Tag: Tourist

Niche Alternatives for Airbnb

The growth of Airbnb over less than a decade has been staggering. From its humble beginning as a couple in San Francisco who rented out their loft to make some extra money to a modern-day business with an operating income for $450 billion in 2017 (last known numbers), it’s been, for many homeowners and guests, something of a godsend.

But for others, not so much.

There are several groups of people who, for reasons, the traditional Airbnb setup just wouldn’t work as well as one would hope. But fortunately, there are plenty of smaller companies who cater to those in these niche markets.

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When You’re Looking For Universal Studios & Wind Up At An Incinerator

Universal Studios theme parks have a lot going for them – Harry Potter, Despicable Me, Jurassic Park, and many more attractions to make a day or two at the park(s) worth a visit (that’s not even including special events like Halloween Horror Nights). But if you’re going to Universal Studios Japan, make sure that you actually wind up at the theme park and not at the Maishima incineration plant in Osaka.

Wait, WHAT???

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Maximize AMEX Offers On Black Friday, Universal Updates, LGBTQ-Friendly Resort In An Unexpected Place, & More

Happy Sunday to all of our travel friends, both near and far! Here are some articles we’ve read from other bloggers (and other sources) that we think you may like, as well, so we’re passing them along.

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Getting My Cheesy Kitsch On: Our Visit to South of The Border

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Drive up or down I-95 and after miles and miles of billboards promoting the place, just south of the North Carolina/South Carolina state line, you’ll find South of The Border (SOTB), a tourist attraction in Dillon SC, whose name is a tongue-in-cheek tip of the hat to its Mexican theming. A well worn tourist attraction since its humble beginnings as a beer stand 1949 (the just-north-of-the-border NC counties were “dry” at the time), SOTB runs on both sides of highway 501 and contains, among other things, a truck stop, a 300-room motel, several souvenir shops that sell everything from T-shirts to hats to fireworks to leather goods to beachwear and everything in between, a handful of restaurants, a 200-foot tall observation tower shaped like a sombrero, and the largest reptile exhibit in the country. Oh, and don’t forget the dozens of statues of animals such as dinosaurs, gorillas, dolphins, flamingos, etc., painted in whatever garishly beautiful color was the cheapest paint at the store that day.

For most people, SOTB is just a rest stop. For me, it was a vacation destination. See, I had
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How To See The Country (Or The World!) A Few Days At A Time

Joe and I are, I realize, very lucky in that we get to travel as much as we do. Part of that is because Joe’s a whiz with points and miles, which stretches our dollars further. But part of it is also because we plan our trips wisely, utilizing weekends whenever possible. As it is, we generally only do one “long” (read: 1 full week, occasionally longer) vacation per year and the rest really fit more into the “long weekend” category (usually Wednesday or Thursday through Sunday or Monday or so).

Some people get to travel all the time, albeit for work. But I’m sure most of them go to
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