Play now, work later

New York city tourism can be a major burden on a travelers wallet. You don't want to spend all your money at expensive showcases because they will leave you with no money for beer. Then how will you pay for those $10 drinks at our bars? There are simple ways to get your hands on some of New York's hottest tickets without paying an arm and a leg for them. Below is a list I put together to help you save some money.

The Power of the Publications: People that visit New York, even those who live in New York, take the free publications we have all over our streets for granted. Papers like The Village Voice and The Onion contain weekly calendars of the upcoming comedy acts, concerts and art shows. For example, several weeks ago I attended an event I found in The Onion called, The Stepfathers. The show was at the Upright Citizens Brigade theater and the tickets only cost me $10 each. For a Saturday night and rougly 1 1/2 hours of entertainment, that ain't that bad. These publications provide you with the cost of each event, time, date and whatever other information you may need to get there.

Don't buy the first deal you see. I found a advertisement on Freenyc.net (also a great place to look for free and cheap events) for the EastvillecomedyClub. If you make a reservation for the Friday night show, the tickets are free! You heard me correctly. Free tickets to a comedy show! I am sure you are asking yourself, "whats the catch?" right? There is a two drink minimum for each person. Big deal. The shows are great and usually carry some big names. But my point is that some people paid 15 dollars for the tickets. If they would have just shopped around they could have saved that cash for some drinks.

Cash is King. I'll make this one short. I have seen plenty of people wait on line for hours just to find out they don't take credit at the ticket window. So, always have enough cash for you and your friend if necessary.

Broadway is not just for the rich. A service called TKTS sells tickets to Broadway and off-Broadway shows at discounted prices. When I say discounted, I mean some are up to %50 off! Everything from the little mermaid to Stomp is on sale for the day of and following day shows., TKTS has three locations: Brooklyn, Times Square and South street seaport. The Seaport booth is probably the least crowded of the three.

Early bird catches the worm. If you attempt to get tickets to a show or venue by using one of these methods, you have to beat the crowd. There are plenty of people out there with the exact same intentions. Usually these free events will fill up the seating and then turn everyone else away. If you don't have a back up plan your date then your screwed.Thousands of people read these events online and in the papers so give yourself piece of mind and plan ahead. For instance, I recently attended a performance called Fuerza Bruta at the Daryl Roth Theater in Union Square. The web site says rush tickets go on sale two hours before the show time. The rush tickets ($25) are a third of the regular price tickets. They are also in high demand. The first time I tried to get tickets I was two hours early and already an hour late. Get there three hours early, Especially for a weekend show. Plenty of people will be waiting for these tickets. The next time I went barley made the cut off. I also found out they only sell twenty rush tickets!

So as you can see there are many tricks to seeing these shows for cheap. If you can make it happen you'll find it to be not only challenging but also exhilarating as you reward yourself with each pair of tickets you get

If you know any other techniques, please leave them on the comment section for all of us to share.

I have lived in NY my whole life and it wasn't until I budgeted a South America Trip that I learned I could budget NYC as well. The thing about NY is that it is expensive to live there and do all the touristy things. However, if you look hard enough you can find cheaper deals here than anywhere else in THE STATES! Imagine that!

It is key to know someone or to have a place to stay. I have a few friends so I always crash on their couches. You can check out Couchsurfing.com for some more cheap tricks on accommodation in the city. There are many hostels around too that aren't incredibly cheap but for NYC they are well worth it. If you choose to go the luxuries route than you will have no problem finding a place to stay. But I highly doubt anyone looking at the Ritz Carlton is reading this blog.

Because NYC is a marquee city of the states in demonstrating capitalism hard at work, there are soo many restaurants and delis competing for you service. As a result: competitive prices. once you get out of time Square there are deli's on every corner. A deli can provide you with breakfast lunch and dinner at any given time of day. A bacon egg and cheese (a common New Yorkers breakfast) will cost you about $2.50. Add a small coffee for a dollar and you are ready to rush around the city like the rest of us.

Transportation: getting from place to place in the city can be a hassle. Luckily, NYC has one of the most extensive transit systems in the world. The subways are fast and efficient and most importantly, they are cheap! A metro card cost 2 dollars per entry. Each entry allows you to utilize all the tracks in the area so long as you don't exit. Be sure to read the signs of what exit your using. It s easy to get caught up in the rush of people and exit unintentionally, so these signs are helpful. It always helps to step to the side and out of peoples way. You can you purchase and unlimited ride the week for just 25 dollars. If you plan on exploring most of the city I suggest you purchase this card. Taxis are nice especially when it is cold out but they can be very expensive. Some, but not all taxi drivers will try to scam you and take you on a tour to run up the meter a little higher. Try to act like you know where you are going and your just in a rush to get there.The meter will start at a $2.50 fare but during the hours of 4-8pm they will start at $4.50. Don't let them tell you it is broken. You an report them if they do.

Your best bet is to avoid the tourist traps. Times Square, Famous restaurants and tour busses are not what real New Yorkers do. We hustle and try to get around our day by spending as little as possible. We don't eat at trendy cafe's that serve $6 coffee or read a $5 magazine. Street coffee and a New York Post work fine.

up next. cheap bars, dangers, and neighborhoods, dinner and lunch

Lets just say for this place I didn't even pick up my lonely planet book. I wasn't interested in any walking tours or drooling over any museums. However, there are several touristy things you must do once in Rio. You don't need a guidebook to figure them out. First I will walk you through the tourist sites and "to do's" then I'll tell you how it really is.

Christ Redeemer AKA Cristo, stands on top Corcavado mountain nearly 2300 ft in the air. The statue itself is about 38 feet high. During the rainy season, which is a majority of the year, it is hard to find a nice day to see Cristo. If you cannot see him from the ground, I can assure you you will not have a better look once you are up there. If there are clouds around the mountain then he is not visible. I was right in front of him on a cloudy day and I could not see his face. It is worth it to wait it out for a nice day because the view of RIO is breathtaking. Sometimes it is really nice in the morning and you can get up there for a good look before the clouds roll in.

I don't see any purpose in doing the Christ redeemer and the Sugarloaf mountain because the Christ provides the better view, but some people choose to do both. Sugarloaf will take you on a cable car to the top for a grasping view of Copacabana beach and Rio de Janiero. I don't suggest doing a tour that is usually arraigned at your hotel or hostel. The hotel usually gets a cut of the profits. Be a little daring and go off on your own. The Metro Rio is very efficient and really simple. It also cost about 2 R each way.

A tour can also be arraigned for a walk through the Favelas. Favela means Shanty town. There are hundreds of thousands of people living in just a few acres inside Favelas. The Rochina favela is the largest in Rio de Janiero and it host 200,000 people. houses are stacked on top of one another, water tanks sit on roof tops and armed gunmen patrol the streets. You can book a tour through www.bealocal.com . They will give you a hands on educational, informational walk through and motorcycle ride through the favela. It is worth the 60 R because you learn a lot. I would not recommend going through these blocks yourself. They are patrolled by gunmen and drug lords who do not like their picture taken. However, there is a slightly more dangerous way to do it for those who are looking for something a little daring.

If you got the cash, about 220 R you should do the Hang gliding. It really was an awesome experience. I think it is the best view of Rio you can get. Flying high over the Tijuca forest, you can see barra tijaca beach, Sugarloaf Ipanema Beach and even Cristo!

It is important that you avoid these full day tours that you see posted at your residence. They claim that you can see everything in one day. Well yea, if you don't mind seeing it through a window. It takes more than a day to see Rio. Hell it takes more than a week to see Rio.

Have you ever watched the show Lost? If you have then you will know exactly what illha Grande looks like. It is just miles and miles of twisting shores and tropical rain forest. However, there are a couple simple hotels and bungalows to stay at on the island. I stayed at a very nice bungalow just a few feet from the shore. Ill get you the name of the place when I have a chance to look it up.

The boat ride to the island takes about an hour and a half. It looks really close but from a medium sized, single motor sailboat, it is a lifetime away. There are several bars on the island and one main club that hosts parties every Saturday.

I would only spend about 3 days on the island because you may run out of things to do. Unless of course the weather is perfect. You can never get bored of peaceful, shinny beaches. I took a two and a half hour walk through the rain forest to get to a beach called Lopes Mendes. After traveling along the island shores an encountering the same site one after another, Lopes Mendes is a relief to the eyes. Its beauty can be seen atop a rock several hundred feet away.

Walking to the beach can be rather strenuous. I hiked with my bare feet. I would not recommend this to anyone who is fragile or prone to accidents. My feet were sore for days. Shoes or sandals are suitable, but just be careful when climbing across those mossy rocks. Keep your eyes open along the trail for monkeys too. If you get close enough they will take the food right out of your hand. When you arrive at the beach you can play futbol with friends, purchase drinks and sandwiches or even rent a surf board. The surf there is great. If you prefer not to get your feet wet you can just sit back and observe some excellent surfers doing what they do best. It also your choice to rent a boat back for about 10 R a person or do the hike all over again.

When you are back in town you can always find some live music at the locals bars. Usually they will have an acoustic band play till 11 pm. After 11 the people start to make the music. Around 2 am you can watch Brazilians playing all sorts of instruments in perfect harmony to make great music. Everything from guitars and drums to salt shakers and hands are sufficient to participate.

My last suggestion for Illha Grande is to make some friends and rent a Caipirinha Boat. These guys will take you out along the cost where you can snorkel and dive off the boat. They will also provide you with some mouthwatering food and thirst quenching Caipirinihas. I think my boat had roughly 500 Caipirinihas. Its all you can drink. How great is that! It all cost about 60 R a person too! The more people you get, the cheaper it becomes. However, the private boat is the way to go because they really show you a great time.

Instead of staying Sao Paulo, I took a four hour bus ride to a beach resort called Paraty (Par-a-chi). This place is an old,colonial type city founded by the early Portuguese explorers. Not much has changed since then. The streets are all made of stones and rocks that look like they crumbled off a cliff and formed a road. I would have loved to have actually seen the city but I was looking down the whole time to avoid breaking my ankle. hahah in all seriousness it is a beautiful place. Had the weather been better I am sure I would have enjoyed the days. However, it doesn't seem to deter the locals from going about their day. Everyone is out in the streets rain or shine. It is just like a constant mist in the air. Luckily there was no sun piercing through because it would have been awful.

One thing I noticed here in Paraty is that some places don't open for dinner until 6 o'clock. So if you are on your normal eating schedule, be prepared. You can do a few turismos here such as: hiking, biking and cliff diving. A friend an I attempted to go cliff diving but we wanted to go on our own. We should have gone with a turismo agenica because we ended up walking all the way to the entrance of the city only to realize that the scale of our map actually changes once you leave and we had about 9 km more to go! We called it quits and turned around. I can~t find the words to describe to you what it is like to walk through the side streets. To those who have traveled less, it is literally something you see in a movie. Broken down shops, and houses made of scraps of metal and wood surround the city. But regardless of their financial situation, people seem to be really friendly here.

There is loads of shopping to do here in Paraty. I bought a really cool Brazil towel for roughly 11 Dollars. When you make purchases with the people on the street or in the stores they don~t tend to mind if you are one or two dollars short. I tried to purchase some OTC drugs here that aren't normally available in the US but the prices for some of them without a prescription were pretty expensive.

Ha ha as I am writing this a small car drove down the road with a speaker on top of it bigger than its truck, blasting some sort of advertisement for a restaurant. I understood it a little bit. Portuguese and Spanish sound nothing alike. You can get away with speaking Spanish to people and they will understand you, but it is much harder to understand them. This language barrier is harder than I thought it would be.

I am off to Illha Grande, Brazil for three days of island hoping and sun tanning. I can't wait. One thing I was told is to hit a cash point prior to heading toward Illha Grande. Paraty maybe the last place to take out money.