Hi, and welcome to A Pier Review! My name is Melissa, I’m 52, and live in San Antonio, TX. I have three adult sons and three adorable dogs (everyone thinks their own pets are though). For several years I have been an adjunct instructor teaching English courses at one of San Antonio’s local community college campuses. If you’re familiar with teaching or teachers, you know you do it because you love it and NOT for the pay. The pay is ridiculously pathetic- no adjunct can survive on just that single salary alone.
Recently my husband and I separated. This is a good thing! It was an amicable and long-overdue split. But it also meant if I ever wanted to have any decent amount of money ever again and even think of supporting myself, something drastic needed to happen. After realizing how long I had be not doing the things I loved most, it’s time for major changes to rediscover joy.
I love hitting the beach, snorkeling, and taking cruises along with most other types of travel I’ve been fortunate enough to do, but it’s not enough! My opportunity to embark on travel full-time has come so let’s go see what we can find!
“Everybody look at me ’cause I’m sailing on a boat (whoa)“
One of my favorite types of travel has been cruises. If you’ve never been on a cruise, you’re missing out! It’s not just old people playing shuffleboard (not that there’s anything wrong with that) or mobs of Spring Break drunk college kids. You can find both though if that’s your thing! It’s like the best sampler platter method of travel- you get to see and do amazing things and wake up somewhere new every day. The best part is you don’t have to do any of the cooking or cleaning and the food is usually awesome! I don’t know about you, but any meal I don’t have to cook is amazing!
However, if you’ve never taken a cruise, even knowing where to start can feel daunting. I’ll help you through the process step by step from deciding which line is best for you, how to plan a cruise and any tips or tricks I’ve found along the way!
**Note: While many cruise lines offer various “…swim with______,” or other animal interactions, I will be very cautious about discussing these and why in another section of this blog.
Not Everything in Texas is Bigger…
Living in San Antonio and Texas, in general, has exposed me to tons of fun, inexpensive travel ideas which I’ll share with you. We won’t just talk about The Alamo, don’t worry! Oh, and there isn’t a basement under the Alamo… There are TWO!
Traveling Solo as a Woman
While much of my travel was with my husband, I was always the planner. My experiences with budgeting and planning were often for two but the methods don’t change. Most of my traveling around Texas has been done solo. Honestly, even when we traveled together, most of my experiences were also solo. Now I’m going to truly go it alone and go and do whatever I want! Solo travel is awesome!
In the last few years, solo female travel has become easier, friendlier, and safer. More of the travel industry, in general, have discovered we’re a market unto ourselves and we will spend money. This means more of the travel industry is catering to women traveling solo. While you should always exercise caution, solo female travel is not as scary as many people think it is, or it used to be.
There are of course still places I would NOT recommend traveling solo, please always use caution when traveling. You don’t have to be afraid, just be mindful of your surroundings and do your research about wherever you are going.
Budget Conscienceness and Mindfulness
Since I’m not a young thing, I enjoy some niceties. My travels are not about high-end, exclusive travel but getting the most bang for my buck. I’m what’s called a “middle-level traveler.” This means I stay away from lower-budget accommodations such as hostels and try to find the best ways I can to save money doing what I love. Forever Roaming the World explains this type of travel as a set timeframe, short-term budget traveler:
He explains: short-term travelers tend to have a tight grip over their travel fund and extensively plan beforehand so they don’t go over budget by:
- Doing thorough research into their destination
- Make a working plan, and stick to that plan
- Look into discount cards, using points, credit card rewards
- Potentially create itineraries, book activities/excursions/tours in advance
- Work out expenditure
- See how they can cut costs even more
- More likely to do group tours rather than independent travel due to time restrictions
- Have a fairly good idea of how much they will need to cover their trip
