I’ve now been to Egypt twice in the last 6 months and not written a word about it, so I think it is time to start unpacking my adventures in my beloved country. Egypt holds a special place in my heart, and each time I go, I find myself wanting more, already looking forward to…
Tag: #budget
Weekend Wanderings: Washington, DC
I’d like to interrupt your regularly scheduled programming, namely, me slowly but surely completing my recap of my travels to Istanbul and Cairo, to pause for a moment, and update you on a little weekend wandering I’ve done recently! It has taken me quite a long time to get around to writing about it (more…
Baklava For Days at Mado Pastry
Let me start out by saying that I don’t really like baklava. Growing up in a Middle Eastern family, there was no shortage of baklava, kunefah, basboosah, etc, but as more of a savory than sweet kind of girl, none really held much appeal for me. My tooth has gotten slightly sweeter with age, however, even…
Worth the Ticket Price: Topkapi Palace, Istanbul
As a die hard budget traveller I am super skeptical of tours, tourist trap sites, and basically anywhere that charges an entry fee that I haven’t heavily vetted/weighed the value of the ticket price. I’ve mentioned before, if you’re travelling all the way to Istanbul, it’s worth it to set aside maybe $30-40 of your…
Happy 2016: A Mid-Way Update on 25 for 25
Happy New Year all! I hope you’ve had a good couple weeks of eating well and merrymaking. I certainly did. January 1st always rolls around and the cookies and eggnog are swapped for cold-pressed green juices and promises to lose 10 pounds by spring. While I could certainly stand to lose a few pounds after…
25 Goals for Turning 25: First Quarter Update
Things have been quiet on The 9 to 5 Wanderer lately…I’m afraid the last month has been A LOT of 9 to 5 and a little wandering. A massive work project that dragged on for about a month and a half finally wrapped up today, and now I have a bit of room to breath, aka write….
“If You Have Savings in Your 20’s, You’re Doing it Wrong”…SAID NO ONE EVER
Except someone actually did, and that’s what we’re here to talk about today. It’s hard being financially responsible in your twenties. A lot of us in our first few years of work live paycheck to paycheck, come up against months where we have to eat PB&J for two weeks straight because we were stupid with our money…
How to Survive a Long Haul Flight
For me, preparation for a long haul flight always starts two days before takeoff. In high school, my coaches always told me that what you put into your body two days before has the biggest impact on your game time performance. On the field, this meant carbo-loading and lots of hydrating. While a pre-match pasta…
Something You Probably Didn’t Know About Your Stop Over in Istanbul
This post brought to you by my extremely high excitement levels over my recently booked trip to Istanbul. No, sadly Turkish Airlines is not showering me with extra special free perks, although I did get a free piece of baklava from them at a fair once, and the available-to-everyone perk I’m about to tell you about…
Travel Plan Update: What’s My Next Big Adventure?
Such exciting news!! After my setback with my planned trip to Cairo this month, I have officially booked my tickets to go to Cairo for my other cousin’s wedding, with a three day stop-over in Istanbul. I’m absolutely elated to be going back to Cairo to visit my family for the special occasion, and to…
What I’m Doing this Month to Save Money for Travel (And What I’m Not Doing)
Summer is a really difficult season for me to stick to my budget. In winter, it’s a lot easier to stay hunkered up at home and decline invitations to make the trek outdoors (particularly when you’re in Boston and there’s three feet of snow on the ground). The past few months haven’t been great on…
Change in Travel Plans: No Egypt in August
I’ve had yet another twist in the plot of my 2015 travel plans. As I’ve mentioned before, #taxpocalyse in January really put a damper on my travel plans, knocking the conference in Paris in July off the table, and making Egypt and London planned trips unlikely. I did manage to get to London few weeks…
The 9 to 5 Wanderer 