2008 Woodie Awards
Savin' scrilla while sightseeing
How a little Web surfing can help in finding much-needed European vacation
Nathan Hurst
Issue date: 2/1/07 Section: Lifestyle
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One of the best parts about living in Boston is getting the hell out of here once and a while.
Blame it on a mid-winter's arctic chill, rude drivers or an overload of BU kids on the T. Blame it on the rain. At some point, getting out is a necessity-and a quick trip home isn't always the trick.
If traveling far and wide seems limited to rich kids from "My Super Sweet 16," think again. With a little determination and patience, a change of scenery doesn't have to emaciate the wallet.
It can, however, leave the student budget-traveler feeling like a million bucks.
Here is one trip that left me relaxed for less than half the cost of an on-campus semester meal plan-including spending cash.
Beware, though. This kind of trip isn't for the upgrade-needy or lovers of luxury.
Two months into a six-month internship at a Boston newspaper, I realized 26 weeks of many 12-hour days made necessary at least one week away before starting back to classes at Emerson. Four roommates and another friend decided to join me on what at first seemed like an impossible quest: two European cities in seven days for under $750.
We ended up doing it all-flights and lodging-for $630.
We needed two cities that had cheap options for travel in between. They couldn't get boring for three or four days each and one also had to offer a great New Year's Eve atmosphere, as we wanted to ring in 2006 abroad.
Amsterdam and Paris were too expensive and interest was low for any Iberian itinerary.
This being the European travel foray for two of my friends, we decided to stick to cities in Western Europe that were at least somewhat known to everyone, even if only third-hand.
After a few days of searching the usual online travel sites, I stumbled across two meta-search gems: SideStep.com and Kayak.com.
Both offer the same kind of search technology that allows travelers to search more than 100 other ticketing sites at once, allowing us to find a steal on a round-trip fare from Boston to Dublin for only $335, including taxes.
Blame it on a mid-winter's arctic chill, rude drivers or an overload of BU kids on the T. Blame it on the rain. At some point, getting out is a necessity-and a quick trip home isn't always the trick.
If traveling far and wide seems limited to rich kids from "My Super Sweet 16," think again. With a little determination and patience, a change of scenery doesn't have to emaciate the wallet.
It can, however, leave the student budget-traveler feeling like a million bucks.
Here is one trip that left me relaxed for less than half the cost of an on-campus semester meal plan-including spending cash.
Beware, though. This kind of trip isn't for the upgrade-needy or lovers of luxury.
Two months into a six-month internship at a Boston newspaper, I realized 26 weeks of many 12-hour days made necessary at least one week away before starting back to classes at Emerson. Four roommates and another friend decided to join me on what at first seemed like an impossible quest: two European cities in seven days for under $750.
We ended up doing it all-flights and lodging-for $630.
We needed two cities that had cheap options for travel in between. They couldn't get boring for three or four days each and one also had to offer a great New Year's Eve atmosphere, as we wanted to ring in 2006 abroad.
Amsterdam and Paris were too expensive and interest was low for any Iberian itinerary.
This being the European travel foray for two of my friends, we decided to stick to cities in Western Europe that were at least somewhat known to everyone, even if only third-hand.
After a few days of searching the usual online travel sites, I stumbled across two meta-search gems: SideStep.com and Kayak.com.
Both offer the same kind of search technology that allows travelers to search more than 100 other ticketing sites at once, allowing us to find a steal on a round-trip fare from Boston to Dublin for only $335, including taxes.
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