new people - Page 3 - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

**Canadian Dude** · 09-14-2003, 02:20 AM

BP and Rexo, no worries, i can't do it my own either, you have to have a web site that has your pic so you can post it with the IMG button. I will talk to TP about it, in the mean time, you can email your pic to him and he will gladly post it.

B)

**travelpunk** · 09-18-2003, 07:41 PM

Welcome to the boards Paulo and Rexo!
Great pictures!

It seems that I am the only one that can post pictures! Ooops! I didn´t know

So, anyone who wants to post their picture, send it to me at - tp"@"travelpunk.com

**Diorama** · 09-19-2003, 06:55 PM

duh i knew that all along.. <_<

remember back a couple months ago when i could find that "special" button..I knew I wasn't THAT stupid. :P

**travelpunk** · 09-23-2003, 01:39 AM

I was juuuuusssst testing you, dahhhhling :P

**worldwidemike** · 09-26-2003, 06:22 PM

Hey everyone,

I e-mailed TP my picture as well. So, assuming TP isn't like me and actually has a life where he is out and doing fun things on Friday night (instead of sitting in front of a computer drinking a beer), you should see it in a couple days. Then you can compare it to my avatar of Augustus and laugh at the non-similarities....hmm, is that a word?

Actually, the reason I'm staying home is spent w-a-y too much money in Las Vegas last weekend! If anybody gets down that way, see if you can find the money I left there...

**Diorama** · 09-26-2003, 08:07 PM

Yo Mike, Well don't worry your not the only geek. It's friday night and i'm at home to (though I just came back from an overnight work trip) your website looks cool. Now I have something to read when I;m eating my breakfast

It looks like you have an amazing life and live each day to the fullest. I'm sure you'll bring lots to these boards.

welcome

**worldwidemike** · 09-28-2003, 09:10 AM

Thanks! As I said on my website, I turned 40 this year, which when I think about it, never ceases to amaze me. There's NO WAY I'm 40! I'm still a kid, aren't I? I feel like it. It seems just a couple years ago I was living on a kibbutz in Israel, mopeding through Scotland, hitchhiking in Ireland (oh wait...that one WAS just a few years ago...).

Anyway, I hope I can contribute to these forums. I may have kind of outgrown my hosteling days, and prefer to sleep in hotels (nothing fancy, though -- I'm not a total sellout!), but I think my love of adventure and doing things on the cheap is still there...and will always be.

And I hope to one day run into some of you when on the road...

worldwidemike

**travelpunk** · 09-28-2003, 09:34 PM

Dude, you've gone to more places before the big 40, than most people do in a lifetime! You lucky dawg! Talk about living a full life

. I hope that I can have half of that list before I croak :D ! When there's money, no time. When there's time, no money

. What is the secret, my friend

?

Tell us and maybe we can all me you on the road someday

B) !

**worldwidemike** · 09-29-2003, 08:53 AM

Hey TP,

I know the "when there's money, there's to time" and vice versa thing!

Actually, my "secret" is working for an airline. I can fly anywhere in the U.S. for free (standby, of course -- there has to be an open seat or I'm stranded). And internationally, I get my tickets in one of two ways. I can buy discounted standby tickets, as an airline employee (called "ZED fares"). For example, let me look up New York to Zurich...let's see...that would be $59 each way for me. The other way, are "pass letters." Usually, our company hands these out as prizes for our Christmas party and summer picnic. The letters are from a variety of airlines. For example, the passes I hope to use to go to Myanmar are on Thai Airways (I say "hope," because if there are no seats, I "no go."). For pass letters, I pay only the international and departure taxes. Which for Los Angeles to Bangkok and back is $25.

So, you can see that the biggest expense -- transportation -- is vastly discounted for me. Now, you may know another reason I feel I can spring for an inexpensive hotel rather than a hostel. Anyway, as rosy as this sounds, it can be a disappointment when you're all set to go to a place, you've done your research, you've got a skeleton itinerary planned, and then the plane fills up. This has happened to me probably a good half dozen or more times. Heck, I tried to got to Ireland this February and couldn't get there! Who would want to go to rainy, cold Ireland in the Winter besides an airline employee like me, looking for a time of the year that the flights were open? Apparently, lots of people...

For just these "emergencies," I keep what I call my Back Pocket trips. These are places I will quickly change plans and go to in a heartbeat if another trip falls through. Guatemala, was a back pocket trip, as were the Netherlands and Hong Kong. Currently in my back pocket are Slovenia, Ecuador, Liechenstein (sp?), and Denmark. I've done a little reading on these places, I know which airlines I can fly to get there and if a trip falls through, I'll check the flights and choose one.

One drawback working for an airline, though, is you'll never be rich. Pay is okay when you've put in your time (I've been with America West for more than 12 years), but until then, times are lean. Also, the industry itself is very volatile and prone to layoffs. My station (Columbus, OH) dropped from "mini-hub" status to small fields station, this June. It resulted in more than 100 layoffs.

Nevertheless, I would heartily recommend working for an airline if you feel you've been bitten by the lifelong travel bug. Whenever I think about my financial situation as compared to people I may have graduated from high school with, I console myself by thinking of all the wonderful places I've visited and the people I've met there...I wouldn't trade it for a BMW in the driveway any day!!!

worldwidemike

**travelpunk** · 09-30-2003, 06:56 PM

Wow! Work for the airlines, that explains it :D Maybe you won't be rich, in terms of money, but you definitely will be in terms of culture and experience

.

$25 to Bangkok...holy smacks

! How bout a buddy pass there, pal :P B)

**worldwidemike** · 10-01-2003, 03:41 AM

My airline, America West, has some pretty borderline useless buddy passes. For example, it would cost a buddy pass user $180 to fly from Columbus to Vegas. And that is standby, lowest priority. Heck, you can go online and get fares for around that and it is a normal, "positive space" ticket.

However, for short hauls, they're not bad deals. Check and see if America West flies where you're going, and let me know if you need one. Internationally, we fly to Mexico, Canada, and starting in December, Costa Rica -- woo-hoo!

worldwidemike

**llemus7** · 10-01-2003, 09:06 AM

that is a great deal mike has for traveling. Mike is a millionaire in my book.

**travelpunk** · 10-01-2003, 08:34 PM

damn straight B)