The Great Shoestring Adventure: June 2014

Ready to body surf?

Have you ever just wanted to pick up and go to the beach? I love going to the beach, and not just because I have some secret desire to be a permanent beach bum. I am one of those bizarre people with an insatiable need to be near the ocean on a regular basis. Some people love the mountains; they get a thrill from skiing and snowboarding and sitting in front of the fire with a cup of hot cocoa at the ski lodge. I yearn for jungle-lined white sand beaches, surfing, snorkling, and the sounds of waves and seagulls. I got my scuba certification before I got my driver's license. I sailed from Massachusetts to Maine in a schooner when I was 16. I have camped along the Texas coast, got the crap pinched out of me by a rather pissed off crab while I was poking around a tidal pool, and even seen a tiger shark alongside our boat on a whale watching excursion. You get the idea.

So how does one go to the beach on a budget? Easy peasy. Seriously.

I started by locating the nearest ocean within driving distance--the Gulf of Mexico. Then I eliminated all of the cities that I find gross: Galveston, Padre Island, etc. I know I know, this is where the hate mail rolls in, but really, Galveston, clean up your act. My travel companion had never even seen the ocean before (seriously) and even he knew which cities to avoid.

Anyway, that pretty much left Port Aransas out on Mustang Island, which is a nice spot, and I proceeded to build a three-day trip for two at $400 per person. Oh no! I mentioned money! How crass, how gauche, how very middle class of me. Be advised, I have had my fill of budget travel blogs and how-I-quit-my-job-to-travel blogs and adventure blogs that prefer to allude to money instead of actually mentioning specific figures. How is anyone supposed to work with that?

Anyway, let's start with a few travel ground rules:

1. Stop Spending Money on Stupid Stuff

People ask me how I am able to take so many trips each year. I don't have an amazing, high paying job. I make less than fifty grand a year right now, and I have student loans and bills just like everyone else. The answer is that I make travel a priority. I decided a few years ago that there are not many things in life that make me happier than traveling, and when something is that important to you, you find a way to make it happen. Let's say you put away a minimum of $10 a week. In a year, you would have $520. That's enough to buy a surf lessons and a plane ticket to San Diego. Think of how much you could save if you packed your lunch instead of went out every day, or if you didn't buy Starbucks for two weeks each month. Heck, if you did both you could probably afford a trip to Paris next year. I'll make it even easier: don't spend change or fives. Get a jar and fill 'er up.

2. Know When to Travel

Keep in mind that traveling in the off season is a great way to get the best deals. In the case of Port Aransas, late April right after Sand Fest or early September are perfect. Let's be honest, in Texas it is still hot in September. Sand Fest, the annual festival where artists create gigantic sand sculptures on the beach, is absolutely amazing, but I was traveling on an extremely tight budget. Room rates during Sand Fest are at least fifty dollars more per night.

3. Hotel Chains Do Not Always Have the Best Rates

I had three qualifications for the hotel--I wanted a clean room right on the beach for less than $100 a night. Impossible! Outrageous! Not really. I floated around online, I read reviews, I compared rates, I asked friends and family members, and I came up with a few options. Since I wanted somewhere a bit better than a Motel 6, that left four beach lodges all within three blocks of the beach. The first two were booked. C'est la vie. The third was weird. You couldn't make reservations online, so I called...and called...and called. In three days, no one had picked up the phone once. That left one very special place that was, according to the rather brusque woman who answered the phone, "one block from the ocean." Her attitude had me worried, but the reviews looked good and they actually picked up the phone...

4. Be Generous with Your Budget

Remember your budget is a plan, not a limitation. Know where you want to go, where you want to stay, how much it costs to get there, how much food will be, and how much you want to spend on entertainment. Also, I always pad my budget a little in case the unexpected occurs. In the case of this trip, the unexpected happened to be the driver thinking they knew better than the GPS. Account for sudden weather, car breakdowns, and human error. Plan for the worst but hope for the best.

The bad news: my travel partner and I initially ended up in Galveston, 209 miles from Port Aransas. Annoying, yes, but fixable. Four hours later, we were pulling into the sandy parking lot at The Beach Lodge. Listen. To. Your. GPS.

The good news: everything else.

The beach is right there. Look at it. It's right there.

The Beach Lodge was not "one block" from the ocean as the receptionist led me to believe. It was on the beach. As in sand dunes on either side, and you can see the water from the bar. That's what I'm talking about. The lodge itself has a sort of weathered charm--colorful chairs, kitschy bar décor, and lots of beach bums. The rooms are very minimalistic. For $85 a night (including tax) you get a bed, a TV, air conditioning, a bathroom with a shower, and a sink. No bureau, no closet. We lived out of our duffel bags for two nights and three days and didn't mind at all. The light in the bathroom was out and never got fixed (wiring trouble, according to the owner), but the room was clean and the air conditioning worked. At the end of a few hot, sandy days on the beach that's all we cared about.

My favorite part of The Beach Lodge was the bar. It's not your typical beach bar where the sole purpose is to get a drink. All business at the lodge is done there. From checking in to ordering meals to getting fresh towels, you go see the guys and gals behind the bar. They might take their time; they might not be the smiley, customer-centric employees you're used to at hotels, but you'll get what you need. Eventually. You might even catch the owner over his morning cup o' joe. He maintains the lodge himself, but is usually willing to stay and talk awhile after his first cup. I loved ordering breakfast or a burger at the bar, then grabbing a table on the covered balcony to watch the water. Very peaceful.

The guys sitting around the bar at breakfast.

In fact, the whole weekend was peaceful. We wandered the little island checking out souvenir shops, tiny restaurants, and I even booked a seashell massage at The Balinese Wellness Spa & Yoga Retreat. If you haven't tried it, you should. It's like a hot stone massage, but the seashells have a different texture that exfoliates your skin. Love! The spa is clean and beautiful, and the ladies have somehow eradicated the ever-present white sand that gets tracked onto every surface. I want to go back for yoga and try the cucumber fig salt scrub.

The beaches are lovely, and the waves were just perfect for body surfing. After months and months of working hard, we started to unwind. We built sand castles and sand armchairs (so comfy), went body surfing, sipped a few homemade cocktails, and snacked on ice cream and junk food like teenagers. For three days we ignored our phones and didn't care about anything.

It's always difficult leaving a vacation spot. We made wild plans to buy a beach house to rent out to tourists, quit our jobs and set up shop on the beach--the usual--but in the end we had to load up the car and head back to the city. However, we made a pact that this would be our regular getaway spot. The next time we could get time away from work, we would come here.

Wish List for Next Time

Rent a golf cart and zip around

Boogie boards for body surfing

Yoga and a salt scrub at the spa

Better sand castle building equipment

Stay up late to see the crabs come out of the dunes

More ice cream