If there is a cheaper way to travel my husband and I will find it. We are "into" home exchanges. They are very easy and also very relaxed. We prefer them over hotels and other planned trips by a lot. Now that is not to say we travel with crackers and peanut butter but we do cut corners where we can.
I am not only a bit on the cheap side I am also on the klutyz side. 8 days before we were due to take this trip I took a really bad fall and I knocked my two front teeth out and got multiple stitches both inside and outside of my mouth. The oral surgeon schedule me in as an emergency so two days later my teeth had been extracted, I had fake teeth to wear and he said he wanted to see me in three months to do the next step of the implants. There was no reason I could not take my reservations for our trip to Germany. The home exchange was all set and there was not a problem.
We started out really early and flew from Phoenix to Chicago. I drugged myself there thinking I would be able to sleep. Even though I had fake teeth the dentist said to wait a week or so before putting them in and give my gums a chance to heal. So I had no teeth. I have to keep my mouth shut. Very difficult for me. We took off from Chicago and after the first four hours I really wanted to sleep. I just cannot sleep on an airplane. My ass has turned to concrete and I am really uncomfortable. I drugged myself some more and possibly put myself into a light coma. I was making no sense. I could not talk because my mouth was swollen and my teeth were missing. Geez!!!!!!! no one could understand me and I had difficulty repeating myself. We finally made it and they announced that we were in a ten minute holding pattern over Frankfurt. BAM!! my drugs kicked in and I fell asleep for the last eight minutes of the holding pattern. For heaven's sake. I left home 20 hours ago and finally I sleep for eight minutes only to be jolted awake by the landing. Moral to my sad story. Watch where you are walking. Never take sleeping pills during travel and always keep your mouth shut!!!
We are now in our comfortable home exchange and having a great time. We plan to be here for six weeks and are looking forward to it. My mouth is not as swollen and I can wear my fake teeth. So I look normal but then we all know better.