Clay Perlman prides himself on how frugal he has become, due to his years of traveling around the world. Luckily for him, when his zest for travel really began to set in, internet access to thousands of travel sites was accessible. He did not have to rely on travel agents who were trying to make a buck as well. Clay Perlman always uses the following sites for when he wants to book travel and save some money in the process.

Cheaptickets.com Still an old favorite of Clay Perlman. Cheaptickets often has deals that are hard to match and the ease of booking through them is a huge plus.

Frugaltravel.net A great site for suggestions for destinations and how to budget. Clay Perlman still uses all the tricks like having one credit card just for the trip he is on with a strict spending limit. Sometimes his wife wants to exceed that and he reminds her of the bills that are awaiting them when they return.

Kayak.com This is another great site, a bit like Cheaptickets. Clay Perlman has used this more recently when trying to find the best deals for quick weekend jaunts.

Homeaway.com Clay Perlman has found a few of the house rentals he has done over the years on this site. He found his great deal on the huge homes he rents for the two-week family reunion vacation in the Outer Banks each year on this site.

In sum, Clay Perlman recommends that after finding the information you need from the travel sites, create your vacation spreadsheet. Try to plan for everything from supplies to souvenirs to your flight costs. After the vacation, enter in the actual amounts you spent and on what. Clay Perlman does this after every trip and finds how to cut corners for the next trip.

Clay Perlman recalls the trips of his childhood and credits his parents for his love of exploration. Sitting in the backseat of his parents' car with the windows down, music blasting and his parents happy. Most of the time, daily life was so stressful that this was a rare sight. Perhaps this is why Clay Perlman developed such a love for travel because it was on those trips that he remembers everyone being so relaxed and having such a good time.

When he was eighteen, most of his friends were getting cars for their graduations and Clay Perlman’s parents did the best thing they could ever do for their son – send him across the country. Clay Perlman’s father planned out a trip that would take him about three weeks to complete and he would get to see both coasts along with a lot of great destinations in between. Clay Perlman tried to recruit friends to come along but everyone had excuses or other obligations. He set out on his own and the trip transformed him from a teenager into a man.

When Clay Perlman returned from his adventure, he could not thank his parents enough. He now knew that anytime he could, he would need to travel. Clay Perlman spent his time working really hard just to make enough for his next trip. He would then be off for a few weeks somewhere and most of the time on his own. Clay Perlman’s thirst for exploration was insatiable and he worried how he would possibly settle down.

His parents made sure he attended college classes in between trips so that he would finish in a reasonable time frame. Clay Perlman eventually met his future wife on one of his adventures to South America. She shared his passion for travel so it was easy to decide that marriage was a good idea for the pair.