It sucks running what used to be a travel blog when you're not traveling. I told you guys a few months ago the blog would take a slight turn towards some other topics as well, but I bumped into life and unfortunately wasn't able to update it as much as I would. But I was doing some cleaning the other day and found an almost two-year-old post-it with the cost breakdown of my Italy travels. I didn't want to toss it, but to write a blog post that might be useful to someone. Almost two years ago I wrote one of my most popular posts ever—How To Travel On A Budget—but I get it's one thing to offer general advice, but it's totally another to actually show someone how you really did it on a trip. So, here goes!

How to Survive a Shopping Ban

Last week I shared my thoughts on why I started my shopping ban. It was pretty much stepping into the unknown. It was a challenge I wasn't sure I could endure up to the end, so I allocated a six months' period pretty randomly. I thought: let's say six months, and if I cannot make it, well... that's it. Nothing too serious.  The initial idea was six months without buying clothes, but soon I extended it, so it was six months without buying clothes (except for one pair of jeans because I really needed it), decorative cosmetics (which shouldn't be too hard, as I use minimal make-up), nail polishes (ok, harder, because I'd been eyeing a shade or two), glossy magazines (hard!), candles (sad, because I was really used to their lovely light in the evening), flowers (super hard, as buying tulips in the Netherlands is the most natural thing, plus it's incredible how much they always brighten the desk), jewelry (not that hard, but then again, I had to remember not to buy it!), Starbucks coffee (at that point not that hard because Groningen had Starbucks at the main railway station and I almost never went there). In a nutshell: I was banned from buying things I didn't absolutely need.

Why I Started a Shopping Ban (And Why You Might Too)

As I mentioned on the blog a number of times, I'm bad with money. OK, well, I'll always be a person who prioritizes rent over anything else, and you can be 200% sure that I will never end up in a situation where I cannot afford to pay this month's rent because I bought an expensive pair of shoes. I'll never, ever get a loan so I could afford a vacation. If I cannot afford something, I cannot afford it and that's it, end of the story. But me being bad with money applies to those situations when I can afford something. Come a paycheck, and I'll be the queen of the world! Clothes, shoes, nail polishes, magazines, flower bouquets, cute mugs, trinkets that will make my home prettier, accessories that will make me feel so. I want it all!

Aaand that's where the paycheck melts.

This Time Last Year - Some Thoughts on Travel & Saving

If you stumbled upon this li’l blog of mine last spring, you could have probably thought that I was leading this out-of-the-suitcase life. In a way I did, it lasted for about two months and I never slept in the same bed for more than five days. I covered six countries and twice as many cities, packing on Thursdays, unpacking on Mondays, and repeating it all over again. It was exciting, but also hectic, and hell, tiring. In the end I had troubles separating memories from different places, because it all seemed like a continuum with blurry lines in between. That coffee with a view, was it in Zurich or in Paris? That open square where we spent a sunny afternoon, was it in Brussels or Berlin? ...And when I say ’we’, who exactly was there with me?!