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I have traveled alone all over the place. What I like to do is hook up with a group tour. There are always other single people in the group and there's never been a problem sitting at a table with other people in the tour. It's normally expected to join each other, whereas if you just go to a restaurant solo, you would just be eating alone.
I did some googling, and I'm wondering if you might enjoy joining a travel club in Atlanta. You might be able to get a group to go to Portland or SF, or maybe you'll want to just go where they are going. Here's a couple I found:
Another way to meet people you can eat with, is to stay at a hostel. There are some in SF that look like fun to me and they have tours that you could probably go on with other hostelers:
Hosteling will provide you with the opportunity to meet very interesting travelers (from age 6 to 90+). Many will be eating alone, join them and learn a lot! As a home schooler, I like to chat with kids and get their ideas on adventure.
When small, my kids referred to Hostels and "foster homes for college kids", They learned a lot from staying there!(+/-), but I would say our traveling for all the yrs of their youth definitely formed their perspectives on diversity. (true diversity, not the USA PC garbage that corporations push). The 7500 mile VW camper van road trip while they were in diapers probably formed a bit of their physique. They were REALLY glad to get home! They were 'transformed' and the BEST kids ever after that prison sentence. When we lived overseas, the kids did all the 'fresh market shopping'. They got great deals from the vendors! (who taught them a foreign language and a currency (math) lesson everyday! - FREE!)
Travel can be cheap and fun and educational, Consider your next trip to the store a travel experience. Engage a foreign national in a conversation and find out where they like to travel and why!. You might get some good ideas and new perspective.
Last edited by StealthRabbit; 12-07-2015 at 11:43 PM..
I've traveled a lot on little money, but that was years ago. It's harder now, especially in the cities you mentioned, as the cost of living has gone through the roof. Years ago I could rent a tiny room in a S.F. low end hotel for $300 a month. That same room is probably well over $1000 a month now and has a long waiting list to get in it. Ditto for Portland. Trouble is, my fixed income hasn't gone up in line w/ the housing costs. I met my wife in Hilo, Hawaii 13 years ago, and at the time I was paying $300 a month for a room. Now things have gone crazy there, and even a room in someone's house costs nearly three times that. Which is why we now live in Florida :[
Food has gone up too. $3 burritos at my favorite S.F. restaurants are now $8 and up.
One of the ways I made it affordable was to forget about traveling and simply move someplace. That worked better than visiting. But again, that was years ago. It looks much, much more difficult to do that these days. The whole country has turned into a police state too. Every nickel and dime organization wants to do a background check and credit check on you these days. That never happened in the past to simply rent a place. We paid hundreds of dollars out on this idiocy just weeks ago when we were looking for a mobile home to purchase in a senior mobile home park. Every park wanted to do these expensive checks, and none of them would accept the results from one of the other park's snoops. At $45-$60 a pop for each person, this sort of thing adds up. Besides, a criminal background check simply means someone has not been CONVICTED. God only knows what they might have done, or will do, they just haven't been caught. I don't think people have thought this one out very far.
Traveling by Greyhound will save you bucks, but I don't recommend it unless you have no other options. The bus stations are often like something out of Dante's 7 levels of Hell. The drivers can be surly, unfriendly control freaks, and your seat mate will surely be very strange. Greyhound is truly a bad bus company, and it's the only national bus company in the US, which is bizarre in a country this big. Other countries have nice bus systems, even Mexico, but not us. Most people travel only one time on the Dirty Dawg, and when you ask them about the experience their eyes get real big and they say "never again!" The more you travel, the better home begins to look. That's my motto these days.
I have traveled alone as well as with others. Though I'm no longer stretched for funds, i can give you some ideas on budget travel.
Look at airbnb, hospitality stays and if you have a nice home, home exchanges.
Find lodging that includes a fridge and cooking facilities so you don't eat all meals in restaurants.
Book plane tickets well in advance, flying on Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday.
Travel during low season, not high season.
Generally, use public transportation instead of rental cars and taxis.
Look at utilizing alternative airports.
Don't check luggage (unless you're flying on SouthWest)
SF is a VERY expensive city. Look for alternatives.
SF is very expensive if you're buying real estate. You can visit SF on the sort-of-cheap. Go off season (the weather is fine almost all year), use airbnb, take the bus, WALK, visit neighborhood ethnic restaurants. You'll have a blast.
Travel is absolutely the BEST investment you can make in yourself. You will have experiences that you'll never forget. And start doing it while you're young.
One piece of advice...especially if you're traveling overseas, involving different time zones, possibly arriving at night. Always have your first night's accomodations lined up in advance. I learned the hard way on my first trip to London...spent the night in Victoria Station with one eye on my backpack!
Location: The edge of the world and all of Western civilization
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ninersfan82
I currently live in Atlanta. I, for some reason, want to visit Portland and San Fransisco very badly. I make $15 an hour. I am trying to cut back to save money for travel and other reasons. I am just wanting to hear from those of you who weren't making alot of money but were still able to do a fair amount of traveling far away from home. Also, I want to know if you traveled with someone or alone and what are some good tips for traveling alone.
I don't think it's that hard, you just have to examine your expenses and find where you can cut back. If you combine cutting unnecessary expenses (packing a work lunch instead of going out, curtailing immediate entertainment expenses, etc.) then you can save up. If overtime is available at work, take as much as you can get. Several years ago, I made a bit less than you're making now and was able to afford trips to Russia, New York, Brazil/Argentina/Uruguay, San Francisco, DC and Morocco. Generally speaking though, I kept an eye on fares and jumped when I found something at a price I couldn't pass up.
Traveling alone is great too. For me it's preferable, because it's so liberating. You can go at your own pace, don't have to compromise with anyone and you can enjoy your own company. For me, there's no feeling more serene than traveling on my own. It gives me plenty of time to reflect, contemplate and live for only myself with a break from responsibilities and obligations. In your case, I'd recommend going to local places alone and just getting used to the awkward feeling. If eating alone at a restaurant feels that weird to you, a bar must feel much more awkward, so I'd suggest you do both. It will feel weird only at first, but when you get used to it you'll be okay. I think you may have a confidence or self-esteem problem if this is a concern for you. You need to get to a point where you just don't care.
Yes, mostly got rides pretty quickly- not always but hey it´s an adventure. Lot´s of truckers are pretty cool.
I have had almost always positive experiences whether hitching or picking people up. In the 16 years I have been living in Germany I have not hitchhiked more than maybe once
but I use BlaBla car for ride sharing normally as a driver but sometimes as a passenger.
but a while back I was driving in my company car to a customer in Berlin and at a truck stop I saw a hippieish dude with a small girl maybe 5 years old hitching at a truck stop. it was 10pm and raining so I picked them up and ended up going about an hour out of my way to drive them home.
He had picked up his daughter from her mother and they hitchhiked to Italy, spent 2 weeks around Cinque Terre as a holiday and were on the way back. We dropped her off at her moms I took him to his place- he got me a bit high and I continued on to Berlin. I could only imagine how my ex would have reacted if I were to hitch to Italy with my daughter.
Oooo travel!!! I traveled to South America alone about 13 years ago and it was amazing! Was able to stay cheaply and hike the canyons and met such great people!! I was only making about $12/hr at the time but I did everything I could for 2 years to save up. The 2 biggest things were cutting my rent down as much as possible and not eating out pretty much ever! 2 years kinda seems like a long time but it was a 4 month trip so definitely worth it in my opinion TRAVEL TRAVEL TRAVEL!!!!
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TRAVEL TRAVEL TRAVEL!!!!
