ABC News and Hotels.com list best US cities for hotel deals

by Katie Hammel on

On most trips, your two biggest expenses will be your transportation and your accommodation. You don’t have much control over the price of your flight, but you can balance out that cost by picking a destination where you are more likely to score a deal on your hotel. ABC News has put together a list of popular tourist destinations in the US where hotel rates are falling, including Las Vegas, Tuscon, Anchorage and Chicago.

In some cites, the savings can be as much as 30%. In New York, the average has dropped from $281 to $196 – nearly $100 per night. Stay 2-3 nights and that could cover your airfare. Miami’s average is down from $176 to $140 and the cost of a typical hotel room in San Francisco has decreased from $155 to $124. Even rates in Waikiki Beach, Hawaii, are down 18% from $191 to $157.

The stats came from Hotels.com’s list of average hotel room rates around the world. Chicago, with a drop of 22% came in third place (tied with Anchorage) among major cities for the most significant drop in rates. Juneau, Alaska, was in second place. New York and Las Vegas tied for the top spot with a drop of 30%. Every state in the US experienced a drop in the average nightly rate, except for North Dakota. Rates there remained stable.

The lowest prices in the country were found in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Boise, Idaho; and Las Vegas.

The global average for hotel price drops was 17% with Moscow experiencing the most significant decrease of 52%.

8 tiger prawns cost $239 at an outdoor eatery

by Jamie Rhein on

Eating at a hawker stall in Singapore is one of the cheapest dining options–unless you get taken for a ride. This seems to have happened to this American couple who took four friends to Newton Centre, one of the most touristy hawker establishments in the country. Although dining out at a hawker stall can be as inexpensive as dining in, these six people ordered from stall 43 Tanglin Best BBQ Seafood and found a different story. At the end of their meal that included: “four crabs, baby squids, half a steamed chicken, four bottles of beer and fruit juices,” in addition to the prawns, they were handed a bill for $491. The eight prawns accounted for $239 of the total.

That’s insane. I ate at Newton Centre on a few occasions. In my experience food there might have cost a little more than other hawker centers, but nothing over the top. According to what’s reported in this Straits Times article, there wasn’t anything special about these prawns either.

As people who have ordered without asking a price first–my husband and I have been stung, but only $50 for snake in Vietnam, this story reminds me of a piece of travel wisdom. Make sure you know what things cost before you order, but also know what is a reasonable price before you sit down. I can tell you, if you’re spending $491 in Singapore, you don’t know where to eat.

By the way, hawker stalls are outdoor food courts where the various stalls offer a variety of foods. Most have items considered that stall’s specialty dish. This one has the best pineapple rice, for example, but that one has the best Hakka chicken. Customers browse the various offerings, order food and then find a table with seats. When the food is cooked, it’s delivered to the table. It is possible to order food from more than one stall at a time.

A Lesson in Mexican Gestures

by Kelsey Mulyk on

We are slowly starting to feel relatively comfortable in Mexico: things don’t seem so unusual, and both of us are starting to notice subtle things. Well…if you can call gestures in Mexico subtle.

Chins tilting, cupped palms, and a version of the “OK” sign are only a handful of the gestures that I have noticed in Mexico. I wanted to find out what they mean, so we had our our friend, Iker (a Federali turned lawyer), help clarify the meanings. He was also nice enough to pose for photos.

Here are a few gestures you might come across in Mexico:

  • Hurry Up!
    This gesture, shown by rubbing the forefinger and thumb together, does not mean money in Mexico, it means you need to get moving!
  • Expensive
    Holding the thumb and forefinger up with the back of the hand to the viewer indicates that something is expensive. You’ll see husbands making this gesture to their wives in the markets or other shopping venues.
  • Cheapskate
    If you are haggling with someone and you notice someone else nearby tapping their bent elbow consider yourself insulted. Tapping on the elbow means “stingy” or “cheap” in Mexico.
  • Cunning
    You should watch out for someone who is “colmilludo”, which loosely translates to cunning or crafty. This is indicated by tapping one’s eyeteeth which are called “colmillos” in Spanish. This gesture refers to someone that is always looking out for himself. Iker told us that it is used both positively and negatively it just depends on the context — but I got the feeling that this is rarely used as a compliment.
  • Asshole
    Yup…the one gesture you need to know the most since it resembles the Western “OK” sign. It is formed by touching the thumb and forefinger together creating a very small circle. This is extremely rude and never used to someone’s face. See the gallery below to check out our friend Iker who kindly modeled all the gestures for us…even the rude ones.
  • OK
    As mentioned above the “OK” sign is the same here as at home. Just make sure that circle you make isn’t too small!
  • Lazy
    The gesture for lazy is a cupped palm facing upwards, like you are holding something heavy. One or both hands can be used in this gesture. This is highly inappropriate because it refers to lifting “huevos” (which is Mexican slang for testicles). Basically the meaning behind this gesture is that the owner’s “balls” are so big and heavy that he can’t get up!
  • What’s up?
    People will greet you with this gesture which is often just tilting the chin up or tilting the chin up with palms upturned and a shrug. It means “What’s happening?” but you will also see it used as a general greeting. I have found even the youngest kids know this gesture and use it in replace of a verbal greeting.

%Gallery-25949%

It might take awhile at first to recognize these cultural cues but once you have an idea of what to look for you will see them used all over Mexico. Gestures tend to vary from place to place so it’s probably best to use them when you are absolutely certain you know what they mean…after all, calling someone an asshole when you meant to say “OK” might not go over so well.

“No Wrong Turns” chronicles Kelsey and her husband’s road trip — in real time — from Canada to the southern tip of South America in their trusty red VW Golf named Marlin.

Summer travel woes? How about a staycation?

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Summer vacation season is upon us here in the United States. Normally the first day of June is our green light to pack a bag, jump into the SUV or hop on an airplane and head out for some well deserved time off. But a variety of forces are conspiring this summer to hold some of us back – high gas prices, continued airline surcharges, and high food prices. It’s been enough to inspire its own trend – the “staycation.”

Several newspapers have been reporting on the phenomenon, in which many Americans are choosing to travel much closer to home this summer on shorter weekend trips or even just maximize their time in the backyard by investing in outdoor furniture or backyard grills.

Are you kidding me? This has to be one of the lamest trends in recent memory. I understand times are tough but there are plenty of creative ways to make that trip to California or even, YES, Europe, happen this summer. Use your frequent flier miles. Cut back on that bottle of wine at dinner. Pack a picnic lunch instead of eating out. Skip a few trips to the bar. My point is this – travel is one of the most important experiences you can have during your lifetime. If there’s a place you really want to visit – don’t let finances or getting time off at work or fears of terrorism be your excuse.

And if you still need inspiration, just look at blogger Grant, who is considering a 4 day trip to Shanghai for the Fourth of July. If he can make it happen, so can you!

Bolshoi in Russia: Moscow truly is a ridiculously expensive city

by Iva Skoch on

Greetings from Moscow! Bolshoi in Russia is my variation on Big in Japan. (Bolshoi means “Big” in Russian. Get it?) Stay tuned for my live dispatches from Russia this week.

Moscow has been ranked the world’s most expensive city for two years now. Still, it’s one thing to see the ranking in the newspaper and another thing to actually be here and pay the prices. In an average bar or restaurant, this is what you are looking at:

  • $5-10 for a shot of vodka
  • $8 – 10 for a latte (and they insist on putting a straw into it, to make matters worse)
  • $8-10 for a beer (sometimes, they put a straw in beer, too)
  • $20-$30 for lunch (and I am taking sausages, not an actual meal)
  • $50 for a decent dinner

It is the price of coffee which would kill me here. It would be very hard to just hang out in a coffee shop without going completely broke.

The funny this is, the average salary in Moscow is about $1,500/month. Most people, however, make less than $1,000. How do they afford this stuff? The easy answer is they don’t. You see kiosks all over Moscow where people grab lunch, dinner or beer to go. Every metro station has a cluster of these kiosks and people simple hang out outside of them, drinking beer and talking. What do they do in the winter? You got me.

There are, however, some really affordable aspects of life in Moscow:

Take metro tickets, for example. They are only 19 rubles, or roughly 80 cents. The subway system has great coverage and is extremely efficient. Trains come every 1-2 minutes. They pretty much have to because the subways are always packed.

Another bargain in Moscow? Theater tickets. We paid 300 rubles (or about $15) to see a classical music concert in the Moscow International Hall of Music. Really nice venue, great music, all that for the price of two lattes. As much as I love coffee, I would have to opt for music here. Even the Bolshoi Theater has bargains.

The other thing that is fairly affordable in Moscow is sushi. Like many place around the globe, Moscow was swept by the sushi wave about five years ago. So many new sushi restaurants opened, that they all had to reduce prices. Mind you, it is still not a bargain, but comparing to everything else in Moscow, California roll for $10 is a good deal. They really go crazy with rolls here, by the way. Most of them don’t even have fish in them. You can get a Caesar salad roll, (yes in a Japanese restaurant), pizza roll, ham and cheese roll…you see my point.

Let’s see, what else if affordable in Moscow? How could I forget! You can see dedushka Lenin in his tomb for free! I saw him today. He looks very peaceful in there. I couldn’t tell if he is real or if its just a wax figure, as some conspiracy theories suggest. At the end of the day, who cares.

Then, of course, there is vodka. You can get some good deals on Vodka, but I wouldn’t suggest going with the cheapest stuff. You an get a shot from as little as $3 to as much as $20. Russian Standard is a good brand. A shot would set you back about $5. With a little vodka in you, the cost of hanging out in Moscow doesn’t hurt as badly.

From Russia, with love.