Tag Archives: budget

Cruise Control

January 13, 2026 djarmul 1 Comment

I never expected to become someone who likes cruising.

Whenever I saw a television ad featuring adrenaline-filled action and frantic gaiety on a giant cruise ship, I thought to myself: “that’s not for me.” The idea of being trapped in a confined space with thousands of strangers, visiting ports on a crowded tour bus rather than on my own, was unappealing. I didn’t even need to see the drunken conga line.

I’ve been surprised, therefore, to discover how much I enjoy an occasional cruise, especially as a way to visit multiple places that are challenging to reach otherwise, such as in Alaska (shown below), the Caribbean or the Greek islands.

Could I organize such a trip myself? Sure, but it’s easier on a cruise ship, where Champa and I can unpack once and wake up every morning with a new location to explore. We generally have only one day in each port, but that’s enough to get a taste of a place. When we cruised around southeastern Australia a year ago, for instance, we spent several busy hours daily in Melbourne, Adelaide and other stops. We didn’t see everything but we saw a lot.

I planned these excursions myself, studying beforehand what to see and how to get there. We ended up seeing more than we would have on one of the excursions organized by the ship, without a crowd, for a fraction of the price. We made good use of local tourist offices, free walking tours, city apps, Uber, Google Maps and other resources.

Overpriced port excursions aren’t the only thing we avoid on cruise ships, which make much of their money from selling extras. We exercise cruise control with everything. We don’t buy the photo packages, gamble in the casinos, get expensive spa treatments, attend art auctions or shop at the onboard boutiques. Instead of spending hundreds or thousands of dollars during the cruise, like many passengers, we spend little or nothing. We also don’t stay in the fanciest cabins, although we do prefer cabins with a window.

Cruise lines vary widely in what they offer. Some provide all-inclusive experiences with caviar and butlers. We can’t afford those and probably would feel out of place even if we could.

At the other end of the spectrum, we also felt out of place on a Carnival Cruise we took from Charleston to the Bahamas. That ship’s party vibe, as shown in the top photo, was intense and the upselling was relentless. But Charleston was near our home and we got an incredible deal, so we enjoyed it nonetheless. We’ve also sailed on some less conventional ships, such as the one shown here that took us along the Mekong River from Laos to Thailand, or an overnight trip on Vietnam’s Halong Bay. Both of those were memorable and fun.

Are we being cheap or denying ourselves the full cruise experience with our approach? Honestly, it doesn’t feel that way, at least to us. We’re not missing out on anything we care about. We’re eating good meals, watching free shows, listening to free music, working out in the gym, chatting with nice people and relaxing onboard. We have a good time, subsidized by the many passengers who choose to indulge in the various services.

When you view a cruise primarily as transportation, it can be a surprisingly good way to travel in certain situations.

We’re about to leave on our latest cruise, to the southern Caribbean. We chose it because we wanted to visit friends in both Grenada and Trinidad, as well as some neighboring islands. We considered flying or taking long ferry rides from island to island, but it was vastly easier to do this, and probably cheaper, too.

Unfortunately, several ports on our itinerary are near Venezuela. One has already been switched out for security reasons following the U.S. attack there. We’re crossing our fingers that everything goes smoothly.

In the meantime, I’m reviewing the ship’s dinner menu online and considering what to order our first night on board. The lobster bisque looks good.

Dollars, Euros and Lei

August 3, 2017 djarmul 1 Comment

These three photos show what’s happened to the U.S. dollar during the past several months.

I shot all of the photos here in Ialoveni, Moldova: the left one on October 26, the middle one on April 3 and the right one this past Wednesday, August 2. As you can see, a dollar sold here for 19.98 Moldovan lei on October 26, before briefly climbing above 20. Now it sells for only 17.89 lei, a decline of more than 10 percent.

That’s consistent with what’s been happening to the dollar around the world, as the New York Times reported on Tuesday, juxtaposing the dollar’s decline with a rise in the U.S. stock market.

How does this affect Peace Corps volunteers in Moldova? Actually, not much. We are paid in Moldovan lei, buy things in lei and have little reason to track exchange rates. Champa and I have lived comfortably within our Peace Corps budget, so have never sold U.S. dollars for lei except when we first arrived and exchanged a small amount. We rarely use our credit cards since Moldova is largely a cash economy. We also don’t buy much online, transactions generally calculated in dollars anyway.

Many Moldovans work abroad and send money home, so exchange rates matter to them. However, they generally pay more attention to the Euro than the dollar; indeed, prices for some goods and services here are quoted in Euros rather than lei, as we learned when we considered renting an apartment. The Euro has not fluctuated as much as the dollar recently.

Banks and money exchange centers here also focus on the Romanian leu, the Russian ruble and the Ukrainian hryvnia — not so different from Americans paying attention to neighboring currencies such as the Mexican peso or the Canadian dollar.

Peace Corps Moldova calculates its budget annually, so it’s not affected immediately by currency shifts except in a few ways. For example, a small percentage of volunteer paychecks is designated for personal travel and pegged to exchange rates. The overall impact is so small, though, that many volunteers probably didn’t notice the recent dip. (That included me until I started writing this post.)

Moldova faces serious economic challenges but currency fluctuations here have been far less dramatic than in some Peace Corps countries. The agency’s financial planners elsewhere sometimes have to scramble in response to big swings, as do the State Department and other parts of the U.S. government, along with international companies, travelers and others.

A few months before we arrived here in June 2016, the dollar was even lower than it is now, so the rise above 20 may have been outside the usual range. I’m told it was a response to Brexit, the U.S. presidential election, Federal Reserve policy and other things I cannot claim to fully understand, much less explain here.

Nor do I really care. For me, a person who enjoys math and numbers, it’s just been something to notice occasionally as I walk to work.

One doesn’t become a Peace Corps volunteer to get rich. For all of us serving in more than 60 countries around the world, our mission is to serve our local communities and promote friendship between Americans and other people. Ultimately, that’s the currency that matters, not the ones shown on the ever-changing bank signs.