Traveling Tips, Saving Money

Speaker 1 0:02

Hello everyone , welcome back to another episode of Carry On Friends the Caribbean American experience . I'm excited because this person I have on the podcast I've known them as long as I've been blogging and podcasting and she's just now coming on the podcast , but we believe not before it's time . So , joanna , welcome to Carry On Friends . How are you ?

Speaker 2 0:24

Hi , carrie , thank you for having me .

Speaker 1 0:28

Absolutely a pleasure . So why don't you tell the community of friends a little bit about who you are , Caribbean country you represent and the work you do ?

Speaker 2 0:37

I am Joanna Niles . I am a Caribbean American , my family is from Trinidad and Tobago and I am a travel and lifestyle writer and creator .

Speaker 1 0:49

Wonderful , All right , she give you travel lifestyle . Writer . Creator . So we are talking about travel in this episode , and one of the things that the audience asked for is more content around travel , and I think travel is the hottest thing . It's so Instagrammable , the pictures them look so pretty . But let's talk about the more practical aspects of traveling . So when people think of travel , they're thinking of the beautiful beaches that people go . But when you decided to become a travel writer , what was the inspiration behind that ?

Speaker 2 1:29

It was mostly me traveling to places where I have family from . So a lot of my family is in the Caribbean or in the diaspora , so like in the US and Canada and the UK . So I started traveling to places where I had family and friends . So the first one that I did was to Canada . I went down for like it was their Thanksgiving , so columnist weekend , and I spent like a weekend with my family there . And then I did like little states , like in Georgia , in Louisiana , where I had friends and family , and a lot of people started asking me questions like oh how long did you stay there ? Where did you go ? What things to do ? So I started sharing that on my personal blog and on my social media platforms as well .

Speaker 1 2:20

Wonderful , and I mean , I've gone to Canada so many times . The drive is ridiculous , but I think even road trips like that can be such a fun experience , because and I have tips about anybody who wants to drive to Canada but , like the road trip , the sites that you get to see going to Niagara Falls , all those experiences is really part of travel , but oftentimes aren't the Instagrammable aspects of travel for some people ? So let's demystify traveling . And what are the things that you find people get caught up with when it comes to traveling more ?

Speaker 2 3:06

The affordability of travel , the fact that you can travel within your own city and state . A lot of people don't think that . A lot of people think that it's not attainable in a sense , or even traveling with a family . As far as attainability and affordability , and it's all possible with planning , that's a big thing . Planning and just making a choice to do it in general , yeah , so for me .

Speaker 1 3:38

I personally feel like there's not enough around traveling with family . Maybe I'm not seeing it , but it's not because then , when you think of traveling with family , you think about how many kids you know . To be honest , most of my kids did a lot of their traveling under the age before they have to start pay for their own plane fare . Right , because it just made sense , especially when you have more than one child . So talk to us about what the planning entails and what's your recommendation of how far ahead you should plan , regardless of whether it's a local trip or regional trip you're still within the US or wherever some people are in Canada or whether it's an international trip , which is like the Caribbean or Europe or wherever .

Speaker 2 4:25

Well , I don't have any kids , but I do have brothers and sisters that do travel with their family . They try to make it a priority , especially because travel is big for us , whether within the US or internationally , when we were younger . So for the most part , if it's a domestic trip , they like to plan maybe about six months to a year in advance . That's why they can do any research . I have friends like they have a pool with their kids . Like at the end of the year they have like a hat of different states or different countries and they just pull it up a hat and say , okay , this is where we're going next year and they make a plan that way . So yeah , All right .

Speaker 1 5:10

So that's domestic . So if they're taking six months to plan a trip , that's domestic .

Speaker 2 5:13

Yeah , that's definitely domestic six months to a year for domestic and international , international , absolutely Especially for a big trip . A year out is definitely better when it comes to planning , finding plane tickets , finding accommodations that are good for families , things to do within the country or the city that you're , that you're traveling to . It's a good time to research a year at least .

Speaker 1 5:43

So when it comes to I don't know if this still applies , but there was a particular time when people said this is a good time to find air fear . Do you find that there are particular times when it's best to find air fears ?

Speaker 2 5:56

I don't think so honestly . I know there was a big thing around Thanksgiving like the travel Tuesday . I've been traveling frequently since about 2012, . Never seen it , never heard of it until last year or the year before . Maybe I think it's just like it was just a big TikTok trend to get views , or even the travel on a Tuesday , like I've traveled every day of the week . So I think it's just a matter of when you start looking . I can tell you it's best to look like in incognito mode , like on your browser , so that the cookies they won't see it . And a lot of times I've seen personally like I'm about to book a flight and two days before it was like $300 and then the next time I look there's me about $500 . And that also has to do with demand as well . But I try my best to do like with incognito mode when I'm not like quite ready to book the flight , like when I'm just doing research .

Speaker 1 7:07

That way , that is a clutch tip . You know why ? Because the more you search for it , it's like telling the algorithm and the plane , the airplane , to them to rack up the price . Because it's almost like it's . They're like oh , there's a lot of demand on the street if we're planning .

Speaker 1 7:25

So like , for instance , you know , when we were planning for my brother's wedding in Florida , I mean , there are a whole bunch of us when and it was just like the prices kept going up and my brother was like , yeah , because we're constantly looking at that fear segment . So looking in incognito mode is really really good because , like you said , for whatever reasons , it's telling the airline or wherever people are searching the flies oh this is an in-demand trip , and I'm like , no , no , no , I want them to undercheap tickets . So you know , thank you for that tip . Thank you so much . Listen , if I get nothing else on this conversation , is that incognito mode ? Because I'm like , oh , I'm gonna search for tickets . If I can't , that's good In terms of hotel , right , what are some of your tips or advice around when you're traveling and what to look for in hotels ?

Speaker 2 8:20

For me personally , depending on the type of trip . So if I just want like a laid-back trip , a do-nothing trip , looking for the amenities that are available in the hotel , whether it be pools or beach view or things like that , if I'm doing like a hotel within the city or city center , I generally like to see like what's available in that area , so like if it's by transportation or if it's by particular site . Sometimes I don't want to be around where everybody is or everything is , so to see if it's like walking distance to something major or further away . It really depends Also price , as long as it's within my budget , whether I want to just do like a bare-bones trip or something luxurious . If I'm traveling with my nieces and nephews , is it kid friendly ? If a friend of mine is coming with a pet , is it pet friendly ? These are things that I look into when searching for hotels , and then also reviews from a past guest . That's important too .

Speaker 1 9:29

So how you start saving for your trip . So you have any tips or strategies . I'm just looking for the goodness because I was like , listen , I'm about to tell everybody in this house for our trip Because we're trying to figure out a trip . So I'm like , listen , switch the incognito motor . You're looking for these things . So what about actually saving ? Because money not growing on trees ? We're in a very precarious time in the world we have , at the time of this recording , two are still are going on and you know , because of that , the impact on , you know , supply and demand around the world . So everything is still expensive . So what are some of the tips or strategies you have when it comes to saving or , you know , being intentional about putting some money aside for my travel fund ?

Speaker 2 10:18

So one thing that has helped me tremendously is having a separate savings account for travel . So I have , like , my regular accounts for paying bills and regular accounts for saving , but have a separate account just for travel . I don't really see it , but before , like working at the job that I'm in , I put maybe about 25 to $50 away as I switched jobs , like I was able to put a specific percentage . But yeah , just starting small and I know a lot of people they use like high yield savings accounts or other online accounts and that has helped them as well .

Speaker 1 11:01

Listen , we're trying to get all the tips so we can level up and travel and experience and just have a good time like a really good time . I'm about to talk about Wisconsin in a few months because I used to live there and people are very surprised when I used to live there .

Speaker 1 11:18

Yeah , listen , I used to live there . There's a large Jamaican community there and Milwaukee specifically and I brought the kids , you know , because it was the last time we were there was for my grandmother's funeral , and so my five-year-old , he just loved it . He just loved the experience . It was so different . The state fear was happening . There was just like a bunch of things happening and it was just I was taking them to things that I enjoyed about Milwaukee when I was living there , and my five year old , whenever he's talking to my mom , I want to come to your house tomorrow . So it's just like it doesn't matter if it's an international trip . It's the experiences that matter .

Caribbean Travel Experiences and Cultural Recommendations

Speaker 1 12:04

So , when you think of experiences , what is like your top three memorable experiences of your travel career so far ?

Speaker 2 12:14

Oh man so it's top three . Well , top for me and I don't know if this is biased or whatever Trinidad Carnival . My first Trinidad Carnival , my first carnival ever , was in Trinidad . I played Mass with two of my cousins , I played Juve with a bunch of other cousins and like that was like the first time that I well I think that was my first time going to Trinidad as an adult without my parents or anything like that . So that was a different experience . But also just being in the carnival atmosphere and like not really knowing but following them , that was a top experience for me . And we didn't like play with a big band , so like that was a different experience . Because a lot of people they feel that you go to Trinidad Carnival you have to play with Tribe or any of the big bands , and we just went with a small band and we had a good time . We were able to go to like a lot of local events . I was just following them around . So it was great because I was with local people and I think that's a different experience too .

Speaker 2 13:24

A second top I would say going to Thailand for my friend's 30th birthday . It was a bunch of friends from high school , so I'd known them at the time well over 10 , 15 years . It was our first time traveling together , which I don't really recommend , but the people that I went with it was a good vibe all around because we were just so open . We went with a tour , so a lot of it was organized for us , but we did things on the sign or not on when we had free time . So the tour they actually had maybe like two to three days , that was free time , do whatever you want . So we did our own thing and that was fun . So on our free days we did Island Hoppin and Poquette and we also did a day at Elephant Sanctuary . So that was a really fun experience . And , like I said , it was our first group trip . It was the first time all of us had been in Asia six Black girls . It was just really , really fun .

Speaker 2 14:37

And the third I want to say my trip to Cuba was totally disconnected from pretty much everything but at the same time connected to the people and experiences that I had there . I spent the majority of the time in Havana , but the cool thing about the trip to Cuba was because I'm a part of like a lot of Black travel groups and a lot of people were going around the same time , so we were able to know what was going on . But we just had to go and see if people were there because , like they have internet but I didn't connect to any of that . I was just like I'm all vibes but at the same time like I don't recommend going on vibes if you're like a new traveler , but I was with my cousin you were able to speak the language . We were able to connect with people that we knew down there that were going around the same time . So it was really really good .

Speaker 2 15:39

It was so much fun and because Cuba was , I guess , at the time , like my bucket list trip , I always wanted to go . I was just like really , really open . I remember going into a club that was behind a pizza shop and we were just salsa dancing . I told my old coworker I was like I was dancing with your uncle . I know this wasn't his uncle , but it was just so much fun and it really really made me want to go again . I haven't since , but I definitely would go again .

Speaker 1 16:14

So on two of those trips , you know they weren't to English speaking countries . So what is that experience like , traveling to a place where English is not the first language ?

Speaker 2 16:27

It can be a challenge . Fortunately for me , when I went to Cuba , my cousin she did like study abroad in Madrid for like a year , I want to say , and I did Spanish in public school in New York City . So it wasn't . It wasn't hard but it wasn't easy Because , like there was some disconnect . But one thing that was good about the people that we interacted with a lot of them they were like they were learning English . So a lot of the people that we interacted with that was from there , they were learning English .

Speaker 2 17:05

So we were able to meet in the in the middle ground In Thailand . It was with a tour guide . So on the tour the guide was able to share simple greetings with us or phrases with us like hello , where's the bathroom ? Some people they use Google translate . A friend of mine , she was using Google translate because she was vegan , so she was able to type on her phone that like these are the types of food that I can't eat or do you have vegan options , things like that . So Google translate is helpful when it comes to traveling somewhere where you don't know the language and just do a lingo . A lot of people they learn it , especially if it's like a big trip or like an immersive trip . They'll go to use language tools like do a lingo .

Speaker 1 18:06

So this is carry on , friends . The Caribbean American experience . So let us spend a little bit more time on the Caribbean experience . When it comes to travel and what are like the must experience , cultural things in the Caribbean that you feel like we should try to experience at least once in our lifetime .

Speaker 2 18:34

I do . Well , I'm more of a cultural traveler , so I do like to go to that festival events . One thing that I love is food festivals food and heritage festivals at least You'll get more than food . You'll get some music in there . You get to see the way people live things like that Also . I would say music festivals as well . Those are really important to me . But when it comes to learning about the people , like they have like dance festivals , they're also literary festivals , like if you're into reading outside of carnival , like everybody , I feel like everybody knows carnival now .

Speaker 1 19:22

And I'm glad you say that , because I was really looking for a non-carnival experience because , you know there's a lot going on outside of carnival . So I know that Jamaica has a literary festival . It was on hold for a couple years but that it came back a couple years ago . But , in terms of the food festivals , anyone in particular you want to shout out or recommend ?

Speaker 2 19:46

I haven't been , but I've been really wanting to go to Barbados Food and Rum Festival . That one's a pretty big one . Also , there are like marathons that you can go to . I know a lot of runners . They like to travel within the US to run their marathons as well as international , so a lot of people go to like the half marathons and full marathons within the Caribbean .

Speaker 2 20:13

I also really , really I don't know if they are gonna do it again this year , but there was an event called we Gathering in Barbados where they were pretty much pushing the diaspora to come to Barbados and learn .

Speaker 2 20:29

So there were about 12 parishes , I want to say , in Barbados and every month they were doing a different event within each parish . So I was very interested in that . And one thing about Barbados a lot of Americans , especially if they're from the Carolinas , they have heritage in Barbados . I know ancestry and DNA and things like that are very popular with black Americans , so when they find out that they have heritage in Barbados as well as parts of Caribbean , they want to visit . So I think that's a good approach to learning about either the Haryas or the island in general and then also visioning like heritage sites . A lot of people don't travel to heritage sites or a lot of people just don't leave the resort , which I think is boring . But even if you do it on a tour , like just for a day , you know it's good to learn about the destination from someone that's from there .

Speaker 1 21:39

Yeah , strictly Facts , our sister show covered the UNESCO heritage site , some of the UNESCO heritage sites in the Caribbean . I'll link to that . But you made a good point about getting off the resort and I know it's a double-edged sword . Right ? You're thinking of safety , but one of the things I typically say , right , and it's my gripe when I hear people complain about other countries and safety . I'm like I live in Brooklyn . There are certain places I'm just not going to go in Brooklyn .

Speaker 1 22:12

So if I'm not going to go here in Brooklyn , why am I going to a foreign country ?

Speaker 2 22:17

and trying to go there .

Speaker 1 22:19

So it's using that level of wisdom right . You want to go with a group , you want to make sure , and a lot of these hotels I know , for instance , in Jamaica , they'll set you up with tour guides to go off properties . So it just really takes that intention and to go with a group If you're not staying on a resort but at a hotel , again it's using the wisdom to go out and experience the different sites . I think it's just really important for us to get to know the region because , unlike anywhere else in the world where it's just connected by borders , we're just separated via islands and sometimes it's just not the most easiest places to get to . But I think it's also important because it's just right there .

Speaker 1 23:05

I really hope that at some point in the near future they fix inter-regional travel there in the Caribbean . So that is just one of the things I'm just hoping for . So , as we wrap up , is there anything that you feel like you know what when it comes to travel ? I really would like not only my Caribbean American audience to know , but

Travel Near and Far

Speaker 1 23:28

just people to know . When it comes to traveling , and traveling as a person of Caribbean heritage , black , whatever Is there anything in particular from your life travels that you want to share .

Speaker 2 23:40

That is possible . In general , a lot of people don't think that it's possible . I've known people that are American , born , never left their city , never left the state , and when they traveled whether it's to a different state , a different country , whatever their mind just opened , like they were just very , very open . I think it does open up your mind . It does open up your experience to a lot of things . You're able to make connections , you're able to see similarities , you're able to see differences , especially when it comes to food and music , especially in the black community , or , honestly , in general , because I remember I went to Portugal and I had some salt fish and it felt like I was at home , like my grandmother made them . I'm like , wait , portugal , salt fish , what ? And when you think colonialism , things like that , that's another thing . Like there may be times where you do get frustrated when you learn certain things or upset about certain things . I tell people it's very possible to be in all the destination , to be to admire everything , but then they'll be angry because of what they did to that region or that island or that country or see how they profited off other people . I see that all the time . Well , I think about that a lot Also that you don't have to . You don't have to go far to have a good experience Living in New York City . Living in New York State , you can experience beaches and not the best you could experience waterfalls , mountains , farms so many things to experience within your own state , within your own city . There are a lot of museums within New York City and in other states as well , so it's just a matter of wanting to do it .

Speaker 2 25:48

I think a lot of people Like granted , like there are a lot of free things that you can do also within your city and state . A lot of people don't know that Even having a library card gives you access to a lot of things . I know like there's a lot of defunding when it comes to libraries , especially nowadays , and budgets , but there are free things that are available to you . And then there are also Things like Virtual experiences . I know , like in the pandemic there were a lot of virtual Museums or virtual tours that it's not the same thing , but you stay able to learn about a destination that way and even through reading that . The first thing that opened my mind when it came to travel Just reading books , reading about a destination , yeah .

Speaker 1 26:42

You know , I know we said was gonna wrap up what you said a couple things . So I'm like counting on my finger . So I Am aware that there's a privilege that you and I have being in New York City , new York State and my kids they have access To through New York double access right . So you get it because you're in New York City , but they also get it through the school and I remember taking the boys to the botanical gardens .

Speaker 1 27:08

They had a blast because they remembered it because I I remember just about a week ago , my , my sons , they were building something with Lego and they were doing a show and tell . So after they build something , they come and they , they , they kind of walk through their architecture right . And so my five-year-old said this is a tulip . And I was like , why did you make this a tulip ? He was like , yeah , I remember that you like that . When we went to the garden and there were many of them in many colors and it was just like that stood , that stood out for them , because in the Brooklyn Botanical Garden when we went , there were just so many variation in species of tulips for them . So you know , look at what's in your city , wherever you are , what resources are available to experience . Also , to your point , like there's so much to experience and every year my sister in law and I we talk about it . We live in New York but we haven't even consumed all what New York has to offer .

Speaker 2 28:04

I love upstate . My husband was like yeah , when I met you .

Speaker 1 28:06

You wanted a farm and live upstate . I was like upstate is nice , all right , I'm the fall . And I remember my first experience upstate New York was in high school . We went to a trip and we stayed at the Sagamore upstate it was just so beautiful .

Speaker 1 28:24

It was just an amazing experience . So , I think , think of what's locally in your city and your state and what's available for free to . I want to say that social media is great for inspiration , but if you feel like you know , I just want to go to Jamaica , I just want to go to Saint Vincent , I just want to go to Trinidad and you go there every year , that is okay too . That's true because I I live and born and grow in Jamaica and every time I go to Jamaica I experience something different , and that was something that I was able to experience , that was something that was ingrained in me when I was growing up and living in Jamaica . I was with church and at least twice a year we were going to a different place on the island , right , and so it's okay .

Speaker 1 29:10

I have a friend and her and her husband they love going to Saint Martin . They're always in Saint Martin . So it doesn't matter if , like you know , I go to Jamaica every year . If you do go back home , wherever home is in the Caribbean for you , I still I feel like you still make an effort to try a new experience . Like you know , we have we have homes in Jamaica . So what we do . We get a day pass and you know we spend a night or two on a hotel or something . Just create a different experience . It's , it's one thing to travel . It's the experience that I say with you in in all of that .

Speaker 1 29:45

So , yes , we want travel . Make it affordable If you're like , oh , you know I have a house and you know you can stay with family , but again , you know , just try to have these experiences and do something different and new when you go back home , wherever home is . So I'm glad that you shared that , because the local trips , whether domestically , they're also important , and I say this because I've been to Florida a bunch of times and every time I go there is just something different , even though I feel like Florida is a whole different country . But that's a different topic . But again , you know , it's really being intentional about . I want a new experience and who do I want to have this experience with ? And I think that's key in travel .

Speaker 1 30:34

So I know this is not the last time Joanne is going to be on the podcast . She just coming in here to warm us up . Right , she's going to kick off her year . I do have a question for you and I'm keeping this in the recording . So you're doing travel , at some point are you going to organize your own little trip and group trip and thing ? Is that in your future ?

Speaker 2 30:53

You know people have asked . Right now I'm doing I'm a travel advisor , so if you go on like my website it's Joannecom slash welcome . There is a link where you can tell me about your trip or what your plans for a trip . I'm able to share hotels or flight details and help you organize a trip . A lot of people ask about group . I'm not sure yet because there's a lot of logistics when it comes to group trips , even planning a group trip with family , you know getting on the same page . So it's just a matter of me doing the research and planning that , but it may be not this year but in the future , possibly For sure .

Speaker 1 31:41

I asked you in my younger years , when I had patients , I was the one that was planning all of the trips . I remember the last . So outside of my wedding in 2010 , everyone still talks about that trip , right , because everyone had the most fun Before that . I had planned a trip to Jamaica , and people talk about that trip . But it is a lot of work to plan these trips and it's a lot of work to get people to pay their money so that everything else can go , and it's like you know what . I don't have time to be running people down for this thing . I'm here trying to organize myself as part of this .

Speaker 2 32:12

Exactly , and you still want to have fun . And then you're like , okay , I put my project manager hat on . You got to go through all the factors .

Speaker 1 32:20

Listen , there was what . So we went to Jamaica , we went during the Emancipation Week and it kind of carried over and we had a lot of trips . We went like Paris sale , we did all of the things , all the things . And we went to one of the all inclusive parties and I couldn't fight one of the persons at the party and my whole night was done Because I'm like , where's this person ?

Discussion on Responsibility and Finding Connections

Speaker 1 32:42

Where's this person ? Because in my head I'm like , lord Jesus , what am I going to tell that mother if we can't find them ? You know , it's just little things like that , where it's just like you have to take into consideration before you decide to take on that responsibility .

Speaker 2 32:55

And then , if things go wrong , you have to figure out a solution for that . Like , a lot of people are not put under pressure , so you have to be mindful of that .

Speaker 1 33:07

For sure , for sure . Well , Joanna , tell everybody where they could find you and connect with you . I know you mentioned the website . I'll put it in the show notes about where they could connect with you on social media .

Speaker 2 33:17

Okay , my Instagram is Joanna E and so full Joanna E and JLA , and then they will see it on my screen . I'm on tiktok sometimes , so it's miss Joanna E and it's the same thread , joanna E and my website , joanna Ecom . Will you see links to everything my write-up portfolio , my blog with travel tips and guides , as well as where you can look a trip with me ?

Speaker 1 33:52

Wonderful . Thank you so much . And , as I love to say at the end of every episode walk good . Thank you , harry , thank you , thank you . Good luck , you're welcome . Thank you . Thank you , I'm going to turn this off . Okay , okay , okay , okay .

Speaker 2 34:00

I'm going to turn this off . Okay , okay , okay , okay , okay Okay .