A strategy for booking cheaper flights
A strategy for booking cheaper flights
Your mentors, Ali and Ravine, teach you how to travel spontaneously.
Welcome to all you new subscribers! Share this newsletter with a travel-loving friend and follow Your Travel Mentors on Twitter and Instagram. 🙏
This week’s travel inspiration comes from a couple who believes that spur-of-the-moment travel is far from impossible. They juggle full-time jobs, while still finding time to explore the world, and do so by snagging the best flight deals possible.
Ali and Ravine are based near Washington, D.C., and were excited to be featured as mentors because they know that online travel research can be hit-or-miss. Unless you stumble across authentic advice, you’ll most likely end up with most of the other tourists on TripAdvisor and Google.
Not subscribed to Your Travel Mentors? Click the button below to receive weekly emails like this one!
Advice from Your Mentor
Excited to learn how Ali and Ravine can afford to be so spontaneous when they travel? Interested in hearing their strategy for using Google images for trip-planning? Check out their answers to some of the questions below. I guarantee you’ll learn something!
How do you determine when to travel and where to go?
Ali and Ravine have been able to make spontaneous travel both affordable and possible through their subscription to Scotts Cheap Flights. This service sends alerts for cheap flights from your home airport to destinations across the globe. They claim to save subscribers up to 90% on flights, and as a subscriber myself, I can confirm their claim is true.
“We rely almost exclusively on Scott’s Cheap Flights. Often this results in us going somewhere we had no idea was even an option.”
By using these flight deals as inspiration, Ali and Ravine have booked spontaneous trips to Hawaii, Madagascar, Calgary, and Ibiza (you’ll read more about this one below!).
How do you plan for upcoming travel?
Instead of your standard “top things to do” in a location Google search, Ali and Ravine start their trip-planning by searching their destination using Google images. They add activities and locations to their list based solely on what they look like in the pictures, and then do some further research on their favorite images.
Ali and Ravine never create an itinerary for their trips. Instead, they create a “destination bucket list” before traveling, including all of their must-see attractions. Without specifying a time to see each place or an order in which to see them all, they leave their trip open to changing plans based on local recommendations once they arrive.
How do you prioritize your budget when you travel?
Ali and Ravine save a ton of money when they travel by cooking most of their own meals. They often book their accommodations at an Airbnb instead of a hotel, to ensure they have a kitchen. They pack a lunch for days when they will be out exploring. On their trip to Hawaii, they only ate at one restaurant, but that left a ton of room in their budget for experiences like horseback riding and ATV tours.
Destination Spotlight: Ibiza
References to the Mediterranean island off the coast of Spain invoke images of nonstop partying and nightlife. But Ibiza is so much more than just summer clubbing and electronic dance music. History abounds, as UNESCO has designated portions of the island as World Heritage Sites, and the endless beaches and hiking trails will keep you outside for most of your visit.
Why Ibiza?
Ali and Ravine chose Ibiza when they received a cheap flight deal from Scott’s Cheap Flights. It wasn’t even on their radar until they received the deal and started doing some research. The combination of beaches, nightlife, and amazing ocean views sealed the deal. They were each able to book a flight for about $400 roundtrip, while average flight prices to Ibiza are double that!
Nightlife
Ibiza is famous for its nightlife, and no trip to the island is complete without experiencing it. You’ll find a level of bar and club for everyone, with some open all night long and others located on the beach where you can order a drink while you dance in the sand.
“Ibiza is one of the few places in the world where you can hike all day and party all night.”
Sunsets
Ibiza sunsets are ritualistic. They are celebrated all over the island each evening. Ali and Ravine often found themselves listening to drummers on the beach, while watching the sky light up in all shades of orange and red. Sunset Ashram is a popular sunset spot, and a great place to meet some friends with a drink in hand as the sky transforms.
Old Town Ibiza
This section of the main city has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The walls surrounding Old Town were built to fortify the city in the 16th century.
“You can’t realize what those types of old towns look like until you enter one of them. It’s like walking into something from 1000 years ago”
Travel Tip
Ibiza has crystal clear water and beaches that will take your breath away. It can be tempting to just relax in the sand and never move! However, the island has over 80 beaches, so try not to spend too much time at just one. Ali and Ravine visited a bunch on their trip, and recommend trying to find a new beach every day.
Planning Advice
If you plan to explore the island, then you’ll need to rent a car. Public transportation can get you around the city, but you wont be able to venture outside of the most populated areas, which is where you’ll find the best beaches and hiking. According to Ali and Ravine, renting a car is necessary for Ibiza travelers who want to make the most out of their trip.
“The island has so much to offer in such a small geography that only experiencing a little bit of it would be doing Ibiza no justice.”
Picked up a few travel tips from Ali and Ravine? Leave a comment on this post and let us know!
Follow Your Mentors
You can find Ali and Ravine on Instagram @ravinekm.
When these two aren’t traveling, they’re investing in real estate. You can check out some of their projects @alibuysdmvhomes.
"God has created this massive world and filled it with so many amazing things. It would be selling our lives short to not experience life to the fullest. There are some really breathtaking places in the world, and people should experience them.”
Share this post with a travel-loving friend! It’s the best way to support this newsletter.
Your Travel Mentors provides insight from travel experts that can’t be found anywhere else on the Internet. A uniquely curated and easily digestible publication of authentic experiences and travel stories, provided by experts, and delivered weekly to your inbox. The travel mentors that contribute to the content you will read have made traveling their lifestyle. These experts will deliver weekly travel inspiration, help you discover new destinations, and teach you about what makes their favorite places so special.
Not subscribed to Your Travel Mentors? Click the button below to receive weekly emails like this one!
Have feedback or want to get in touch? Reach out on Twitter or Instagram.
Want to be featured as a travel mentor? Contact me here.