travelblogger – shawntelle marie

Posted on August 16, 2019January 13, 2021 by Shawntelle Moncy — Leave a comment

All the tools and tips you need to find the cheapest flights

The most intimidating part about travel seems to be the damage the flight costs can do to your wallet. Spending a large chunk of money at once can be scary… it’s honestly the most difficult part for me as well, and this is why I’ve done an extensive amount of research to find every aspect of buying a plane ticket that can cut the cost.

Google Flights

The first thing I do to get an idea for what flight costs will be is to go to Google flights. Here, you can find some really good deals, but I use it a lot because it allows you to look at which dates have the best deals in an easy calendar view.

The cheapest dates will be outlined in green, something as simple as leaving a day before you planned can save you hundreds of dollars sometimes, this is great platform to view that.

Another great way to use Google flights is to put in a location and choose flexible dates, it will then provide you with the cheapest dates to go to your location. You can also not choose a location either and they will show you the cheapest dates for all locations.

Sky Scanner

Once I’ve found the place and dates I want, I then plug that information into a number of other sites to find the best possible flight deal. Sky Scanner is one of my favorites!

Of course you will pay way less for a flight that is 40 hours compared to one that is 20 hours. But this provides you with those options, you can get some amazing deals for dealing with a longer flight.

Jet Radar

This flight search engine has become my favorite, though it is not most well known. This is where I plan to buy my upcoming trip tickets from, as it has the cheapest deal for the same flight!

[tp_from_our_city_fly_shortcodes origin=”SEA” one_way=”false” stops=”0″ limit=”10″ subid=”direction” off_title=”false” currency=”USD” paginate=”false”]

Momondo

This is another great platform to plug your flight information into, very similar to skyscanner, but you never know if you’ll find a better deal!

Pomelo Travel

I just recently subscribed to Pomelo and I am already obsessed! Pomelo sends you flight deals to your email, deals you would probably be completely unaware of otherwise.

These deals normally only last a day or two and usually have specific dates, but are incredible deals!

There is a free subscription, but it is completely worth it to pay less than $40 for the premium membership. Within a day I was getting emails like from San Francisco to Singapore, from Singapore to Hong Kong and back to San Fran for $415!!!

Some other subscriptions similar to this that I have found are

Scott’s Cheap Flights, Fare Drop and Dollar Flight Club

BE FLEXIBLE

Some of the best advice for cheap travel is to honestly be very flexible as to where you are going and when. This is another reason I love the Pomelo subscription, there may be an insane deal for a totally different place and date than you expected, but you can save hundreds of dollars and have an amazing spontaneous adventure! 🙂

Another topic that comes into play when it comes to being flexible is which airport you decide to take off and return to.

For me, I am at equal distance between Seattle and Portland, so I always make sure to check costs from departure of both places and even as far as San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Sometimes Los Angeles can have a way better deal that’s $300+ less expensive a ticket. So if you book a ticket from Seattle to L. A for $100 or so, you still save a total of $200 a ticket.

And lastly, if your feeling gutsy. You can score some outrageous tickets but going to an airport and wait listing yourself for a flight. Which basically means if they have an extra seat by the time everyone is on the plane. You can get that ticket for extra cheap!

As you can see, getting a good flight deal goes far beyond searching your dates on some random place on the internet and expect it to be the best deal. You can save yourself hundreds by following these tips! 🙂

Let me know if you have any other tips to share!

Posted on September 13, 2018April 6, 2022 by Shawntelle Moncy — Leave a comment

Top Ten 101 Destination Stops

If you’re planning a 101 coastal road trip, I deeply recommend doing it right. That means starting from the 101 no one thinks about, right off the coastal road.

I’ve done this 101 road trip, and took my sweet time along the process. Not only this but I quiet literally live right off highway 101 in southern Washington, so I know the famous highway well!

Here are the must stop visits while traveling this amazing highway, from north Washington to California.

Hood Canal

This area often goes overlooked, it is not the 101 right next to the ocean, though it is close, this area is beautiful! It is right next to the Olympic Rainforest and some small towns by the bay. The famous Vance Creek Bridge is hidden in this area. A partial amount of this bridge has been torn down now but if your feeling reckless, you may still be able to explore part of it.

This area also is covered with amazing hikes and waterfalls and is one of the only places on the coast where you can harvest your own oysters! Stop at Hama Hama to get the beginning of your seafood experience and enjoy some wine and music by the bay in Hoodsport.

Some of my favorite waterfalls include Rocky Brook Falls, Murhut Falls, Hama Hama Falls and Vincent Creek Falls (High Steel Bridge). Read all about this area here.

Cape Flattery

This area is the northern tip of the U. S but not very popular, which is good for us! The trail is well maintained and the views are gorgeous. Read more about it here.

Ruby Beach

This is the most stunning beach in Washington, right off 101, the drive to this place is covered with spectacular beaches, but this is the one you’ll want to stop at. There’s tide pools to explore and the beach goes on forever. This beach is most famous for it’s large rock on the beach with a hole in the middle that I didn’t manage to get a picture of. You can read more about it in the link above as well.

Quinault

Quinault is a special, quaint place where you can experience the world’s only temperate rainforest that is completely untouched. There are many nature trails in the area from quarter mile hikes to backpacking trips and waterfalls right along side them. There is also the world’s largest Spruce Tree here as well and the Hoh Rainforest is also close by if you can’t get enough of the luscious greenery.

Fort Stevens State Park

Fort Stevens is located right outside of the beautiful small city of Astoria, OR, most famous for the movie The Goonies. What makes this park so special is the ship wreck of Peter Iredale, where you can see the iron remains of this ancient ship right on the beach, accessible to the public. It’s quiet the site, see more about it here

Canon Beach

I think when people are planning 101 trips, their first destination is Canon Beach, so I hope all the posts above have caught your interest to see before northern Oregon. Canon beach is a small beach town with an open bottle policy, meaning you can drink beer wherever you’d please. Most famous for Haystack rock on it’s beach, where you can climb around it and view the tide pools. It also has a lot of puffins at the top of the rock.

It’s a popular destination spot, but also not incredibly crowded.

Cape Kiwanda

This place was one of my favorite experiences along our 101 travels. Located in the middle of Oregon in the town of Pacific City, Cape Kiwanda is what it means to travel 101. You show up at this beach, to a Haystack Rock way in the distance, you are able to climb a sand hill to your right which leads you to Cape Kiwanda. You can walk all along this Cape and experience amazing views. There are some dangerous areas but they will give you the best Instagram shot! Many wander past the warning signs to get the best photo, but because of the Oregon Beach Bill, I do not believe you can get fined for it.

You can also take the Three Capes Scenic Route before Cape Kiwanda to experience even better views, but we missed the turn, so keep a look out! Devil’s Punchbowl is nearby as well, though we didn’t go there. More on Cape Kiwanda here.

Samuel H. Boardman’s State Scenic Cooridor

This is located in southern Oregon in a small city called Brookings, right before you hit California. It is several different stops off the side of the Highway, all absolutely gorgeous. They meet up with the Oregon Coast Trail, the scenic points that I thought were most amazing was Natural Bridges, where you can hike your way to the top of these magnificent arches and Arch Rock Point.

The Redwood Forest

Of course, the Redwood Forest is a must-see along 101. It is located in northern California and is quiet the enchanting adventure. There is so much to see here, there are several different areas to go, we went to the Jedidiah Forest, which was amazing, but simply driving through these areas is worth the drive.

Big Sur

Unfortunately, we were not able to experience Big Sur, California, as when we went they had an enormous landslide right before Big Sur on Highway 101, but it is still on my bucket list! I recommend stopping at Pfieffer Beach. I’ve heard that the sand turns purple on some sunsets and it is quiet magical!

Simply driving down this highway is spectacular! There are views of the ocean right on the side of the road so pull over as much as you can and enjoy the views! There are of course many more places of interest, but these are my top ten. So pull over as much as you can and maybe spot some whales in Oregon!

Posted on February 14, 2018February 10, 2020 by Shawntelle Moncy — 4 Comments

Traveling Washington 101 North (Temperate Rainforests, Ruby Beach and Cape Flattery)

Though I’ve lived at the bottom of the Washington coast all my life, last weekend was the first time I drove all the way up 101 North. We’ve just about traveled all of the 101 highway now, and Washington’s coast is not much short of Oregon’s.

We took advantage of good winter weather and traveled from South Bend, WA, up 101 all the way to the most northwestern tip of the United States, Cape Flattery. Of course we stopped at some destinations along the way, and all of them were amazing, where the temperate rainforests of Washington meet with the coastal waves.

Our first stop was Quinault, a beautiful area full of nature trails from a quarter mile long, to full backpacking trips. The largest Sitka Spruce tree in the world lives in this lush forest, as well as many other large trees and some coastal redwoods. There are plenty of waterfalls, some you can hike to and some right off of the road.

We stayed in the Quinault lodge, though in the summer there are so many beautiful camping spots next to the Lake Quinault. This lodge is gorgeous and relaxing though, with access to trails and the lake right outside. It has a nice restaurant, pool, game room and an overall nice environment.

The next morning we woke up and started heading further north, our next stop being Kalaloch and Ruby Beach, some of the coastal gems of Washington.

Kalaloch Beach has a famous tree called the Tree of Life or Big Tree Cave. You can see the entire root system from the beach, it grows in the air and the ends connect to the ground, above the beach.

Ruby Beach has lots of giant coastal rocks, easily accessible from the sand. One has a natural arch, others have holes through them, it is quite the site. You can spot some star fish, sea urchins and other marine life as well.

This beach is called Ruby Beach because you can find ruby clusters within the rocks if you look hard enough!

After this pit stop, we headed up North towards Port Angeles, I recommend stopping at Lake Crescent along the way, as it is beautiful and has a hike to a waterfall that is lovely. We stayed in Port Angeles for the night and headed west to the northwestern tip of the U. S, Cape Flattery. This is about two hours from Port Angeles and well worth it.

Located on an Indian Reservation, it is a well-kept trail with handmade walking sticks for anyone in need. The trail is wooden and an absolute gorgeous two-mile hike, round-trip. There are several viewpoints along this trail, and every one is worth seeing. You can see coastal rock caves where the ocean meets, many coastal rocks and an island not too far from the edge of the cape with a lighthouse.

The northwestern tip is nothing short of magical, and every step to get there makes the adventure even more beautiful.