> Howard, how do you afford such frequent travel and several cruises a year - especially on a retired teacher's income? I hope you won't consider this question too personal, it's just that I'd love to know your secret so I can start doing it myself.

We get asked that question a lot. It's just a combination of things. First we get great discounts on flying because our daughter works for a major airline. Then we cut corners in dozens of different ways. We ask for senior discounts and use a National Park Service golden passport. And there are those little coupon books in tourist information centers.

Cruises can be real bargains if you don't mind taking a few risks. We book late. Sometimes we wait until just days before the sailing date. By then, if there are unsold cabins, the cruise lines get desperate and start slashing prices. They make their money on alcohol, gambling and tours, so they can almost give away the cruise and still come out ahead. But we fool them there, because we don't drink or gamble.

We book a tour on the ship only if it's one we absolutely don't want to miss. Otherwise, we pick up a tour on the dock for about half price. The downside is that you can miss out when the tour sells out. Sometimes the whole cruise sells out. We missed a cruise to Hawaii recently because the last cabin sold just minutes before we tried to book it.

The more you cruise on the same line, the more you get perks, upgrades and discounts.

If you take a regular vacation where you book a flight, hotel, entertainment, meals and a rental car, the cost really adds up. If you book a cruise, the room, entertainment, and food are all included, and you don't need to rent a car. The cruise will often be much cheaper.

When we stay at hotels, we look for one with a free breakfast. We avoid staying right on the beach, because just across the street, the rooms are cheaper. We use the cell phone instead of the one in the hotel room.

Almost every tourist destination has a high season and a low season. In Hawaii, November is low season. But avoid January, February, and June. On the Carolina Coast, high season is June, July, and August. The rest of the year is much cheaper.

We drive a car that gets 37 miles per gallon.

When you subscribe to a travel magazine, get Budget Travel.

And we don't just travel on teacher's retirement. We both have Social Security and my wife has a company retirement. Four small incomes add up. We also had the foresight to pay off the house before we retired.

We have relatives who think we are rich because we travel a lot, but they haven't noticed that we live in a 40-year-old house and drive a six-year-old car. We don't have any expensive habits, unless you count travel, but years of poverty when we were young taught us how to get the most for our money. Anybody can do it.
Howard