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Dottie tries to stowaway {from Author’s Personal Collection}

We are the owners of a large dog. Dottie is 70lbs to be exact. There are many restrictions for flying with large dogs, such as they are only flown when the outside temperatures are between 45 degrees and 85 degrees. When they are flown, they are placed in the cargo hold with the luggage. It’s a special section of the cargo hold, but it’s the cargo hold nonetheless. The thought of her being handled like luggage doesn’t sit well with us. So, we have been kenneling her or leaving her with friends while we are away.  It’s not our favorite solution. Whenever I see people toting their little dogs in carriers at airport terminals, I am envious.

We are in the midst of planning a trip to visit family on the East Coast and are entertaining the idea of bringing Dottie with us. She’s a member of our family and we really hate leaving for long periods of time. Since we prefer not to fly with her in cargo, our only option would be to drive to our destination. Driving cross-country is not always as fun nor as exciting as it sounds. The biggest downside to driving cross-country is the amount of time it requires. We would spend most of our vacation on the road and have limited time to spend with our family.

Recently, I was told about Pet Airways. I’m looking into it as a possible solution to our dilemma.

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We’re moving not once but twice in the next 30 days.

The first time will be this weekend to a friend’s house. She moved to the beach and is letting us stay (rent free!) in her house for the next month. Which includes access to her pool and extensive land with a lake (daily swims for the dogs!). This move requires separating everything we own into three categories:

• Things we will take to Nicaragua
• Things we will sell or donate - anything that doesn’t have real meaning to us
• Things we will store - one dresser, one side table, four chairs, one table, keepsakes, office supplies (paper, envelopes, printers, cutters, etc.), kitchen supplies.

The second time will be our move in late August to Nicaragua. Everything we need will be brought on the flight as cargo. We are taking the following:

• 4 lockers, measuring 32″ x 17″ by 12″
• 2 suitcases, carry on size
• 2 laptop bags

That is the sum total of all our necessary belongings for the next year. We ran into a problem when we realized the lockers (small enough to meet airline requirements) are too small to contain our printer. Which isn’t a true necessity (like, for instance, high thread count linens), but we really need access to a good scanner to transfer documents back and forth from the States.  Shipping is incredibly expensive (about $500 for the printer, not including customs). So we are trying to decide whether to buy a smaller model (really do not have the funds right now considering our vaccinations alone are $750, tickets are $1500, shipping the dogs is another $1000, emergency flights are $2000, medical flights are $1000…you get the picture), find a way to package it and pay for the extra luggage, or just leave it and take the risk that we can eventually pick up a suitable printer/scanner in Managua.

Oh, and I quit my job so our sole income is my husband’s graphic design business. Yay!

At the same time, we are meeting with a friend who is designing our future studio. Are we crazy? Yes! However, it’s really helping to have a short term goal (moving to Nicaragua) and a long term goal (building a studio and eventually a house). It’s allowed us to part with items that have no potential future use, and to truly appreciate the items we are keeping and/or able to take with us.

All I can say is that I am very happy to have read this book before the move, rather than after.

I travel quite a bit for work and this year alone will be on a plane more than 50 times.  Over the years, I have learned several tricks that will help you travel practically, yet with style, so that you don’t look like a bohemian backpacker.  Unless of course, bohemian backpacker is your style of choice, in which case, peace out.

One of the things I can do quite well is travel for two weeks with just the two allotted carry-ons that most airlines allow.  For an overnight trip from Phoenix to Houston recently, I took one bag and it included my laptop, all cords and chargers, files, change of clothes, makeup, flat-iron, wallet, etc.  Here’s a snapshot of it (and in case you are wondering, the bag is from Marshall’s and the shoes are from DSW):

We’ll cover how to pack clothes in another post, but for this one I want to talk toiletries and personal items, since that is where most people run into trouble with their carry-on.  With the TSA’s rule of all carry-on liquids being required to fit in a one quart-size Ziploc and be less than 3 ounces, it can be a challenge to condense everything.  Well, no more overpacking excuses, darlings, because I am about to show you how to do just that.

If you’re like me, you probably don’t roll out of bed looking naturally gorgeous all the time.  And if you do, then I think I speak for all the rest of us in the blogosphere when I say, we hate you.  At any rate, here is a shot of the liquid portion of my daily routine (please note, all photos were taken with my iphone. Don’t be jealous - with a camera phone, harsh lighting and no training whatsoever, you too can produce pictures like this):

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One of my favorite travel tools is my organizer.  I got this plastic padfolio at WalMart for under $10.

Haha - try not to make fun of me for playing with my new toy.  It’s a super wide angle adapter.  Anyway, on to the point.  This padfolio is awesome for a couple of reasons.  First up - it has several folders inside.  In fact, it was just right for our Greek cruise - one folder for each port.  This was great not only for planning purposes but also for scrapbooking.  I made a label and stashed any planning or confirmation info before we left.  As we visited each place, I’d stash souvenirs that would fit into the appropriate folder.  Now I have all the tickets, brochures, and postcards organized for scrapbooking.  It’s so nice!  (You can see that my cat is a fan as well.  lol)

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As much as I love to travel, I really hate packing.  It’s such a headache to predict exactly what you’ll need/want on your trip, especially if you’re going somewhere where the weather can change pretty drastically.  I used to pack pretty heavily because of this desire to be prepared for anything.  Over the past few years, I’ve gotten more organized in my packing though and can now pack much more lightly.

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I’m not sure where I found this very useful website, but it has proved invaluable while planning our holiday travel budget. Cost To Drive does exactly what it sounds like–calculates the cost to drive from one point to another.  It’s based on the most current gas prices, and will tell you where and when it downloaded the cost of gas.  The best part?  Kayak.com (another of my favorite travel websites) is an ad partner.  When you enter in your two travel destinations, it will tell you the cost to fly to that city.  Bra-zilliant!

Enjoy, my happy little frugal travel planners!
A.