Jamaican spicy cabbage

Ever crave good cabbage?? 

OMG!!! This recipe is the bomb

• 1/2 Cabbage
• 5-6 mini sweet peppers
• 1 cup Carrots julienned
• 1 tbsp Thyme
• 3 chopped garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup green onions
• 1/2 med red onion
• 1/4 cup Vegetable broth
• 1 tbsp Jamaican jerk paste
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• Salt to taste

•  In pan, add onion, garlic and thyme and
• 
  cook for about 5-7 minutes till soft.
• Add in peppers and sear followed by cabbage, peppers  add vegetable broth jerk paste and salt
• Mix well, cover, reduce heat and steam for between 8-10 minutes or until done to your preference.

Enjoy.. It's sooooo good

And it's Simple and Satisfying

Dec 2019 Air Cruise *Snippet video log

By Ali Carter The Frugal Travel chick

Hey friends, check out a quick snippet of the stops on my Air CruiseDec 2019.

Subscribe for upcoming detailed videos at, each stop. 

Where stayed, ate, went.. My experience.. 

Through my Eyes, Frugally 😜

Spain - 3 Cities

Portugal - 4 Cities

UK - 1 City

Senegal - 1 City

I love to Travel!!

Where To Next!!

Things I'd Tell my Younger Self... #1 - When They Can't/Won't Say Sorry!! ... RUN!

by Ali Carter The Frugal Travel Chick

There is much to be said about a person who can't apologize!

So lets just get right to it!

Things I'd Tell my Younger Self  #1 

A. EGO - you knew it was coming. haha.  Many people can not tame their EGO.  Even when they know they are wrong.  Often times they have convinced themselves it is everyone else.  They aren't at fault, so why should they.  They may think you don't matter.  That is a sign too...

B. Guilt - Sometimes it's because there is so much shame over what they did or how they acted, it impedes their ability to just say the words.  So what?  They think....you are expected to stay around and put up with that?

C. They are waiting on You - Yep, you to apologize first. They think it's your fault.  The chain of events somehow gets twisted so they may even think their behavior was justified.

D. No Empathy - They can't see the situation through another persons eyes.  Everything, every pain is from their perspective and that is all that matters to them.

So what do you do if you don't get the apology.....

1. RUN!! - Seriously. Don't wait around. Bounce, For realz (if you need the slang)!  This is likely a deep rooted issue and you can not become a therapist and fix them.  Look.....even if something is your fault and you apologize you should be able to  talk it through. But when it's not your fault and your pulling teeth..  yep....RUN! 

2. Catch on to this behavior early as possible... then RUN!!!
You don't want to stay around too long because you get caught up.  It's harder to break camp after.months not to mention years have gone by.  It's also harder to make a point because you have put up with it for so long... so yep RUN!!

3. STOP waiting for the apology.... then RUN! this is the detrimental part.  You probably are even explaning yourself over and over and still nothing....yep RUN!

4. STop and I mean STOP apologizing in hopes they will also apologize.  You know you ain't ( yep ain't) bout to get no apology.  Let's just keep it real.  some traumatic event would have to happen and that may not even shake the tree.  You know the drill.. RUN!!

Seriously if a person can not apologize for the things they do, you are in for a very intense and compicated relationship.
Save yourself the trouble... and RUN!!!

3 Reasons You have to Let Go... Especially when it Hurts

by Ali Carter The Frugal Travel Chick

With so much loss around us,  tomorrow, even the next hour are not promised.  You may have bad memories, a bad experience or situation that is just clinging to you and you can't shake it.

So what are you going to do to take back your life and LIVE to the Fullest?

Most times we hold on to things that arent the best for us because we are not at peace, we feel we were wronged, we are seeking closure and sometimes that closure is from someone else.  The thing is..... We may never get that closure. And that is wasted time.  Valuable time... YOUR Time...

You have to Let Go... like the movie said... and Let it Flow!!!

Why...
1. Your Health is more important.. Isn't it?
Holding on to something causes stress, depression, leads to issues with eating habits, sleeping, weight issues.  (major losses and gains of weight are equally not good).  Look, it's hard enough to lose weight without adding on lbs because of someone else.  Right?!?!?

#2 - Your other relationships are affected. Family, friends, coworkers can usually sense you are going through something.  How, cuz you are proverbially stabbing them!!!
If you are going through something you may be overly emotional, quick tempered, or irritated easily.  Sound familiar? 

You may not want to be around anyone.  Which is understandable, but Sheesh.. how can you be affective functioning this way?  It gets old fast.

Finally Third.. Let Go so You can Grow!
We see these quotes saying something better is waiting for you if you just take a step.  You can't grasp the new when you are holding on to the old. Yada Yada.  I love those.  and yes sometimes it is easier said than done.   Think about all the opportunities passing you by.  All the doors hanging open waiting for you to just walk through.  Sometimes you don't even see them because your brain is so foggy with this useless situation.  On one hand you keep talking about what you want to do in life, but it's passing you by.  You become stagnant...

If you don't release it, the hurt will be even worse and last longer.  The pain you are trying to avoid is gonna swift kick you in your Rump Shaker!! yep.

No One or No Thing that is not looking to amicably resolve an issue is worth another wasted minute of your life.

You make the choice....
your choice to be healthy, to have great relationships and to GrOW!! ;)

How to Afford Solo Traveling on a Budget

by Ali Carter The Frugal Travel Chick

As some of you may know, I am a frequent SOLO Traveler over 40, I travel on a budget and I love it.

I have traveled solo to Costa Rica, Cuba, Morocco, Canary Islands, Lisbon, Barcelona, Madrid, Milan, Rome, Senegal, Malaga, Thailand to name a few cities and countries. So as you can imagine, I have people ask me all the time How do you travel so much, Ali?

So I want to share some of my basic tips.  I can go deeper into some of these and will probably add a video or two just for you all.

OK
so let's talk about you... 

 So, You want to travel, 

see the world or at least a beach or maybe a new city or cool event.  

You've asked friends and family, but they can never get off, or money isn't right. or well, they just flake on you and they flake last minute.
You've probably even joined travel groups with the hopes of finding someone(s) who might be a good travel partner, but you are a bit leery about traveling with people you don't know.

It's 2020, 

you aren't a kid anymore, matter of fact you may be over 40 (like me) you may even feel like you are missing out and let's face it...

TIME WAITS FOR NO ONE!! :)

So what do you do....

you twiddle your thumbs and think maybe you can go by yourself, and almost immediately, you panic at the idea of THE COST and think OMG, can I afford it?????

Short Answer

 YES, YES YOU CAN!!

with a little planning and these tips you will be well on your way.
Hey the toughest part... is deciding to embark on traveling SOLO to begin with, right?

Tip #1 - Begin Saving Early 

(if you do not already have a travel fund)

* see my tips on Saving in Easiest Savings Tips blog!

Tip #2 - Prep and Research

I book all my own travel, but of course you can get an agent to help you if you want.  Just do your own research and ensure the extra fee for the service isn't the cost of another traveler (if your goal is to save money)

•  Where do you want to GO??
• 

Do you want sand, sun, ice caps, water, volunteer ops, culture, vibrancy, urban, rural, English speaking or not?? the options are endless!!

• Sure you can search vlogs and the web for info and that is great because you get some insight on others experiences from those who have already planted their feet.
• I have personally read my own blogs as well as Lonely planet, Hey Ciara, Uncornered Market & Oneika the Travller. My short list.
• Check out Eightydays.me. Another favorite planning tool I use,  if I am going to Europe (which is usually my starting point since it is cheap to fly out from there) If you have android you can use the app, if you have the other one (haha) you can use the website. :)
• This app is the TRUTH. It has lots of cool features and it plans your routes for you to cities you may not have thought of.  Note- trip has to be minimum 8 days. Neat thing is even if you do not book using the tool you can get some great ideas from it.
• Check out below for the flight and other tools I use to compare and save.
• 

Now let's get into the expenses that cost $$$$

• Flights - 
• Skyscanner - My Fave Flight tool 
• Search "To Everywhere" to see options and starting cost
• This will also show you hotel rates once you select a city
• Search by month to see by month in case you have some flexibility
• 
  
• Set price reminders
• Momondo - Second Fave Flight search tool I use personally.  This one is right on with Sky scanner price wise sometime a bit lower. It also has similar monthly price views.

BUT it's not always about the initial low price, right

• Be sure to check extra fees
• Airlines - Baggage, meals, seats, priority etc.. Those can add up quickly and a $129 One Way flight may end up $100+ more.  
• Check official airline sites, they may be the same as 3rd party sites
• Check sites with Free cancellation on Flights
• OneTravel - 72 hour cancellation $0
• Student Universe - up to 7 days cancellation ($7)
• Expedia - 4 hour cancellation
• Check flights that offer payment plans so you can pay a little at a tme without breaking the bank.
• Frontier airlines offers that.
• Booking.com offers payment plans for vacations
• Buses & Trains - This is nice option and is often cheaper not to mention a bit more comfortable at times.

• Train options
• Rome2rio.com, Raileurope, Rail Ninja
•  Bus options
• I used busbud.com for my trip from Silves to Lisbon and the cost was $22 for a quick 3 hr trip.  It was easy to book and bus was clean and comfortable. And I didn't have to check anything or show ID or anything. 
• check local buses and overnight options.  ** this saves on hotel fees if you can travel and sleep comfortably and safely overnight**

Next up....

• Accommodations - When I travel solo which is often, I try to keep my accommodations under $50-60 per night.  Trust me you can find some great deals in really nice 3-4 star places.  There are some areas where lodging is just more expensive so you may need to save a bit more.
• Try travel sites that list all types of accommodations. Think about what you want to see during your stay and plan your location according to that along with cost.
• Consider Hostels, Apts, Guest houses
• One Fave is Airbnb.com. this site is cool.  you can book an entire place, house or hotel or share a room or stay in a room.  
• Another awesome site is Booking.com.  They have EVERYTHING! and prices are excellent.  Additional bonus now you can book apartments on booking.com. I also get cool discounts based on how many nights I have booked. There is Genius Level 1 and Genius Level 2.
• Recent new adds are Couchsurfing.com or Workaway.com. These both provide options for finding locals and staying with them either for no cost or bartering for doing some work around their homes. Workaway has a small fee I believe it's $44 annual to join.
• Note- I do not suggest Workaway if you have a really short stay and you are trying to do a lot of site seeing. (this is the reason I opted out on my last trip) and really read the requirements the homeowner is looking for and don't be afraid to ask questions.

Next you wanna think about how you want to get around.  If you don't think about it when you book accommodations you could be in for unexpected costs.

• Getting Around - Plan in advance. If you can walk around a lot and see things that is the ultimate because not only are you enjoying your visit, you are also getting in some awesome BODY Movement and learning the city.
• Uber/Cabify/Lyft/Taxi - download the apps.  Of course these are great because you don't have to have cash on you.
• Rent a Car - make sure you are comfortable driving, what side of the car and road do they drive on and if it makes more financial sense.
• EX. you have a great accommodation, but what you want to see is far.  If you notice tours are basically paying for transportation, consider a car.  This is true for Iceland.  An excursion will be over $200 but in essence you are visiting a free location so you are basically paying for the transportation.
• Public transportation - (Trains, buses)  this is usually the CHEAPEST method of travel and let me add the BEST way (in my opinion) to really get to know the area you are visiting.  Do a little research on whats best and safest and if you have a host or concierge please get their input.
• Excursions - do they include pick up and drop off in the price
• Google maps offline -app
• Maps.me - app
• Tours- 
• Plan out what you want to see. Here are a couple of sites I use when planning.
• Airbnb.com/Experiences - are pretty awesome and often organized by individuals and small groups so you can really feel like you are contributing to individuals in the community directly.
• Getyourguide.com
• Viator.com
• TripAdvisor.com
• Foodie -
• This can be a huge expense if you aren't careful!!



• I suggest shopping at a local grocery (get an apt), cooking at your apartment and getting your adult beverages, if your drink, from local stores.  It is much cheaper. Then you can plan maybe 1 meal a day out or a light snack while you are site-seeing so you aren't spending $100 a day, which can happen.





• pack water especially if you will be doing lots of walking
• pack snacks in your back pack 
• Ask Locals what's the best place to eat at, they typically are less than the touristy spots.

Tip #3 - Travel Off season - 

This is a big one too.  Pay attention to flight sales if you have the flexibility to go whenever.  They are usually always cheaper during non peak times.  * note each country has different PEAK seasons.

• It's nice if you dont want to go when there is a lot of hustle and bustle (ie. people) 
• and normally accommodation and excursion prices are often lower
• Use the apps I suggested above to help plan.

Those are the basics.  Now get to traveling!!

Don't forget tp check out my blog on Easy Savings tips

Stop missing out..Easy ways to Save!

by Ali Carter the Frugal Travel Chick

Ya'll alreadyyyyyy Knoooooooowwww…  Like Big Freda would say.
Saving MOney is what I live by.  How can I enjoy life on a dime?

I started my Financial Diet back in 2010 and took 1 year to pay off $24K in debt and I still practice those tips today.  So I'll share a few basics with you.

Saving is really comingled with Discipline & Sacrifice.  Yep I said it the D and S words.  Without them and a winning lotto ticket you may struggle quite a bit.
We all want to enjoy life so living smart instead of hard is what makes sense to me.

1. Start Saving Early.  If you have kids start a savings account for them now!!
Teach them to save even a 4 or 5 year old understands putting money in a piggy bank for later.
Economics starts at home.
It was something I didn't really learn except that we didn't have money, but I wasn't taught methods for saving so I got a pretty late start.

• Try a weekly or monthly savings challenge.
• ex. $5 per week = $20 monthly = $240 annually
• ex. $10 per week = $40 monthly = $480 annually
• ex. $15 per week = $60 monthly = $720 annually
• ex. $20 per week = $80 monthly = $960 annually

This is doable right?

I know I know.. you will say I don't have $5, $10,$15 or $20 a week to spare.  Well before we throw in the towel so quickly let's take a look at your finances.

2. Let's figure out how much you can afford to save....

• Take out a sheet of paper. ledger or use and online tool
• Write down every single expense you have
• Split into your pay cycles. Ex 15th & 30th
• be sure to include annual, seasonal stuff too
• Jot down the amount that is remaining each month ( assuming it is in the positive)
• if not, that is another discussion)
• Now add in Hygiene, house supplies, car maintenance and entertainment
• Jot down the remaining balance
• Now let's talk saving - Ideal amount is min 3 mos covering all expenses.  This is separate savings from a travel or entertainment budget.
• Calculate 5-10% of monthly net amt before bills
• Create an automated way to put that money somewhere you can not easily access it.  A savings acct or a friend or family member holding it for you.

3. What can you cut back on?? This is where the DISCIPLINE and SACRIFICE kick in!

Let's say you break even or are coming really close to that break even monthly.

• Go back and review your expenses.  What's high?
• Main one I like to start with is EATING OUT/Entertainment!
• This includes coffee, smoothies, vending machine, quick drive thru fries, convenient store snacks, popcorn etc...
• EX. let's say you Drink Coffee daily at $5 per cup.
• That's $25 per week = $100 per month = $1200 annually.

DID YOU JUST SAY WOW!!!!

YEP Me too.

So how can you change this spending habit?

buy that bag of coffee and a thermal mug and make your own daily.

Pennies compared to spending $4-$8 daily.

• Next big change is Making meals at home.  

Get in that Kitchen, dust off those pots, pull up some Simple and Satisfying recipes and whip it up!

• This can be easily done by buying groceries and making breakfast and lunch for work daily. You can even consider Meal planning and Meal prep.  Make everything on your off day and refrigerate for quick grab.  Save money & enjoy food you make
• Ex.
  

  • If you eat out even just once a week in addition to your coffee fix.  You likely spend $5-$8 or more (I'm just low balling it) per meal.  that is another $25 - $40 weekly.
  • That average with coffee is $2400 minimum saved annually
  • If you eat out 2 days a week it's an easy $4800 minimum saved annually
  • and of course you can go on and on.  

  
  
• Do you know what you can do with $2400 or $4800+ annually?
• You can Pay off another bill, invest, or even travel.

Check out my other blogs on Traveling on a budget.  There are many options for you.

Don't think it's hopeless.  If you have a goal you want to reach, jot that goal down and look at it as inspiration daily.

If you work hard, you should play hard too.

Jackfruit stuffed Peppers

Stuffed pepper with cauliflower, pickle cucumbers, green onion, tomato, bbq jackfruit

Ask me how

Lac Rose - Is it Really Pink? - Vlog

A day in the Life with Ali took me to 

Lac Rose, Dakar Senegal. The lake gets its name from the color the sunlight, salt and algae create.  So based on that it will not always have a pink hue.  Due to the high salt content it is not good for you to be in it longer than 15 minutes without a special salve the harvesters put on their bodies to protect them.  And women are suggested to not go in the water as it can be harmful to reproduction.

The lake is important to that community because the salt is harvested year round and is sold to neighboring cities, countries and exported to Europe. It is used for cooking and on streets to dissolve ice.  The community is very careful to preserve the lake and keep it clean as possible.

The lake is being named a historical site. It is worth a visit to learn how this small lake is so important and how it gets its salt...

check out the video to see the lake up close and see the harvesting a it is happening.

Declutter....Physically and Mentally!!

yall ever look up and your whole house.. like every single room, is cluttered... even messy??
Like how did this happen, especially if you live alone like I do. I don't get it.. but I can tell you this... it is driving me crazy.  How weird, I feel like it makes me feel groggy, lethargic and a bit moody...

if you feel like this sometimes check out my video and lets declutter together!!!

Why do women have to suppress their sexuality for him to want to marry her?

Should Women suppress their sexuality to be considered or marriage???
this is ridiculous.  On one hand we say we are not in the arch ages and on the other hand when it applies to women and expressing themselves as such we are expected to function like the 1500s.

The double standard rule is  so comical, I am not sure I understand how it still is used today.  But it is.  You can see this type of behavior on all levels.  So it goes to show you, someone out there still believes it and teaches it.

What is wrong with a woman being honest about her sexual needs.  Isnt it wonderful that she is comfortable enough to express it?
What if she hid her sexual prowness from her husband becaue he is afraid he cant hang.  yep I said it... cuz I believe that is why.   but what if she hides how she feels and has to go outside of the home to get her needs met.  To have someone care for her without judgement.  sound familiar???

I think women are tired of being treated like sex is their only quality until she ctually wants it for herself.

watch the video and let me know your thoughts.
ciao
#speakingmymind #10minsorless

How to travel light; 20 days - 1 back pack!!!

My newest crave is packing as light as possible.  Why?  well lets try to save on bag fees which are out of this world now, Avoid waiting for a checked bag,  mobility and learn how much you don't really need.
AND
I wanted to know if I could do it.
20 whole days, 2 continents, 14 flights, temps ranging from 45-88 degrees.
 Can I pull this off?  Well, this was the packing effort.  I just returned from my trip and well...I did it!!
crazy so much fits in this back pack by Hynes Eagle!! I did have to check my bag a few times, but I understand the game more and will do a blog just for you guys on flights.

so anyway, check out my tips in the video and see how you can be an official backpacker too.