Springtime in the Western United States generally means snow melt and a lot of muddy conditions. It may seem like an odd time to visit a mountain town... but it's just the opposite for the …
May 20, 2018
Travel on the Cheap
Travel on the Cheap
Springtime Mammoth Lakes: a travel guide
Sithonia: the Baja of the Balkans
Freedom. The first time I drove from San Diego down to Baja for a few days, I was 18 years old. One might think that the excitement and joy of crossing the border had something …
May 24, 2016
Mexico City: beyond the border and beaches
San Diego is unique in that just minutes away, literally, is an entire other country. The contrast is stark: neighboring Tijuana isn't the most beautiful and prosperous city, and contrasts greatly with a city like …
May 15, 2016
Unexpected Budapest
The two cities of Buda and Pest once stared each other down with nothing but the Danube separating them. But in 1873, they merged to form Budapest after the Chain Bridge opened as the first …
December 28, 2015
A glimpse of old Burma on Yangon's Circle Train
Nyein Sanda works in an office not much larger than a closet in the central train station in Yangon, Myanmar. His ticket booth on platform 7 hosts a constant stream of tourists looking to ride …
August 22, 2015
Cheap fun in artsy L.A.
Zip, chug, or plod your way up the 405 for a long weekend clustered around LACMA, the Los Angeles Museum of Art. Friday Sneak out of work early on a Friday, or take the day …
April 30, 2015
Norway on the cheap (it's possible)
I’ll be honest. We visited 131 countries before finally summoning the courage to travel to Norway. No, we weren’t worried about crime, political instability, or unhealthy conditions. In fact, there's almost a complete absence of …
November 18, 2014
Berlin in 7 Days or Less
I knew Berlin was a big city, but I never knew how big until I explored it on foot. I had seven days to see the major and not-so-major sites. Since the fall of its …
September 4, 2014
Sixty miles to El Capitan Reservoir and back
I recently had a nice, cool day off for a leisurely and minimally hilly bike ride that doesn't involve the super-flat Mission Bay or San Diego Bay. Where else to go but to follow the …
June 19, 2014
Granada, Nicaragua: Central America on the cheap
Nicaragua may be one of the continent's last untarnished jewels that hasn't been flooded with foreign tourism. Lying just to the north of Costa Rica, it can be managed on an extremely low budget. Getting …
April 22, 2014
Budget-friendly Sofia, Bulgaria
Most travelers are unaware that Bulgaria is one of the best travel values in Europe and its capital, Sofia, is one of the cheapest cities to visit. The country has more green space than most …
October 7, 2013