My wife is used to my crazy experiments and ideas. That’s one reason (among many others) that we are such a good match. For the most part, she supports them, though when it comes to experiments regarding my health (see here and here) she is more wary. Because of my recent dabbling in nootropics and tDCS (read the articles referenced above), she was much happier when I told her I wanted to start freelance writing. She was even happier when my first article on Steemit earned a payout of $603.46. Two days later, when my next article earned $923.21, she was ecstatic. Our 2nd anniversary is coming up (Tuesday) and it has been a relatively slow month in the world of real estate. With most of my freelance work, I earn anywhere from 5c to 10c (if I was lucky) a word. It’s nice to have the extra income, but many times it ends up being more trouble than it’s worth. Those two articles on Steemit earned an average of 51c/word. Thats 5-10x what I was making on Upwork or Freelancer!
So what did we do with this windfall? We decided to see if we could fund a last-minute weekend trip to New Orleans solely from my recent Steemit payouts. Here’s how we did it.
From the first article’s payout, I sent 299 SBD to Poloniex; and from the second, transferred 400 SBD. Our goal was to go to New Orleans for the weekend and get back within our budget of $699. We hatched the plan as we were running errands Friday afternoon. Within minutes, thanks to modern-day technology, we'd booked our AirBnB and round-trip bus tickets with megabus.com for $170.50. For those of you that haven’t used megabus.com, it is a discount bus service that provides late-night rides on double-decker busses. They are most well-known for providing $1 bus tickets. Booking the day of departure, unfortunately, we were not able to take advantage of the $1 tickets. However, due to the scheduling of the bus (driving through the night) we only had to book one night on AirBnb, which came in at $94.00.
So, for lodging and transportation there and back we’re in at $264.50. Less than a plane ticket!
I had been to New Orleans two years ago for my bachelor’s party, a month before we were married. I remembered being so excited to marry Stacy that all I could think about was bringing her back to this crazy place and showing her around. Everywhere I went, I made mental notes as I tried to stay out of trouble and enjoy the night with my groomsmen. Two years later, as I walked around the city with my wife, I was reminded of that night and reminisced over the last two wonderful years and how much they have exceeded any expectations I had that night.
We spent two very full days in the Crescent City, and managed to get what felt like a week’s worth of activities in. We spent ample time in the French Quarter and exploring Downtown New Orleans.
We were also able to get in some more tourist-y experiences in the Audubon Insectarium, Aquarium and Zoo (split up over the two days).
We ate delicious local fare, listened to some fantastic music and toured the Garden District. We browsed the French Market, tried on hats in Goorin Bros., partied to the music on Frenchmen St. and walked along the Mississippi River as the sun set and the ferryboats came back in for the evening.
So did the experiment succeed? Did we come in under budget? Our grand total came in at $859.52. We ended up at $160.52 over budget. We could have done a few things differently. For example, next time we will stick to less upscale restaurants. We found that the hole-in-the-wall places and street vendors inevitably had the best food (a travel cliche, I know). While we enjoyed the Audubon exhibits, we most likely would not repeat the visit on a future visit. Additionally, making plans last minute didn't give us as many options for cheap lodging or transportation. Overall though, we were happy with our visit, and were not disappointed in going over budget.
New Orleans is a veritable feast for the senses. There is no place like it on earth. The rich Creole culture and haunted history of the city, the locals and their flare for life, the big city feel with the small-town smile. It all melds together in the flash of neon, the taste of the jambalaya, and the sounds of the brass bands on the sidewalks. A vibrant city that emerged from the floodwaters of Katrina, wounded but stronger than ever. Like the breeze that never stops blowing in the Big Easy, the city and its locals seem to never stop celebrating what it is to be alive and to be human. My wife and I will always remember this trip and plan on coming back again.
The thing that continues to amaze me is that the majority of this trip was funded through doing something I love to do. Steemit has given me the opportunity to write about the things I care about and to get paid for it! I am so appreciative to the community for the opportunities that were afforded me and my wife this last weekend and for the opportunities that will continue to open up in the future. This experiment is threatening to turn into an addiction. I’m hooked and now spend much of my spare time writing down new article inspirations in Evernote.
I’m looking forward to more “STEEM-sponsored” travel and to sharing these experiences with the community that has made them possible.
