BELIEVE IT: 5-Day Adventure for Under $200

With my ski trip in my rearview mirror, I’ve had 

a couple of questions creep into my subconscious.

Reminder: I wanted to prove that I could go to Vail, Colorado, for five days on the cheap – and run my company at the same time.

Here are the haunting questions:

• Was I cheapskate?

• Was I a freeloader?

In regards to finances, I’ve started to play back my whole trip in my mind … and I think the answer is a solid "I don't think so" to both questions. I firmly believe that the terms “smart,” “frugal,” and “tight” are a little more fitting.

Here are the final numbers from my adventurous experiment (If I didn’t have to eat anything OR drink a couple pints – I could have crushed this experiment):

GOAL: $130

AMOUNT SPENT: $198

TRANSPORTATION: $102 total

– Airplane Flight:     $0 

(spouse benefits through Southwest Airlines)

– Train/Bus Ride to Vail:     $45

– Shuttle from Vail:     $57

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LODGING: $0 total

– Cousin’s house in Denver:     $0 

(thanks a million, Brent and Rita)

– Condo in East Vail:     $0 

(thanks two million, Mark)
_________________________________________

SKIING: $0 total

– Lift Tickets:     $0 

(used credit card points)

– Ski Rentals:     $0 

(used credit card points)

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FOOD: $96 total

– Meal/coffee on train:     $12

– Pint of stout & app in Glenwood Springs:      $18

(NOTE: Thanks to Chris P. for volunteering to pick up the other round  or my budget would have been shattered – photo above)

– Lunch/snacks at ski lodge:     $17

– Grocery shopping in Vail:      $35

– Breakfast at Denver Airport:     $14

(ANOTHER NOTE: If weren’t for the generosity of all the guys who stayed in the condo, who did more than their fair share of grocery shopping, and my cousin’s hospitality – my food expenses would have throttled my budget.)

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OVERVIEW (more like my point): It doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg to go on a weeklong adventure. All you have to do is plan ahead a little – especially in regards to food – cut out the fluff, and know some friends with transportation benefits and/or vacation houses.

(LAST NOTE: I also encourage everyone to look at your points system with your credit cards – without American Express and its Membership Rewards Points, this trip would have never happened. I always just ignored those offers in the past – there are some pretty great deals, though.)

Does anyone have a time-share near a beach?

EXPERIMENT: Mixing Business with Adventure

I'm in the midst of an incredible experiment.

I'm attempting to go on a 5-day ski trip to Vail for less than $130 – WHILE running my company.

Once again I want to reference "The 4-Hour Work Week," because that's essentially the whole premise of this incredible book. You set-up a business that you can run from anywhere in the world – one with a limited amount of daily operations, but profitable enough to fund these inexpensive adventures.

There is a whole formula on how to do this, but I just wanted to put e-Partners in Giving to the test – not to mention my ability to be frugal. 

To honor my blog requirements that I have placed on myself – I will post throughout the week about pulling off this endeavor. I will focus on the financial aspect and the business aspect.

FINANCIAL (Goal: $130 – Amount spent: $0)

• Trip Details: Flew out of Dallas Love Field at 4:15 p.m. and arrived in Denver at 6:10 p.m.

– Airline ticket: Free (spouse benefits through Southwest Airlines)

– Lodging: Free (staying with cousin)

– Meals: Free (cousin's wife cooked us some homemade lasagna – finished it off with ice cream and freshly baked cookies)

BUSINESS

– Able to monitor partnership web sites with laptop and wireless internet

– When flying, had company's Director of Giving monitor the sites

– Took advantage of flight time to type up proposal for local publication (potentially a tremendous vehicle for the e-Partners in Giving brand)

– Able to follow-up on business-related e-mails via Blackberry during travel – including very brief layover in Oklahoma City

– Utilizing cousin's wireless internet to check sites, monitor analytics, send e-mail to developer, and update blog