Young, scruffy-haired lifeguards cruise past us in ATV’s with the day’s warnings written on a board bolted to the back.  Storms can blow through here and change as frequently with the tides, good thing they use an erasable marker.   “No Swimming” flags flap in the wind as the rip currents from far-off tropical storms make swimming and splashing about a bit more of a dangerous undertaking.

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“I am happy, in life right now, but money is my biggest stress.  I don’t need a lot, but just want enough for my family so it’s not a worry,” says Manuel, a recent Airbnb host of mine in Portugal.

His words echo those of so many others I meet around the world – many affected in countries near and far by the current economic climate.  Many of us ‘feel’ it in the United States, but I tend to think a lot of us never come close to feeling it like others around the globe.

I am often asked how I was able to pay for my trip around the world.   And my simple answer is ‘travel is cheaper than you think.’ I wrote about the details of how I did afford it here.

Now I am ‘back’ and living a somewhat more rooted life (read: I have an apartment in Chicago and pay monthly rent and utility bills – something I did NOT do when traveling full time, which is one of the reasons it’s cheaper than people realize – I wasn’t paying for a vacation, but just my daily living expenses).   But now I am still traveling several times a year and am often gone for a month or so at a time.  So, the new question is, how can I afford this now? How can I afford to travel AND still be paying rent and bills back home?  I don’t have some master plan…except just basically this secret: 

I spend less.

Here’s how:

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I’ve always loved cable ties. They are so good at tying cables. (Stay with me).  And one of the many things I love about New York City? There is always something to see or do right outside your door. And many of these things are free and unexpected. You are often treated to a free show or public art display as you simply walk down the street. On a recent visit, I was a bit entranced by this random Cable Tie Art wrapped around several street light posts around Astor Park in the East Village.  But this wasn’t the work of some random, stealthy street artist, this was a real art installation called ‘flaming cactus’ thanks to a partnership between New York City’s Department of Transportation and Animus Art.

Warning: If you are squeamish or prude or don’t have genitalia, this post may offend you.

If you read the title as “big on bid-detz” then this is going to be a hard sales pitch.  But hear me out.

The poor, little bidet.  It gets a bad rap and is probably the most misunderstood bathroom fixture this side of the Atlantic.

Well, I think bidets (bih-DAYS) are awesome.

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