Hey there, travelers, vagabonds, gypsies and lust-after-wanderers (just go with it)! When it’s about 7 a.m. (which it is about right now), and I’m traveling (which I nearly always am these days), and I find myself in a Whole Foods (which is exactly where I find myself this morning), I get incredibly jazzed. I get so jazzed, in fact, that I use parenthesis as if I was just told that they were not going to be part of the English language any longer.

So, why the enthusiasm and the parenthetical explosion? Well, I’ve just got one word several words for you: Whole Foods Steel Cut Oatmeal Bar.

One of the things that I’m most concerned with when I’m traveling on a student budget, is food. You can see that reflected in nearly every post. Since you have to eat a few times a day, making sure that food is affordable is really important. But, one of the things that doesn’t show up so much is that I’m also incredibly concerned with my health. When you’re on the road, you don’t always get to control exactly how natural, or unprocessed, or fresh your breakfast is. Sometimes, you just have to face the reality that you’re going to have some beige breakfasts on your journey. And that’s totally okay. There’s no sense in lamenting that undeniable aspect of traveling.

But then you find something that can become a go-to breakfast staple when you’re on the run. If you’re on the run near a Whole Foods, check out their oatmeal bar. It’s just $2.99 for a pound of steel cut oats, fresh fruit, nuts, museli, honey, maple syrup, brown sugar or whatever toppings you want to layer on there. Every Whole Foods has different stuff, and much of the time the fruit is in season. I like to make mine 1/2-3/4 oats, and then add almonds, blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, pecans, almonds and honey. Sometimes if I’m feeling a little bit wild, I’ll toss in some raisins. It’s a nutrient dense vegan breakfast for 3 bucks. You can’t really beat it with a stick.

It’s incredibly filling and super easy when you’re on the fly or if you’re taking a morning to fill out some culinary scholarships.

When I’m on the road and I find a place that I really dig, I tend to frequent it the entire time that I’m in town. This especially rings true for coffee shops. I always love finding a comfortable, chill, and reasonably priced local coffee joint to hang out in to get all of my work/communicating done in. I’ve found some amazing ones over the past year, but this time, I really hit the jack pot.

I’ve been in Denver for over a month completing my yoga teacher training, but I didn’t really have a whole lot of time to explore the city or find a beloved chill spot. I went to a completely suitable coffee shop called Crema near the studio, but I’ll be completely honest in reviewing it. It was cute. The food and drinks were good. But it was a little too small and hip for my taste. The energy was a little pretentious for me. That’s not to say that it’s not a good place to grab a bite and a cup of coffee, it just didn’t feel comfy.

Last week, I temporarily relocated to the Wash Park area in Denver. My first day in the area, I walked into Wash Perk and I’ve spent every day since in this coffee shop. There are so many things to recommend about it.

• Staff: They’re fantastic. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the folks who work here are genuinely the nicest and most caring people on the face of the planet. I’m not sure if they give all of their employees a copy of Mother Teresa’s In My Own Words, or if the business administration runs on rainbows. At any rate, the staff here makes it a joy to wake up early and come straight here.
• The people: They’re also fantastic. Everyone here is sweet and chatty without being abrasive. It’s a great social environment that still allows you to get work done.
• The prices: A pot of tea is $3. Bottomless coffee is $3.50. A 20 oz. runs $2.35. Baked goods run from $2-$4. There’s not a drink on the menu over $5.
• The food: There are a lot of vegan and gluten free options as far as baked goods are concerned. There are a ton of local bakeries and food companies to choose from.

I might be underselling this place. It’s amazing. To put it in context, I’ve spent anywhere from 6-10 hours in here, every day, for a week and I don’t plan on giving up that routine until I pack up and move along.

What’s your favorite Denver coffee spot?

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know a whole lot about WWOOFing, but it seems like it could give you excellent experience if you want to be a part of our nation’s new sustainable food system. Even if that’s not your career path, it could help you save a ton of money on your travel budget this year. You’ll also be doing a great thing by helping organic farmers survive in a tough economical and agricultural climate.

What is WWOOFing? The acronym stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. It’s a service that links up travelers and do-gooders with farmers that could use a hand. In return for labor, volunteers get a place to pop a tent, three square meals, and a life changing learning experience.

I looked into WWOOFing a couple of years ago when I still had a car that could get me from farm A to farm B. Alas, ever since I sold my four wheeled vehicle, my reliance on public transportation has limited the options to participate in things like WWOOFing. However, in an amazing turn of events, I might be getting to know the WWOOFing community better than I ever expected.

I was just invited to live on an organic farm in Colorado for the summer (it’s the oldest in the state), and I have a feeling that I would be the chick organizing a lot of stuff for the WWOOFers who visit the farm.

All you have to do to find farms looking for volunteers is become a member of the WWOOFing community online. For a small fee, you can browse all of the listings in from around the world (each continent has it’s own WWOOF site, so you should decide where you want to volunteer before you pay). Then you send a request to the farmer letting them know your qualifications and your availability and they’ll let you know what’s up from there. Pretty cool, eh?

Do you WWOOF?

The Mile-High City, like most places, is filled with things. One of those things happens to be delicious food. A hands above stand-out of Denver’s restaurant scene  is Breakfast King. This place is one of the coolest in Denver in my opinion. I’m from the Midwest, where there are hundreds and hundreds of dive diners with all the tacky decor you can handle. This isn’t the case in Denver, where everything seems to be no more than 10 years old. The exception is Breakfast King. This place is best described as orange and wood, and always sports an impressive list of specials. The staff are like professional dive waitresses, and the coffee is terrible. However, breakfast ascends to perfection in the breakfast burrito supreme. There is hardly a more “Colorado” dish than a breakfast burrito, that is of course unless you cover it completely in amazing Colorado green chili, which of course they do. If green chili isn’t something you’re familiar with, it’s kind of like regular chili, only (you guessed it) green. Many places in Colorado say they have the very best green chili, and while I have yet to try any bad green chili, Breakfast King’s is by far the best yet.  The burrito itself is filled with all the usual breakfast fare, eggs, sausage, bits of bacon, and lots of chopped veggies, wrapped in a warm flour tortilla and served with sour cream. It’s intimidatingly huge, and I challenge you to not eat the whole thing in one sitting. I doubt even an Olsen twin would take a doggy bag home. So if you find yourself in Denver, roll up your sleeves and head to the corner of Santa Fe and Mississippi, order The Supreme, and skip the coffee. You’ll leave Breakfast King in pain like a good overstuffed American.

If you want to save money on a trip, but eat at all of the best joints in town, you only have to do one thing… Think lunch.

You get a taste of what the restaurant has to offer, and since this is America, the portions are huge no matter what. But you’ll be able to eat at some of the classic restaurants in town for less than half of what a dinner entree would run you.

Miller’s Pub

Miller’s Pub opened up in 1950, when three Greek brothers decided that it was fated. But we can skip the bad history lesson and get straight to the food and the location, which are this joint’s biggest draws. Located in the heart of downtown, steps away from the Adams/Wabash stop on the L, Miller’s is one of the rare downtown eateries that has great food without being pretentious or extremely overpriced. This is especially true when it comes to lunch. Dinner here can run you around $22, but lunch averages out at $8 according to Zagat. If you’ve spent a busy day on State Street blowing all of your travel budget, skip the fast food and head over to Miller’s for some good grub for nearly the same price.

The Berghoff

Berghoff’s is a legendary restaurant right off of the Mag Mile, close to Millennium Park and close to the L. It boasts the city’s oldest liquor license and is one of Chicago’s oldest restaurants, if not the oldest. Berghoff’s cafeteria style lunch is by far the best in town and it’s incredibly affordable. They’ve got a la cart items like Polish sausage and hand cut chips. Lunch will run you anywhere from $5 to $10, depending on how much self control after waiting in line while drooling over all of the delicious options.

If you’re of age, you have to try their craft beers. Their winter seasonal is by far the tastiest porter in this part of the world.

Where are you favorite affordable Chicago lunch spots?

One of the best ways to pick up some extra cash while you’re doing long term, long distance travelling is to take odd jobs wherever and whenever you can. This might mean helping out in a hostel for free lodging. It also might mean turning tricks. But we don’t want you to go the way of Roxanne, so we’ve got another idea for you.
When we’re on the road, we’ve been known to dabble in freelance writing. Okay, dabble’s an under-exaggeration. We’re freelance writing vets. If writing’s not your thing, you could try your hand at freelance graphic design, or become a freelance virtual assistant. There are tons of gigs that you can do remotely these days. You could even take a couple of classes at one of the top online schools and brush up on your English skills at the same time. So instead of picking up a temporary job and staying in one place, why not join the virtual revolution and take a full time or part time job with you to finance your travel exploits?
How-To Get Freelance Gigs

We use a service called oDesk that has a bunch of gigs. Just remember that it’s like any other job, you have to work your way up and build a reputation for being good at what you do before you earn the big bucks (or a semi-decent living wage). Once you have some samples and a few clients under your belt, things get a lot easier. The harder you work at it, the more opportunities come your way. It’s really that simple. And by simple, I mean it’s a ton of hard work, with an amazing work-in-your-jammies-in-Thailand payoff.
There are a bunch of other services that you can use to get freelancing gigs as well:

• Freelancewriter.com
• Freelancer
• Englishmajor.com

Next week, we’ll put together a guide for working while you travel. There are a few things that you can do that will make it easy and enjoyable to carry your office with you.
Do you freelance to finance your travels?

Whether you’re on a short vacay or a long journey, you might not want to abandon your fitness routine. Sure, you might want to lay around all day and sip on Pina Coladas. But wouldn’t it feel amazing to lay around all day after getting your body moving for an hour or so? You know it would.
If your hostel or hotel doesn’t have a gym, it can be hard to find the motivation and the extra cash to work out, but there are a few things you can do to stay in shape while you’re away from home.
If you’re going to be in the same city for several days, you might want to do some homework before you get there. Many gyms and yoga studios offer trial memberships, free weeks, or free classes. Just make sure you take a close look at the fine print. Many of these freebies require you to be a local resident. Some gyms and studios are more lax about this than others, but just be prepared to get turned down if you don’t have a local ID.
Trial memberships at yoga studios are usually amazing cash savers. If you were planning on taking a couple of yoga classes throughout your stay, check with a couple of studios and see what their rates are. Usually, two classes pays for the trial and the rest of the classes are just icing on the cake.
If you’re already a runner, you know what an amazing travel exercise it is. You get to check out the city and work out at the same time. Plus, the only “equipment” you have to pack is a pair of shoes. On top of all that, it’s FREE. You really can’t beat that combo. If you’re not much of a runner, start slow. Check out this article on how to start a running routine and train before your trip, so you’re ready to run when you get to your destination.

Sightseeing in itself can be great exercise depending on where you are and how you decide to go about it. If you’re at Machu Pichu, you’re good to go. But if you’re in a flat city, just keep in mind that walking tours burn more calories than riding the double decker bus or joining a pack of Segways.
How do you stay fit on a trip?

Here at travel on a student budget, we’re always on the road. And for some reason, it seems like we’re always hungry. So when we’re hanging out in an awesome new place, we’d like to share some of our finds with you. We scour the interwebs and pound the pavement, looking for the cheapest, tastiest eats in town.

Right now, we’re scouring and pounding the great city of Chicago, Illinois. It’s an american treasure, this windy city, and it’s known for a lot of things (mainly mobsters). Outside of the mob, or possibly because of it, Chicago is also known for its fantastic Italian food. Italian bakeries and delis line the streets of the neighboorhood that Travel On a Student Budget is camped out in at the moment (moving headquarters make for better reporting says the project manager… who just happens to be me). We’re also just south of the fantastic Ukaranian Village, which houses a wholly different style of cuisine. But we’ll get back to that some other time. Right now, we have to tell you about our favorite cheap Chicago Italian Deli.

Bari Italian Subs is probably one of the best things that could ever happen to the Near West Side. It’s no wonder that the neighborhood has kept them in business for over 38 years. All of their bread is fresh baked. All of the ingredients are fresh as well. If you can say anything about Bari’s it would have to be that the quality of their ingredients from their mozzarella to their deli meat, is that it’s all fresh. If you can say another thing about Bari’s, it would have to be that it’s insanely cheap. We’re talking insanely cheap. Every sandwich is under six bucks for a foot long and if you even try to compare it to Subway with that five dollar foot long song, I’ll come smack you. This isn’t Subway. This is a Chicago classic. Show a little respect.

Have you ever had Bari’s? What did you think?

When you travel, you might want to eat out, see the sights and get your pamper on. “But I’m just a broke and lowly traveling college student,” you say.

Nay! You are so much more than that. You’re a broke and lowly traveling college student in the age of Groupon. You lucky dog, you. I’m sure you’ve heard of Groupon. It’s a daily deal site and you can usually score a fifty percent off deal on Groupon every single day of the week.

Most of the deals fall in the food, entertainment, beauty, spa, drinks, and sight seeing categories, which make it perfect for the student traveler. Those were all things you were planning on doing anyway. Here are a few tips for using Groupon to score travel deals.

1. Plan, plan, plan: If you’re taking a fly by the seat of your pants kind of trip, you should make sure to solidify a few major cities if you’re going the Groupon route. You pay for a Groupon in advance and if you don’t end up using it, you’re out the money you spent either way.

2. Do it ahead of time: If it were me, I’d start checking the Groupon site in my destination city at least a month in advance. But do it as soon as you know where you’ll be heading. The more time you give yourself, the more time you’ll have to sift through sweet deals.

3. Sign up for email alerts: You might already get alerts for your hometown, but set up your email account to show you deals from your destination city/cites as well. That way you won’t miss any awesome stuff.

4. Create a buget: Trust guys. These things can be addicting. So before you spend $250 on seventeen Groupons for Indian and Thai food in a city you’ll be in for three days, set a budget. Either limit it by the number of meals you’ll be having, or go ahead and give it a dollar amount. You’re not Jay Z. You’re a student. That’s almost like being someone who writes a cheap recipe blog for a living… Well, you probably make more money than one of those guys.

5. Get at least one fancy one: Half off is better when it’s half off a bigger amount. Sure, you’re spending a little more on that massage or gourmet restaurant, but you’re sure to feel like one fly mofo when you walk out of a glamorous establishment after claiming your Groupon.

Do you use Groupon when you travel?

When you’re traveling, one of the best way to save money on food is by cooking it yourself. But sometimes it can be hard to find a stocked kitchen when you’re on the road. If you’re in a different country, it may be hard to find ingredients that you normally use to make your vegan recipes. And if you’re in a rush, or running on a tight schedule, you may not be able to find the time to prepare your own meals. Unfortunately, we’re not all lucky enough to be travelling on the budget of someone who earns a forensic psychologist salary.
There are many reasons that you may be forced into eating out when you’re travelling, but that doesn’t mean that you have to break your budget completely. Here are a few tricks of the trade to help you stick within your student sized budget when you’re travelling.
1. Split your meal: If you’re traveling with a pal, split an entree, or appetizer if you’re not starving. Most places give you at least two servings of food on every plate. If you order one to yourself, odds are that you’ll eat the whole thing or some of it will go to waste. If you’re sharing, you can cut your bill in half and still get your fill.

2. Box half of your meal: If you’re traveling alone, get the same effect by boxing up half of your food as soon as it gets to the table. The same rule about losing weight applies to saving money. When it’s in the box, save it for your next meal. No cheating.

3. Think protein: Make sure that you’re getting a healthy serving of protien in whatever you order. This will keep you full longer.

4. Walk away from the hotel/hostel: Restaurants that open up near hotels usually jack up the prices because they know that guests aren’t likely to venture very far into uncharted territorry to get their first meal in town. Get a few blocks away from your hotel before you think about sitting down for dinner.

5. Check the cheapest thing on the menu: You may be in the mood for the porterhouse, but will the kids cheeseburger do? Look for the thing that costs the least and see if that will be enough, before you look for what you’re craving.

6. Get it to go: Save money on tipping by ordering your food to go and eating it at the hotel.

7. Order a water: Skipping the soda, coffee, or tea, will save you $1-$3 on every meal. Cha ching!

8. Skip the booze: This will save you much, much more. Ordering a beer with every meal can run you $2-$10 depending on your location and the beer in question.

What do you do to save money on food when you’re travelling?