It just so happens that exactly one year ago I was ripping around Beijing in a wolfpack of other cyclists. First I headed South, through Tian’anmen Square to the Pearl Market. Then I took my new knock-off iPod over to the Temple of Heaven and back to a market near Tian’anmen for some tea and Dim Sum. For the afternoon I headed north to the Bell Tower and Olympic Park monstrosities before finishing the day off with some drinks in the NanLuoGu Hutong. Yeah, you could say I hammered out the tourist sites, spending a grand total transportation cost of . . . roughly $2.86.

I realize renting a bike in China to zip off the tourist sites before moving on won’t necessarily break the bank. In other parts of the world biking it can be a bit more expensive. The NYT’s Frugal Traveler revealed some useful tips for acquiring a two wheel, pedal-powered limousines all over the world. (more…)

As is being reported today, Budget Travel magazine will not be closing down (rumors we reported on a couple weeks ago), but instead is being sold off by the Washington Post to private investment firm Fletcher Asset Management Inc.

And layoffs? Fletcher has reportedly “agreed to keep almost all of Budget Travel’s employees.” Good news for almost all of Budget Travel’s staff. Glad to see it’s sticking around.

It looks like this was an active day over at the offices of Budget Travel. Rumors started flying late Friday evening when New York Magazine’s Daily Intel column reported that Budget Travel was being shuttered by its owners, The Washington Post Company, due to a 33% year over year quarterly drop in revenue (which, given the state of the publishing world over the past year, doesn’t seem too bad).

With an announcement rumored to come on Monday, the rumor mill was swirling all weekend about the news (check out what happens when you search Twitter for “Budget Travel Closing”). Curiously enough, on Friday, when editor-in-chief Nina Willdorf was asked to put the rumors to rest (as well as the nerves of the entire staff), she curiously decided to respond to NY Mag with a terse: “Heading out of town. Can’t talk. You can call me Monday.”

Nice job on rumor control. Anyway, come Monday morning, as word began to spread that the budget-conscious mag was about to go the way of Gourmet, Domino, Portfolio, etc . . . a Newsweek rep finally realized that they should probably address the gossip. Contrary to an ad department staffer’s revelation that his department was told to put things on hold for the February issue, Newsweek stated that “It’s business as usual at Budget Travel and we are currently working to produce the February issue and beyond.”

Which is where we stand now. My father used to say, “When there’s smoke there’s fire.” (He may still say this. I’ll have to check with him on that and update you.) We’re working our inside sources all night over here at TheExpeditioner.com’s offices, and we’ll also update you on the latest as it comes in.

P.S.

Hi disgruntled Budget Travel staffer. You can e-mail me here.

Japan’s reputation is true; it is expensive as you’ve heard. Matt pretty much nailed it with this post, but it doesn’t have to break the bank (but don’t expect a SE Asia kind of cheap). With my own trip now concluded, I thought I’d share some first-hand knowledge I’ve learned to make it easier to travel through this part of the world.

Staying- Hostels are the cheapest (I found a few for around $25/ night), readily available, and some even offer a small complimentary breakfast (another $5 savings). Manga Café’s are an internet addicted, caffeine infused alternative. You can reserve a private room for an 8 hour time block, with all the coffee, soda, DVD’s, and Internet Warcraft you can handle (private rooms around $30).

Eating- You’re going to want to sushi, right? Find a conveyer belt, they will always be more reasonable. For other grub, find a standup diner (above), a kind of bar and restaurant hybrid. Without chairs or stools, you’ll watch the cook whipping up food just behind the counter. There is also a restaurant you will recognize because of its vending machine type ordering machine outside the front door. Surprisingly enough, chains seem to be a bit cheaper overall (the Starbucks, McDonalds, Lotteria), and nothing beats a good ol’ convenient store lunch as you wait for the next train to arrive, either.

Travel- As a foreigner, you can’t beat the JR Rail Pass (about $300, and MUST be purchased OUTSIDE of Japan). Not only are you able to hop on any of the lightning quick long distance trains for no additional fee (Tokyo to Kyoto in under 3 hrs.), the JR tracks also crisscross the larger cities, almost eliminating a need for the subway or buses. It’s a big initial expense, but can easily pay for itself if you plan on doing any kind of traveling (a Tokyo to Kyoto round trip ticket is around $260).

Need some good news for your Monday morning? Here it is:

Shoulder season is here!

So say the prognosticators over at Budget Travel. “Shoulder season” is how they refer to those times of year when “the tourist hordes have left (or haven’t yet arrived), prices have dropped, and the weather’s just delightful.”

In other words, it’s time to hit up all those places you wanted to visit during the summer (or last winter) but couldn’t afford.

The article runs down an interesting list of choice destinations by shoulder season month. Here are some highlights:

September – Iceland, Cape Town, Denali National Park
October – Nova Scotia, London, the Greek Islands
November – Costa Rica, Paris, Beijing

Cheap hotels, empty beaches, gorgeous weather…what’s not to love?

* Photo by eric.surfdude