2nd floor and there is no elevator, only stairs to all the rooms (rooms are on 3rd and 4th floors).
Unlike traditional hotels, we do not provide sheet changes daily.
We are in a vibrant neighborhood full of beat generation history, cafes, bars and restaurants.
There are several Adult Entertainment clubs on the next block and the area can be noisy on the weekends and in peak season.

All of this proves absolutely true, and just adds to the experience.

San Francisco's colorful North Beach neighborhood, just outside the door of the Green Tortoise Hostel © 2015 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com — San Francisco’s colorful North Beach neighborhood, just outside the door of the Green Tortoise Hostel © 2015 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

The owners of the hostel (who also own a hostel in Seattle) also operate Green Tortoise Adventure Travel, offering trips as short as a day trip to Muir Woods & Wine Country, to as long as a month, via a specially outfitted 36–passenger coach that converts from seats in the daytime to sleepers at night (a rolling hostel). The trips are designed around “appreciation of nature, tolerance, cooperation and self direction.” There are itineraries to Baja, Pyramids and Playas, the Yucatan, Yosemite, a National Parks loop, Alaska (415-956-7500, 800-867-8647, www.greentortoise.com).

They also book Alcatraz tours (which actually get booked up weeks in advance) and other sightseeing trips.

Green Tortoise Hostel San Francisco, 494 Broadway St, San Francisco 94133, 415-834-1000, 800 867 8647, www.greentortoise.com, email [email protected], www.facebook.com/sanfranciscohostel.

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© 2015 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit www.examiner.com/eclectic-travel-in-national/karen-rubin,www.examiner.com/eclectic-traveler-in-long-island/karen-rubin, www.examiner.com/international-travel-in-national/karen-rubin, goingplacesfarandnear.com and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Send comments or questions to [email protected]. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

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