Classism and Stigma, Why Its Wrong, and What You Miss Out On; Reflections From Our Camping Trip
Having just come back from a very enjoyable and practically free camping vacation on the beach with my family, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. How many people would never do what I did. And not because they don’t like camping, and not because they don’t like the beach, and not because they don’t […]
Our Super Frugal Beach Camping Trip, The Last Two Days
A few hours ago, we got home from our family’s longest camping trip ever, five days and four nights camping on the beach. To get there entailed taking one bus, then three trains, then another bus, plus a bit of walking… but it was well worth it. The kids and I had a wonderful time, […]
Our Frugal Beach Camping Vacation: The First Three Days
I’ve been planning this five day beach camping trip with my kids pretty much since our similar but shorter trip last year. Slowly I’ve been stocking up on supplies from cheap places, learning from our mistakes last year, to make this trip as great as possible, but still as the date approached I was filled […]
Prepping For Camping… With No Car
I’ve scheduled this to post in advance because right now I’m I should be in the middle of unpacking and setting up camp with the family. We are going to be camping from Sunday to Thursday, the same place where we camped last summer, this time for a couple more days than last time, and […]
Sushi Making as a Fun Frugal Family Activity
For those of you who are parents and in the northern hemisphere, you’re probably all in a similar boat… Trying to figure out how to entertain your kids while they are out of school, without breaking the bank. My kids were in camp but it ended, and now I have another month in which I […]
Cooking Ρύζι τηγανητό, Ryzi Tiganito With a Greek Grandmother, Greek Fried Rice Recipe
When I think fried rice, I immediately think of East Asian recipes, Chinese or Japanese, with soy sauce and ginger or garlic, definitely not European, definitely not Greek. But when I was in Crete, staying at my friend Vera’s mother’s house, her mother Maria was cooking rice that looked interesting and quite different from how […]
My Frugal Greek Vacation, Crete Day 6, Tsikalaria, Souda
My sixth day in Greece… honestly, there’s not so much to write about. It was the day after I completed the 14 kilometer Samaria Gorge hike, more than half of it with a sprained ankle and an injured knee. The morning of my hike, the taxi driver bringing me to the gathering point told me […]
Preparations for a Safe and Successful Hike
I used to go hiking often as a kid and especially as a teenager, but as an adult my hikes in general have been for shorter durations. I’m not the most experienced hiking as an adult when I need to take all the responsibilities for myself. When I hiked last, a 16 kilometer hike, on […]
My Frugal Greek Vacation, Crete Day 5, Samaria Gorge
Yesterday I had quite a day. Originally we’d planned on going to the pink beach in Elafonisi, but because of bad wind, we decided to ditch that. Samaria Gorge is a hike that is really special to Crete, and in fact, is the longest gorge in all of Europe, and has some amazing sights, but […]
My Frugal Greek Vacation, Crete Day 4, Chania
Today just finished my fourth day in my Cretan Greek vacation. One thing I’m absolutely loving about Greece is how laid back everything is here. Today, after a relatively late night in town last night, we slept in and had a pretty chilled out morning. We, Vera, her friend Mariana, and I then headed into […]
