Category Archives: Travel

Day 3072 – Pretend To Be A Time Traveler Day

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I had a few ideas how to “celebrate” this fun day, but I thought the best way would be to express thankfulness for things I take for granted, that a time traveler from 500 years ago would be in awe of.

Running water – without a limit of how much I can use.

Hot water.

A toilet, I mean, seriously, when was the last time you thought about this? Ha ha, go camping in the woods for a few days to get an idea.

A super computer with access to pretty much every bit of information in the world….in my back pocket.

The ability to share my ideas with an unlimited number of people.

A fridge to keep my food fresh for days.

The ability to have warm air or cold air, depending on the season.

Electricity.

What’s crazy, is all of these things are expected now. These are all normal.

If you were a time traveler, where would you go?

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Day 3070 – How Hard Things Lead To The Best Things

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It’s funny looking back, but our first cross country road trip happened because we didn’t have much money. It’s pretty darn pricey to fly during the holidays (the average just for flights for us is about $1000-1500+). When Bret was in school, we had a lot more flexibility in our schedule of when we could travel. We figured it would be cheaper to drive across the country than to fly. I’ve talked about this before, but I was struck today with the thought that this thing that I love so very much (road trip travel), happened because of a very hard time in our lives. It makes me wonder what the hard things I’m going through are preparing me for down the road.

Deaths of friends lead to a life of enjoying every day, and no regrets.

My alcoholism lead to sharing my struggles with others.

My money struggles lead to thankfulness every time we pay something off as soon as it’s charged.

And our need to drive thousands of miles to save money lead to one of my deepest passions.

Take heart friends, the very thing that’s dragging you down today, may be what changes your life.

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
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Day 3061 – How Much It Costs To Go To Ocean City, Maryland For Thanksgiving

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I ran across a great deal for a hotel in Ocean City over Thanksgiving, and we decided to take the trip! I so glad we did, it was such a relaxing time, and there were so few people there. I didn’t realize it when booking the hotel, but we were within walking distance of a pretty highly rated Thanksgiving day buffet. It was surprisingly affordable to go to the beach for a few days, even during a holiday. Here is what we spent.

Hotel – Grand Hotel & Spa – 2 nights – $187.28 ($93.64 a night with taxes and fees), normally anywhere from $179-$249. Bonus tip for today and tomorrow, they’re having a 50% off sale for Cyber Monday. Make sure you click on View By Rate Offer in your search.
Gas – $18.25
Coffee – drive down – $1.79
Drinks for Bret – $17.43
Five Guys – drive down – $30.79
Bread and apple butter – $17.56
Aldi groceries – $19.27
Thanksgiving buffet at Ember’s – $63.10
Hardee’s – drive back – $5.30
Coffee and treats at hotel – $13.24

Total spent – $374.01

A few notes – we could have saved some money not going to Five Guys on the way down, but after sitting in traffic for 2 hours, we needed a treat. Oy, traffic was bad. Four hours to get to the beach, 2.5 hours to get back. Crazy. The bread and apple butter was a splurge a few days before we left. I had a sample of it and it was just so amazingly good, I HAD to get it! We probably could have walked to a Dunkin a few blocks away for coffee, and we didn’t need to get more specialty drinks, but our attitude was more – we’re here to relax and not run around. We had enough food to eat while we were down there. I do wish I had known how great of a deal Hardee’s had – I got two sandwiches, a cookie, fries, and a drink for 5 bucks. There’s a Hardee’s close to where we got Five Guys, so that would have saved us about $20. We could have done a different buffet, but I mean, how can you go wrong with one within walking distance? Next time, I will bring my own coffee and filters, in the off chance we have a full coffee pot like we did in our room. That would have saved a bit, and I would have had better coffee! Ha.

All in all, it was an amazing time. Neither of us worked, we just relaxed, watched TV (boy howdy, we do NOT miss TV), I read a whole book, and read some others. We watched the sunrise from the comfort of our room (which is such a better experience than waking up at 2 am to drive down). The buffet was delicious, and I totally over indulged on desserts.

Do you ever travel for Thanksgiving?

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
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Day 3059 – Sneak Peek Of Our Beach Trip

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What a great trip to the beach! I tell ya, going to a “typically summer destination” in the off season is so nice. There are far less people, and it’s much cheaper. We got this amazing room with a view for under $100 a night.

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Day 3058 – Shopping Ideas For The Minimalist, Traveler, Or Road Tripper On Your List

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Wooo Black Friday! I love shopping on Black Friday…..and Thanksgiving (heh heh, hides face)….to help you shop, I wanted to give you some suggestions for gifts for those you love that are a minimalist, a traveler, a road tripper, or all of the above.

As a note, this list includes affiliate links, which just means that we get a small percentage of your purchase. We’d really appreciate it if you used our link to do your shopping on Amazon today! Even if you don’t buy what I suggest, if you purchase anything after clicking the link, we’ll get a percentage of that. (It’s such a small percentage, it just helps feed our Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme addictions. To every one of you that has used our link, thank you, thank you, thank you!)


First is my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget. This will help your road tripping friend plan their trip, and keep within budget.

Next is a scratch off map for your traveler. Luckies of London The United States of America Scratch Map (USLUKUS) is such a fun way for us to keep track of where we’ve traveled in the country together! One of the first things I do after we get home from a road trip is update our map!

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less totally changed my life. Even though we were already pretty simplified and minimalists, this book helped me to dig even deeper into simplicity. It helps me to say no to things that need to be said no to.

Keep Moving: And Other Tips and Truths about Aging by Dick Van Dyke was a really fun book. It is read by the author, and in my opinion, the only way to experience this book. I laughed, I cried, and I appreciated my life so much more. He shares great stories about life, marriage, family, and his show business career. He sets a great example of how to live – no matter how old you are. This is a great listen for a road trip!


We absolutely love these XL Outdoor Club Chairs and use them every day. They’re easy to pack up and take to the beach or camping. They’ve held up extremely well over the almost 2 years we’ve used them. The only wear is because of some embers from the campfire.

And let’s get real here, cash and gift cards are the minimalists best friend. It isn’t an impersonal gift at all. It says “we know you don’t need/want more stuff, but there are things you want/need, and we’re going to trust you to choose them!”

What are you getting your traveler, roadtripper, or minimalist?

Here’s us using our chairs on the beach earlier this year!

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel