travel - Surviving and Thriving

Phoenix when it sizzles.

February 19, 2015 by Donna Freedman

That’s not right now, thank goodness. Current temps are in the mid-70s and the sun is benevolent rather than punishing. Flowers are blooming and the sky is blue and generally cloudless.

The grass is actually alive, vs. brown and spotted with swatches of gray snow mold (which is what we’ll see in Anchorage once our disappointing snowfall melts away).

Come March or April the Phoenix metro area will turn into Satan’s Fry Daddy and continue to sizzle until autumn. I expect those nice green lawns will sunburn themselves into dormancy pretty quickly. For the moment, however, I understand why so many people want to visit the place in the winter.

Walking around in shirtsleeves, not worrying about slipping on ice, feeling a breeze that doesn’t have teeth in it – I so wish that DF were here to enjoy it with me. Maybe when we retire we’ll become like so many other Alaska snowbirds and escape the Last Frontier for a month or so each winter. (No longer than that, probably, since he likes to ski.)

Phoenix meet-up: Be there!

February 5, 2015 by Donna Freedman

Bloggers and readers in the Phoenix area: Wanna talk about money, midlife, millennials or ‘most anything else? Hope you can attend a meet-up on Saturday, Feb. 21.

The do will be hosted by me and my daughter, who blogs at I Pick Up Pennies. When I say “hosted,” what I mean is that we’ll be there and we’ll save you some seats.

Phoenix, spam and an Amazon gift card.

January 29, 2015 by Donna Freedman

I’m going to be in Phoenix for about a week starting midday Feb. 16. Although my daughter and I have several jaunts planned, we’re also interested in having a blogger and/or reader meet-up.

Anybody interested?

It would almost certainly take place after the workday ends at 5 p.m. or so, although we’d certain push it further if other folks work later. We know that several other PF bloggers live in Phoenix, but are there other writers, too? And would readers be interested in hanging out with us?

How frugalists do Manhattan.

March 22, 2015November 9, 2014 by Donna Freedman

I saw “The Book of Mormon” from a front-row seat on Broadway for $32. No, a number is not missing from either the beginning or the end of that figure.

My name finally got drawn in the daily ticket lottery. I’ve entered the drawing every day during every trip to New York for the past few years, never dreaming that I’d actually have a shot.

The guy sitting behind me said he’d paid $500 for his seat. That’s my rent, dude. No way am I paying that much for a show, no matter how acclaimed. I still can’t believe I paid so little, but the accompanying photo proves that I did indeed shell out just $32 for seat A-105. The Lottery Dude also handed each winner a cool “I won ‘The Book of Mormon’ lottery!” badge as a souvenir.

But that was just one way I saved money on this trip.

Two Phoenix meet-ups: Nov. 9 and Nov. 12.

November 8, 2014 by Donna Freedman

It’s been a successful vacation so far, i.e., I completely lost track of time. While I had every intention of posting a potential Phoenix meet-up, I started relaxing instead.

Now it’s Saturday evening already and I should have given people more time to see if they could fit this into their schedules. That’s why I’m proposing two meet ‘n’ greets.

If you’re interested in saying hello in person — and, more to the point, maybe meeting like-minded frugalists in your town — then I’d love it if you could make it to either of these:

Talkeetna in December: Join us!

December 21, 2014November 2, 2014 by Donna Freedman

Once again the Talkeetna Bachelors Auction and Wilderness Woman Competition is approaching — and once again, Linda B. and I have rented the entire top floor of the Latitude 62 hotel and restaurant.

We’re lining up some other wild wimmen to accompany us, but there’s always room for a few more. Why not make this the year that you throw caution (and possibly good sense) to the winds and join us?

The actual event is Saturday, Dec. 6, but we always go up on Friday afternoon. This year the bachelors of Talkeetna have an actual theme for the party, along the lines of the Roaring ’20s/Great Gatsby/Talkeetna Speakeasy. “We haven’t settled on a title, but you get the idea,” said my e-mailed invitation.

“Dress the part if you’d like, or come as you are. We will take your donation no matter what you’re wearing.”

Traveling for Thanksgiving? You need this bag.

October 30, 2014October 30, 2014 by Donna Freedman

Heading to your family of origin for turkey day? Or going somewhere as un-familial as possible?

Either way, it’s irritating to have spend big bucks for teeny-tiny toiletries in order to satisfy the Transportation Security Administration.

Thus I’m offering yet another TSA-friendly travel kit, in plenty of time to receive it before your long Thanksgiving weekend trip with a carry-on bag.

A misstep in Manhattan.

October 20, 2014 by Donna Freedman

The good news: I was reminded how nice New Yorkers can be. The bad news: I had to take a monumental fall near 31st and 7th to rediscover this.

I mean a full-tilt, face-down, wind-knocked-out-of-me fall. Damn curbs.

The first-class stinkeye.

February 24, 2015September 24, 2014 by Donna Freedman

I never expected to eat a delicious meal on an airplane. Frankly, I never expect to have a reasonably edible meal on a plane – that’s why I bring my own food.

But flying back from the Financial Blogger Conference I was given a chance to eat celeriac puree for the first time, along with beef short rib bordelaise and green beans.

These things were prefaced by an appetizer salad: a few strips of hot-smoked salmon, a small pile of chopped cucumber and tomato, a few fancy salad greens and a dab of dill crème frache. Oh, and a pecan tart for dessert.

Celeriac puree is pretty tasty, and the appetizer salad was so good that I wanted it to be the entrée. In fact, the foods almost made up for getting the first-class stinkeye. Almost.

On the road to nowhere in particular.

December 21, 2014September 15, 2014 by Donna Freedman

Last week DF and I took a four-day driving trip around rural Alaska, aka “1,200 miles’ worth of postcard views.”

Now that summer is pretty much gone, we decided to treat ourselves to the sights of our too-brief autumn. While we don’t have the scarlets and oranges of New England, the changing colors were still pretty heart-stopping.

Brilliant yellow birch and rich gold willows glimpsed against backdrops of spruce so dark they looked black. Here and there some in-between leaves that gleamed chartreuse in the nearly nonstop sun.

Splashes of red fireweed and redder berry bushes alongside the highway and also carpeting the hillsides. Mountains festooned with blindingly white new snow as well as the more somber ivory of alpine glaciers.

September is a well-kept secret in southcentral Alaska. Most of the tourists have gone home, although we did see some at Denali National Park. Buttoned up to their necks, they were, and seeming disappointed that they didn’t get to see all of Mt. McKinley (which we call “Denali” or just “The Mountain”) due to partly cloudy skies.

At least they got to see the first 10,000 feet of it. Denali is like a stripper who generally doesn’t show you all the good stuff at the same time.