A Winding Road...

As detailed in a previous post, I need to save/raise $267/month for 18 months to be able to go to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup.

1. Decrease my debt repayments. A wise student leader once told me a budget is a reflection of priorities. This Brazil trip is theonlything I want more than paying off my student loans as quickly as humanly possible. So I’ll be taking some of those funds and putting it toward Brazil.
2. Create 1 or more Brazil accounts. My current method of “saving” is a bit sneaky. Instead of putting it in a separate account, I just don’t touch the money… It’s more like a self-imposed overdraft protection really. That’s not good enough anymore. To make sure my Brazil funds never work their way back into my cash flow, I’ll be depositing the money in two TFSAs.
3. Put away the credit cards for real. I’ve paid off my credit cards several times but somehow always get sucked back into using them. Not this year.
4. Put all other discretionary spending in perspective. I’m not going to promise to only buy the bare essentials but I’ll really think twice about how I spent my extra cash. Do Ireallyneed that cute dress? Or would I rather spend that money in Rio? 

That’s all I have so far. Not hard at all to be honest! What do you do to save for big goals?

The people who know me know I’m a compulsive budgeter. I’m terrified of debt so I review my finances about twice a week. So obviously the first thing that I wanted to nail down is roughly how much I can expect to spend on this trip to Brazil in 2014.

Travel: My planned itinerary is Toronto to Sao Paulo to Brasilia to Rio to Toronto in 3 weeks. It’s very difficult to get ticket prices so far in advances but based on 2013 prices and factoring price hikes in anticipation of the World Cup, I’m budgeting $2500 for flights. *cries*

Accommodations: This is another biggie. I want to look into vacation rentals—they’d be cheaper than hotels but not as sketchy as hostels… I think? A quick Google search tells me the norm is about $70/night but it could be more by 2014. I’m looking at at least $1400. *cries some more*

Public transportation: I plan to walk as much as I can to explore the cities but since they’re HUGE I’m sure I’ll have to hop on a bus/train/cab once in a while. I don’t plan to spend more than $100 though.

Food: I plan to save money by doing groceries (if my accommodations allow it) and taking full advantage of local street food. I don’t plan to spend more than $300.

Miscellaneous: This is my catch all category for discretionary and emergency funding. Since I plan to do as much as I can for free/cheap I’m only budgeting $300 here.

Paperwork: Canadians travelling to Brazil need a tourist visa. The Brazilian consulate’s website says it’ll cost a little over $106 but with other random paperwork that’s sure to be require and costs of getting pictures etc, I’m planning to spend $200.

ESTIMATED COST: $4800

I have roughly 18 months to raise that money. That’s about $267/month. Let the penny-pinching commence!

Lately my Tumblr has been full of reblogged posts. Mostly gifs related to various TV shows and movies. That’s fine with me since I like TV and I like movies. But the reason I started this blog in the first place was to share my travel stories and photos. Obviously when I stopped travelling the blog kind of… stagnated.

Well that might change. I’ve been dreaming of going to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil since the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Today I am officially making it New Year’s Resolution!

It could be fun to chronicle the work and research it takes for me to plan this trip, so here goes!

(Source: aseaofquotes, via karma-is-blind)

Title: The No-Nonsense Guide to Tourism

Author: Pamela Nowicka

Genre: Guide

Length: 144 pages

First line of the book: “Being a tourist is easy but tourism is complex.”

Summary: [From back cover] Pamela Nowicka explores the third biggest industry in the world (after oil and narcotics). Taking the reader on a trip through the early days of travel, up to the first package tours and today’s mass tourism, she argues that we in the West could help more by travelling less and being more aware and discerning when we do travel. This compelling and fascinating book will show you the hidden impacts of tourism.

How you found the book: Bought it at the Between the Lines booth at Word on the Street Toronto.

Opinion: Overall I think this is a good book. It feature a lot of graphs and sidebars that explain her points in further detail or demonstrate them by use of anecdotes. I do feel that the rhetoric gets a bit repetitive, especially since I studied this topic before. However it is indeed a great guide.

Recommend? If you have never read analysis about the harmful impact of tourism, then yes, I absolutely recommend this book. If you are already familiar with the subject, I suggest you skip to chapter 7 which provides practical tips on how you can make a difference. 

sillymonkey:

Girasoles on Flickr.

La foto del dia…
Ciudad de México

(via backpackforever)

Home. Toronto from the sky. :)

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Mission San Luis, Tallahassee. Paintings by Edward Jonas

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Mission San Luis, Tallahassee. This historic site recounts the lives of the Apalachee who lived in this area of Florida, the Spanish conquerors and missionaries who destroyed their way of life, and the English conquerors who drove them off their land. 

Top: The carved doors
Left: Introductory Info board
Centre: St. Francisco Solano, Virgin Mary with Christ Child, St. Anthony of Padua with Christ Child
Right: St. Anthony of Padua with Christ Child, Colombian Bust fragment 

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Super Perros, Tallahassee. I have to admit I was a bit skeptical at first. The restaurant is all by its lonesome in a shack looking building. But I was hungry and my friends had heard good things about it so I agreed! It was so good! The decor celebrated all things Colombian, the TVs were showing highlights from Copa America, and the wait staff - er, uh I mean the food! The food was yummy ;)

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