All posts tagged: cost

Tahiti: Is paradise all it’s cracked up to be?

Truth be told, I never really expected to find myself travelling Tahiti. Of course I’ve dreamed of Tahiti – who hasn’t?! – it’s just that when the travel bug bites, Greg and I prefer to visit more far-flung, less developed countries while we’re “young”. You know, chickens-on-the-roof-of-the-bus type places. Not coincidentally, these destinations also tend to be easier on the wallet. (See what we did there?) It just makes sense that we’ll travel spendy countries with better infrastructure (Europe, Oceania, USA) when we have kids (hey Hank!), fatter bank accounts or in our golden years. Tahiti isn’t traditionally backpacker-friendly nor thrifty to travel, so it never floated to the top of our bucket list. (Revelation: you can travel Tahiti with a Champagne-on-a-beer budget – I reveal how here.) But when the invitation to visit French Polynesia crossed my desk, of course I jumped all over it; no one says “no” to Tahiti. French Polynesia is widely considered a dream trip for many: turquoise waters, white-sand beaches, lush jungle and overwater bungalows are the stuff of fantasies. Yet …

How Much Does It Cost to Travel Rajasthan, India? (Budget Breakdown)

India had been on my radar for a while, so when a YVRDeals alert popped up that was too good to resist, we jumped on it. How much does it cost to fly from Vancouver to India? Our fare was $1,516.48 for two round-trip tickets from Vancouver to New Delhi. With some processing fees the final total was $1,671.71 CAD*. We would travel China Southern with a layover in Guangzhou. Total flight time each way: 20 hours there and 16 hours back. Days spent in India, excluding international travel days: two weeks. China Southern’s rates seem to be holding consistent at the $800 price point. Flying the larger carriers, like Air Canada or Air India, will push your fare upwards of $1,200. *All prices in this budget breakdown are in Canadian dollars. Tour or independently travel Rajasthan, India? Tickets in hand, so to speak, Greg and I had every intention of booking a guided trip. (That’s tourism speak for “tour”.) We had always assumed we’d opt for a tour because I was a) intimidated by planning the …

My Melia Varadero Destination Wedding: the good, the bad & the ugly

Photos by Wild Whim Photography + Design by Wade Carr Where are all the Cuban wedding blogs? One of the greatest challenges of planning my destination wedding was a lack of real wedding blog posts. I scoured the internet and bridal websites like TheKnot.com for more resources. To my initial surprise, there were few-to-no personal stories. Presumably, this is because most wedding blog posts are voraciously penned by American brides…American brides who can’t travel to Cuba. A second challenge was Cuba’s web presence, or lack there of.  It was, and to some degree still is, offline. Official statistics indicate less than 5% of Cubans have access to open (non-state controlled) internet. Lest I conclude, Cuban vendors (venues, photographers, florists, etc) are not creating promotional web content for prospective brides. This even applied to the resort we eventually selected. There were few wedding photos apart from a small white gazebo and pictures of a dated, pink satin-draped reception. TripAdvisor had some user-contributed images but nothing which really inspired romance, wanderlust or a dreamy (modern) wedding. This …