We are covering the X-Games this weekend and so far it has been really fun! We’ve managed to get travel advice from Bam Margera & Johnny Knoxville (more on this coming in another post) and I’ve been able to take some really cool photos! (More on this coming in another post.) I had a few minutes here before the next event and wanted to upload some quick pics from today. I’ll put more up later as well as some tips for photographing sporting events. More to come soon!

Subscribe to our feed & share the love!

Did you like this article? If so, consider retweeting or stumbling it. Better yet sign up for our RSS feed OR get the goodies delivered directly to your inbox! Consider yourself hugged.

*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me to ask first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!

If you want more information or want to inquire about having your wedding photographed by Nariko’s Nest please contact me at Beth@NarikosNest.com. BeersandBeans readers get 20% and all destination weddings book at 50% off regular rates!! To see more photos please visit NarikosNest.com.

Looking to get away for cheap this summer? HostelBookers, the leading budget accommodation specialist have just launched a ‘Summer of Love’ sale.

The summer accommodation deals on offer are across 28 top destinations worldwide including New York City, Sydney, Venice, London, Rio de Janerio and Paris.*

With a vast range of hostels on board offering nights at discounted prices customers can get at least 20% off the normal rate! Here are just some of the great offers:

-New York City hostel ‘Days Inn’ has 20% off

-Belgrade hostel ‘Adagio’ has 20% off!

-Paris hostel ‘Home Latin’ has 20% off

Sydney hostel ‘Syndey Central Backapackers’ has 20% off

To take advantage of this offer customers need to place a booking by 31^st July 2010 and travel completed by the 30^th of September**.

*for the complete list of properties go to http://www.hostelbookers.com/summer-accommodation-deals/

**terms and conditions apply.

Subscribe to our feed & share the love!

Did you like this article? If so, consider retweeting or stumbling it. Better yet sign up for our RSS feed OR get the goodies delivered directly to your inbox! Consider yourself hugged.

*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me to ask first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!

This is a sponsored post but we would never endorse a company we didn’t believe in. Photos are courtesy of HostelBookers.com.

You’re lucky if you’re in Vegas in the middle of a rain storm.

There’s a lot of sinning in this town and with any luck, the rain just might wash yours away. Ok, not really but it’s not every day you get to see this amazing American desert city in the rain. We travel to Vegas a few times a year and this time we arrived in the middle of a downpour. Randy’s grandparents had never been there before and I had never been there in the rain. I was amazed – rain in the desert! Yah! I took the opportunity to take some real Beth style photos. Here’s some rainy day Vegas photos to get you thinking about this notorious city in a different way. They really are amazing viewed large but I can’t figure out how to host that type of photo gallery on this site. In any case, I love them and I hope you guys do too! My favorites?? Hmm well I love them all but the 1st, 3rd and the last one have truly captured my heart. Please tell me which ones you love or hate (I hope none!). If you have questions don’t hesitate to ask.

If you liked these photos please follow the link below for more of your Vegas viewing pleasure!

Vintage Vegas Photos

Subscribe to our feed & share the love!

Did you like this article? If so, consider retweeting or stumbling it. Better yet sign up for our RSS feed OR get the goodies delivered directly to your inbox! Consider yourself hugged.

*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me to ask first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!

(Blue Lagoon in Iceland. Image courtesy wanderingtheworld  – flickr)

Wow!  I am over the moon! I can’t believe it. We just booked our first flights for the RTW journey!

It’s been 3 years in the making and there were a couple really horrid set backs (read: cancer) but it’s happening! It’s finally happening. I’m actually tearing up as I write this because I am finally realizing a dream that I have had for so many years.

It’s just seems surreal.

First stop – Iceland!

We really wanted to head to Europe but the direct flights were insane. I’ve been searching airfares for days now and time and time again Iceland was coming out as the strong winner!  We got lucky and found a flight to Iceland for $255 on Iceland Air (inc. taxes) out of Boston. I did some more searching and it looks like for another $100 we can take a budget flight to Europe from Iceland. So for about $350 we’re headed to Europe for far less than what the flights were coming in at originally. Sure there were tons of “deals” to London, etc but everytime I tried to book one – it disappeared. Most flights to Europe were coming in at about $500 – $600 o/w. So I think we got a great deal and we get to check out Iceland as well – which is amazing! (Iceland Air also has a stop over route but that was still more expensive than booking separately.)

I’m super psyched! Iceland is somewhere I always wanted to go but it seemed so strange and exotic – I never thought it would be the start of the trip! I never even thought I would be going there at all on this trip. Yah!

After a few days in Iceland we’re going to catch a cheap flight (most likely on Iceland Express) to somewhere in Europe. Hopefully it will be Italy but we will pick the destination by the cost of the ticket. Eventually we’ll make our way to Prague, Vienna & Italy. We plan on wwoofing our way through Italy and to cut costs we’ll be camping for almost our entire journey (including in Iceland).

We are on a strict budget of $50/day for 2 people! Can we do it??

Transportation will eat up most of that budget, which is why we have to camp, wwoof and move slowly. Mainly we’ll be eating food that we buy at the markets and doing a lot of free things. That’s gonna be hard for me in Italy because I’m Italian and I love food! Hopefully we will also get to stay with some of my family members in that area. However I already know we’re headed to the Blue Lagoon for a day in Iceland and the tickets are about $35/person. Maybe we’ll have to try our hand at couchsurfing in Iceland to comp the cost! Or maybe we can pitch a story about it and get the entrance fee waived! We also have fun just walking around and looking at things, which is free.

It was a huge risk for us to throw Europe in the itinerary due to our budget constraints but time and time again we just kept gravitating towards it.

We found cheap flights to South America but our hearts were already set on Europe and we could never pull the trigger and book them. I know it’s going to be tough but we really want to go to this area and we are both so excited to start the trip off in Iceland/Europe. We are driving from CA back to Massachusetts (to drop Chachy off w/ my sister Bridgette and to visit family & friends) and we’re also looking forward to that journey as well. Randy has never driven cross country so I know we’ll have a blast camping & hiking along the way.

We will be sure to update you throughout both legs of the trips on our budget.

Stay tuned because we plan on writing a lot of posts about how  you can save a ton of money on your next trip abroad!

If anyone has any experience wwoofing in Italy (or anywhere in Europe) we would love to hear it. Please leave a comment below.

If you have any tips on free or cheap things to do in Iceland/Prague/Vienna/Italy please let me know – we will be forever grateful!

To Iceland or Bust!

- Beth & Randy

Subscribe to our feed & share the love!

Did you like this article? If so, consider retweeting below or stumbling it. Better yet sign up for our RSS feed OR get the goodies delivered directly to your inbox! Consider yourself hugged.

*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me to ask first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!

If Carlsbad State Beach and San Elijo State Beach were sisters, San Elijo would definitely be the social butterfly, party girl, straight C (maybe B’s) sister.

Don’t get me wrong I actually really like this campground, in fact it may be my favorite one in this region. For starters I LOVE the layout. Instead of the one straight, boring road that is the Carlsbad campground, San Elijo winds around a bit giving it more of a real camping feel. You can turn a corner and find an absolutely awesome spot and camp right under a palm tree – like we did last week. That was cool.

The downside to the layout is that you have less privacy but it adds to the sociable feel of the place.

This campground is also great because it not only has a store, surfboard rentals and a surf school, it also has a taco shop! I haven’t tried out the taco’s yet but you can bet I will be soon. It has a cute little picnic area that overlooks the water.

Another perk is that there is a commercial area right across the street. There’s a pizza place, a Subway, numerous coffee shops, a couple bars & restaurants, a 7-11, a surf shop, etc, etc. This is pretty nice if you want to go pick up a snack or simply want to take a stroll to somewhere besides the beach. Carlsbad is surrounded by residential neighborhoods – you can walk around but there isn’t really anywhere to go so it’s nice that in San Elijo you can walk to a bunch of a different areas. One thing to note though is that the commercial area brings in more traffic which makes this campground a bit noisier.

Traveling with your dog? There is a bar right outside the campground called The Office. It doesn’t bear any resemblance to the show but it is 100% dog friendly. You can bring your dog inside and have a couple drinks or watch the game. There are bound to be plenty of other dogs in there and from what I saw everyone got along just fine.

This campground is also situated on a cliff overlooking the ocean and is perfect for swimming, surfing or just walking on the beach.

The major downside to this campground? It’s proximity to the commuter train. The train runs up the coast and runs by both Carlsbad & San Elijo campgrounds however it is loud and clear in San Elijo and I have never even heard the train at the Carlsbad campground. I would be lying if I said it wasn’t annoying. It is most definitely annoying. It goes until about 1am every night and because it passes through a commercial/residential area it announces it’s arrival by sounding off a huge horn as it passes by. The crashing waves help to muffle it a bit, but not much.

This campground also has electricity at some of the sites. It does cost $20/day, which I think is really expensive but if you need electricity it is there. I am thinking of hijacking an unused electric site tomorrow simply to see how long I can work until they tell me to move. Maybe the park guides won’t care – I won’t know until I try it though!

(The campground store & taco shop.)

Is this the right campground for you?

This is a great place to camp if you want to hang out, meet people and maybe have a BBQ with your neighbor. People seem to be younger and much more social here.  I see small groups always gathering by the taco shop or by the bathrooms. There also seem to be more kids & young families. If you’re looking for a bit more relaxation you will probably want to head to Carlsbad instead. There are families there but mainly I see a lot of retired people just enjoying the view. Carlsbad feels more private and it is definitely a lot quieter.

Know before you go:

If you book online and want a $35 site, try to get a middle site rather than one in the back of the campground. Those sites directly abut a very busy road and the train. Being in the middle will buffer a bit of the sound and give you a more camp like experience.

This campground fills up fast! If you’re going to camp here in the summer make sure to make your reservation 48 hrs in advance. If you drive in, you will most likely not get a site. To read more tips on getting a good site read our other post about saving $$ on your camping site. To read our review of the Carlsbad campground please click here.

$35/ inland site  $50/ocean site  $20/day for electricity $12/day for an additional car (yes a trailer is a car), showers $1 for 3 minutes

Subscribe to our feed & share the love!

Did you like this article? If so, consider retweeting below or stumbling it. Better yet sign up for our RSS feed OR get the goodies delivered directly to your inbox! Consider yourself hugged.

*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me to ask first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!

A couple days ago I did a review on the campground at Anza Borrego Desert and how you can camp for free. To read that review, click here.

We also did an amazing hike when we were out there. I highly recommend doing this hike if you are in the area. I love the desert but I have never actually been on a desert hike where I came across a small river and a huge canyon of palm trees!

It was unbelievable to see all of this life flourishing under the hot desert sun. It was magical really. Around every corner there were different plants, animals and then finally the canyon filled with palm trees. It was really unique.

The hike was called the Palm Canyon Hike and was about 6.5 miles R/T. It is worth it but make sure you bring a ton of water with you! It can get very, very hot. Take extra precautions if you are headed out any time during the summer.

Here are some pics from the hike.

(Someone decided to start the trail off with a smiley face!)

(This picture may not seem like much but remember these plants are blooming under the hot, arid desert sun – it’s amazing!)

(Part of the hiking path.)

(A beautiful, blooming Octillo cactus.)

(Water in the desert! What??!!)(The really cool palm canyon. Looks like it should be on a scene in Lost.)

Subscribe to our feed & share the love!

Did you like this article? If so, consider retweeting below or stumbling it. Better yet sign up for our RSS feed OR get the goodies delivered directly to your inbox! Consider yourself hugged.

*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me to ask first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!

A few weeks ago we took a hike through the Anza Borrego desert. We ended up there by accident but it was awesome because it was right during the blooming of the desert wild flowers. I have always wanted to see the desert flowers and I was not disappointed!

We took a day hike called the Palm Canyon Hike (6.5 miles R/T) through the desert which led to a huge canyon filled with palm trees.

Palm trees, flowers and a flowing riving in the middle of the dry, arid desert! It was awesome.

I love the desert and this state park was really beautiful!

However one thing that makes it even better – is that you can Camp for free!

We did camp here and I actually forgot to take pictures in order to do a proper review but I’ve included some basic info below:

We found out about the free sites after we already paid which was a bummer! Here’s the brief rundown on the spot we camped at:

The site was $25/night, showers were about $2 and the campground was the beginning of the Palm Canyon Hike, which was really convenient. Overall, it was a really nice spot.

BUT,

if you visit the park I recommend stopping in the visitors center and asking them where the free campgrounds are. Some of them sounded quite nice and I remember one in particular was just right across the street from a paid, private campground and I was told you could go over and use their showers. I think the name of that one was Yaqui Well but I am not 100% sure. The free sites are primitive and I don’t think they have water but I believe they have chemical toilets. If you want to have a fire you have to have a metal container that you bring with you. I was told that most people use the top of a tin trash can for their fire. Again, the visitors center will be able to tell you exactly what to expect and where to go.

We had planned to head back another time and take advantage of the free camping sites (and take pics for a review) but we simply haven’t had the time to get back out there.

The other thing I want to note is that besides the designated free camping sites you can actually camp for free anywhere in Anza Borrego state park.

Anywhere.

You can simply pull off the side of the road and camp. It is the only state park in California that allows this. It’s pretty old school and kind of cool if you think about it.

If you’ve read my other posts about the high costs associated with camping in California state parks, you’ll know this is pretty amazing!

I definitely recommend checking out Anza Borrego. It is a beautiful spot and it’s only about 2 hours from San Diego. It’s also a perfect stopover if you are on the way to Joshua Tree since it is just about halfway.

I will have some photos of our hike that I will post in the next day or so and that will give you an idea of just how beautiful the area is.

I also posted some photos of desert flowers last week you can look at but for now I will leave you with these funny pictures of Randy strutting his stuff on the hike.

Did you like this article? If so, consider retweeting below or stumbling it. Better yet sign up for our RSS feed OR get the goodies delivered directly to your inbox! Consider yourself hugged.

*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me to ask first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!

Disclaimer: A couple people have written to me thinking that I am mad at my mother. This is meant to be a funny story. I am not mad at my mom in any way and she is the best mom anyone could ever ask for. I have already asked her what she thought of me posting this story (to add some history to the post) and she said that she didn’t mind. Tomorrow is her birthday and I wanted to send her some flower pictures. Please don’t think I am mad at my mother or that I dislike her in any way. She is awesome!

Many moons ago when I was a photo student I was thinking of transferring colleges. I had an interview at another school and was asked to bring my best photography portfolio. At the time my portfolio was REALLY dark. I don’t mean the colors but the theme was dark. I was struggling with change, growing up and all the emotions that go along with that ball of wax. I was inspired by the likes of Sally Mann, Cindy Sherman, Julia Margaret Cameron and Joel-Peter Witkin to name a few.  My images weren’t happy ones but they were very real to me. I was really proud of my portfolio. My teachers and classmates liked it and I loved it. However my mother HATED it.

Anyway, she always used to bug me to take pictures of “something nice, like flowers” instead. This was something she asked me to do over and over again. So much so that now it is a joke between us. No way! I was an artist, I wasn’t about to spend my hard earned angst on freaking flowers! Gross.

Well she and my father drove me to my interview (at the new school) and I had all of my photos in a large envelope without matting, as requested by the school. I fell asleep in the back seat and my mother was holding the envelope, which I didn’t think twice about.

Until I got into the interview.

I went in and met with the Dean of the college prepared to show him my best work. After I described my portfolio I started taking out the accompanying photos. Imagine my complete surprise when I saw that, while I was sleeping, my mother had taken out ALL of the photos that I thought were the best. All of the ones with the darkest undertones. All of the ones she hated the most.

All that was left was random filler crap. I was speechless. It made me look like an idiot and it made me look like I didn’t prepare at all for the interview. Now at this point I didn’t realize this was my mother’s doing, I was thinking that maybe I actually forgot to bring the right pictures. I was totally dumbfounded and my interview was a total bomb because of it.

I walked out back into the car where my parents were waiting and surprise, surprise what was in there – my missing photos! My mom decided (although she has absolutely no background in art) that she was going to help me out by removing the photos she didn’t like. She assumed that a highly ranked photography only art school wouldn’t like them either.  What?!!?? I was so pissed, as anyone would be. I mean can you even imagine! My blood, sweat & tears removed just like that. She really thought at the bottom of her heart though that she was doing the right thing and that she was helping me out.

Well long story short, because of my bombed interview and ridiculous photo presentation I didn’t get into that school. Which was probably a blessing in disguise. Instead I made the best friends a person could ask for at UMass Dartmouth and had an absolute blast in their art department. So it’s a long time coming but -

Thanks mom for bombing my interview! I made amazing friends who I still know today and you saved me thousands of dollars in student loan debt that I would’ve acquired at the private art school! In the end it was for the best – so thank you!!

Since tomorrow is your birthday and I’m not there in person I wanted to send you this little photo collection I made just for you. It took about 15 years for but here it is -

Flowers! Flowers! Flowers!

I still don’t like shooting them but I have come to peace with it since I love you so much! Plus the desert wildflowers are pretty nice aren’t they?

Wish I was there but I will see you in about a month. I Love You – Happy Birthday!!!!

Love,

Your flower-shooting daughter

Did you like this article? If so, consider retweeting below or stumbling it. Better yet sign up for our RSS feed OR get the goodies delivered directly to your inbox! Consider yourself hugged.
*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me to ask first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!

Ahhh… the lovely three free! Now we are going to focus on one of my favorite cities – San Diego! Yah!

As summer is warming up the ocean waters and tourists are coming in by the boat load, I thought this would be perfect timing for anyone planning a trip to what is self proclaimed as “America’s Greatest City”. San Diego really is an incredible city and from wine tasting lessons in the park to Hare Krishna temples, taco shops & surf shops (and the hot surfers that go along with them) on every beach block, it has something for everyone! I’ve been here for 6 years and it’s really hard to leave.

Balboa Park

(A beautiful courtyard in Balboa Park.)

Ok, there isn’t anything unusual about Balboa Park but it is too incredible not to note here. Balboa Park is a must stop for anyone visiting the park. There are museums (many which are free once a month), impeccable gardens, amazing Spanish architecture, food, wine, shopping – the list goes on and on. Of course some of those things (like food) involve money but really you don’t need to spend a dime to have a great time here. It’s a huge park, right in the middle of the city and if you go on a Sunday you can pack a picnic and listen to the awesome outdoor organ pavillion. You can also bring your own wine – bonus! There’s also a great dog park here so your pooch can run around and get a work out in. For more information on Balboa park including some awesome other free things to do check out a post I wrote a few months back on it.

Day trip to Tijuana

(Waiting for some street tacos. Yum!)

Yes, I realize some of you will think this is a crazy idea but really it’s not. Tijuana is fun, interesting and it’s a different country located just 20 minutes away from the center of San Diego. So you get all the wonderful Mexican culture the minute you walk over the border. (ok, the first minute you walk across is kinda boring & dirty). Head over to the Zio Rio and walk along the shops or see what your eyes might spy in the red light district. Just drive or take the trolley to the border and walk across. Prepare for a long wait on the way back into the U.S. but just enjoy it – it really is all part of the experience. You might even see the children fire blowers. Yes they blow fire, yes they are young children – it really is just 100% wrong – you’ll think the same thing if you see it. In any case, you’ll have an interesting time in Tijuana without even spending any money. Of course forking up $2 for a margarita & $1 for 3 street tacos might not be the worlds worst idea either. Just saying.

Tip: US Dollars are welcomed everywhere in TJ and be sure to take the $$ out of the ATM before you cross the border so you don’t get hit with the big international fee from your bank. While you may not spend any $$ while you are there be sure to take some with you in case you need to pay a bribe, etc. Never go to Mexico without some cash as a back up plan. If you are looking for Spanish style items for your house you’ll find them in Tijuana at less than half the going rate in San Diego. If you want to drive into Mexico – check out these tips I wrote a while back.

Hike Torrey Pines State Reserve, watch the hang -gliders  & if you’re brave enough visit the all nude beach at the bottom of the cliffs!

(Torrey Pines Beach, Cliffs & Hang Gliders courtesy Mikol_ice's Flickr Photostream.)

Torrey Pines is BEAUTIFUL! Sandstone cliffs line the waters edge and lead you down to a sparkling ocean and huge beach. When I first moved here I did this hike and really fell in love with San Diego. It’s gorgeous. This is also the only place you’ll spot the Torrey Pine Tree. The hike down isn’t hard but coming back up is a good work out. It is a cliff so you have to be careful where you walk but if you are really fit and great with balance you can bring a surfboard down the cliffs to the break below. I, personally, would not attempt this because I have a hard time carrying a surfboard anyway but Randy has done it a couple times. On the bluff atop the cliffs there is a hang- gliding company and people run off the cliffs and glide around over the ocean before coming back. I feel bad for the suckers who end up in the water because that’s a tough walk up with all that equipment. I have seen it happen before too.

Now directly below the hang gliding section is where the nude beach is. Fun! There is no dividing line between the nude beach (Black’s Beach) and the regular beach but you’ll figure it out pretty quickly when you see swaths of older, naked men sunning themselves. There are some ladies as well but mainly it’s men. It’s fun really! You don’t have to be nude to enjoy the sites, in fact if you go walking around there fully clothed you will definitely meet people. I was there a while back with my friend (fully clothed) and people kept coming up to us left and right. It was funny. We even took pictures with a sociable naked man (except for his hat & sunglasses!). Those pictures were actually taken with a film camera so I can’t share them here but it was an unforgettable experience. If you’re not into nakedness – no worries, the rest of the beach is a normal bathing suit zone. So you can hike down and relax on the beach for a few hours in your bathing suit without even seeing naked people. But really can you do that when you know there are naked people frolicking in the ocean just about 1/4 mile away? Me neither.

Click here to see a Three Free things to do in other cities.

Did you like this article? If so, consider retweeting below or stumbling it. Better yet sign up for our RSS feed OR get the goodies delivered directly to your inbox! Consider yourself hugged.
*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me to ask first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!

So the last few weeks we have been doing quite a bit of camping for a couple of reasons.

1. We are planning on camping through most of Europe to save money and it’s cool to test out the gear.

2. We are kinda homeless. We are out of our lease and leave for the RTW in 10 weeks so we have decided to wing it. We’ll see how this works out!

We have camped in quite a few places in California including Joshua Tree, Anza Borrego Desert, Carlsbad State Beach & San Elijo State Beach. I’ve learned a few things about camping in California and how to make the most out of your stay.

One of the many ocean campsites at Carlsbad State Beach. Note the wire fence that obstructs your view if you are sitting in your camping chair and looking at the ocean.

There are a few things you should know:

1. Camping in California is not a budget adventure. It is nothing like the $6 camping I always had fun with back home in Massachusetts. Oh no, make no mistake – thanks to the Governator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), camping in California has become big business. Especially if you are going to be on the coast. If you’re like me you will be surprised at how much it costs to sleep on the ground.

2. It is actually possible to camp for free at some places in the desert. However it’s on government owned land with absolutely no amenities. Not really a big deal when you’re on a budget but what is a big deal is how comfortable you feel doing it. Try not to think of all those weird, creepy movies you’ve watched that took place in the cold, lonely night desert landscape. Even though I’m a desert girl, there is something about being totally away from it all, in the desert, in a tent that is 100% unappealing to me. I just can’t do it – but maybe you can! If so, I’ll have some upcoming posts on where the free campgrounds are by Joshua Tree & the Anza Borrego Desert.

3. If you’ll be camping on a busy week (like Spring Break) or on a weekend you better make reservations in advance or you’ll be left out in the cold.

The hard, cold (like the ground) facts:

1. Camping on the Southern California State Beaches is not cheap. It cost $35/night for an inland spot and $50/night (yes you read correctly) for a water view spot. In my opinion, you are better off going with the $35 since the $50 spots have a large wire fence in front of them and you are only about 25 feet away when camping inland. On top of that if you are there during the week you can hang out and eat at an empty $50 spot while sleeping in the $35 one. The waves are just as loud and yes, they are awesome to fall asleep to.

Carlsbad State Beach. A view from an inland camping spot. The white trucks are the ocean view spots at $50/night. And yes, because it is SoCal people actually exercise the entire time they are camping.

2. The lure of free Wifi is a total lie. We see this advertised all over the campgrounds and have yet to get any free Wifi. There is always one reason or another why it’s not working, so don’t plan on having free Wifi unless you leave the campground and head to a bookstore or coffee shop.

3. It cost $12 extra, per night, to have an additional car at your campground site. What??!!? I am still trying to figure this one out because they allow 3 tents but only one car. Another way to nickle & dime the camping experience is what I think. Oh yeah, if you roll in with a trailer and a car hitched to it – that counts as 2 vehicles! As a disclaimer I don’t know if they charge the same in the desert, my guess is probably not

4. The reservation situation is ridiculous at best. The first time we tried to camp on the beach we ended up 3 hours away in Joshua Tree because unknown to us at the time, there were no sites available ANYWHERE up or down the coast (I checked at least 10 campgrounds). The kicker is this – you have to make a reservation 48 hrs in advance. You cannot make one 24 hours in advance even if there are available spaces. The next interesting thing is that you cannot make a reservation through the campground itself. You have to contact an outside service which charges $8 to make a reservation with them!! I am actually serious. Alternately, you can try to roll into the campground the morning you want to camp and see if anything is available. If it is during a weekday you should be fine but don’t even take a chance for the weekend because you will not get a spot. Also keep in mind because of the 48 hr window, if you get a spot on Thursday morning, you will not be able to reserve it for Friday because it will be under the 48 hr time frame.  If you plan on trying to get a spot in the morning you have to be there at 8am, or earlier. Every day there is a line of people trying to do the same thing, hoping for a spot. You need to be one of the first in line to get one. Then after you wake up early and get yourself a spot, you will have to turn around and leave since you can’t check in until 2pm! Even if the spot is currently vacant, you will still have to wait until 2pm. This whole system is just insane. Thank you Arnold for running us into the ground and screwing with the State Park system.

5. Electricity – some campgrounds have it and some don’t so be sure to check before you make your reservation. However unless you have a lot of money to spend, you might want to think twice before you plug in. The cost? $20/day just to plug into the electric! What on earth could you use camping that would use enough electricity to cost $20/day??!! Go ahead and try to find an outlet somewhere else (like the camping store) to plug your laptop in for a few hours. Good luck finding a place, there are little to no outlets that you can sneak energy from. I always have to leave the campgrounds in order to work during the day. This is a pain since I have to bring a little dog with me wherever I go. Luckily he likes to sleep all day and I just bring him into a bookstore in a bag and no one knows he’s there!

All this tallies up pretty quickly as you can imagine. Picture this, you are going to the campground for 2 nights. You pick an inland site and you have a trailer. You are now paying $70 for your site (2 nights), $24 for the extra vehicle, $8 for your reservation fee, $40 for electricty & appx. $4/day for a luke warm shower. That’s about $75/night to camp. If you pick an ocean site that tally is $90/night! Even if you’re tenting it with one car, it still adds up to about $43/night for and inland site without electricty ($58 for an ocean site). Now add in the firewood and all the other little things you need for camping and you’re going to start to wonder why you just don’t get a hotel room instead with a nice mattress and fluffy pillow.

Tips to save money & make the most of your camping experience.

The street at Carlsbad State Campground. To the right are the inland sites and the to the left are the more expensive, obstructed, ocean view sites.

1. The biggest tip I can impart is that you should try to get yourself a disabled State Campground card. I did a little research after I discovered that camping would kill our budget and found that if you are disabled you can get 1/2 off of your nightly rate – which is huge! So what is disabled, exactly? Well I did some more searching and found an application and on the back it lists some of the disabilities. When I saw Chronic Bronchitis listed as a disability, I knew that we would probably be able to get a card. Randy has Crohn’s and I have Hashimoto’s. Randy called and they said that both would work. So Randy went to the Dr., she signed the form and in 2 hours we had a disability card. We got the distinct impression from them that if you have any sort of illness (even bronchitis) that you could get the card. Also the lady told Randy that the Dr. doesn’t need to specify your illness. She/he simply needs to sign the form. So if you’re camping in California, print out the form, talk to your doctor and get 1/2 off your rate. Suddenly it’s starting to seem more like real camping again. This is a little known secret that most people don’t seem to know about and it appears if you do the research they will grant you the card. You do not need a disability car placard.

2. If you have two vehicles, park one outside the campground. There are a lot of residential streets by most of the campgrounds where you can park your car easily. Bam! $12 saved just like that!

3. If you come in during the week without a reservation and want to stay several nights do yourself one giant favor by asking the camping attendant which spots are available for multiple nights. Most of the time they know in advance and instead of giving you a list of 20 sites to choose from, you might get a list of 5. This will make your life much easier though because you should be able to keep the site for the next night since it is under the 48 hr. reservation window and no one else should be able to book it online. We learned this lesson the hard way and I wished we took some video of the time we had to move camp. It wasn’t too far away so we decided to put everything in the tent and just carry it so we wouldn’t have to break it down and set it back up. That was truly a laughable moment as we were both barely keeping the tent above the ground and tripping our way to the next spot with everyone starting at us as we carried a big, orange tent down the road.

4. If you are rolling in on, say a Tuesday and you want to stay until Sunday morning you should ask first if any of the spots are open over the weekend. Hopefully one will be and you will need to call the reservation line, pay your $8 bucks and book the weekend days for that site. Even if you are in the campground on Tuesday with a spot, I highly recommend you do this. At that point someone else could book your site for the weekend. You could end up breaking down your campsite just to move a couple hundred yards down the road, or worse, you might have to leave and have nowhere to stay. I’ll say it again: If you plan to camp during the weekend, call ahead and pay the $8 to make your reservation. It will be worth it in the long run. If you’re just camping during the weekdays you should be fine without a reservation. I’m mentioning this because as a budget traveler, this is exactly the type of thing I would try to cheap out on. I did and it came back to bite us in the butt.

5. If you are working and camping, like the digital nomad you are, then you will most likely need to leave the campground to work. I did spy one outlet in the laundry room at Carlsbad State Beach which you might be able to use but for the most part you need to have a good laptop battery and your own WiFi or you need to find another place to work. The best place in my opinion is either a Barnes & Noble or a Borders Bookstore which are located close to both the San Elijo & Carlsbad Beach Campgrounds. There are a few cool coffeeshops around but amazingly most of them don’t have Wifi (Yes, imagine my own surprise when I discovered this) and they usually have a real lack of outlets as well.

We’ll have more posts coming up soon about individual campgrounds and what we think of them. We’ll also have some posts coming out about some fantastic campgrounds in Joshua Tree and where the free camping is located.

View of the ocean from the campground. This is looking over the wire fence. It is a beautiful area and the waves are very loud & relaxing at night.

Did you like this article? If so, consider retweeting below or stumbling it. Better yet sign up for our RSS feed OR get the goodies delivered directly to your inbox! Consider yourself hugged.
*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me to ask first because I do love to share. Thanks!