Car Fox Rental Form Front: Fill & Download for Free

If possible, donate it to Cars for Kids, particularly if you file long form taxes already bc of the write off.If you can't afford to do that, sell the car “as is" outright or trade it in if you can afford to make payments.If neither of those is an option & if the car is in good aesthetically & paid for, fix it, starting with the most crucial repairs first because regardless of what it costs to repair it, it'll be less costly in the long run than making car payments. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that almost all makes are waiving down payments or have made them very low, will also allow you to go 90 days without a payment & will finance for as long as 84 months - provided you have good credit & only on new cars. Or you can trade it in on a newer used car (typically you'll get more money for yours if sold outright than trading it in) but be sure to run a Car Facts (or is it Fox? Can't remember but you can do a Google search). You can also try to find a one owner car from an individual who, hopefully, was a little old lady that only drove it to the doctor, grocery & church bc it typically will have very low mileage & be “clean" & in good running condition. Regardless of how you go about obtaining a used car make sure to ask for a maintenance log or receipts, if all was performed by the dealership or the same mechanical location they can get that info from them for you & again, run that Car Fax/facts/fox report to make sure it's not been in any bad wrecks or been totalled & bought back on a “salvage title". Never trust the seller to be honest about it, even if it's a church lady. Always remember when buying used that there's a reason they are wanting to sell it & that reason can vary from just wanting a new one, one that gets better gas mileage or because it has mechanical problems. Always ask if they'll allow you to have your mechanic check it over & tell the mechanic to go through it with a fine tooth comb. Before sending to a mechanic who's going to charge you to check it out, pull the dipstick & clean the dipstick to feel for fine metal shavings or worse yet, sawdust which some will add to temporarily disguise any oil leaks & remember a small oil leak is much better than a car that's “burning" oil. Check the tires for uneven wear which could mean it needs something as minor as a front end alignment or tire balancing or something more major like a twisted or warped frame from an accident. Remember to do the ‘Lincoln head' test because if it needs new tires that gives you one point to haggle over price. Look down both sides of the car looking for wraps, wrinkles, high or low spots which are a sign of a fender bender that may've been small & they had repaired w/o insurance being involved or even a police report meaning it won't show up on the Car Facts site or maybe it was rust that they had bondoed & painted. Last but not least, run it through Kelly Blue Book with the VIN# if at all possible so that all the car's extras get factored in on the price, note whether the car is in poor, fair, good or like new, both inside & out. Then if it's a fair asking price & you're interested in it ask about having YOUR mechanic check it over- that even goes for buying from a dealer unless it's a “certified" used car. Buying from a car rental like Avis, Budget, etc is an option just keep in mind that the ppl who rented it didn't necessarily treat it with kidd gloves so the dipstick check on the oil & transmission for any metal slivers or saw dust.Also if you do decide to buy used from a dealer or get a loan from your bank or credit union, the interest rate is ALWAYS higher on a used car than a new one.You will also want to find out the insurance rate on it to get the full, long term cost factored so call your agent for a quote, particularly if you're young or have a bad mvr or even bad credit, drive over 10 miles to work, don't keep it in a garage, live in a big city not to mention if it's expensive & if you are making payments bc you'll have to carry comprehensive, collision as well as the liability requirements in your state & I strongly urge you to get uninsured/underinsured coverage in case of a hit & run or the party at fault sticks around but doesn't have insurance or doesn't have enough liability to pay for the repairs bc sometimes the state minimum requirements aren't enough. Also don't be afraid to shop around for rate comparisons!OH, make sure all lights & turn signals work, that there's a spare tire, lug wrench & jack, that the heat & a/c work too.That's all I can think of off the top of my head! Happy hunting!!

Wow this is a really hard question to answer.One of my first hobbies was saving empty cereal boxes. In a family of five kids we ate a great deal of cereals, usually Kellog’s Corn Flakes, Cheerios or Raisin Bran. On our birthday we got a box of Cap’n Crunch. I saved the empty boxes in the cellar until my father went down one day to look for paint and saw the massive pile of boxes. That didn’t end well.Another hobby for me came about as the irrational anthropomorphization of inanimate objects. I once discovered six popcorn kernels that didn’t pop at the bottom of the saucepan. In a case of misguided compassion I felt sorry for them that they would not get eaten, so I saved them, washed them and built a tiny town for them on my shelf and let them live the life they lost by not popping and getting eaten. To this day I feel sorry for food that gets wasted, as if it wants to be eaten. I feel compassion for all kinds of inanimate objects, such as tools that don’t get used and cars in the junkyard. Probably a mental illness.We always had animals. I was responsible for cats, chickens, and rabbits while my brother was responsible for the dogs and my sister had a parrot and gerbils. I had a pet rooster named “Brewster” who was quite ornery. When he finally died after a good life we said, “Brewster the rooster don’t crow like he usedta”. True story.I used to walk and hike a great deal in my youth. We lived near the Blue Hills in Massachusetts. Trivia: Massachusetts means “Great Blue Hills” in Algonquin indian language. I tramped over those hills like crazy. Once my brothers and I hiked Mt Monadnock in February and was caught in a blizzard. That was an adventure. My friends and I hiked extensively through the Neponset River watershed, eating wild grapes and blueberries and playing chicken passing Budd liners and other trains and incurring the wrath of the railroad police.Early in life I started becoming an urban spelunker. I explored every abandoned building I could find, from houses, to gas stations, to factories. I once explored an abandoned hotel called the “Hillcrest” that was so incredibly eerie. The drapes had shredded and faded over time, but the tables were still all set with plates and napkins and flatware, the salt ate through the metal salt shakers. The beds were still made and there was a little wrapped soap in every soap dish. The place had been abandoned for years and yet it was like going into a time capsule. Factories, hospitals, all kinds of buildings. I have risked my life even til now to go inside and look around.I joined a candle pin bowling league for two years. Bowling is fun but hard work. You use a lot of muscles you don’t know you have til they ache.At that time, my mom signed us up for sailing lessons at Community Boating in Boston. For the next three years, my brothers and I and out friends walked to the bus, took the bus to the train, took the train to another train and then walked to the Charles River to sail all day long. I saw the first girl I ever lusted after. We shared an 18 foot Mercury together and she was my age and wore shorts and a polo shirt and had tiny boobs and no bra and in that boat we were twisting and bending all day, and I never failed to look. Her name was Liz Davidson and I will never, ever forget her, though I am sure she forgot me as soon as she tied the bowline to the docking ring. A few years ago a friend of mine gave me an ancient sailboat he won in a divorce and I have passed many a happy afternoon racing across my lake in Maine.For a short time I was a stamp collector. I had all kinds of books and would purchase bulk stamps from clearing houses then spend time pasting them into the books. However, I got really bored of this really quickly. I don’t think it lasted a year.For awhile I collected “Reeces Peanut Butter Cups”. One day I went to the local store where I learned that the price of Reeces was going up from a nickel to a dime. That was double the price! So at the goading of the store clerk I frantically purchased (using my hoarded milk money) a bunch of the candies, believing that the world was coming to an end and my cheap Reeces would one day be worth real money. I have to give myself credit - I collected the for almost a year before I realized how stupid I was and binge-ate the entire collection. How’s that for delayed gratification?like all boys I was in Little League for a couple of years. I still have my lefty glove.I became interested in girls later on in adolescent years, perhaps when I was 15. There was no explanation of the birds and bees in our house, we were kept ignorant so I had to do all my own research but when it finally became apparent to me that girls had boobs my entire world became chaos overnight. My biggest time sink was surreptitiously stalking the girls i liked through the halls of high school and being routinely humiliated. Sadly, I learned to put girls on a pedestal, a self-defeating behavior it would take me years to unlearn. In my teen years, stalking girls was one of my biggest and least productive hobbies.I fell in love with Tamiya models. Someone, I can’t remember who, once gave me a Tamiya tank model and an obsession was born. Painting, building, arranging the little tanks, trucks and people became an obsession. And in those days the 1/35 scale models were incredibly expensive. One tank could cost 18 dollars, an enormous sum in 1974. Because I was a a failure with girls I spent many lonely hours with my radio on 105.7 WVBF “She’s a Very Bad Fox with a W in front of her name!” and inadvertently getting high on model dope/glue while I had little wars with my tiny army. I still have those little tanks and soldiers. They sit on a shelf, covered in dust, waiting for the invasion.In 1976 a huge cataclysm took place in our neighborhood. We discovered 10 speed racing bikes. Suddenly, riding our awesome banana seat Specials with their coaster brakes was childish. One by one we all succumbed and purchased 10 speed bikes at the local bike shop. We probably kept that guy in clover because a steady stream of neighborhood kids kept coming in and buying bikes. I remember my bike cost 110 dollars. It was the biggest purchase I had ever made in my life, months of saving from my Boston “Globe” paper route. After I got the bike my life changed. I could not venture great distances from home, rather quickly. The mall, the city - nothing was too far. I rode for hours every day as I worked off all that sexual energy from not being able to get a girl. There were no helmets then, or cool bike clothes, but that bike transported me to another world. I had (and used) that bike til 1990 when it was stolen from the garage of the apartments where I was living at the time. I replaced it with a high-end 27 speed racer to impress a girl I liked at the time, who also liked to bike. She went on to be an athlete, I went on to get run over while practicing for a triathlon.I knew I was going to be a famous Pulitzer-prize winning author so I wrote. I wrote and wrote and wrote. I wrote short stories and books and created scenes that pleased me. I wrote stories of kids my age who developed their own rocket ship and I wrote fan fiction for my favorite shows and I wrote books about the Mafia (that were informed by the unrealistic tropes of TV). I wrote thousands of pages and put them in a binder. Then one day when I was heading off to college i through the massive collection into the fire. All my stories went up in smoke but the writing skills I formed started there.Somewhere along the line I discovered I could irritate and annoy my abusive father, a PTSD-suffering WW2 vet if I knew stuff about the Germans in WW2. So I started to read everything I could find and argue with him. Looking back at it now, I was almost always wrong and it was really cruel since he had screaming nightmares of the war every time he closed his eyes to sleep. But I kept up my research and not only of WW2 but of everything I could think of: dreaming, lasers, atom bombs, biology, cancer, law, medicine. I made substantial extra money in college writing research papers for other students. My greatest triumph was when a psychology instructor I truly respected told me a paper I had written was better than any graduate work he had ever received and could be the basis for a graduate thesis. I still research for fun today.In college I became a long distance runner. I was already using my trusty bike as a commuter vehicle but the school required 3 credits of PE and the only option available to me was running. I hated running. But then I met the coach, a positive, optimistic, happy teacher of running named Battinelli who, in two or three sessions, uncovered my life-long love of running. Before the end of the semester I was running 17 miles every other day. He told me to run a marathon somewhere but I knew I couldn’t do it. He looked at me as if I were crazy. “Bub,” he said, “If you can run 17 miles without stopping you can run 25. Or 50. Or more. It’s all in your head, not your body.” But he never pushed it and I never ran a marathon and then, after I was run over by a car practicing for a triathlon, I never could run again. I still bike a little and I ran my first 5K in 17 years last year but those days of being ripped and standing tall were crushed when I was hit by that car. But all through my 20s and 30s until I got run over I ran road races constantly, everywhere. Somewhere I have a box of Tyvek bibs with my race numbers, and stupid medals and so on. And I met lots of girls. By the time I was 30 I had acquired the confidence to meet, greet and sleep with women. And the thing that shocked me was that they wanted it too. I didn’t have to convince them or con them or plead with them. They wanted it. That was a huge revelation.Also in college I was a director of the college radio station and a DJ. In the 80s and 90s I went to hundreds of concerts. I saw nearly every big and many small names. I loved concerts.During college I was friends with a man who was dope freak and hang glider instructor. He lived at the Groton Hills Ski Area in a log cabin where, in warmer months, they taught and rented hang gliders. I spend many hours running down the ski slope with him yelling “Push out! Push out!”. In all my attempts I only ever got off the ground one time. Short lived hobby. But because he worked there, I could ski for free. Free lessons, free rentals, free lift tickets. One of my greatest joys to this day is flying of the ski lift and swishing to a stop at the top of some mountain, the crisp air on my face, the sky an electric blue, the lift engines humming in my ear and the view of the valley below spectacular. Never have I felt more alive than making that initial turn and starting down the slope, excitement and terror at the same time. I was never a good skier, will never be a good skier and I know my skiing days are limited with my metal knee caps and screws holding my legs together, but still, the memories fill me with real and true joy.I became a competent garage mechanic. My mother gave me her grave-ready 1968 Dodge Charger in 1981 and if I wanted to drive it, I had to fix it. So reading “Chilton’s” in the library and picking up a few tools along the way from Sears, I finally was able to get that piece of shit going. I had so many adventures in that car. And I was one of the only one of my peers to have a car so we went everywhere, pot smoke trailing out the windows like a movie cliche. It was such a piece of shit. If I have been anywhere but ghettoville, Fitchburg, MA, USA, every cop in town would have arrested me on sight. But since everyone in Fitchburg was driving a beater I blended right in. God, I loved that car.After college I got bored and it was harder to meet girls so I joined a coed volleyball league for three years. Met lots of girls. Then I went back to night school and got an additional degree and met a friend who got me on a scab movie crew and worked on many famous movies.I built electronic devices for a hobby. Someone once gave me a kit for building a burglar alarm. I couldn’t afford solder, so I used an old soldering iron to melt solder off broken TVs and radios to reuse on my projects. I made many things and got many electrical shocks. I am surprised all the fumes haven’t given me cancer (yet). I built all kinds of things, pressure alarms and solenoid-actuated burp guns and so on. I loved it. So I took electronics in college and got a bigger shock from the classes than from any wire I ever touched. They didn’t want you to build things. They wanted you to do the math. And I hate math. It completely killed my love of electronics. I haven’t touched a soldering iron in nearly 40 years. Inductance, Thevenin’s Theorem, calculating voltage drop across a circuit - it was all too much for me. The joy was gone.When my dad died I inherited his cabinet making shop. Having had to frame houses and build shit with him throughout my formative years, I then swore that I would never pick up another hammer as long as I lived. But once I owned the cabinet making shop with all its rusting machines and tools lined up on the wall, something changed in me and I started building like a madman. I discovered I loved it. I loved feeling like a “man” with a tool belt on and a hammer in my hand. I build cabinets and furniture and once I built an 18 foot sailboat from scratch. I volunteered on house building projects. I own every possible tool you can imagine. For awhile I owned three completely outfit woodworking shops so I was never away from the ability to make or repair something. I will never be the craftsman my father was, but I still get enormous enjoyment out of fabricating furniture from raw wood. It’s better than the Tamiya tank models because those were all pre-cut pieces I just glued together - now I make the stuff from scratch.For about two years I worked on the side for Rockingham Fireworks and did barge and other professional fireworks shows throughout the year. It was exciting and dangerous and one of the most incredible things I ever did. I got to collect unexploded fireworks and use them at my house in Maine - the real deal, some up to six and eight inches in diameter.When the money started to come in I purchased a Mercedes 560SL convertible. That car became a great hobby. It combined with my other hobby, which was to attend charity balls in search of attractive, rich women in gorgeous ball gowns. I owned three tuxedoes. One of my greatest memories was dropping the car off at the Ritz, hopping out in my tailored tux and flipping the keys to the valet as if I owned the world. It was simply amazing to me how easily those ball gowns came off in the front seat of that convertible. I had the time of my life in those days.A friend from college introduced me to re-enacting and I have been doing it for almost 35 years. Fought in many battles of the Rev War.I purchased a house in Maine with an ex-girlfriend. Anything I didn’t know about construction previously I learned really quickly in Maine. In the winter, no matter what you do, the pipes burst. You have to get good with a torch. The pumps fail. You have to know how to troubleshoot and repair them and work with iron pipe, from cutting thread to sealing a gas line to insure your house doesn’t explode some night while you are asleep. You have to learn how to run a 220v line through the walls and hook it up to the fuse box. You have to learn so many things and in the learning it becomes a loving, a hobby and not just another task you have to undertake. Sweating in new pipes isn’t a sweat. It’s a joy. I’m applying skill and dexterity in a way that, if it fails, it fails in a spectacular fashion with water going everywhere. You know what they say, do what you love and you’ll never a work a day in your life. If it weren’t for the “shitty” side of plumbing, I could have been a plumber. Or an electrician. Or a rough carpenter. Or a finish carpenter. Or something.when I was still rich I decided to become a pilot. I took many lessons and about 20 hours flying time but then I lost my money and flying is an expensive hobby.Somewhere along the line I picked up a love of steam power, steam cars and steam trains. I have traveled great distances to see the big engines, to hear the chuff chuff of the engine and roll of the air compressor. I have studied the luxury of the Pullman cars and the evolution of T-shaped rail technology, read bout the evolution of rail and building of trestles and tunnels and sociology of the exploited workers who built them and the robber barons who owned them. It’s a life-long passion, a thirst that cannot be filled. I am not so crazy as to memorize train numbers or designations or go trainspotting, as my autistic nephew does, but I love the steampunk technology and the early attempts at luxurious life aboard rail. I also love and study other types of steam such as the Locomobile and the Stanley Steamer and the cathedral engines of the Titanic, copies of which can be seen in the Watertown Water Works museum which for years used them to pump water into Boston and is now a museum.Also along the line I discovered a love for Packard automobiles. As he got older and more frail, the Packard was a way I could make peace with my abusive father. It came as a surprise to both of us that we were both “Packard men”. We never spoke about it, it came to him as a child living in a world where the Packard was the height of luxury, and to me, as a mobile work of art, rarely exceeded by anything made by mankind. I go out of my way to visit Packard shows and go to museums where there are Packards. I once tried to purchase an 80,000 Packard limousine from the 1930s but realized soon enough that if I were driving the limousine, I would be the chauffeur, not the owner in the back. If I were going to own a Packard, it would be a 1932 Packard 180 Convertible Coupe Roadster or similar. Now that would be the pinnacle of living.Because my father was a big gun collector I naturally got into guns too. What boy wouldn’t be interested? It was a great source of jealousy to my friends that I could always put my hands on a Nazi-stamped P-38 pistol or bring down a scary looking M2 Paratrooper Carbine with 30 round magazine and a rotting canvas belt. My long-suffering dad, who never locked up his guns or souvenirs, must have gone berserk as all those German helmets and patches and medals disappeared as we played with and lost them. He never said a word. I still have a gigantic set of targetting binoculars from a Panzer 4 and a pair of Afrika Korps binoculars and a couple of German gas masks. But the gun hobby evaporated as I saw the evil it could do when a friend killed himself using a gun I helped him acquire and later, after Sandy Hook, when I realized that the hobby of death was not for me any longer.I gained a passion for Boston and learned all I could. I both tour and give tours of the city.I ran a dating organization for people over 50 for three years. I was the host and MC. Met lots of women that way. YesI keep bees with my brother and we spin honey twice a year.Last year I started making soap for a hobby as well. It’s really fun.I recently took and passed a bartending course and got my TIPS certification.There might be more hobbies. I have to think. No one will read this far anyway and who cares? It was a great question, a trip through memory lane and for that I am grateful.

Saving Money on Planes, Trains, Buses, RV’s, Automobiles and BoatsBooking Flights and Traveling on PlanesEven before you take off, if it’s a short trip, use Airport Parking Reservations to help you find a place to park. To book your flight and/or hotel, car, there are a lot of great travel portals. We like Booking Buddy, Expedia, Globehunters, LookupFare, and CheapOair, because they are easy to navigate and free! Like most internet sites, you can get fare alerts sent to you. You can filter your searches and all the fees are up front with the exception of baggage fees. You can also track trends including pricing over time and dates. Note: Not all airlines are registered with all travel portals. As we mentioned earlier, do your research. Sometimes you can see more flight opportunities, if you go directly to the airline you want to fly with.Always, always check your itinerary carefully before you choose the Pay Now button! Be sure the dates you selected are correct. Some dates may appear in the European form! There have been many stories of people showing up at the airport with their eTickets in hand and the flight they paid for was a week later, or flying out of a different airport. Check and then double-check EVERYTHING before you click the PayNow button.Of course you can always work through a travel agency. Some agencies have a certain amount of time to talk with a potential customer, so if you haven’t made a decision, they will may end your call and move to a paying customer. We suggest having all your travel arrangements in order and know what time you want to fly, the destination and your budget. If you have a AAA membership, they have a great trip planning service with maps, books and helpful hints. It’s generally worth the membership fee just to have the travel services.Airfare prices are generally lower if you check on Tuesday or Wednesday, as opposed to Saturday morning when everyone else is checking! Just take five minutes, have the site bookmarked, and pull it down a few times a day. When the price gets close to what you want, grab it right then and there, because the price can change in the blink of an eye! Think of it as a game to get what you want, rather than an inconvenience from the airlines.The best time to choose your flight is generally six weeks from your departure date. With gas prices fluctuating so much, buying too early could be just as bad a buying too late. The typical change in prices from your departure date are 21, 7 and 3 days.Airfare Watchdog is a great site that will send you alerts.Redeeming Airline MilesThe best time to use your miles is about six months before you actually plan on departing.Check the airline website for the Frequent Flier (FF) page. Usually they will have a chart that outlines what miles can be redeemed for your travel purposes.The best FF carriers are Alaska Airlines, JetBlue TrueBlue, SouthWest Rapid Rewards, American Airlines AAdvantage, Delta SkyMiles and at the end of the pack United MileagePlus.ALSO: Off Airport parking is much cheaper. Look for coupons. We like the following companies: Airport Parking Reservations, for looking up reservations and we use Park ‘N Fly a lot when flying out of San Diego. We also use coupons in our Entertainment Book which we purchase every year! The book can save you thousands of dollars annually. The coupon book also has an excellent app to download, that brings up discounts on your phone wherever you are traveling in the USA. The book can range from $15 to $40 depending on the time of year and location in the country. You can order them online at shop.entertainment.com.Packing and Weighing Your BaggageAirline baggage fees are now the norm and you need to know exactly how much your bag weighs prior to getting to the airport or at least know it’s under 50 pounds (Spirit Air is a light 41 lbs. before you are overweight).It is frustrating when you are in the airport digging through your bags and transferring the heavier items to the lighter weight suitcase just to avoid paying fees. It’s also a little embarrassing if your personal items are falling out too. We know, because we have been there!Even though your ticket may say your luggage is included, it’s been our experience that you need to be prepared to pay for it anyway. Some airlines may refund your money, but it’s not easy.Use your lightest weight bags for checked luggage – check AmericanTourister and Samsonite.Check with your airline for the baggage fees or it may be listed on this chart.Get Locks for your baggage (TSA and for hotels/hostels).Bags are stolen right from baggage claim! DO NOT waste time getting to baggage claim. We would rather spend a few extra minutes waiting for the bags to be loaded on the conveyor than to lose all of our belongings.Carry on all your medications and items, that if lost or stolen, cannot be easily replaced.The Adventure Traveler’s highly recommend you bring a pillow case, sheet or a few sarongs if you are traveling for an extended time and don’t know the quality of the rooms. Melissa always brings a lightweight sheet on flights. It can be used for a multitude of things.A TEACHING MOMENT: Always bring a pillow case and sheet. We were traveling in Bali and found out about a volcano climbing and sunrise excursion. This sounded like our kind of adventure. Our Balinese driver, made the arrangements for us. We spent the night at a local hotel, since we needed to be up at 2:00 AM to begin our climb.Let’s just say, although we appreciated a bed for the night, we were never at a hotel without sheets or pillow cases. We had to use Melissa’s sarongs as a pillow case and a sheet. In addition to the one light bulb hanging in the middle of the room, the shower produced thick black slime from the water catcher on the roof and the tub was squishy and moldy. We also suspect I was bitten by bed bugs.Traveling by Plane Hints and TipsConsider connecting flights to reduce costs.Travel mid-week or off peak times to get the best rates.Make more stops to gain airline miles and it’s usually cheaper.Take the redeye or very early or very late departures.Use the “Add nearby Airports” check box when booking online. Smaller airports may offer better pricing.Baggage fees can add a lot to the bottom line. Check out the rates on airlines BEFORE you book. The airline prices may look great on one airline but the baggage fees may end up costing you more than if you booked on a higher price airline with no baggage fees.If you use an airline more frequently, get the airline credit card. By carrying their card, the desk agent may waive some or all baggage fees. Also, by using the airline credit card, they have special incentives like double miles for some airlines. Always be sure to pay your credit card bill before it’s due, to avoid credit card debt and fees. This is The Adventure Travelers secret to staying debt free! Never purchase more than you can you can pay, before your bill is due!Most international flights offer meals and alcohol for free, but domestic flights charge for everything except non-alcohol beverages. We always carry healthy snacks. Our friend Gary, suggests that you purchase a non-BPA water bottle and bring it on the plane empty. Once on the plane, you can have the flight attendant fill it up. We also suggest a rugged type bottle that has a charcoal filter inside the bottle for extra purification. You can also use this when traveling in countries with water that is not so great. This will save you money in the long run, since you will not need to purchase water bottles at your destination and you are reducing the plastic waste, while maintaining your health.TrainsFor several years I commuted on trains. It was a relaxing and a stress-free way to download while still traveling. Here are just a few tips we have for work or pleasure:Use overnight trains if you need a place to sleep and/or you are traveling to a new destination that requires a substantial amount of travel.Always try to use a ticket agent rather than an automated kiosk unless you’re in a time crunch. Agents can give you some “insider” information if you ask the right questions and they can tell you what discounts you may be able to apply like AAA, AARP, or other club discounts or coupons. An agent can also help you plan a trip by possible combining fares with planes or other transportation.Try to get a group rate by pooling together with others.Avoid purchasing tickets on weekends and evenings.Purchase way in advance, if you can.If you use a website to purchase your tickets, check the booking fees to ensure they are reasonable and always double check before you hit the “PAY NOW” button!Bring your own food to save money.Prearrange your transportation and accommodations before you get to the train station. Desperate people will overpay for a taxi and a hotel room.RV’s (Recreational Vehicles and Camper Vans)We created a short video on our YouTube Channel about why we purchased our RV and what our exit plan is after we finish our long term travel.After sailing to Mexico and the South Pacific, we sold our boat (for more than we bought it for) and used the proceeds to purchase our RV. In our experience, being debt-free is critical for the traveling lifestyle. It was very tempting to buy a deluxe RV, but we had a firm budget and stuck to it.We started our RV trip with our “Exit Plan” in mind first. We thought, “what are we going to do with the RV when we are done using it to travel?” We found a company called, Outdoorsy.co that will help us rent out our RV when we are not using it. We win by renting out our RV and the RV renter wins by getting a truly amazing RV, with us as the renter. This cuts out the middle man “corporate” RV rental companies that nickle and dime the renter for every little thing, like renting a toaster!Or you could purchase an affordable camper van and travel for less. Van traveling is challenging but there is an abundance of information and stories online about this type of travel.After traveling in our RV for over 20,000 miles, we have seen every kind of RV, van, conversion van, tent, motorcycle, etc. that people are using to travel just like us. It can be very affordable to travel this way.In Alaska, for example, you can pull off the highway anywhere (as long as it is not posted “No Camping”) and stay overnight or longer for FREE. We stayed in many amazing pullouts for multiple days along the river or lake.This also includes BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land which is mostly in the Western USA, but is everywhere in Alaska. You can camp on these lands for free for up to 14 days at a time, which really saves you a ton of money.If you do a little research online, you can uncover many places to stay for free, as long as you have an RV or van that does not require being electrically powered for days at a time.Other free places to park for ONE night include: Walmart, Cracker Barrel, Cabelas, truck stops, Flying J gas stations, and many other places. I could write another book on this, however, if you do your research, you can find all the information on the internet. We prefer the upgraded ALLSTAYS app because it includes great filter options like low bridges, casinos, dump stations, propane, etc. A good place to start is here.We have also saved thousands of dollars by using these money saving apps and websites below, while on the road. Remember, many parts of the USA like Alaska, have little to no internet connectivity.The video below explains how Harvest Hosts works. It’s about $45 a year to be a member and you get unlimited free nights (one night at a time) to park your RV in amazing locations.Always use your apps to plan when you are connected. We save screen shots of maps and information in case we have no connection.Boondockers WelcomeAllstaysHarvest HostsTo find the cheapest USA gas around, we also use the GasBuddy App.A good friend of mine (a river raft guide) bought a very inexpensive van and gutted it. He installed a mattress and all the essentials and lived out of town in a free primitive (BLM) camping area. He was totally off the grid and living in nature. He drove five minutes to work as a river guide and all the money he made, was profit.AutomobilesRental Cars and Motorcycles – Depending upon how long you are going to be in a certain country, it may be best to purchase a used but reliable car that gets you from Point A to Point B. When you leave, you can sell it to recoup some or all of your money. A lot of people do this when visiting New Zealand. Our sailing buddies bought a car for their family of four in New Zealand for $5,000, used it for six months and then sold it for $2,000. There is no way to rent a car for six months for that kind of money.When I worked in the corporate world, I would always use the following car rental companies below. I signed up for every rental rewards program they had to offer and received many free rentals and free upgrades every time I rented a car.HertzFox Rent a CarAuto EuropeYou may want to skip the rental car insurance if you are already covered under your own car insurance. Check with your insurance BEFORE you get to your destination. In addition, some credit cards cover insurance on rentals, but DO NOT depend on it unless you have documentation. We were charged outrageous rental fees in Costa Rica because there is only one government mandated agency that runs the show. Don’t get sucked into a cheap car rate rental in places like Costa Rica, because they find ways to increase the rates by 75%!Always check the internet for corporate rates or coupon codes. This may be time consuming, but if it saves you $10 a day, that is money you can use for something else!Also, the American Automobile Association (AAA) has great coupons and deals. You have to become a member, but over time, it is worth the price.BusesWe traveled a lot by bus in the interior of Mexico. There are many types of buses but it mostly depends on your location and remoteness of the area you plan to travel. A bus may include air conditioning, snacks or chickens and no open windows. You must research and ask questions about the bus travel in the area you wish to visit. Some bus schedules are reliable while others are a “wait and see if it shows up” type of transportation.Most travelers agree that conditions can be overlooked if the people and places are amazing. Our bus in Mexico was affordable, on time, had WiFi, very professional and extremely comfortable. We just asked locals where to find the bus station and took a taxi there.Buses are so different in Europe and in other parts of the world. They are more reliable and easier to navigate. Right in our own home town, Melissa tried to take her grandmother on a bus across town and they never made it, because it was so confusing.Some hints and tips about riding a bus:Unless you are going somewhere very scenic, take a night bus because it’s a free place to sleep and you get to wake up in a new destination. However, make sure your travel items are tucked under the seat in front of you and next to you if you sleep. A sleeping traveler can be a crime statistic waiting to happen.Confirm your seat and do NOT sit in the back of the bus next to the restroom. Also the seats at the very back do NOT recline.If you are traveling in high crime areas (central america, etc.), hide money or cell phones in several places in case you get robbed.Bring plenty of healthy snacks and water/Gatorade for hydration (and ensure there is a working restroom on board). Our bus in Mexico was stopped by immigration and confiscated all our fresh fruit!Place your luggage in the overhead rack across from your seat, so you can keep an eye on it at all times.Try to get a window seat, so you have somewhere comfortable to rest your head when sleeping.Bring a small pillow or blanket.Always bring a small change of clothes, medicines and a few personal items even if it’s a days excursion. You never know about breakdowns or scheduling mishaps.Boats or YachtsStart with a trusted Yacht broker if you are going to purchase a new or used boat. We used Suncoast Yachts in San Diego, CA. A good broker can also point you to a good charter boat company. This type of travel or transportation requires some detailed research.If you want to charter or travel by boat, choosing the right one is a task that requires a lot of time and research. This type of travel can be expensive, so when thinking about boating, these are a few basic questions to ask yourself:What is your budget?How comfortable do you want to be?How far do you want to go?Will you need to be connected to the internet most of the time?Are you hiring a captain or do you have enough experience?Is the boat seaworthy enough to get you to your destination?Has this boat had a recent marine survey for safety?Do you need crew to help with the boat?Do the people on board know and understand how to navigate?Do you know where to get water, food, gas, propane and supplies?Can you repair your boat if something goes wrong?Are there communications aboard for emergencies?These are just a few thoughts and they can be used regardless if you are buying a canoe, kayak, cabin cruiser, catamaran or a sailboat.When we purchased our Island Packet yacht, we researched for years before finally making our decision. The most important question we had to answer was, is this boat seaworthy enough to cross the Pacific Ocean? Our boat sailed through some serious and dangerous weather and I never once thought about the integrity of our boat.We sailed over 10,500 miles in just shy of 11 months and we saw every type of boat you could imagine. We all had one thing in common, we were all in the same place, enjoying the same view, regardless of how much money we paid for our boat.Of course, you can read about our adventure on our blog.There are ways to make and save money while boating. Of course, if you feel confident as a captain you can:Provide sailing and/or fishing chartersTeach others how to care and maintain their boatIf you are creative, you can stage and photograph boats that are on the market. Connecting with brokers is a great way to start.Cruise LinesThere are many ways to book your cruise. I would suggest AAA or Costco if you are a beginner. Both of these companies do mass volume and usually get a discounted price.You can search the internet or ask the aid of a travel agent who specializes in cruises. There are a vast array of cruises to choose from as well (mass market, premium, luxury, specialty, etc.)Cruise411.comCruiseBrothers.comCruise.comCruiseDirect.comCruisesOnly.comMyCruisevalue.comiCruise.comCruiseComplete.comPrincess Cruise LinesThe cruise may state that once you’re aboard, it’s it all-inclusive. However, many cruise lines may charge an a-la-cart fees including:Alcohol – Bring your own, if you can. They may hold it if they find it.Bottled WaterAirport TransfersExtra ClassesInternet Access: Look to see if they offer free Wi-Fi.Laundry Service: You would have to pay for this regardless.Ship Photos: Staff photographer snap away photos of you and everyone else, in the hopes that you will want to purchase them while on your cruise.Shore Activities: It is best to purchase your activities yourself either via your mobile device or once you arrive on shore. If you purchase activities by yourself, you may not be covered by the cruise company if they leave the destination without you.Carbonated DrinksSpa ServicesTipping: Huge expense, could be 10% or more of the total cruise cost. All employees count on these tips to make their living, so please budget it into your overall costs.BikingI wouldn’t be the person I am today, if I didn’t ride my bike from Oregon down through the Northern California coast at when I was a teenager. It began my entire traveling passion. I experienced hardships but that only made me stronger and smarter.Here is a great article that may help if biking appeals to you. It is perhaps one of the least expensive modes of travel, with the exception of walking or running.A TEACHING MOMENT: Biking long distances. I was an avid long distance bicyclist. Now my knees are not as good as they used to be, so I can’t do this any longer. We have seen many bikers riding up in Alaska and it looks exhilarating and miserable at the same time. You are definitely closer to nature, but that also means nature is closer to you. Rain, headwinds, bears, and all sorts of other things create some hardships, but in the end, if this is your path, it will be worth it.Just get out there and GO!Find out more and get a FREE ebook on our blog: The Adventure Travelers