Citizens of the World: A Stoic Podcast for Curious Travelers - How to Find the Cheapest Flights and Travel Deals

Episode Date: October 24, 2017

At 18, Cristal Dyer left Australia on her first solo trip, venturing to South America where she volunteered for a year. Since then, she's become a full-time traveler. She shared her secrets to finding the cheapest flights and other travel deals with the Postcard Academy.    In this episode, you’ll learn how to find and take advantage of error fares (and what these mistake fares actually are); the best sites to find cheap airfare; where to book accommodation to rack up free nights; ideas to find local activities wherever you visit, and more. Cristal also shares some fantastic advice on what to look out for if you want to save money on traveling while giving back through global volunteering.    Links to everything we discussed can be found on postcardacademy.co   If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and forward this episode to a friend.    You can follow Postcard Academy on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.    If you’re feeling especially kind, please leave a review on iTunes. This helps people discover us. 😊Do you ever go blank or start rambling when someone puts you on the spot? I created a free Conversation Cheat Sheet with simple formulas you can use so you can respond with clarity, whether you’re in a meeting or just talking with friends.Download it at sarahmikutel.com/blanknomore and start feeling more confident in your conversations today.

Welcome to the Postcard Academy. Each week on this travel show, I talk to people who've packed up everything to start a new adventure in another part of the world. You'll learn how they did it and get the inside scoop on finding the best food, nightlife, and cultural experiences in the most interesting places around the globe. I'm your host, Sarah Mikital, an American who spent the last seven years living and working abroad in Italy and the UK. This series is meant to help you get the most out of everything. vacation, and to inspire you to pack your bags and set off on the journey of a lifetime. Today I'm speaking to one of my favorite travel experts, Crystal Dyer. When she's not helping brands with their Instagram strategy, she's traveling the world full time. This episode is jam-packed

with excellent advice from Crystal on how to see the world for less money. We cover how to score insanely cheap flights, luxury travel deals, life-changing volunteer opportunities, and so much more. I will link to all of Crystal's suggestions on Postcardacademy.com, so don't worry about writing everything down. All right, let's jump into my conversation with Crystal. So welcome Crystal, my favorite solo traveler, vegetarian Leo. Thank you for coming on the show. Thank you for inviting me, Sarah. Now, you have so many really great travel tips and just ways to travel well but spend less money.

before we jump into that, I would love to hear a little bit more about your travel story. Now you're from the Caribbean. So I guess let's start from the beginning. Okay. So I was born in Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. And my parents decided to move the whole family to Australia when I was about 13. So at that time, we had two other aunts that were living there. So we had a small little family group living in Australia. It was, it was a little bit of an adjustment, but it's where we live in Australia in Brisbane. It has great weather. The winters aren't too cold. So it was a good fit for us. And travel-wise, when I was 18, I decided I wanted to start solo traveling. So I went to South America for a year. And that was

my very first trip. And after that, I just tried to travel as much as I could. And so you just moved to Canada, I believe. Why did you make the move to Canada? Well, I needed a better base for my traveling. Over the last two and a half years, I've been traveling full time, and it's been difficult for me to have all of my stuff with me. So all of my camera equipment, think about winter clothes and summer clothes. So I started off as this great carry-on only traveler, but I've turned into this, you know, I have a giant backpack that I can barely carry. So I wanted to find a base that was easier to get flights from. Toronto was a good option because I have some family here as well. They have relatively okay weather. And it has a

similar culture to Australia. So it sounds like you're on the road a lot, traveling, living the dream. I would love to kick off with some of your top travel tips on flights, specifically error fairs. You recently had a really good blog post on that. What's an error fair? So an error fair is basically a pricing mistake by the airline or sometimes by the travel agency. So it can be computer error, but often it's mostly just human error. So it could just be someone who's forgotten to put a zero in. So instead of a $1,000 flight, it's $100.

So someone, some lucky person will stumble on the fair and they'll share it with the rest of the internet and then we get to take advantage of it. I think sometimes we hear about these mistakes in the media, but like way after the fact when we can take advantage of them. So how can we like clue us in as to how we can take advantage of air affairs? What do we need to do? So I have three rules that I live by with airfare. And I'm a little bit extreme with my flights because I do travel a lot. So I try and take advantage of any sailfares as they come up. And if I I can get an error fare that starts off where I am and going to somewhere that I actually want to go, then I want to make sure that I get on it.

So my three tips are one, set up some sort of alert. So you get notified of the fair as it's happening. Like you mentioned, you might hear about it, you know, three or four days later and by then it's too late. So I suggest a website called Secret Flying or Travel Pirates, and you can set up a notification with them. or on my website on the post that you mentioned, I've detailed how you can be extreme like me

and get an alert through a website called If This, Then That. And you'll basically get notified as soon as they post about the error fare. So within minutes. The second step is to actually know your schedule. So if you're working full-time or part-time, have a good understanding of how you are able to request leave, if it's something that you can be flexible about.

So if you can say to your boss, okay, I need this week specific week, and they're going to be okay with that, or if you can only have leave over a certain period of time. So maybe if you're a teacher, you can only leave over a school break. So understand your schedule. And also, if you have to travel with someone else,

so if you're not into solo traveling, how flexible is your partner schedule or your friend's schedule as well? So can you book on their behalf? Will you feel comfortable doing that? And then the third thing is to not hesitate, air affairs can last i've seen some last for as little as half an hour a recent one that i actually missed out on to peru which i was very upset about because i took too long trying to decide do i want to go i've already been there um so i hesitated and i missed out on it sometimes they can last

longer i've seen some last up to a day there's one on right now and it's going into its sixth hour but um usually it's within an hour okay so don't don't hesitate I love this. I think of it as sort of like travel roulette because there's so many places I want to go to or to return to. Sometimes I feel like travel paralysis. I'm like, where should I go next? And this sort of like forces you to just pick a great place. Yeah, it's true. Like 10 years ago when I started traveling, it was a completely different world. You would have to do so much research and you know, you would have to figure out exactly where you wanted to go and then start looking at flights. But now, Everything's so accessible, you could really just, you know, choose a place, go there and you'll have a great time. And there'll be so much information on the internet that you don't really need to worry about it. Yeah, we're so lucky. Kids these days, they don't know what it's like before traveling with like mobile phones. Let's go book and that's it. So when you're not taking advantage of an error fare, how do you go about finding affordable flights?

So if I know I want to go to a specific place, my go-to websites are Google flights is actually really good, and it's embedded into Google. Sometimes you might see it. You might Google maybe Toronto to New York, and the Google flights app will pop up as part of the search results. Also, I use Momondo and Kiwi.com. So those are three really great search engines just for flights. and they'll give you an idea of how much it can cost you to travel somewhere. Yeah, yeah, I definitely like Google flights. I also check out SkyScanner a lot when I'm traveling around Europe.

Yeah, SkyScan is a good one for Europe. So those are some great websites for flights. When it comes to getting on the ground once you're somewhere, how do you go about finding train travel, bus travel? So once I'm very spontaneous once I get somewhere. I, if I know I need to go somewhere, I love Rome to Rio. Their website and app is really good and it actually gives you a breakdown of how much each specific thing would cost. So like it would say, if you caught a train, it would cost you 100.

If you caught a bus, it might cost you 50. And it also gives you rental car prices. So sometimes I've surprised myself and seen that to rent a car is cheaper than catching public transport. So Rome to Rio is a really good option for you. And then what about accommodation? Because when you talk about surprises like that, I love Airbnb. I usually get an apartment when I travel somewhere. But I realize that actually, hotels are cheaper than Airbnb sometimes depending on where you go. So what are your favorite ways to research accommodation? So yeah, when Airbnb first started, they were always the cheapest option. But I think

they've kind of caught it onto the value that they provide where you, you know, in a hotel you get this small room and, you know, you've got the bathroom and sometimes they have some small kitchen facilities, but that's it. With Airbnb, you can have a whole apartment like you mentioned, and it's so much better value, and that's why they're charging more. But for me, I, TripAdvisor's a big resource of mine. It's old school, but I love it because I love reading reviews and I love being able to understand what I'm getting myself into. So checking both hotels and regular B&Bs and then also comparing it to what I can get as an Airbnb. And what site do usually book through? I don't have a preference. Usually it's just whoever is giving me the cheapest deal, but I do love Expedia because they have a point system. And I've often found myself getting some free nights through them. And also booking.com seems to be often to be the cheapest. And I know that you've stayed in a lot of hostels. You're a big hostile proponent. What advice would you give to somebody who is thinking about a hostel but has never done it? It might be a little bit scared about it.

So with hostels, I'm probably starting to age out of hostels now. I still love them. And my trip to Paris in November is going to be in a hostel. because I think that they can actually give you things at a hotel or an Airbnb can't give you. If you're traveling on your own and you do still want to meet people, hostels are often your best option because they will usually have a common room where everyone gathers, maybe to read a book or to watch movies, and that way you can meet people. Most of the good hostels will have events on, so maybe they'll have a free walking tour, and on that walking tour you can meet other travel. or they'll have a happy hour where they'll put on some drinks for people.

So that sort of stuff you can't really get anywhere else besides a hostel. I've started, I still sleep in dorm sometimes, but another option with a hostel, if you're not completely comfortable with sleeping in a room full of strangers, is to try a private room. So the cost are still a little bit cheaper than staying in a hotel, but then you get the benefits of a hostel. And because I'm going to Paris, I know it's going to be super expensive. so I can save by cooking in the hostel kitchen.

So that's another great reason for staying in a hostel. If you're feeling a little bit anxious about it, I would just say that you, the best thing to do is to research the right hostel for you. So if you know that you like to get up early in the morning and you want to go explore the city, then you should stay away from what's called a party hostel, where they usually have a bar on site. People are going to be up until 2 in the morning. If you are into more, if you're more of an eco person, you want to get more of the vibe from people who are like you and they appreciate more sustainable practices than there's hostels for people like you as well. So people who, they use cleaning products that you care about.

I've even stayed in a vegan hostel where people weren't allowed to bring in any meat. So there's, the important thing is to find the right hostel for you and then you'll feel more comfortable. That is really great advice. How can somebody go about finding out this information? So, Hostile World is a dedicated search engine for finding hostels. That's probably the first place I'd look. They also have a review system that's built in that's actually better than TripAdvisor because you can't review there unless you stayed at the place.

So you know you're getting actual reviews from real people. And there's a few websites that I really love. There's one called The Hostel Girl. And it's another travel blogger, and she just blogs about great hostels that she stays at. And she has really good tips for staying in hostels, how to stay safe, if you're a solo female. So I really love her website. It's very targeted. So you need to want to stay at hostels to read it.

But I definitely recommend checking her out. Okay. Great advice. And I think that there are certain things that you need to pack when you're staying in a hostel as opposed to a hotel. what are some items that you would say don't forget if you're going to go hostile traveling? So my very first thing that I would take is some air plugs. If you're staying in a dorm or even in a private room, and I mentioned that some of them have bars on site, you might need something to block out the noise.

Air plugs are great. I carry air plugs with me everywhere, even on an airplane or wherever I might be if I need to catch some sleep. The second thing would probably be an eye mask. Those are also good. If you're staying in a dorm, there's a general rule that the last person in bed turns the light off unless they have an official lights off policy. And that could be at midnight and maybe you want to go to bed at 9 p.m., which sometimes I feel like doing. Then an eye mask is great because you're just in your own world and it doesn't matter what time they turn the lights off. So those are probably the two biggest suggestions.

Okay. You mentioned that your first solo trip was when you were 18, and I think that was a volunteer trip, which is another great way to see the world in a more affordable way. Could you tell me a little bit more about your volunteer experience? Yeah. So my first experience volunteering abroad was, it was interesting. It was a little bit of a disaster at first. I think in the first two weeks, there were definitely thoughts. that I wanted to go back home or just to leave the place. What happened was I knew I wanted to go to South America, and I thought by volunteering it would be a good opportunity for me to, A, get some embedded friends, so other people were volunteering as well, and more of a support system where I'm located. So, you know, I'm not just going at 18 years old into Ecuador and South America,

and this was 12 years ago. So it was kind of a different place back. then. What happened was I found this place. They had great reviews, but when I got there, I learned that the reviews were all for their branch in Peru, and I had signed up for their branch in Quito, Ecuador, which had only just opened. I was the second volunteer, and when I got to the house, the head volunteer, the only other volunteer, explain the situation to me. We were going to start up the whole organization in Quito. We were sleeping in on mattresses in this floor that had no other furniture. We didn't have a fridge or anything like that. We had to eat out every day.

So the beginning was very hard. My Spanish was very limited. I studied for about two months before I left, which I thought would be sufficient, but I didn't realize that I'd be negotiating with contractors and trying to convince parents to let their kids come to. our school. The concept was us offering an alternative for kids who had to work on the streets, either begging or selling products, and getting them to at least do half a day of school. So we offered half-day program. So they could still get credits so they could graduate, which is great. And I love the work, but it was a lot more work than I signed up for. In the end, I loved it. I made a lot of friends. I did some good, and I learned some crazy Spanish

words that I never would have learned. So it was a good experience. That sounds like a great experience. So from that experience, and I think you've done other volunteering since then, what would you say for people to look out for if they wanted to sign up for volunteering abroad, like signs of a good organization and then maybe some red flags for something that might be a bit more dodgy? So since I've been traveling more and doing more volunteer opportunities, I've realized that a lot of people who haven't traveled as much and maybe are a bit more nervous about going something. were new and also volunteering in that place, they might get marketed to and sold a particular product that we, people in the travel industry consider volunteerism. So it's less you helping someone and more you paying for an experience that you wouldn't usually get. So an example of volunteerism would be in South Africa. I saw a lot of people who had signed up for a volunteer experience where they got to help take care of lion cubs and similar experiences like that.

For me, that's a big red flag. If you're working with any wild animal that you usually wouldn't be able to interact with unless you had some crazy degree or you've worked in the field for a very long time, that's, that's not you helping the animal. That's just you paying to play and pet an animal. So that's a big red flag for me. a positive would be to look for local people who are running the show. So people who come from the community actually know what's best for their people and what their needs are.

So I think I wrote once about, like, if I decided, you know, I've been to Ecuador and I think I know what they need. So I'm going to create this organization to help them. It's probably not going to be the best thing for them. So I always look for, you know, this guy, he's from this neighborhood. and he knows what his people needs. And that's the kind of person that I want to work for and support. And, you know, if I am having to pay any money at all, it should only be for my food and accommodation.

So if it's running into the thousands, that's another red flag that you should be looking out for. Probably a reasonable amount that you should pay is something like 100, maybe 200 a week, depending on where you're volunteering. But nothing more than that. Okay. And so it sounds like the best opportunities or the, the opportunities to do most good is with the grassroots organizations. Yeah, that's right. So

grassroots for me is, again, looking for people who are on the ground rather than through a third party or a middleman who wants to charge you. For things that might seem like they could be a really good benefit and they probably are, but you can also find those things once you get there. So a good example is there's some popular volunteer opportunities that will charge you to $3,000 for two weeks and they'll include insurance and they'll include transportation from the airport to the place that you're living. All of those things, especially if you're volunteering in a cheaper country, which is usually the countries that need the most help, they don't cost that much money. So you don't need to be paying thousands of dollars to help people on the ground. That's why

I think grassroots volunteer opportunities are the best. Are there any specific websites or organizations that you would recommend or have had good experiences with? Yes. So my favorite website is called grassroots volunteering.org. And it's run by a travel blogger. The idea started in about 2008. And she has this great vetting process that she's put in place. things like she won't recommend any opportunities working with kids for less than three months.

Stuff like that, that other organizations would happily encourage you to work in an orphanage for a week, which doesn't really help the kids at all. And a lot of people think it has a negative effect. Another one that I would recommend if you're into sustainable, responsible, eco-type traveling is called greenvolunteers.com. and they just focus on opportunities for people who want to work with the environment or animals in a more responsible way. Those are really great tips, Crystal. Thank you.

What about people who might want to do something a little bit more luxurious, snag a good two weeks of luxury? What websites would you recommend for them? Selloff Vacations.com. They do package deals. and do you know about this one? No, I don't. No?

Yeah, they do package deals and because I found out about it because my family who live here in Canada, they love staying at all-inclusives. And I'm always like, how can you afford it? They're so expensive. But my cousin told me about this website where they even have like last-minute deals. And for people who just want, you know, they want their flights taken care of, their accommodation taken care of, even food and drinks if you stay in an all-inclusive, but they also have regular hotels as well.

And even sometimes they include transport to and from the airport. So that's a really cool website that I just found and I can't wait to book something for it and have a bit of a luxury vacation myself. Very exciting. What's the best travel deal you've snagged? It's probably the one to Paris. So the air affair that I got for Paris in November was for $110 U.S. dollar's return from Toronto to Paris. That's definitely the best deal I've ever found. Do you have a favorite airline?

I like coming from Australia. I really love Qantas for silly reasons. Like they come around and pan out ice creams or they have really great hot chocolate. And they also have a little bar that you can go and serve yourself. And I just love free things. So, you know, I'll get up in the middle of flying and just go and help myself to cookies. And that's why I love them. They have great service as well.

But it might be a silly reason to love it. airline, but Qantas is pretty great. No, it's really, it's the little things, I think, that when people over, there used to be an airline, maybe it was called Midwestern Airline, I think it's since become frontier, but they used to give baked

cookies toward the end of the flight. And people would fly with them just so they could get a cookie, it just seems crazy because, you know, you can get a cookie anywhere, but it's just that special, that extra special treat. Yeah, they're taking care of you. Yeah, I would say my

favorite right now is Norwegian. I flew from Scotland this summer to Providence, Rhode Island, which is near where my parents live. And I think one way it was $199 or something like that. Yeah. So there are some deals still to be had. And they treat you well as well. I think I was really surprised there's like in-flight entertainment and you can buy food if you want to. So yeah, that's my recommendation. Thank you. What other travel hacks do you have? Travel hacks. Okay, so my favorite tip is to consider traveling in the shoulder season.

So usually with most locations, they'll have high season and they'll have a low season. And then there's this little non-season called the shoulder season, which is in between those two seasons. So usually it's May and November are considered the shoulder seasons. But different destinations will have their own special shoulder seasons depending on the weather and when most people go there. So, for example, I know in Costa Rica, there's seasons just for going to see turtles. So if you want to see the turtles hatching or the turtles pop it out of the ground, then they have their own special seasons as well. So shoulder season, like for example, the trip I have in Paris in November, that's considered a shoulder season because summer, over, the beautiful fall weather is kind of, you know, disintegrating and it's starting to get

cold, but it's not their high season of Christmas yet. So when people are going to the Christmas markets and they want to, you know, experience snow and a white Christmas. But in November, it's still, it's not that cold yet. And the Christmas markets actually start mid-November. So you get to go to the Christmas markets without all of the crowds. in the markets. You can also, if you plan it well enough, you can go and see the sites that are more indoor. So Paris is chock full of museums and that's going to be my itinerary when I'm there. So the cold isn't really going to affect me too much. But the prices of the accommodation are about a third cheaper in the shoulder season. So you get the advantage of less crowds and cheaper

accommodation. That is really great advice and really good to know about the Christmas markets. as well. I think like similarly to October Fest in Germany, people think it's all in October, but the bulk of it is in September. So I think it pays to like figure out what's going on when. How do you do your research when you find it, to find activities or what you wanted you once you get somewhere? So usually I will, I guess another kind of little travel hack that I have is I would try and consider alternative activity. So are there things that I can do that are not going to cost me as much as the big ticket item? So a good one in New York is I know that the Met has a suggested admission price

and people don't realize that you can actually get in for just a dollar. So the minimum of admission is a dollar. And that's what I pay every time I go there. I'm like not ashamed at all. Here's your dollar. I'm going to visit your museum. But most people will just pay the suggested donation price. So if you do a little bit of research, you can find out some of those awesome experiences that you can have for a cheaper price. I guess a lot of people would know that you can visit some museums in particular cities on certain dates throughout the month. So maybe the first Sunday of the month it's free, stuff like that. So when I'm going, I try and plan around what are the best experiences that I can have but for a lower price.

And do you use TripAdvisor for that as well to figure out what a city offers? TripAdvisor is good, but I like to try and get more advice from local. So I will read travel blogs, which are always a good resource, because you know that they're probably more current as well. So guidebooks are so 10 years ago. Now people are reading travel blogs because I can read what you did yesterday. where you were, and I know that the information is super current. Another good option is Facebook groups for expats. So I'm not afraid to sign up for a Facebook group. So for example, I volunteered once last year in Wahaka, Mexico, and I knew I was looking for a grassroots opportunity. So I jumped

into the expats from Mexico Facebook group, and I was like, hey guys, come in a visit. Do you guys know of any opportunities. And I would do a similar thing if I want to find out what's happening in that area. So, you know, do you know of any cool local opportunities, maybe some little festivals that they wouldn't have posted on the big tourism websites, stuff like that? I think that's a great way to meet people too, if you want to meet people once you're on the ground is meet up with the expats that are already living there. Do you ever do that? Yeah, I love meeting other expats because they have a unique perspective on where they're living. They haven't lived there their whole lives and things that maybe someone who was born somewhere would take for granted.

So they wouldn't automatically think, oh, this is an awesome thing that you would care about. But an expat, maybe they've only been living there for a few years and they have a fresh take on it. Another good option to meet locals since you mentioned it is I actually like using Tinder. When I travel somewhere new, I put in my bio, I'm very clear, I just say, I'm visiting. I'm not looking for any romantic relationships, but I would love to meet people and see the city through your eyes. I put something like that. And it's a great way for me to meet people.

I guess it's usually guys, but they are often very keen to show me around and I get to see places that most people wouldn't get to see. That is a really great tip that I think most people probably wouldn't. no one ever taken advantage of in that way. So it's good to hear that you have had success trying that out. I have a few more final, like a fire round of some final travel tips that I'd love to ask you, Crystal. Some things that are important that I think a lot of people forget about when they're planning big trips. So number one, what do you do for travel insurance?

I use world nomads. They are very flexible. So I'm always in and out. I don't know where I'm going to be. But with world novads, I can kind of just start a policy and a policy as I need to. So they're super flexible. Cell phone plan. Do you have one that you always use that gives you international flexibility?

I tend to buy local SIM cards when I travel. So again, I'll research what are the best options. Sometimes it's harder than others. Some countries are harder than other countries. some countries are ridiculously expensive. Canada is a good example. I'm paying about $50 a month for two gigabytes. But some places are super cheap,

and I often find it's the best option to get a local SIM card. It's easier, and I don't have to figure out, will this work in this place? And I just know it will work, and I'll be able to be contacted. What are your top three travel apps that you couldn't live without? So my favorite is I couldn't live without my favorite is I couldn't live without my currency converter. I guess it's just when you're traveling to so many different places, it's hard for you to just be like, okay, this is one for $5 or whatever. But with my currency

converter, I can just quickly go, how much is this? Because I'm never going to remember. I love WhatsApp. It's a good way to stay in touch with new people that you meet around the world and without having to give out your Facebook details, especially if you're not a big fan of Facebook. And Google Maps is my 100% go-to. I guess I'm probably too addicted to it and I don't get lost enough, but I love that you can download the maps offline and it gives you directions. So they've gotten a lot better than they used to be. Yeah, that's actually the reason I bought a smartphone to begin with. I think I was, I held off as long as I could because I knew I would become addicted as soon as I got it. But yeah, that was eventually the time.

tipping point for me. I love Google Maps. Do you know what? It's like, it's crazy. I remember I was in the Dominican Republic a couple years ago. And in the DR, the public transport is not the best and you usually have to take a motorcycle taxi. So I remember one time I was getting from, I was visiting somewhere. And I took this motorcycle taxi, told him where I was going, he's like, okay, that's fine. And halfway there, he's like, I don't really know where I'm going. And I pulled out my phone, put in the address. And I was directing this local from the DR on Google Maps. It's just, it's such a crazy world to me. That is a crazy world. I'm glad it worked out. But I think it can increase your comfort level with this city. I confess that I love Paris, but it used to intimidate me a lot,

like less so, the more I go. But I think having the mapping function give me a lot more comfort where I knew where I was going. I didn't have to awkwardly ask somebody for directions and get nervous about my English or lack of French. So it's been for me, it's definitely opened things up for me. Yeah, and you can still get lost, but, you know, when you're ready to be found, just use Google Maps. Yes, yes, exactly. Well put. How do you entertain yourself on a long plane ride or bus ride?

So I actually love podcasts. I consume maybe about, oh God, like 10 hours of podcasts a week. They're really good for entertainment and also you can learn stuff from it. One of my favorite podcasts is called Science Verses. And they're just such a great way to keep entertained when in an otherwise terribly boring situation. And also I read a lot of books. So I have a Kindle now. I used to try. with books, but eventually I had to go to a Kindle because it just didn't make sense. I currently have maybe about 300 books on there, and I know I'll never run out of a book. Same, same. I used to love paper and say I would never give it up, but it doesn't make any sense when you're traveling around or moving to different countries a lot. Now, we can, yeah, we can carry a library with us everywhere. Yeah, it's crazy how many books we used to have to carry. And, and, And I remember having to rely on book exchanges. Do you remember book exchanges?

Is that like take a book, leave a book when you're in an hostel or some other place? And you'd always end up with just terrible, trashy romance novel. There was never anything good in them. Still a beautiful idea, though. Still a beautiful idea. And also, if you're riding around on the subway, I guess it is nice to like see somebody's book cover and open up a conversation that way. Like, oh, I love that book. Yeah.

I read that book. but for logistics, yes, e-books make a lot more sense. Yeah, someone should invent one where you can have the cover rebook on the back, maybe something like that. I agree. So then we can still be nosy and start up conversations. Yes, unless you don't want someone to see what you're reading. Options, you need options.

Yes, I agree. So you're a vegetarian. I love this because I don't meet that many vegetarian travelers. I would love to hear some of your travel advice. Have you come across like a resort or something that caters specifically to vegetarians? So I, okay, so my favorite country for vegetarians is Mexico. It's really easy to eat there. As long as you eat cheese, you'll be 100% fine.

Food is delicious and I eat so well when I'm in Mexico. I always put on weight when I get back. There's this resort that my sister actually got married at in Mexico called Sandos Eco Resort on the Mayan Riviera. And they have a vegan restaurant in their resort. So when we heard about that, and my sister was getting married. So we contacted them and said, you know, will the vegan chef be able to cater the wedding? And so that was a really, really awesome opportunity for us to have like a full vegan wedding in Mexico. she'd never thought she would get something like that.

That really surprises me because when I think of Mexico, I think of a lot of meat. What are some of your favorite dishes? So there's this dish called, it's like a soup called Pazole, and it can have meat in it, but it's really easy to make it vegetarian. And it's great. It's very nutritious because it comes with like their big chunky corn.

And lots and lots of vegetables. It's really yummy. Otherwise, getting things like casadillas on the streets. There's a dish called torta, which is basically just a sandwich, and you can get lots of different toppings on it. So in Mexico, they have different types of cheese that's specific to each different state. In Wahaka, they have Wahaka cheese, which is really famous. And every time I go there, I'm just consuming too much, too much Wahaka cheese.

But yeah, if you're into cheese, Mexico is a good. option. If you're fully vegan, probably not so much. It'll be a little bit more difficult. Well, that sounds delicious. Have you kept up your Spanish? Yes, I try and go back to a Spanish-speaking place at least once a year. And one of the podcasts I listen to is in Spanish. I don't understand everything that's going on. But yeah, I try and keep up with it. It's a good, I guess it's a good skill, you know, when you learn something, you don't want to let it go. Definitely. Yeah, I do the same with Italian. I like to watch. TV shows in Italian and keep things up that way. And then of course, travel to Italy as often as I can.

Italy is one of my dreams. I think I would just eat every. My vacation will revolve around eating. Have you been to Italy? Not yet. Crystal, we're going. We are going. I'm going to show you around. I want pizza. I want ice cream. I want everything. I will take you to the best places. It's really hard to go wrong. Honestly, you can put solo travel on hold for a second and I'll show you around. Okay, we'll just look out for some good cheap airfares. Yes. Speaking of solo travel, what's like your top resource for solo travelers? So I guess I've I've panpicked a few bloggers that I like who are also solo travelers and I find them inspirational. I know that I've been traveling for 12 years. I kind of, I have, I have

the hang of it, but there are still some countries that I was nervous about visiting. So I went to India this year and I was terrified because they don't have the best press for solo females. And I read a lot of blogs about other women who had been there by themselves and it gave me a lot more confidence. So I think travel blog is a really good way to go, finding the people who speak to you and seeking them for advice. And bloggers are just regular people, we're regular people. So they're always willing to have a conversation about certain places and give you advice. Another great resource that specifically for solo travelers is called Solo Traveler Solo Travel World. And it's a website just dedicated to Solo Travel.

They also post really good deals for solo travelers if you want to take tours, which I really love because I haven't really done a tour before, but I know that sometimes you get charged a supplement. if you want to go on the tour by yourself. So they post and work with tour companies now to actually find great deals for people who are traveling by themselves. So you don't have to pay more. So that's a great resource. That is a really great tip. Well, thank you for sharing all of these ideas.

This is such a great resource. I will be linking to all of your suggestions on the blog. I'll be pointing back to your blog, Tofu Traveler. really great read. Where can people find out more about you? So you can check out my website. That's where I try and post all of my good travel advice that I have in my head. It's tofu traveler.com.

And I also am on my Instagram a lot. I post some of my best pictures on my Instagram, but probably my favorite thing to do now is use Instagram stories like crazy. So I try and show my followers about the place that I'm in because even though like right now I'm just, I'm pet sitting in this small suburb in Toronto. There's nothing fun around me, but I love kind of showing the neighborhood because it could be different for someone who lives in Norway. I'm in Toronto there in Norway, two totally different things. And I try and highlight more behind the scene stuff. So, you know, this is what a hostel is like. I'm in Paris. I'll be showing, you know, this is the hostel of I'm staying in. This is what it's like.

These are the people that you might meet. I do many interviews with people. So I love Instagram stories. So that's a definitely great place to follow me on. And I'm one of your followers. And yes, I can agree. I love your stories. They're so in depth. I really like the detail that you put into all of your posts and the history that you give. So definitely follow Crystal. What else is keeping you busy in Canada before we go? So right now I'm kind of in a bit of a just a hiatus period so I don't have any travels plan for the next six weeks. So I'm busy working on my website. I'm doing some freelance stuff and I'm working with a few brands to help them build up

their Instagram pages as well. So I'm just busy working. Nothing super fun. But it's really important for me to do this stuff now so that when I am actually traveling, I don't have to be super stressed about it. Right, so you take on clients during your off time, and then when you're traveling, you can really be in it. Yeah, exactly. Okay, excellent.

Well, thank you again, Crystal. Thank you for having me. What a fantastic conversation. You'll find a blog post with all these great tips to save money while seeing more of the world at postcardacademy.com. I've also linked to Crystal's website and Instagram account, so definitely follow her. On next week's episode, I am so excited to talk to Katie. Carla, author of one of my favorite cookbooks tasting Rome, which is a really nice forward by Mario Vitale.

Katie is an American who's lived in Rome since 2003. She writes about food and drink for the New York Times, food and wine, many other great publications. She was a consultant on season two of Netflix's Master of Nun when they were filming in Italy. She gives these amazing culinary tours. She has so many cool things going on, so I'm really happy I got the chance to speak with her. So if you like Italian food and want to be in the know of the best places to eat and drink in Rome, subscribe to this podcast.

You can catch everything on next week's episode. If you like this week's episode, please consider giving it a nice little review on iTunes. This will help people discover the show. All right. Thank you so much for listening. Talk to you soon and have a beautiful week wherever you are. Do you ever go blank or start rambling when someone puts you on the spot? I created a free conversation sheet sheet with simple formulas that you can use so you can respond.

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