New Orleans
- Misho Ma
- Jun 29, 2018
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 30, 2018
At least once a year I am "required" to travel for some sort of event, like a wedding or a conference but this time it was my Masters Graduation! I had been working on my Masters in Mental Health Counseling for about 4 years, which limited my travel because of the requirements which included a full time internship on top of my already full time career at the college. By the end of the internship year, I was exhausted, beat up, emotional, and had no idea how I had made it through.
When I heard that Graduation will take place in New Orleans, I took it as a gift from the universe, I deserved this trip and so did my family members, that I had unintentionally neglected during my internship. I will share with you the highlights of my trip with some budget friendly tips.
New Orleans is unlike any other city in the USA, it's charm is undeniable. It has history, culture, music, art, food and it has a soul of it's own. For the 4 days I spent in Nola, I felt like I had been transported to another county. I didn't run into any of the typical chain restaurants I am used to seeing no matter where I go, people were playing music on the streets, really good music. We walked and walked and walked until we couldn't walk anymore so we called and Uber as well.
Budget travel tip #1
The best part about traveling to a conference or pre-planned event is the hotel pricing. Usually hotels will hold the special event pricing for a few days before the event to a day or two after the event, depending on the hotel. I definitely took advantage of this for myself and for my family and booked us a 4 day trip to one of the most unique cities I have been to in the United States.
Budget Travel tip #2- Just walk around and enjoy the feel of the new city.
There are so many beautiful things to see and do around Nola that are completely Free!
There is no need to spend money on guided tours and bus tourist trap bus rides. You can see just as much if not more, by just taking yourself on the tours. The best thing about living in the 21st century is that we have the internet and we can google all the information we need about the history of the places we visit. Look some stuff up about the city before you get there, inform yourself, and if you have questions while walking around, pull out that smart phone.
Okay let's talk about food for a second. Nola is known for it's delicious southern cuisine. I will admit, I had no idea where to start and end on this food journey. I wanted to eat everything, all the time, but with the heat and the fact that I needed to fit into my graduation dress, we decided that ordering and splitting different meals would be best so we could try a bit of everything.
Budget travel tip #3 Split meals so you can try everything and still save!
If you come to Nola and don't try Cafe du Monde, where you ever really in Nola?
I'll start by saying that the coffee was coffee. So I have a problem where I like all coffee as long as it is not burnt so to me the coffee was good but again, I may not be the best one to judge.
But the Bignets...now that is good. I love sugar, I love fried dough, so they couldn't go wrong if they tried.
Mother's restaurant. From the outside, it's questionable. you walk in an it's crowded so it must be good, right? We get the food and it looks, just okay but then you try to take a bite out of the ham and you will feel terrible for having judged this place to begin with.
Overall this was an amazing trip and I would definitely be coming back!
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