The Travel Sista has been to: Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Cuba, France, Ghana, Italy, Jamaica, Lesotho, Mexico, Namibia, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Swaziland, Turks and Caicos Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, United Arab Emirates, United States, Vatican, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Considering that there are 196 countries in the world (that number is disputed largely due to political reasons), I’ve only covered about 11% of the globe. But I feel extremely blessed for the opportunity and the amazing experiences I’ve had in each country I’ve visited thus far. As Edith Wharton once said, “one of the great things about travel is that you find out how many good, kind people there are.”

Looking at my travel map, I definitely need to explore more of South America, Asia and Africa. I’ll be visiting several new African countries this year. I think 2017 will be my year to go on a tour of Southeast Asia and see more of the Middle East. In the meantime, I look forward to plowing down more things on my bucket list and reaching my 6th continent this year – Australia.

So, what’s your number? Please list your countries below or share your travel map.
Get your own travel map from Matador Network. It’s easy and fun.

The post How to Map the Countries You’ve Visited first appeared on The Travel Sista.

1.  Mighty Travels – Blog post about extra-cheap Round-the-World tickets.  **Check fares ASAP as these are sure to sell out quickly.

2.  Flight Club – Blog post about cheap inter-country flights in Asia.  **Check fares ASAP as these are sure to sell out quickly.

3.  Tatenanje.com – List of affordable housing options around the globe

BONUS:

4.  Business Insider – Blog post about one couple earning money while traveling the world

If you luck up on any of these deals, please share below.

The post Happy Thanksgiving first appeared on The Travel Sista.

1.  Make Travel a Priority
We find a way to do things that are important to us. Travel is no exception. By making travel a priority, you’ll eliminate many of the common excuses which prevent you from hitting the road (i.e., travel is too expensive, I don’t know where to go, I don’t have time, etc). The Dalai Lama said it best – “Once a year, go some place you’ve never been before.”

The first step is choosing your travel destination. Tripadvisor.com is an excellent source for researching travel locales. It has a wealth of information about accommodations and things to do, and there are forums where travelers can ask questions, share tips, and give trip reports. Travel blogs are another good source of information; a basic Google search will reveal tons of them.  Once you’ve chosen a destination, investigate airfares, lodging, transportation, and other expenses. Total these costs, make a budget, and determine how much you need to save each month to reach your goal. Then create a travel fund and pay yourself first before paying other non-essential expenses.  This may require some sacrifice and self-discipline, but it will be worth it in the end.

3.  Use Credit Cards to earn Airline Miles and other Travel Rewards
Get a credit card (or two) that accrues airline miles, hotel points, or other travel rewards and use it for everything — groceries, utilities, and other daily expenses. The proviso, of course, is don’t spend more than you can afford to pay off each month. Frequent flyer miles and hotel points quickly accumulate and can be used for free airline tickets or hotel stays.  I recently flew to South Africa for free using miles accumulated over the course of several years, so it can be done (ticket value was $1,500).

The best credit card deals offer sign-up bonuses of 25,000 miles or more, enough for a free domestic ticket. Good options include: Barclays Arrival World Mastercard, American Express Premier Rewards Gold, Chase Sapphire Preferred, and Capital One Venture Rewards. Some cards offer the added bonus of no foreign transaction fees, which will save you a lot of money on international trips. If you have credit challenges or prefer not to use credit cards, Suntrust Bank offers Delta Airlines-affiliated personal and business debit cards (linked to a checking account) which earn miles for signature-based and PIN purchases. They include a 5,000 mile sign up bonus after your first purchase. However, they also require a minimum balance to avoid monthly service fees, so they may not be a good deal for everyone.

4.  Regularly Visit Travel Websites and Be Flexible on Dates and Locales
The internet has made it easy for anyone to research and book personal travel. If you’re flexible on dates and locations, you can find the best deals. Some of my favorite travel sites, like Travelzoo and AirfareWatchdog,  post weekly deals and send alerts for special fares; sign up to receive emails. Farecompare shows the top airfare deals from your closest airport. Kayak allows you to view the daily airfares for a destination, so you can select the cheapest days to travel (usually Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but not always). I like Skyscanner for international flights because it shows more domestic and international airlines. For hotel deals, I like Hotwire.com, Hotels.com and Venere.com (but you won’t accrue points for rooms booked on these sites, so you have to balance that against the cost savings).

5.  Use Alternative Travel Accommodations
My favorite travel accommodations are vacation rentals. You can find anything from basic rental apartments to luxury homes and vacation villas. In most cases, they’re cheaper than hotels and provide much more space. They have kitchen facilities, which allow you to cook and save on some meal costs, and many have pools and other amenities. They’re great for group or family trips. Unlike hotels, you’ll usually pay a non-refundable cleaning fee and a security deposit, which is fully refundable if there are no damages to the property. The best sites for finding vacation rentals are VRBO, Homeaway, Flipkey, and Airbnb.

Bed and Breakfasts, also known as B & B’s, are private homes or inns with rooms for overnight guests. Run by on-site owners or managers, the accommodations include breakfast in a common dining area. Bathroom facilities can be shared or en suite, depending on the property. This a great option for solo or adventurous travelers. You’ll meet other travelers (often from around the world) and the owner will be a good source of info about the local area and activities.

If you’re on a very tight budget and willing to stay in a stranger’s home, you can find free accommodations in every country on Couchsurfing.com. Couchsurfing is an online community of 7 million members who share their lives and homes for free with people from around the globe. It’s a cultural exchange of sorts, and setting up a profile is free and easy. Active users with referrals from other members will have the most success in finding a host. Even if you don’t use Couchsurfing for lodging, it’s still a good place to connect with and meet new friends in your home city or when you travel. Many cities have weekly language exchanges, parties, dinners and other activities.

Do you have some travel tips not listed here? Please add them below.

The post How You Can Afford to Travel the World first appeared on The Travel Sista.

1.  “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine

2.  “We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharial Nehru

3.  “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” – Lao Tzu

4.  “There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage like the beginning of it.” Charles Dudley Warner

5.  “Once a year, go some place you’ve never been before.” Dalai Lama

6.  “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

7.  “Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard

8.  “Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” – Pat Conroy

9.  “Travel has a way of stretching the mind. The stretch comes not from travel’s immediate rewards, the inevitable myriad new sights, smells and sounds, but with experiencing firsthand how others do differently what we believed to be the right and only way.” – Ralph Crawshaw

10.  “To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” – Aldous Huxley

11.  “When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.” – Clifton Fadiman

12.  “If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” – James Michener

13.  “Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” – Scott Cameron

14.  “If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears.” – Cesare Pavese

15.  “Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” – Maya Angelou

16.  “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”– Mark Twain

17.  “There is no happiness for the person who does not travel. For Indra is the friend of the traveler, therefore wander!” – Brähmann

18.  “One of the great things about travel is that you find out how many good, kind people there are.” — Edith Wharton

19.  “We must go beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey.” – John Hope Franklin

20. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

BONUS:  “No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” – Lin Yutang

Which travel quote is your favorite?  Why?  Leave your comment below

The post My Top 20 Inspiring Travel Quotes first appeared on The Travel Sista.

My mantra is “Have Passport, Will Travel.” My current life mission is to visit every continent and as many countries as I possibly can.  Along the way, I hope to connect and share with women across the diaspora.  Come join me on my journey. Enjoy!  TTS

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

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