Tours on the Cheap

Not much happening in terms of travel this past week. Mostly just grinding through work. I'm launching 2 iPhone apps by May of this year, not to mention websites and backend stuff for both of them. Oh and I'm launching my own company. Lots to do, but really exciting!

Anyway, I have been looking around for ways to take tours when I'm abroad. I found one really good website, Backpacker Tours. It seems pretty good, and they have prices closer to where I need to be. Specifically I'm looking for a tour that does kayaking in Hai Long Bay. So far only one group comes up in a price that is reasonable for me. But there are other options besides kayaking. Though clearly not as fun. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!

Thank you William Shatner

That's riiight.... I JUST got a great deal on PRICEline.

Sorry, it's hard to do a Shatner impression using only ASCII characters. ("There's..... SOMEThing on the wing! SOME... thing on the wing.") But in all seriousness, Kristen and I tried out Priceline for the first time this week and here were the results.

I began by shooting for a 3 star hotel in Athens for $100 a night. Instead I got a 4 star hotel, which with taxes came to about $110-115 a night. Then Kristen tried it (because we needed 1 more day in Athens before her flight home). She shot for a 4 star hotel in Athens for $80 a night. Instead we got a 5 star hotel, which with taxes came to about $90-100 a night! We also have the fortune of staying during the week, but those still seemed pretty good. Then we looked up what we would have paid for the first hotel without Priceline... $270 a night before taxes!

So we got a $270 a night hotel for $100 a night. That's 63% off! I can't even imagine what the other one would have cost us. Now I should add that Greece is feeling the recession right now, we are staying in Athens during the week rather than weekend, and we are booking almost 5 months in advance. But STILL that is a ridiculous savings.

Anyway, I think I just gave Priceline free advertising, but I really don't care cause they saved me almost $340 bucks, which I will now go spend on booze and video games.

Kristen and I are now all booked for Greece. We decided to stay on Milos for most of the trip. It seems like an island with lots to do and fewer crowds than the bigger islands. And we got lots of tips that it is very romantic. I can't wait. I'm sure I'm going to take tons of pictures, but in the mean time, here are some from Flickr:

Milos Island Flickr

Anyway, until next week! Take it easy everyon!

Valentines Day in NJ

I'm the worst blogger ever. I hope I get better when I'm traveling. Anyway, I'm on my way to NJ for a valentines weekend with Kristen! I haven't seen her since John Hopkins so I'm pretty excited! I'm actually in the plane, on my iPhone typing this. Sorry if there's any errors. Oh and as an update to the trip, Hawaii (or some other pacific island) is now officially on the table for my trip. Kristen and I will planning that more this weekend. I should go, the steward/stewardess just gave me an evil eye.... I really can't tell if it's a man or woman. Until next time!