Travel Archives - Making Sense Of Cents

13+ Easy Zero Waste Swaps That Will Save The Environment And Money

May 27, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 2 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Are you looking for easy zero waste swaps that are good for the environment and will help you save money?

I’m always looking for things that I can reuse, and I love when I am able to find easy zero waste swaps.

Not only do they produce much less waste, but many times I am able to save money and space (because I don’t have to store as much!). So, many of these easy zero waste swaps are great if you travel full-time as well!

If you’re not sure what I mean by easy zero waste swaps, I am talking about replacing disposable household products with ones you can reuse over and over again. And, there are swaps for all over your house – there are low waste swaps, plastic free swaps, and more.

As a full-time traveler, one of the problems we have with disposable items is that we have to store a lot of things, and many of them will just be thrown away. [Read more…]

15 Things To Stop Being Scared Of So You Can Be Rich, Happy, And Successful

May 11, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 5 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Being scared is a natural reaction, but a lot of good things can and will be scary.

Often, people are scared when things are changing, like if you’re starting a new job, getting married, or any other major life event. It’s only natural to be a little scared about how things will turn out.

You might be scared when you are trying to do something that is difficult, like paying off debt. What if it takes you longer than you had hoped? What about the sacrifices you will have to make?

Being scared happens when you do or try things that are new or outside of your comfort zone, and everyone feels scared from time to time. You may not believe that you cannot achieve what you are setting out to do.

But, you have to push through these negative moments and realize that you are holding yourself back if you want to start overcoming fear and let yourself move forward and do something new. [Read more…]

Living In A Boat Or RV? What Is Better?

February 10, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 11 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Which do you like better? The boat or RV?

Do you miss RVing?

How long do you think you’ll sail for? Do you think you’ll ever go back to a normal home?

The questions are never-ending.

Now that we’ve switched to sailing, we get these questions ALL THE TIME.

As a refresher, we RVed for around four years, and we have been living on our sailboat for almost two years now.

We really love both lifestyles and everything that they allow us to do.

There are a lot of similarities between living in a boat or RV, such as:

You can bring your home with you as you travel.
Marinas are kind of like campgrounds.
Anchorages are similar to boondocking.
They have a lot of the same systems, such as a battery bank, solar, dump, water tank, and so on.
Smaller space than a “normal” home.

But, there are also a ton of things that are completely different between the two. [Read more…]

40 Ideas That Will Help You Learn How To Live Your Best Life

January 27, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 5 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Are you feeling like life isn’t going the way you want? Would you like to learn how to live your best life?

If your answer is YES, then it’s time to start making a change for the better.

Now is the time to start challenging yourself, taking care of yourself, changing your mindset, and start living the best life possible.

However, many people are scared to make any real changes.

But, why stay stuck in a job you hate, in a bad relationship, or living with what feels like neverending financial stress?

These kinds of situations can cause you to feel scared, depressed, like you can never get ahead, and more.

No one should feel like that when you have the power to change your life. [Read more…]

My Year In Review – Where I Went And What Happened in 2019

January 8, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 20 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Looking back on the previous year is always a lot of fun, and it’s interesting to see everything laid out in a one year period. I get to see what I did and didn’t do, reflect on everything, etc. So, I am happy to publish my 2019 year in review.

I almost didn’t put this together this year, but I realized that it’s nice to write this each year so that I have a nice memory to look back at later.

You can read my 2018 year in review here. You can find 2017’s here.

2019 was a super interesting year.

We sailed to the Bahamas, bought a van for hurricane season and explored the U.S., then sailed back to the Bahamas (which is where we are now).

We saw beautiful mountains, oceans, beaches, deserts, and everything in between.

2019 was a wonderful year full of travel and great memories. It had its ups and downs, just like for any person, but overall it was an amazing year and I’m grateful for the life that I get to live.

We’re really loving how life is currently going too. We love having our sailboat as it’s a very exciting way to travel, and we also love having our van so that we can still do all of the land travel that we love.

You can read more about our life on a sailboat here – Welcome To Paradise – We’re Living On A Sailboat!

You can find life updates in the last year here:

Also, if you’re not following me on Instagram yet, I definitely recommend doing so. You can see even more photos and stories of the places we are visiting.

Here’s what we did in 2019:

Anchored in the Florida Keys

January – The Florida Keys and Bahamas

2019 started by sailing the Florida Keys to the Bahamas. It was the first time we had left the U.S. with our sailboat.

It was a crazy month because we were doing something brand new to us – bringing our dogs by boat to another country. Bahamas is relatively easy to do this with, though, so it went smoothly!

There was quite a bad storm that arrived right after we sailed to Bimini, Bahamas, so we were “stuck” there for a while. It was a nice spot, though, so we definitely did not complain! [Read more…]

Sailing SV Delos – Living A Beautiful Life On The Sea

December 16, 2019 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 10 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Sailing SV Delos is what many people dream of – sailing around the world to exotic destinations in a beautiful boat with a super fun group of people, who all happen to be friendly and gorgeous. They go on amazing adventures, and they even brew moonshine on their boat. What more could you ask for?

In my Extraordinary Series here on Making Sense of Cents, I like to feature people who are doing things a little differently. So, I knew that interviewing SV Delos should be next!

As you may know, me and my husband (and our two dogs) also live on a sailboat. So, getting the opportunity to interview SV Delos was something I was really excited about doing!

Before our interview, let me give you a little backstory on the sailing vessel Delos and the crew.

It all started in May of 2008 when Brian Trautman bought SV Delos.

Brian had been sailing around the lakes of Seattle for several years, but had never really thought about living on a sailboat, much less sailing around the world. Until one day when he found a book in the library that explained how to cross the ocean on your own boat. It was an eye-opening moment for Brian.

He spent the next four years dreaming and planning for the first epic trip – sailing to New Zealand. He sold nearly everything, and bought SV Delos in May of 2008. [Read more…]

Why I Took A Year Long Blog + Social Media Semi-Sabbatical

December 11, 2019 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 54 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

This past year I decided to do something that I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time – I took a blog and social media break.

Taking a sabbatical from social media has changed my life. I feel like I am much more intentional with the actions I take, and I am able to focus on what I truly love.

Okay, so I’ve still been around working a little bit, but not nearly as much as usual.

But since I’ve taken a blog and social media break, I’ve received a lot of messages, comments, and emails asking me about what’s going on.

“Is everything all right?”

“Are you not having fun traveling anymore?”

“Is your business no longer making money?”

My social media break has really confused people, and it feels like nearly everything I’ve heard has assumed that something bad has happened. [Read more…]

Here’s what we did in 2019:

January – The Florida Keys and Bahamas

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