Lisana's Lines

I am a minimalist in some way. I believe in living simply while living life to its fullest. When I travel, I camp or stay in hostels to save money. While I am sightseeing, I realize I won’t be cooped up in a motel room for the duration of the trip, so why spend loads of money on a room to sleep in?

I have numerous times also slept in my car in places like New Orleans (before I lived nearby). No one cares if you sleep in a car they; the meter maids will tap on your window to remind you to feed the meter every now and then.

Sleeping in a car while near the ocean is convenient; as there are usually showers nearby. Or even having a nationwide gym membership is handy for showers also.

Camping usually costs around $25 per night at most locations; state parks are usually the cheapest. But sometimes camping can be a real chore, having to set up everything and then tear it down.

I have camped numerous times alone, and only once was I slightly nervous. A “stalker guy” seemed to appear where I was a couple of times one night and he showed up in a nearby vacant campsite twice. After alerting security, he didn’t show up again for the remainder of my camping trip. If I had encountered him by surprise, I would have put up a fight; I had mace and my large, ever-present trusty dagger.

Hostels are great. Most major cities have them and they are usually around $25 per person per night. All hostels have a “community room” with large TVs, kitchens and some even offer computers for guests use.

Many hostels are in old hotel or motels, so most have a private bath but there are usually a two or more bunk beds set up in each room.

The roommates at the hostels I have been to are usually comprised of young foreigners backpacking throughout the United States. All-male and all-female rooms along with co-ed rooms are available at hostels.

When I have told friends that I am staying at a hostel in the past, I have always seen a shocked reaction. Too many people have seen the Hostel horror films apparently. In my opinion, hostels are no scarier than motels for a female travelling alone.

But camping is cheaper and sometimes more fun than a hostel if travelling with a friend. I wish I had thought of camping instead of motels a few years ago when I went on a trip with five other friends; that story is for another time.

Last year, my friend Amanda and I camped on Tybee Island for a week. At $25 per night, we got out even cheaper by splitting the bill. It was easier than camping alone because I had help in setting up and breaking down everything. There were a few really cool people camping there that week also, so we made a few new friends who we still keep in touch with.

We ended up with a Ford Taurus full of people going to the beach and sightseeing every day and going clubbing every night.

The only nuisances that we encountered during that week were a few gigantic raccoons. We learned really fast not to keep any boxed or bagged food items outside of the car after one vicious raccoon ripped open a soft-sided cooler to get to some food.

Of course, my favorite part of the trip was the average-six hours per day of body boarding. There were some awesome waves that week. One appeared to be the biggest wave that I have ever seen on the East Coast. It took me by surprise but I caught it with perfect timing.

I am not a sun worshiper but I am an ocean lover. A lake just isn’t the same to me; it has no waves to surf/body board; the air isn’t salty and fresh.

Lisana Eckenrode can be contacted at [email protected].