LONGING TRAVEL

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Who says you need to leave your job to travel. The person who tells you is trying to tell you that there is a certain way you have to and can live a life. That for me is the same bullshit most of us travelers and a lot of non travelers hate and fight against every day. We have our own way of travel and it has worked for us over last few years. This post is for those of you who want to travel more and are ready to put in effort for your travels. We travel independently and truly detest taking one of the tours simply because we hate being told when to get up and how much time we have at a destination. But if you find tours to be much more comfortable and easier go ahead and use these ways to get more travel time.

Our trips this year.

For those of you who like the convenience of tours but want the freedom of independent travel check out Intrepid travel and G adventures. You could also check out these day tours from Urban Adventures and have the best of both worlds. So let's get to the bottom of how you can travel more with your full time job.

1. We plan our travels WAY in advance

Saving ourselves from -20C in January while trekking the Himalayas. We booked the trip in April Last Year

Seriously if I ever hear that I can't plan that far in advance or I don't want cancellations I am running out of the room. Ever since we started traveling we have been asked the question and we have told the honest answer. Me being the fool I am I go to lengths to explain to the answer seekers what they are doing wrong but leaving it to the last minute. Result is not always good but thankfully nobody asks me again about how to travel more.

There is no real reason to plan in as much advance as we do. The problem is most of us desk dwellers are not spontaneous enough to travel when the time comes, hence the need to plan your travels.

We plan our trips at the start of the year or as soon as we get the holiday calendar for the upcoming year. We usually plan a few 8 day trips (In 2015 we have 26 days for long trips and a lot of smaller 1-4 day trips are peppered in between. Spacing the longer trips means that we are not out of office every few days and we make sure to use all the long weekends and a lot of regular weekends too.

Planning that far in advance keeps us open to deals that might come our way. this is one of the biggest reasons why we usually pay far less for flights and can afford to travel more on a much smaller budget. If you are interested to know how exactly we plan our travel head over to this detailed post.

There is no way we would be able to travel as much as we do with a 5.5 day working week without planning in advance. If you are one of those who find both motivation and money to go on a spontaneous week long trip you don't necessarily have to plan the way we do.

2. We got a great Travel related credit card

If almost every other traveler or blogger is telling you that you need a great travel credit card it is time to accept that probably you do. We bought our credit card in 2013 around the time we started traveling. We have had many free flights, buses, discounted flights or hotels and all from doing nothing else except for taking out credit card instead of cash at the grocery store.

These views of Maldives are courtesy our credit card. Flight tickets are usually the make or break factor for us and with our miles we both flew to Maldives and back with just 100$ out of our pocket.

Over past 2 years almost all of our expenses have gone on the credit card as long as the vendor accepted cards. It is a boon for online shopping and more often than not we have a great deal which gets us better returns. I talk a lot about the card we own and if you have ever asked me in person about how we afford our travels this credit card would probably be the first answer. The reason is not that I am looking for referral money (which I don't get anyways), it is simply the solution which changed the game for us.

3. We learned how to not book stuff

When we went off to Srilanka for a week long trip the first question our colleagues asked us was who did you go with. They wanted to know which tour package we had booked and how did that turn out for us. Imagine the shock when we told them we went on our own. Is that safe? Yes it is.

When we went for our honey moon we got the same question and we had the same answer. At that time it was just the easiest and cheapest option and we had the control over our own trip. After that we were mostly traveling within India and on a strict time line. Taking tours did not make sense unless we had to, like we did for Sundarbans. And that has stuck with us and we are trying to get out of booking stuff more and more.

When we went to Sri Lanka we decided to book a few accommodations and leave everything else to walk ins. We knew we could afford expensive places if it came down to it, so we decided to experiment even after Pattadakal fiasco. In reality it ended up way cheaper than pre-booking would have been. We booked everything for Maldives but not for Thailand, because we know we will have better deals and flexibility that way.

What has worked for us is leaving some areas of the trip which let us enjoy the trip and also gives us complete control on how, when and where to travel. This might not be for you but I really really recommend you try it out once or twice. For starters plan your own trips and not with a tour group just remember not to pack a tight schedule.

4. Control your expenses and be clear about your priority

If travel is your priority then you should probably not be spending on filling your wardrobe with clothes and shoes. If you want to travel to far corners of the world filling in your home with furniture and gadgets you hardly use and definitely don't need, is not a wise plan either. So what is wise?

Enjoying the heritage of Rajasthan at Citi Palace Jaipur.

Actually it depends on you, if like us you are happy with enough at home so that you can spend more time on the road you don't need much. On the other hand living like we do with all required furniture and a fully equipped kitchen might feel less to people because they need TV or AC. We don't watch TV and I believe it is a conversation killer as it is, since we are in office most of the day we don't need Ac either. These save us a considerable amount of money every month, and we never had to bear the one time cost either.

If you on the other hand cannot live without the background television noise and you need to chill your extremities if it is hot outside buy them by all means. Like I said earlier there is no right way to travel, there is also no right way to live your life and save.

I love shoes, and when I just started working I would buy a pair every other week. When we shifted to Hyderabad I had a box full of shoes. Since we started traveling I have rarely worn any one of those and I need more walking shoes anyways. So I cut back on my shopping, and put it into our travel. This has resulted in decluttering my house as well as a slightly bigger budget for our travels.

5. We really want to travel and are OK with working for it

Do you really want to travel the corners of the world? It's not a bad thing if you don't want to, in past few years we have met quite a few people who would ask us how to travel, where to go but do nothing. We realize later that they don't really want to travel. Being persistent overenthusiastic people that we are we sometimes offend them unknowingly when we ask them if they traveled recently and recount our travels. Personally I keep my mouth shut when someone is explaining how their knowledge of a place is better than ours, because they heard it from a distant relative and we went there.

If you are an armchair traveler excuse my insistence on traveling but if you actually want to travel and have a modest fund to dispense, you will have to work for it. This will include all of the above and other things you will discover about travel and yourself as you get moving.

This is one of the biggest factors which has kept us traveling more and more. Even today the sight of blue domes of Samarkand makes us want to hop on a flight, as much as we love stretching on our recliners.

What are your ways of travelling that have kept you travelling better, longer and being even more awesome? Don't keep those hidden let them show off.

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Srilanka is a charming country and the fact that you can spend a week here and not see a big dent in your account makes it one we really like. Though expenses would largely depend on how you spend the said week but we did everything from climbing the Adam's Peak to visiting the ruins of Sigiriya and spending a day strolling about the quaint hill towns.

We couch surfed a few nights, stayed in hostels, mid range hotels and everything in between including our last night spent in the airport to catch our 2 pm flight back to India. We ate at the local shops where 100 rupees would feed both of us, we ate at one of those trendy places in Galle Fort and everything in between. We traveled on foot, took tuktuks, buses and trains to see the hills and the sea in the same day.
After doing (and loving) all of those we spent less than INR30000 for both of us including flights, convert that in $ and that is 500$ for two people spending 8 days in SriLanka.

This post has been long overdue, but it did take me time to put it all together even if I had it all written. Also some of our friends will probably be hitting the country for their honeymoon, and a comprehensive post would do all of us good. We were there for around 8 days and certainly believe our per day cost would have gone lower if we were staying longer.

Flights

For many, this is the biggest make or break expenditure and if you are flying in from anywhere other than South Asia or Middle East you will probably be jumping a few flights. We got a great deal on the tickets with Goibibo Promotion and we paid most of the remaining with our Citibank Premier miles. Flights are pretty cheap from Chennai and Madurai even if you book just a few weeks in advance.

If you would like to get 1000 GoCash for signing up and then use it for getting cheap flights here's my referral code. Also if you would like to get the credit card head over here or just send me a mail and I'll have Ajay refer you

Visa

Srilankan Visa has to be the most convenient visa ever and it's even better than VOA because you don't have to stand in a single line or part with your passport. The procedure is simple fill up the form here and apply for your ETA which would follow soon after you pay. It took three minutes after payment and we had our ETA in our mails. The immigration officer did not even give me a second look or ask any question except for the reason I was in the country. Completely painless process and it makes me think of SriLanka anytime I have to plan a quick holiday.

Accommodation

This can be the single biggest expense and totally depends on your comfort and taste. Simply put if you want to keep your expenses low, select clean and cheap accommodation. Here are the options which will help you keep your expenses low and get the most out of your money.

Couch surfing

Even we couldn't believe it but there are a lot of couchsurfing hosts especially near the major cities. We got a great host simply by asking around the forums and almost everyone I contacted was happy to host us. SriLankans are awesome and would be happy to help and show you around. Our host was around 15-20 minutes bus ride from Kandy and the views were amazing, though the room itself was quite modest. Don't forget to carry a token of appreciation for your host.

AirBnb

We did not use Airbnb simply because we found other options before we reached Airbnb. Nevertheless there are increasingly more options available on Airbnb and our experience with Airbnb has been nothing but awesome. If you are not on Airbnb join with this link to get 25$ off your first booking.
Important thing to remember is to contact your host before you book and make sure that your basic requirements are met and also get the location of the place especially if you are landing late in the night. Even though SriLanka has a lot of public transport and we have taken a bus at 2 in the night, it's better to be a bit safe as the streets get quiet after dark.

Cheap hotels

There are more hotels than you can count especially in the touristy places and more often than not they are quite cheap. We walked in and shopped around for rooms at both Adam's peak (Nallathaniya) and Haputale. Both of these were quite comfortable cost us around 1000-1200(~10$) a night for a double room with hot shower without breakfast.

Both of these were very conveniently located especially the one at Haputale. It was right next to the railway station. A location we were thankful for when we landed late in the night back form Ella and were greeted with chilling wind.

You will easily get doubles with hot water for around 10-12 $ in the smaller towns and cities. Ask around and you will be directed to one of the hotels. We looked at more than 6 hotels, climbed up and down till one owner offered us a room for 1200 instead of 1800-2000 quoted by others. In bigger cities like Colombo and Kandy if you can find a host and are so inclined go the couch surfing way, other wise these cities would cost your around 20$ for a double room.

Agoda and the likes

You know I love these sites, be it Agoda, Booking.com or Hotels.com each one of those is a gift of it gods to the budget travelling community. We found our best and most expensive accommodation on Agoda, it cost us 1400 rupees (~12$) and it had the perfect social atmosphere. By the time we got to booking there were no more rooms available on Agoda so we just decided to contact them directly and got ourselves a room. Still Agoda was the first place we looked at and I am sure glad we did.

Transport

Your first search for transport option will begin as soon as you get out of the airport, though there is a shuttle which takes you to the nearest bus stand we landed around 2 in the night and it wasn't running. Bus Stand itself is around a kilometer or so from the airport exit so we decided to walk and it was Ok except for Colombo heat and humidity.

Srilanka is well connected and locals depend mainly on public transport to get from one city to another as well as for within the city. Being a small island (I am biased my home state is 5 times bigger than the country) you can easily cover a lot of land in 6-7 hours. We got from cold hills to warm beaches in less than 8 hours as we slept on the local bus.

Buses

These are the life lines of Srilanka and you will find them everywhere. We asked an italian girl if she knew how we could go from Adam's Peak to Polhena beach, she wasn't sure but told us not to worry thee would definitely be a bus. Actually there was though not a direct one. As with any other country there are both standard public buses as well as air conditioned luxury buses. We chose the latter simply because weather was rarely very hot, they are quite clean and comfortable and also because they are cheap and abundant.

Fare was around 150 for Colombo to Kandy thought the ride was nowhere near pleasant. Everyone stood plastered to at least 2-3 people, and the ones sitting had us standing people looming over them. In the hindsight i am just glad that there was a bus available at 2 in the night. Most buses we took were overloaded and surely it can be a bit uncomfortable if you are not used to it but we would still choose buses over hiring taxis any day.

If you cannot find a direct bus ask around or use the map they give you at the airport and figure out a linking point. You will need these especially if you plan on visiting the east coast.

Trains

In India we worship our trains without knowing it, they have always been there and almost every nook and corner is well connected. So imagine my surprise when I found that even though there is a good network of trains they do not connect all parts of the country. That being said trains are one of the best ways to get from one place to another in Sri lanka. Most of the newer and swanky trains run on the more popular routes like Galle-Colombo and Kandy-Colombo and the fare for a Air conditioned reserved seat is around 400 rupees and can vary depending on the train you take. Most of the hill side is connected with railways and it makes for an easy and beautiful journey. Many take train from Kandy to Ella simply for the ride.

Once you combine buses and trains there is bound to be a way you can reach even the remotest areas.
Getting Tickets can be a bit tricky especially if you want to travel first class or in any luxury class. Tickets are prebooked though the condition is not as bad as in India you should get a ticket a few days in advance. General and II class tickets are easily available and are quite cheap sometimes as less as 20 Rs. These are distributed 30 minutes before the train time and only at the stations.

Tuk Tuk

These auto rickshaws as they are called here in India have a big presence on the city roads and you might see a tuk-tuk with surfboards on the top running around in the south or west coast. thought these are far cheaper than hiring taxis they can be quite expensive and that money sure does add up fast. We took just on ride when we had to come from Kandy to our Host's house a bit late in the night. It cost us 400 LKR and if we had taken the bus it would have been around 40-60 depending on the bus.

Haggle well if you are about to hire a tuk-tuk for sightseeing as the rates can go down quite a bit. We were quoted 3500 by the hotel guy in Haputale for a return trip to Horton National Park, when we asked around it came down to 2800 a 20% decrease in price.

Taxis

Well they exists and we saw a lot of hired vehicles on the road especially when we visited Sigiriya and Dambulla. We did not take one and seriously after tuk-tuk prices none of us was interested in even asking around for taxis. That being said it is always possible to ask hotel reception and they will probably hook you up.

Hiring a vehicle

Want to ride through the country on a roaring motorbike or maybe drive around in a car, don't worry it is easily possible though it comes out to be a bit expensive with the rentals and petrol clubbed together. That is how we felt about it because we walk most places and take public transport, if you don't it might come in cheaper but will definitely blow up your budget. For starters getting your vehicle delivered to the airport will be around 30 $ which is around 3600 LKR or a full day's meal transport and stay.

Food and Booze

Food in Srilanka is cheap, real cheap though once it is clear that you don't belong here prices might just climb up. A guy overcharged us and when we pointed out he said that's how much it will be. He wouldn't serve beer because it was right outside the rock temple but he would cheat his way away. We faced less problems because most people thought we were locals but if you are not be prepared for some climbing prices (as per a french girl travelling solo).

Now let's get back to food.

Srilankans are eating almost all the time be it some tapioca chips, or boiled chickpeas or actual meal time. Which means you will find food fresh cheap and readily available all times of the day but as soon as it's 8-9 in the evening a lot of shops start closing especially if it is not a tourist area.
Locals love their fish and if you like me don't eat fish you would find yourself asking every meal if this is vegetarian no egg no fish. If you are vegan or vegetarian it is better if you specify it clearly and always ask what all is in the sambal or red chilly paste served with everything. Some places add dried fish or prawn in it.

Srilankan Rice Meal

This is one staple you would find throughout the country and at all meal times. Depending on where you eat and whether you are a vegetarian like me or a meat eater your meal would vary from 90 to 500 rupees. Our cheapest meal was at Polhena beach and most expensive at Ella. The home cooked meal in Ella was freshly prepared for us and was delicious. The lady was sweet and charged a fair price, we walked out feeling satisfied.

Kotthu

I would call Kotthu the national dish of Srilanka and it is definitely the taste we crave for the most when we think of Srilanka. These are stir fried preparation of Srilnakan paratha bread with variety of ingredients both vegetarian and otherwise. A plate of kotthu was always enough for both of us together and like everything else it taste better with the sambol. a plate would range somewhere from 100-150 LKR

Hoppers

People would ask me if I wanted to eat hoppers instead of whatever I had asked for and I had no clue what it meant. This meant a gentle smile and me walking out ion search of more kotthu. It was again at Polhen that we first tried hoppers and seriously I felt stupid these are just appams and I love appams. Definitely vegetarian and a hot tangy deliciousness that I ate too fast. We were served this with sambol but you might find these with fish curry or daal.
Sting hoppers might sound like a cousin to hoppers but they are completely different. These are rice noodles flattened into a cake and are served with thin fish or chicken curry, daal and sambol.

Fruits

Fruit is everywhere especially banana, we ate over 12 bananas in a day once. With these small sweet treats it is pretty easy to eat that much on your own. Coconut water and coconut are easily available everywhere (except for the hills I guess) and so are other fruits. We walked around Kandy central market one day and our senses were overcome by all the fruit on display though soon the fish took over.
Wood apple is another one of the fruits you will find in abundance and it makes for a really nutritious and refreshing drink.

Sea food

I don't even have to write about it because everywhere you go you will find fish even high up on the hills. Maldivian tuna is one of the biggest favorites in the country and it is everywhere from your dishes to the sambol. Most of the traditional meals come with atleast one serving of fish unless you ask especially for something else. On the shores prawns, calamari gain big grounds and we saw people cleaning plates after plates of spicy sea food curries. No clue how much the big guys would charge you but locally run shops and restaurants would probably cost you around 200-300 for a good filling meal.

If you do eat fish don't forget to try the famous fish ambul thiyal a sour fish curry served with rice and other curries.

The Booze

Lion is the local beer of the country and is widely available. Though we did see a few other beers mentioned here and there, this is the one we were interested in. A 650ml bottle would cost you around 220 and you would get 20 bucks back when you return the glass bottle. Wine/beer shops are abundant and all you have to do is walk around or ask the shop keepers.

If you are looking for swanky bars head over to Dutch hospital in Colombo it is a great place to eat drink shop and simply sit.

Do and See

Srilanka has a lot for you to do see and experience, no matter which part of the country you are in and how much you have in your pocket.

The World Heritage Sites

Srilanka has eight world heritage sites and each one of them has something completely different to offer than the next. We visited five of these during our week long stay and it was fun. Go on and read in detail about these sites, how to get there and everything else here. Entry to most of these sites is really expensive, for example Sigiriya would cost your around 3300-3400 LKR in entry ticket. If you have a SAARC passport you will get 50% off prices except for at the Rock Temple Dambulla. Many travellers we met had given up on site or another because of the cost. We gave up Horton Plains because ticket was 3300 per person and tuk tuk ride was equally expensive.

Surfing

India is not know for it's surfing, the reason surfing is in its infancy here. So imagine my delight when I caught sun tanned people catching waves, roaming around with surfboards and a couple with HUGE surfboards at the airport. I was so happy and I did not even see them up close. If you love the waves or if you like me, have never gone close to one SriLanka is the place for you. Head over to Aurugam Bay on the East coast for awesome waves and surfing crowd or just stay close by on the west coast and you'll still not be short of company or waves.

There are multiple surf camps in SriLanka none which would fit the 30$ budget and you can easily rent a board on the beach from 250-300LKR upwards in Weligama. Shop around for board rentals as well as trainers if you are just getting started.

Climb Sripada (Adam's Peak)

5500 steps to reach the summit would be difficult any day but do it in the night and it gets even more challenging. A part of the Peak Wilderness protected area this mountain is a place of worship for four religions. Even if the climb seems tiresome you will forget all about your aching feet when you get to the top and see the awesome view. One advice carry warm clothes you can get in and out of with ease, it is chilling on the top but the climb will have you sweating.

Climbing the peak is free and one of the things on my 5 free things to do in Srilanka list.

Other things to do

Whale Watching (tad bit expensive but bargain)
Diving
Hiking
Safari

Before we were about to go to SriLanka we were in a moral bind, because of the human right crisis in the country. We thought about it and put it out for discussion on the internet. This one line stayed with me more than anything else"... no matter what it's not fair to keep your business away from a poor war torn population". This changed the way I thought about things, yes a lot of what I would spend would land in wrong hands but along the way I would have helped a lot of people simply by buying a small pack of peanuts for 20 LKR.

If you have the same thoughts or are a bit skeptical don't be, it is a safe country with welcoming people who would love to host you.

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There is nothing more humbling than standing in a scary corridor with tiny rooms devoid of light and sanitation; and thank people who suffered in them for the blessing of freedom you have today. If you have been to the Cellular Jail in Port Blair you know what I mean.

A dummy showing how people were punished. They would be tied, lashed and left to suffer in pain before the punishment would begin anew.

Equally chilling are the gallows especially for someone like me who stays clear of all things gore and sad, death and execution are exactly that -sad. But that is not what you see first, as you enter with your a ticket in your hand, unaware at the sheer scale of inhumanity you are about to witness they ask you to first walk through two rooms flanking the entry corridor. These contain historical accounts, photographs of those who used to be, and first person accounts of those who managed to get heard.

Back breaking work, the output of which decided how their fate would go that day. Less than expected and you would go hungry.

All it takes is half an hour and the pleasant sea breeze affects you not as you walk to the first corridor of doom. these rooms were designed for isolation, they were designed for torture and nobody was supposed to ever get out of these.

The men barely clad and sparingly fed were just hands, splitting coir, weaving the ropes and toiling to press oil out of coconuts. Their food and comfort depended on what their hands had achieved at the end of the day.

You would think if someone has been restricted food, made to work unbelievable hours doing strenuous activity and punished for any small mistake with lashes; they have been punished enough. Unfortunately the jailers did not think so, they stripped inmates of their dignity by providing clothes that barely covered the essentials and restricting their access to toilet.

Every inmate was provided an earthen pot which was to be used for urinating and defecating. If you were restricted to your cell for days that is all you would have for those days. Requesting wardens for a breaks during the night was a futile exercise and in case it was granted there would be repercussions the next day.

The gallows. though it has not been used for years there is something chilling when you see nooses hanging over a openable floor, meant to take away lives of people who seldom deserved it. I have never thought about my stand on death penalty but this got me thinking.

The gallows were something which got me thinking, if I feel scared and disturbed looking at the noose how do those feel who have to execute the decisions made by the jury and hang or inject people to their death. It is definitely something which makes most of our workplaces feel like heaven in comparison. For sure it impacts people and changes them like nothing else. Funny thing is rarely do I hear anyone fighting about the person who pushes the button or pulls the lever.

A beautiful setting indeed, if only this was not a prison of torture but a school for children or even a housing. How would the prisoner's have felt when they heard waves lashing the shores not far from where they were; but they could not even wet their feet.

The building today is pleasant, with narrow corridors, wide stairs and a bell up top on the watch tower. Views from the roof are beautiful, with sea, hulls, and green all around and a nice breeze easing temperatures a bit.

Would I suggest you visit the monument?

Yes, it does not matter if you are an Indian or not as long as you are a decent human being you will come out touched and humbled. They do have sound and light show which we did not attend but I have been told it is good and to be true there is not much to do in Port Blair in the evening so you might want to pay a visit.

Is it really that horrible?

In my opinion yes, but that depends on you. I saw families and aunties (why do women do this) posing, shouting and talking in high pitch about anything but history. So you might not be as affected as I was, or you might feel way stronger about it.

If you do visit the jail or you have already been there let me know what your reaction was.

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Staycation is all the rage and for a reason, you don't have to worry about bookings, no need to take multiple days off. A night spent in a luxurious hotel in your own city can be equally refreshing as a weekend getaway. We have been saving up and settling down past few months. This means no real travel and to be true lazing around does have some benefits.

To add to that it was thermometer breaking hot last month and like all intelligent people, we have been lying low ourselves. Unexpectedly it is nice to know that we are not going off for another week and that we can finally take care of our home. We were both happy and satisfied being home, but a few weekends ago we decided to do something to get through the no travel haze.

Oh! How I have missed these mountains and the cold

You know we do not stay at those fancy places when we travel, we simply cannot afford it every time we travel. since we were not traveling for sometime we decided to take a break in our own city. It was relaxing and it felt nice to not think about what chores need to be done even though we were in the same city.

We don't own a car and it was out of question to drive out to one the many resorts in the outskirts of Hyderabad with the heat. If you do have a car such resorts can be an awesome destination to unwind for a weekend without long travel times and you can probably get a better bang for your buck with transport costs out of the way. I found it to be a great way to let your hair down and do nothing but relax.

A 4-5 star hotel is just too much money so much so that we have rarely paid for one out of our own pockets. This time though we had quite a few things on our side.

The Sales

It seems like every booking site has a sale going on the hotel we stayed in had a 40% off going on needless to say it brought the prices way down. If you have a few stays or flights coming up you might want to gather up the site loyalty points which you can exchange for money in line with certain conditions.

Our favorite sites for such deals are GoIbibo, Yatra and Make My Trip.

Use your Loyalty Points

We had around 900 loyalty points on GoIbibo and that got us around the same amount off on the booking. Needless to say we were happy to go ahead with the booking. Every time you book with these sites you get a certain amount of loyalty cash/points and sometimes crazy offers like 100% cashback can make you really rich. Even though this sounds awesome there are quite a few restrictions on validity and usage of these site monies.

In case you would like to get richer and you are not already registered, sign up here and get up to 1000/- worth of cash free.

Use the right credit card

I am a really big supporter of using the credit card economy to your own benefit. Our card gives us around Rs. 1.8-4.5 off on every transaction and believe me those points add up so fast we regularly get free flights, stays or buses. This time we did not redeem any of the points since the amount was quite low but we did earn a bit of money for our next trip. It's like getting an additional 4.5% off on every transaction. You can get more information on our card here and ask us for a referral here.

Choose the right booking site

We all know it pays better to use one of the fare aggregators than the individual brand site, these have much more discounts and you are sure to find one coupon or another which would suit you.There are exceptions to this rule (Jet Airways) but more often than not there is a high chance you would benefit by using the right site.

1. Agoda- Cheap prices and if you are traveling to any place in SE Asia or even India it is one of the best option. We booked a perfectly good room walking distance from Taj Mahal for just 350/-. (affiliate link)

2. Booking.com- Another Agoda like site and is a usually a few bucks cheaper than Agoda. We check both of them and then choose the one we like better. Sometimes you land up unbelievable deals like one of our friend who got a 5 star hotel for 40$. (affiliate link)

3. Hotels.com-They have one of the best ever deal- 1 night free for every 10 nights booked. If you travel and book for business a lot I would be booking on Hotels.com. I love them but I end up buying on GoIbibo because it comes out cheaper with the GoCash. (affiliate link)

4. GoIbibo- Most of our bookings, the ones we do for family are through GoIbibo. The reason- they are usually cheaper, we can find coupons and pay using our credit card miles. if you haven't signed up already get on board with the referral offer here.

To add to a relaxing day within our pockets we will get a few jet miles when we write the review on Tripadvisor.

If you have been discouraged by all the heat or you are a bit short of money try taking a weekend off in your own city. It might not give you the satisfaction of roaming around in a new place but it is a break form office-home-office routine for sure.

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We love Goa, it is a place I would probably never grow tired of. Goa gives me a sense of relief even if getting to the state is a bit tiresome. This time we headed off to the South Goa instead of the happening and always partying North Goa. It was probably one of the better decisions we made.

A Lantern at Palolem Beach Goa

South Goa probably is at the stage where North Goa would have been a decade ago. Quiet pockets and secluded beaches along with good food and readily available services. I still remember the first time we went to Goa way back in 2012, we knew just one Goa- the one which revolves around Baga, Calangute and Anjuna beaches. It was busy, chaotic, crowded and expensive. Our second trip took us to Velha Goa as we were on the GoUNESCO 2013 mission of visiting all world heritage sites. In 2014 we got our SCUBA certifications here and spent a blissful week soaking in the relative quiet of off season in the state.

After our trek in the Himalayas we had been really busy with all the shifting, and our next decided travel plans were far away in August, when we head over to Maldives. This meant we had six months of no travel (I don't count visiting family as travel) and by March we were both getting cranky and travel withdrawal was getting to us really bad. so we decided to head over to the beaches and as always they did not disappoint for our 2015 visit to GOA.

Goa to most means beaches, cheap booze and sea food, it is way more than that. Here are somethings you should do in Goa apart from just lazing on the beach.

Go Diving

A School of Fish

You know I love diving and if I could I would be diving every beach we can find, this time we were out of money but if you are heading to Goa go diving. We are certified divers that means we can dive with minimal assistance, go deeper and it is usually cheaper. If you do not have a diving certification and are mot interested in spending upwards of 18000/- to get one go for Discover SCUBA.These are pretty cheap starting from around 5000/- and you don't have to spend time learning and then passing the test.

That being said if you ever dream of spending a week in a live aboard or diving around the world invest in your certification.

Visit the Churches

Bom Jesus Basilica

These churches of Goa are a World Heritage site and for good reason, they are beautiful and where else can you pay respect to St. Francis Xavier, whose mortal remains are displayed in a coffin at the Church. Ride to the church is beautiful as you navigate streets of Velha Goa early Portuguese capital.

See the forests

Dudhsagar Falls

Goa has a huge forest reserve and if you ever make the journey to the state on the train you would pass many water falls and dense forests as the train moves slowly along the edge of a cliff. Many companies run treks to falls and various parts of forests. Mollem National Park and Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife sanctuary along with Netravali, Cottigao make for a perfect vacation for forest and animal lovers. Two of our friends spent a morning visiting Cottigao (I was sleeping in pain, with a weird stomach ache) and we all went to the beach later; win-win for every one.

Tap your feet to music

Axwell performing in Sunburn Goa

Well this is definitely seasonal but there is almost always something going on in Goa. If you would like to be a part of some of the best EDM concerts in India, head to Goa in the end of December. Though this will be way more expensive compared to visiting Goa any other time, but as they say you gotta live a little. After thinking and ending up broke just before booking tickets every year; we are pretty sure we would be at sunburn this year and it is expensive already.

Go eating

The famous Vindaloo

If you want it there is probably a shop in Goa that sells that food- within reason. We have sat down for traditional North Indian thalis, Goan food, Israeli breakfasts, Italian, Mediterranean and a lot more. though the pricing is not as cheap as you would find in some of the smaller cities but they are fairly good for a tourist magnet like Goa. The portions are usually decent and once you add a few drinks (always cheap) it will be a great meal. Have at least one meal (candlelit dinner anyone!) in one of the numerous shacks along the beach.

Goa is probably one of the places which will make you feel comfortable and welcomed no matter what your life beliefs are and what you want to do. Take a few days off and head over to Goa for a much deserved break.

Our recommendations for booking your stays

A villa on Airbnb

1. Airbnb- If you still haven't registered with them I don't know why but we have stayed in one of the places through them and it cost us 700 per person. If you are actually not registered, use this link to get 25$(~1500) off on your first booking. If you are looking for luxury book some of the beautiful villas near the sea.

2. Hostels- Goa has so many hostels that you would be counting them all night and most of them are great with free wifi and sometimes even free breakfast.
Tow of the best ones are Prison Hostel and Brick & Bamboo both near Anjuna Beach. These social hostels will never let you feel lonely even if your friends ditched you, definitely a reason to travel solo.

3. Luxury stay- Some of the most expensive resorts are in Goa and if you are looking for luxury you are at the right place. Taj has various properties around Goa but if you are looking to be close to Palolem beach in South Goa you might want to look at Lalit and Fern Gardenia.

A Beach Hut on Airbnb

4. Beach Huts-These might be your only option if you land in Palolem in the peak season and they are a good option. These start from around 500 a night for two. If you can bargain the prices may drop too. don't worry if you don;t have a hut booked you can easily find one walking along the beach, though if you have a particular one in mind do call ahead. these are just basic accommodations so don't expect big time luxury unless you are ready to dish out 1500 a night.

Check out Camp Sanfrancisco, Art Resort and Ciarans they have some of the higher end huts and for regular huts, seriously just walk along the beach.

When are you going to Goa next and to which part of the state?

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