Travelin' On A Budget

Recently, Mishare and I embarked on a journey to another state for the first time... together.

As recent college graduates we decided it would be a special treat to spend some/all of our graduation money on a place that we have talked about visiting for years.

We set our sights on Seattle, Washington.

Since we are both money conscious women we sat down and figured out where we would like to splurge our monetary gifts. 

Where We Stayed

Rather than book an overpriced hotel in the city or stay in an overpriced hostel, we decided to try...

1. Airbnb

Airbnb (or as I like to call it, AirB & Bizzle) provides a unique experience for travellers by allowing the guest to rent from local hosts in various cities. The website lets you search by location, choose a price range, and select the "type" of housing to stay in, and using keywords to find amenities to best fit personal preference. 

Mishare and I chose an apartment in the University District with two female roommates, only a 30 minute bus ride or 15 minute car ride into the city. We decided we were comfortable enough to share a bed so we selected the "private room"  option which meant that the owners would still be staying in their home and we would be roommates for a couple of days. Unfortunately, due to conflicting schedules we never had the opportunity to meet our host housemates. But they were nice enough to leave travel books and organic oatmeal and coffee for us to enjoy! :)

Pros of this service: 

Meeting new people

Having locals give tips on where to go

Learning about others way of life

Cons: 
Communication (There was confusion as to what time our flight would arrive - our room had not been cleaned and we had no access into the apartment but it was quickly resolved after a few stressful e-mails.)

Privacy - We had no problem with sharing the space with strangers but we only had few interactions with the host. 

Getting Around

was another issue entirely. 

2. The King County Metro Transit - is one of the best and most reliable public transportation systems. Although a bit confusing since the buses work on routes, we were able to figure it out. 

From the airport we took the Light Link Rail which led us to the bus station. On the site we were able to pick a destination and it showed us the appropriate bus to take. 

If you will be in town for a while and/or decide to never leave, I would recommend purchasing an ORCA card which allows you to pre-pay for the bus fare and a simple swipe of the card is all that is needed to ride. Bus fare is under $3. ORCA card is $5.

After a night of fancy cocktails and beer we realized we did not want to travel by bus back to our apartment and resorted to using...

3. Uber

Uber is an app that connect you to local drivers to take you to nearby destinations. 

How it works: provide credit card information, determine current location, select a destination, decide if the fare is acceptable, and within 5- 15 minutes a driver (hopefully with a beard) will pick you up.

This option was quick, reliable, and comfortable. Fares ranged from $9 - 27 per ride, all cars were clean, and the drivers were all friendly and respectful. If you're like me and feel that silences are the worst thing in the world, the drivers will humor you and answer all random questions.

Note: All of the drivers were male, Michelle and I had our cell phones out ready for emergency calls if needed.*

*We did not need it.

What To Do

All we knew was that we had little interest in visiting tourist attractions (with the exception of Pike Place Market) and wanted to get a feel for the city. 

4. Yelp.com was our main girl for recommendations and ideas for a good time. 
She led us to some expensive coffee, unique bars, and a plethora of vegan restaurants. She did not disappoint. 

- Rosa.