Category Archives: Trip Reports

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AutoSlash Saved Me Another $500 on 2 Rental Car Reservations

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope you all had a great Father’s Day Weekend.  2 weeks ago, I wrote AutoSlash Already Saved Me $400 on 2 Rental Car Reservations.  Over the weekend, AutoSlash found even cheaper rates for my 2 upcoming Hawaii car rentals for Lihue and Kona, saving me an extra $500 (actually $536.52 total).  I was talking about AutoSlash over the weekend at a family gathering and did not run out of good things to say about the service, and here is why…

For my first rental in Lihue, here is the timeline of events:

  • 5/27 – Initially booked an Enterprise rental for $1,018.59
  • 5/28 – AutoSlash found me a cheaper Alamo rental for $899.95 (savings of $118.64)
  • 6/20 – AutoSlash found me a cheaper Hertz rental for $397.87 (savings of $502.08)

I almost missed the email since it came in late at 9:51pm, but as soon as I saw the email, I immediately clicked the link to book my new rental.

a screenshot of a car rental

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Rafting / Floating Down Rivers at Lake Tahoe, CA and Boise, ID

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Good morning everyone, happy Father’s Day!  Over the last few weeks, I spent time with my family in Lake Tahoe staying at the Marriott Grand Residence Club, Lake Tahoe (located in South Lake Tahoe right next to the Nevada state line) and at my parent’s new home in Idaho, just outside Boise.  On both trips, we spent time on the water rafting / floating down the rivers and I wanted to share some details of this fun family activity.

In Lake Tahoe, there are 2 rafting companies that operate on the Truckee River (which is connected to Lake Tahoe).  We used Truckee River Rafting (yellow paddles), but if that is full, you can also use the Truckee River Raft Company (orange paddles).  Prices are $55-$60 per person, depending on which company you use.  For Truckee River Rafting, you park at the top, raft / float down the river, and then you take their bus back to the top to get your car.  The whole operation is very smooth.  The river is a bit cold, but relaxing.  There are barely any rapids, so the majority of the trip is just a relaxing float down the river and you can use the paddles to stay away from the edge of the river.

a group of people on a raft

My family floating down the Truckee River at Lake Tahoe, CA

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PSA: Rental Car Rates are Sky High, Book ASAP

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  I have a few trips coming up in the next 2-3 months and needed to make 3 rental car reservations.  I always start with AutoSlash and see what deals they can find for me.  As you may know, there is a rental car shortage around the country and I expected rates to be higher than average, but I was not prepared for the sky high rental car rates (rental car rates are more expensive than airline tickets).

Generally, booking rental cars is the last thing I do when I plan a trip (after booking flights and hotels).  Since rental car rates are much higher than normal, I recommend booking rental cars as soon as possible to lock in the cheapest price.  Learn from my mistakes and save hundreds of dollars on your next rental car reservation.

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Attend FTU Virtual Seminar on Saturday May 22 ($25) or Free with Online Annual Membership

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  If you have no plans this coming Saturday (May 22), I highly recommend attending the FTU Virtual Seminar (tickets available for $25) or free if you have the FTU Online Annual Membership.  The seminar starts on Saturday at 8am PT / 11am ET.  I have attended a few FTU Virtual Seminars over the last several months and they are always well done, educational, and entertaining – and I am sure this seminar will be no exception!

If you register for the seminar on Saturday, but are unable to watch the live stream, you can access the recording of the seminar and watch later on.  This is also a great way to re-watch your favorite presentations and catch any details that you originally missed.

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Travel with Grant Turns 8 Years Old & My Top 8 Travel & Blogging Moments

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Good morning everyone, I hope your weekend is off to a great start.  8 years ago today (back on May 1, 2013), Travel with Grant was born!  Even though I am not a full time blogger and writing this post from a secluded beach, I’m still very happy and grateful to still be writing and sharing my thoughts with my readers.  Every year (when I remember), I like to write a birthday / blogiversary post about TWG.  If you want to reminisce through the years, check out these old posts: Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5, Year 6, and I forgot about year 7 during the Coronavirus Pandemic (oops).

Before I share my top 8 blogging moments, I wanted to share some advice I learned about blogging:

  • I feel like the traditional advice and reason for starting a travel blog is to “help friends and family travel.”  That couldn’t be further from the truth for me.  I was tired of telling my friends and family about all the cool credit card sign up bonuses, cool airline alliances, cool sweet spots, and having them not care at all.  I started my blog because I wanted to help people that actually wanted to travel!
  • Blogging is not a get rich quick scheme either.  Most of the time (at least for the first few years), you will be working for free or working for less than minimum wage.  Don’t start a blog for the money because you will run out of steam and enthusiasm very quickly.
  • Anyone can start a blog, but keeping a blog going week after week, month after month, and year after year takes a lot of dedication.  Which leads to my next point – write about the things that interest you.  If you are not excited about a topic, chances are your writing will come off boring and your readers will be bored too.

Without further ado, here are my top 8 travel & blogging moments (in chronological order):

May 1, 2013 – Travel with Grant is born.  I was between jobs at the time and thought that having a blog would help me get a job.  A few months later, I started working at Panasonic Avionics (in-flight entertainment and global Wifi provider), so maybe my plan worked out.  I had never started a blog, so I brainstormed blog names and chose Travel with Grant over Grant’s Trips because when you type out the URL, it looked like www . grant strips . com and I didn’t want people to be dissapointed when they clicked the link.  Looking back at the first few months of blogging is like looking at your work from kindergarten now that you are in college.  Thankfully, my writing, logo, and blog layout improved over time. Continue reading →