Use a weekend as an escape from the ordinary and plan a mini-break this fall.  A weekend getaway is the perfect remedy to fight routine and be refreshed through adventure.  Just set one weekend aside in your busy life.  It will be inexpensive, spontaneous and fun!

The ideal fall adventure creates a balance of fun, while you are also able to experience rest for your mind and body.

How to plan your weekend:

1. City or Scenic: If you are craving the urban adventure a big city offers, be sure to select a crowd-free city.  Going to Munich for Oktoberfest is not going to offer the serenity a cabin in the Rocky Mountains will offer.  You know yourself best!  Would your ideal weekend include a night on the town with sushi & sake or a peaceful evening with one of your favorite books near a cozy fireplace.
2. Drive or Fly: Ensure that your destination is within reasonable driving distance or an inexpensive, quick flight. Avoid fly to a city where you will have to rent a car and spend a large amount of time being busy driving somewhere. You already spend too much of your typical week being busy, trying to get somewhere. I would suggest making the weekend as simple as possible. Think less. Allow the spontaneous adventure to unravel, instead of planning out your itinerary to the minute.
3. Avoid Fall Stereotypes: Avoid the corn maze craze and imagine a bountiful autumn harvest, like pumpkins and vineyards.  It’s important to find that atmosphere that offers the crisp color of fall, and a hint of fun.  Avoid the guy with a chain-saw at the local haunted house, unless this is your favorite aspect of fall.  In that case embrace the stereotypes, go pumpkin picking, have a haunted house/horror movie marathon and then carve those pumpkins while drinking apple cider and eating candy.  If you do intend to avoid the stereotypes, than think wine tasting or hiking through the gorgeous fall color.
4. Plan and Save: Plan ahead and save money on your adventure.  If you are driving Friday evening after work, pack up some leftovers from the fridge.  Bring healthy snacks and fresh fruit.  Then instead of searching for your next meal, you can relax and savor a sunrise or take a leisurely stroll.
5. Specials and Deals: Hunt for the fall specials and the autumn getaway deals.  [NOTE:  These are not always the cheapest option.]  You might not be interested in going to Vegas this fall.  Make sure that your destination is really where you want to be, and you aren’t just going because you got a cheap flight and hotel deal.
6. The Whole Weekend!?! If getting away for an entire weekend is going to be almost impossible due to tight schedules, children, pets, and a list of other hindering factors, try to get away for a short duration.  Just one night away, or even a full Saturday to escape the obligations of life can be just as needed and refreshing.  Make sure you plan some type of adventure just for you this fall.  Going to the grocery store, or watching the game on the couch doesn’t cut it.  Make it unique and special.  You deserve it!

Even now, I am sure that you have thought of a handful of great locations and adventures you could have over a weekend.  Put it on the calendar and make it happen.  Say no the specialty coffee drinks, the pizza and whatever unneeded expenses you indulge in.  Save the money you will need to make your Weekend Adventure a reality.

Fall into a weekend adventure!  Experience more in life, through doing less.

Rome has over 100 hostels and budget accommodations. With so many options it becomes difficult to select the right place to stay. In fact, many hostels in Rome require a minimum stay of at least 2 nights. The typical backpacker approach of, “I’ll stay one night, if I don’t like it, I can find another hostel,” doesn’t work with Rome.

Rome is an old, ancient city, in which every square foot is priceless. Keep in mind that most hostels and budget accommodations will be in old buildings and space is in short supply. Rome hostels tend to be small.

Selecting your Rome Hostel:

• How far is the hostel from a metro station? What is in walking distance?
• Are the bathrooms unisex? Will I have a hot shower?
• How big is the kitchen? How many individuals share that same kitchen?
• What are the amenities? Is there a place to hang wet clothes to dry?
• What type of security is offered?  24-hour front desk?  Lockers?

These are great questions to ask before committing yourself to a hostel. In fact, our first mistake occurred after booking a hostel in Rome. Justin and I later found out that they did not have security lockers, or lock the rooms. This was a huge concern.

However, after arriving, checking in, seeing our beds, and chatting in Italenglish, we discovered that an individual sits at the 24-hour front desk monitoring who comes and goes. In fact, after staying out past 10pm (which we did), we needed to hit an entry button on the front door. Then they would verify that the two of us were currently checked in, before pressing the automatic release on the door. Our hostel in Rome was so secure, that we couldn’t believe we had so many previous concerns.

We loved the Color’s Hotel & Hostel in Rome; they even had a rooftop terrace. This offered a great place to relax with a cup of coffee in the morning as we enjoyed the beauty of Rome. The terrace also doubled as a place to hang our laundry to dry. Fortunately, the covering provided keeps Roman Pigeon poop from meeting your fresh and clean threads.  It proved to be a great hostel in Rome.

The Color’s Hotel & Hostel was the perfect location and accommodation for us. We selected our hostel and got lucky. This is a big part of finding a hostel in Rome. Some locations are amazing, while others lead to nights you don’t want to remember. Reading online reviews can be helpful. Try hostels, hostelbookers, hostelworld and hostelz. The reviews can be less accurate than we wish they were.  At the same time, these websites provide information on location and nightly rates.  Sometimes it costs extra money to book through one of these sites.  See if the hostel has their own website.  The hostel booking websites are a good place to start.

Other than that, travel is about risk! Know what you want to do in Rome and then decide where you want to stay, and book it! If you are really adventurous, find a hostel when you arrive. However, in the high season (Mid-May to early September) you might want to book ahead so you don’t sleep outside a Gelato shop near Trevi fountain.

• 4 days in Sydney
• 1 day in the Whitsunday Islands    Hamilton  Island
• 1 day in Cairns
• 1 day in Darwin

Australia is a huge country.  The United States is larger geographically, however Australia is approximately the same size as the 48 contiguous states.  Australia offers enough nonstop adventure to easily fill a year or more.  In fact, there are countless routes one could take in traveling by land.  Here are 4 examples to help you imagine how you may explore Australia.

East Coast Drive 6-8 weeks

If you love the beach then this is the way to explore Australia.  Begin in Sydney and enjoy the beautiful harbor front with the iconic Opera House and all the FREE activities Sydney offers.  As you drive north, hiking and wine tasting will begin the adventure around Hunter Valley. Since you love the beach, spend a day or two in Port Stephens where you may participate in various water sports.  Continue driving north because there is loads of coast to explore, including Byron Bay, the Gold Coast, and the stunning Sunshine Coast.  Adventure off shore and join a whale watching tour while visiting Hervey Bay.  Towards the end of your East Coast drive, be sure to save time to consider sailing or even SCUBA diving in the Whitsunday islands along the Great Barrier Reef.  However, ending your beach explorations in Cairns is wonderful, with their public swimming lagoon (overlooking the ocean) and many more opportunities to SCUBA dive.

You can’t spend every day laying on the beach with a book, because the coast offers too much to explore.  This route is a great splash of urban and beach.

West into the Outback 6-8 weeks

This is a great route to explore the Outback while still having opportunities for wine tasting, some animals, and hours of endless rock formations and breath taking scenery.  Fly into Perth and savor your last few days while taking part in some urban exploration.  Once you begin to drive east from Perth, the art galleries, bars and restaurants will vanish rapidly.  Make sure you camp on the Margaret River and consider surfing or wine tasting before arriving in Augusta.  Here you will find Cape Leeuwin and you might be able to see some whales off the coast.  Even if you are not able to spot any whales, the giant old-growth forests of Southwestern Australia are next along the route, just before arriving in Albany to explore amazing architecture and perhaps SCUBA diving (it’s some of Australia’s best).  While driving along the south coast, Esperance will offer even more animals to explore with seals, penguins and sea birds.  Kalgoorie Bolder offers a historic look into the ‘wild-west’ and you can even have a miners beer.  While driving along the coast to Port Lincoln their are countless beach towns, opportunities to learn to surf, or fish a while (tuna is a popular catch).

The Outback exploration takes over all of your senses when driving north of Port Lincoln, towards Port Augusta, and continuing on to Alice Springs.  Rocks, canyons and springs, oh my!  Several national parks will adorn the route to Alice Springs.  This route is quite the journey and it can even be expanded to 2 months if you really want to take your time.  Rent a camper van or bring a tent and be prepared to create your bed from time to time.  Through bringing some food, water and other supplies you will be able to choose what you explore as you drive from the west into the outback.

Hinterland Route – Less Traveled 4-6 weeks

This is the lest traveled route that most tourists overlook.  However, it’s a route that offers the Outback, rivers, National Parks and more.  Melbourne is a great place to start, while enjoying the art and cafe culture of an Australian city.  Each National Park has something unique to offer, make sure that you allow enough time to explore.  Hiking, wildflowers, rock climbing, or even renting a paddle boat to take down the Murray River.  Broken Hill marks the middle of the route.  It offers great historic perspective through artists, poets, Aboriginal culture and the busy mining days of the past.  If you enjoy wildlife you will love the incredible Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo.  Don’t worry there is still loads to see before Byron Bay.  Amazing foliage, some historical buildings, the drive through Waterfall Way and more beautiful sights to explore.  Hope you are still enjoying the vehicle you have been driving for the past several weeks, because their is still a 2 hour drive from Byron Bay to Sydney before you fly home (unless you live in Australia).

This is a great option to explore Australia if you only have a month.

Cross-continent: One to two months

This is a long strenuous route with difficult driving (not all paved/sealed roads).  Beginning in the north (Cairns) will lead to a tropical start.  While continuing west, this route will take you through some old mining towns.  Driving even further west will bring endless days of exploring the vast outback.  The feeling of remoteness begins to end with gorgeous rock formations that appear along the Great Central Road.  Finally a wonderful site of the beach will end your long cross country experience.

This is a 2900 mile journey, only the adventurous should consider this path when exploring Australia.  Road and weather conditions are unpredictable, so it is best to allow 2 months of travel time.  In addition, much preparation is necessary to survive a drive as strenuous as the cross-continent route.  The vehicle should be equip with extra supplies including food, water and gasoline or petrol.  While interviewing a few individuals that have made this journey, I learned that many vehicles will even carry some spare car parts.  Make sure to do the proper research and preparation before executing this journey.  Want to explore Australia in an extremely wild, adventurous manner?  Go cross-continent!

Part two of this mini-series will discuss the tools you will require to make these adventures a reality.

© nomadbackpackers.com -  All rights reserved 2009

On April 6th, Natalie and I returned to Detroit Michigan to encourage my father in his fight against cancer. After 3 difficult weeks, dad lost his battle with cancer and died on April 21st. This is a difficult and heartbreaking time for my entire family. Natalie and I were very encouraged by the outpouring of support from the blogosphere and fellow travelers. Thank you.

As Natalie and I are needed close to home at the moment, I am not sure when we will pick up our backpacks and hit the trail again for an extended journey. As a result, we are currently brainstorming (and taking suggestions) about the future of this site. I know that we will be traveling, on a limited basis, around the United States and articles from these up coming journeys will appear here. I also know that we will be filling in the gaps on this site with stories and advice from our 6 months abroad. However, in the next couple of days we will post a new poll regarding the future of the site. Your feedback is important so be sure to vote. For the moment however, in honor of my father and the many things that he taught me, I will leave you with something I wrote for his funeral.

He Was My Dad

Only at this point in my life, has it occurred to me that Tom Boyd was many different men to many different people.

For some, Tom was a co-worker, an employee, a salesman; the old man in the office. For others, he was a student, a teacher, a mentor, a role model. Many, found Tom to be a friend, a confidant, a calming influence in times of uncertainty. He was a loyal parishioner, a Sunday School teacher, a church board member, a Royal Ranger commander. Tom was at times a son, a brother, a husband, a father, a Papa.

But to me; to me, he was my Dad.

My father was a patient man. I grew up in a world filled with early morning soda pop and donut laden fishing trips. I spent many Saturday mornings wandering in the tall wet grass of a local par 3 golf course, vainly searching for my wayward ball. It never occurred to me that my father was actually interested in catching fish (I thought it was all about the donuts) or that a par three golf course was not exactly challenging for his golf game. I never thought about this because my father was a patient man. On the surface he was teaching me how to fish or how to golf but really, he was slowly, one golf swing at time, teaching me about life. Teaching me how to be a man.

He was my Dad.

My father was a dreamer. He grew up fast and poor in the east side of Detroit and like many members of the Detroit boomer generation, college seemed like more of a luxury than a necessity. I know Dad was a hard worker who dedicated himself to early morning paper routes and winter bridge construction projects. I know Dad eventually decided to go to college and he spent 10 years working full time and going to night school. I don’t know if he was always a dreamer or if he learned it along the way but I never knew him not be working on a dream. Dad was not a selfish man, and his dreams…they were not selfish dreams. He dreamed of buying a home in a good school district so Jason and I could obtain a solid education. He dreamed that his sons would go to college and that we would have opportunities that were never available to him. He dreamed about traveling to Europe with my mom; about building a retirement home where him and my mother could spend their retirement. He dreamed so many dreams. I loved listening to Dad’s dreams because they were contagious. His dreams were magnetic, often pulling other people along in their wake and inspiring them to dream their own dreams. Dad taught me how to dream.

He was my Dad.

My father was dependable. He could be relied on to keep his word, to honor his commitments, to be where he said he would be. Dad taught by example, demonstrating that character, like reputation, was the sum of one’s choices. When Dad said he would be there to watch my soccer game, I never doubted that he would be there. When Dad said he would find a way for me to pay off my student loans, I trusted him. In his relationships, Dad had no use for guessing games and half truths. He was dependable and he expected dependability out of the people he associated with. Like many of the people who knew him, my relationship with Dad was built on his dependability. On the value of his word. On the strength of his character.

He was my Dad

Dad was generous and trustworthy, a peacemaker, a moderator, a good listener. He was humble and, at times quiet, reflective and introspective. He was a model host, the easy guy to talk to at a party, a welcoming face in an unfriendly crowd. He was assertive without being pushy, knowledgeable without arrogance, proud without being prideful.

He was my Dad

He avoided attention and accolades. He would have been very uncomfortable with the attention paid to him at his funeral. He would have told us not bother. That people were busy and that he did not need to be honored.

He was my Dad.

He was not perfect though. He was disorganized to the point of chaos. He could be reactionary and, at times, cranky. He was hopeless with technology. Dad hated shopping and was legendary for making impulse purchases. He forgot his wedding anniversary. More than once.

He was my Dad.

Saying goodbye to Dad is hard, but not difficult. It would be difficult to say goodbye if Dad had burdened me with  insecurities. He did not. It would be difficult to say goodbye if Dad was sparse with praise and difficult to please. He was not. It would difficult to say goodbye if I questioned whether or not he loved me. If I questioned whether or not he was proud of me. If I questioned whether he agreed with the man I was and the man I am becoming. I do not.

In the coming years I will miss my father. I will miss out on the relationship a son has with his dad, as the two grow older. I will miss out on seeing him become a Papa to my children. I will miss out on asking his advice and seeking his counsel as we drink wine in the dark, looking up at the stars

My father is gone and, in the coming years, I will find my own way to say goodbye. I wish….I just wish that my life was not so much dimmer in his absence.

I will miss my dad.

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© nomadbackpackers.com – All rights reserved 2009

It’s true.  We made our first backpacking mistake.  Justin and I are beginning our budget travel adventure in Rome arriving on Wednesday, October 1st.  Back in late March we sent a few emails to The Colors Hotel in Rome and made reservations for 3 nights.  We booked two beds in a room with 6 beds total.  Yes, this means that up to 4 absolute strangers will be sleeping nearby.  Not a big deal…this is part of budget travel.

Two days ago, it occurred to me that I should see if The Colors Hotel will allow Justin and I to use an “extra” locker for our little suitcase.  You see, with my brothers wedding happening in Italy, the inspiration to our kick-start, we need to bring a suit (for Justin) and a dress for me.  As one can only imagine, these items are not compatible to a backpack.  Therefore, we plan on bringing the little suitcase and my mom (Justin’s Debbers-in-law) has very kindly accepted the responsibility of taking the little suitcase back to the states for us- once the wedding festivities are completed.

Basically, The Colors Hotel emailed me and informed me that there are no lockers.  This was our first mistake.  We found an awesome place to stay.  [NOTE:  I am still excited to stay at The Colors Hotel.]  However, our mistake was that we never asked about lockers, we assumed.  Now we have no place to lock our little suitcase or our 2 backpacks filled with all of our nomad backpacking stuff.  Is it safe to leave it in the room we are sharing with 4 strangers?  Has anyone stayed at The Colors Hotel in Rome? Do you think Rome is safe?  Should we pay extra money for the private double room, at The Colors Hotel?  I love how bright and colorful it looks, but dare I ask for another accommodation recommendation?

Justin and I made our first mistake, what do you think we should do?

Three current solutions I have explored:

1.  Ship our stuff to the castle – DHL will charge us $327.46 for a 30lb package from Detroit, MI to Perugia, Italy

2.  Store it at the Rome Train Station (they got rid of lockers after 9.11 and now have a type of luggage check in)  I calculated the cost of storing our luggage (which is charged on a per hour bsis), the shuttle from the airport to the train station and a cab ride from the train station to The Colors Hotel – $101.25 total – we will leave Rome on Saturday, October 4th and take the train to Perugia for my big bro to tie the knot.  So technically, it’s not completely inconvenient.

3.  Get a private room with a double bed instead of the 6-person dorm room experience.  We would pay an additional $183 total (an extra $61 a night).

Those are the 3 solutions I could think of.  What do you think?

Will it be safe for Justin and I to just leave all our stuff in the room we are sharing with 4 complete strangers?  Maybe it will be?  It just makes me nervous because it’s so close to my brothers wedding date and we will just be beginning our travels.  I would like to avoid having anything (or everything) stolen.

We made our first mistake.  Now what?

THE FOLLOW UP:

We stayed at the Colors Hotel & Hostel in Rome and everything worked out perfectly fine.  No problems!  Super safe, clean, and in a great location.  Although their are no lockers or any methods of securing your belongings, the front desk was attended 24 hours a day.

However, we still brought locks with us, all around the world!

All of this brings me to the new found realization that it is possible to install programs on a USB Flash Drive. This is an important realization because it will allow me to take essential programs from one internet cafe to another without needing to download and install the desired programs. The installation of programs may or may not be permissible but it would be a waste of money as I will be paying by the hour.

Most programs will allow a user, during installation, to select a USB Flash Drive. Skype does not provide a user with this freedom. It took a bit of tinkering to figure out how to run Skype from a USB Flash Drive, so I thought I would include the directions here to save all of you future world travelers/Skype enthusiasts the effort. (For more information about Skype see Nomad Backpackers Phone Home)

1. Download and install the newest version of Skype.
2. Install Skype to the local workstation (read: whatever computer you are using)
3. Plug in your USB Flash Drive. Create a directory (read: create a new folder) named Skype
4. Located the Skype.exe file from where it was installed during step 1. It is usually located at:
   C:/Programs Files/Skype/Phone/Skype.exe
5. Copy the Skype.exe filed to the Skype directory on your USB Flash Drive.
6. Within the Skype directory, on your USB Flash Drive, create a new directory named data.
7. Open Notepad. (Start<All Programs<Accessories<Notepad)
8. Paste the following line text into the notepad document:
   “skype.exe /datapath:”Data” /removable”
9. Select File<Save As. Name the document skype.bat
10. Place the skype.bat file in the Skype directory on your USB Flash Drive.
11. Uninstall Skype from your local workstation.

Your done. To start Skype, simply click on the batch filed (read: skype.bat). You will need to login the first time Skype is launched, but all of your settings, voicemails, contacts, etc will be saved to your USB drive.

For my own piece of mind, I asked our travel doctor what would occur if this type of reaction was to mysteriously appear. Believing that I was nervous about being injected with a weak version of a brain recking virus, our travel doctor attempted to comfort me by telling me that none of her previous patients had ever had a reaction. Now I am not a hypochondriac, but mentally I was wondering why this fact would be comforting. A summery of my internal thought process is as follows.

“Wait. You are directed by the makers of this vaccine to keep me under observation for 30 minutes. You have never seen a bad reaction so you are not really sure what to look for. Also, if some type of reaction does take place you will not know what to do because you have never done this before. Whelp. I am comforted. Give me the killer disease”.

All of the drama aside, we have safely obtained round 1 of the JE vaccine and we are still alive to tell the story. If you are curious about JE, The JE Prevention Network can answer all of your questions.

If you know what the doctors should do if my throat begins to close as the result of a killer virus digging tunnels in my brain, you should post a comment and let me know.

Of course, how to make those calls is a bit daunting. Thus I did a bit of research and found the 4 best ways to make phone calls while traveling abroad.

Skype

Skype is a VOIP (Voice Over IP) service that allows users to make free audio calls from one Skype internet account to another. For a whopping $2.95 a month, a user can get unlimited calls to landlines and cell phones in the United States and Canada. Included n the $2.95 a month, is a voice mail box.

The Verdict: I am a big fan of Skype and I think this is the best deal for the money. With the exponentially increasing prevalence of internet cafes, this appears to be a very cost effective option. This will be our main mode of audio communication.

The easiest way to use Skype, particularly in a crowed internet cafe, is to use a Skype Headset. We opted for the Plantronics Audio 625 headset because it will allow us to use either audio line in ports (read: mic and speaker ports)  or a USB port depending on the available technology.

International Phone Cards

I believe that the creation and distribution of international phone cards requires a doctorate degree in some obscure branch of an unknown science. In looking for international phone cards, I can find no consistent pattern to the cost of calling from one country to another. The thing that I really like about international phone cards is that they can be bought anywhere and used in most places. Thus, if we find ourselves in a location without a decent internet cafe, I am sure that we can find a phone card. With any luck, about the time this trip is over I will have mastered this obscure science and can explain it to all of our curious readers (all 5 of you that is )

International Cell Phones

International cell phones are all the rage right now. Apparently some travelers choose to rent a phone when they travel abroad. If I was only going to travel for 2 weeks, I imagine that this may be cost effective. That being said, extended travel and phone rentals appear to be mutually exclusive.  I was able to find an international phone vendor that is selling phones for between $49 and $179. At first, I was thinking that this might be ideal. I mean, what is the point of finding an internet cafe when I could pull a cell phone out of my backpack and make whatever calls were necessary? Then I started looking at the rates. This is the deal breaker. Even from tech savy Western European countries, calls to the United States will cost $1.25 a minute. Ouch! That means (not counting the cost of the phone) that a 3 minute call from Europe to say “Merry Christmas” to my mom (1.25 * 3 = 3.75) would cost more than the monthly Skype plan.  After doing some serious meditating on the astronomical cost of actually using an international cell phone, I came to the conclusion that International cell phones are a lot like short term health insurance. The cost is justified by the assurance that if something horrible happens (read: I break my leg when I inadvertently step into a Michigan pot hole) I will have the necessary tools to successfully navigate the situation. If something truly bad happens (read: natural disaster, civil war, rare disease epidemic, no coffee for 2 days straight) we have travel/health insurance (www.worldnomads.com) that will help us weather the storm.

Satellite Phones

Satellite Phones of course are, at least in theory, a very cool idea. Just the technology alone makes my giggle like a Catholic school girl. The real downer is that a cheap satellite phone will set us back about $1,000. None of the satellite phone companies are forthcoming about how much it actually cost to use their services. This makes me nervous and a little bit irritated. When I am trying to buy a service, I do not want to contact someone to find out how much it costs. They created the website. Is it really that difficult to post prices? Anyway, this is way out of our budget and seems impracticable because I cannot see me wanting to make phone calls from the middle of desert anyway.

You are spending your days blissfully content on the beautiful Indonesian island of North Sulawesi near the city of Manado. You stroll into the a local Internet cafe, intent on writing a message to your friends and family explaining the events that lead to you spending the last week scuba diving with the local dive master. Checking your email creates a cold water reality shower as you learn that not only have you been called for jury duty, but your tax forms are ready to be signed. You have a problem.

It came to my attention recently that a person does not have to be in the United States to have legal problems with the local, state, and federal government. Although this seems absurd, I fear it is true. Luckily the lawyers got together with the law makers and figured out a legal way to get around the many pesky issues that can occur when someone is outside of the country for an extended time. Or in a comma. Or both.  This concept is referred to as Power of Attorney.

Creating a Power of Attorney allows me to assign an individual (a.k.a agent) to act legally on my behalf. I like to think of this as my Legal Clone. Now, Legal Clones fall into two categories. The Fully Empowered Legal Clone and the Slightly Restricted Legal Clone. Basically, Fully Empowered Legal Clones can perform any legal duties in the name of their real life, flesh and blood counter parts. These duties include, signing tax forms, taking out loans, opening bank accounts, initiating law suites etc. Slightly Restricted Legal Clones are given specific authority by the principle (read: the person who needs the clone). This authority can be far reaching or limited as desired by the principle.

What makes creating a custom Power of Attorney form truly exciting is the ability to create co-agents. For some people (myself included) one Legal Clone feels a bit limiting. I mean seriously, why would I want one Legal Clone when I can have two? Creating two legal Clones creates a system of checks and balances that insures that even if one of my Legal Clones decides to go AWOL, I am still in businesses.

Finding a free, generic Power of Attorney form online is a straight forward affair. However, finding a fully customizable Power of Attorney form is a bit more difficult. I was able to create forms for both Natalie and myself at http://www.rocketlawyer.com after signing up for a free trial account. The trial account currently lasts for 7 days, and I found that this was plenty of time to create the necessary forms, save the pdf files to my local computer and cancel my account. Although the account does take a valid credit card to set up, canceling the account was a no hassle affair.

Natalie and I now have the forms necessary to create multiple legal clones of ourselves. I bet you wish you had a Legal Clone or two.

From everything I can find on Power of Attorney forms, only the principle is required to sign the form. (The principle must have the form notarized and signed in front of two witnesses.) I cannot find any reference that the agent is required to sign the form. That seems a bit odd as it means that I can appoint anyone my Legal Clone without their say. Does anyone know whether or not the agent is required to sign the Power of Attorney form?

Happy Legal Cloning

Other ways to save money include:

1. cut coupons
2. trim expenses – don’t buy stuff
3. cook most meals
4. go vegetarian
5. be a one car family
6. only pay for cell phones – ditch the land line
   
7. cut your own hair
   
8. bring your own lunch or snacks
9. stay healthy
10. don’t buy bottled water – carry a Nalgene (this one is BPA FREE)
    
11. no magazine or newspaper subscriptions (they’re all at the library or Barnes & Noble)
12. go green – beyond a vegetable garden
13. be creative
14. Stick to a budget – Dave can help

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I enjoy the list of many ways we are able to save money to travel. Through our efforts in financial discipline I know that we are able to save a lot more money for our journey. We might be able to visit a special country and meet some really incredible people that we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to meet if we would have chosen to spend our money differently today.