Booking on a Budget

I'm just going to throw in some pics from our day trip to Venice (During Carnivale). Enjoy!

My parents are the greatest people on the planet. If you don’t know Joe and Linda Dailey then you are seriously missing out. If you do know them then go give them both a big hug for me because they are far too supportive of me and my crazy endeavors. My parents (specifically my Mom) have been champs about me planing trips across Europe since before I even landed on Italian soil, and although travel is (in a sense) cheaper within the European continent, it is still pretty expensive and can add up very quickly when you forget to do the conversion of Euros to US Dollars.

So to my parents I say: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR FUNDING THIS SEMESTER YOU ARE THE GREATEST AND I LOVE YOU AND I HAVE NO IDEA HOW YET BUT I WILL PAY YOU BACK!!!!!!!

The floating city- Venice

There are 2 amazing booking sites for travel between European (and neighboring) countries: Ryanair and Easyjet. Both of these sites have literally made it possible for me to book flights/travel to places around Europe that I wouldn’t have dreamed I’d be able to.

Heres a list of my booked/planned trips thus far:

Switzerland

London

Ireland

Scotland

Amsterdam

Bruges, Belgium (for all of you who have seen the cinematic masterpiece “In Bruges”)

Paris

Morocco

and potentially Greece and Istanbul 

and thats just the list of places I’m going outside of Italy...

...yeah I’m only going to Rome because I am too poor from booking (or planning to book) the places in the list above....

Which brings me to traveling on a budget:

I knew that this semester was obviously going to be more expensive than my last. The Rand is weaker than the US Dollar and I was a happy and (for once) wealthy-ish student last semester! and now I am even poorer than I usually am in the States because the Euro is kicking the Dollars ass.

Being on a budget is very very important for me this semester because not only am I living in Europe, but I’m living in the fashion capital of the world and it is mighty expensive. My parents knew before I got here that the only things I wanted to spend money on was food and travel/experiences and although there have been a few hiccups in spending (specifically the 150EURO PERMIT OF STAY**), over all I think I’m doing fairly well for myself.

Maggs and I enjoying Venice

My parents, being the wonderful people that they are - aka my mom being the awesome  hardworking woman that she is (I’m not even sure if my Dad knows I’ve planned these trips yet...) has so far let me book London, Ireland, and Switzerland (all weekend trips). I think its super important to tell your parents where you are going and when. As much as I love being spontaneous, its always a good idea to have someone aware of your whereabouts when you travel and to give them the information of where you are staying (general info- not specific). For me it is also important for my parents to feel comfortable with me going to these places and for them to approve of these trips because they are the ones financing them. I’ve done a pretty great job of booking all of these trips under 100E (two are actually under 80E) and in both London and Ireland I am staying with friends/a friends family so lodging is free!!!!!

Take advantage of your friends/family/ friends family that are living or studying in or around the places you want to travel. I got so lucky with not having to pay for lodging because I have a bunch of friends studying/living/working in Europe right now. Its also just great to see familiar faces and to have that sense of comfort and home while you are away. I am staying with my friend (and fellow Cattolica international) Kelsey and her cousins while I’m in London, my friend Alyson in Ireland, and eventually my friends Jamie in Scotland, Shay in Roma, and Zeeshan in Morocco. 

More Venice because it was just so beautiful

A special shout out to the brilliant Alyson Pagano: She is my travel buddy at WAC, my fellow gringa, and one of my favorite human beings on the planet. She (like myself) has decided to spend the year abroad- first in Peru and now in Ireland! I haven’t seen Alyson in person since May of last year so this reunion in Ireland in less than 3 weeks is something I’ve been looking forward to for months! She is also coming to Milano is April so thankfully we will get more than just a weekend to catch up :)

Alyson just being her super awesome humanitarian self 

But before that, I will be off on my first non-Italian trip: Switzerland in 1 week!!!!! 

I am far too poor for this lifestyle, so I’ll just have to keep in mind what my mom always says: “Your pictures are your souvenirs.”

-Ciao

** WARNING: if you choose to study in Italy you will have to pay for a Permiso- aka a Permit of stay- which I WAS NOT told would cost 150E. It was a huge and unexpected expense right off the bat and it really screwed me over in terms of book my trips. So make sure you have that money set aside. I also had to purchase everyday things like a metro card, text books, food, etc. so be sure to have money set aside for those necessities (try to do either 2 accounts or use 2 different cards for travel and everyday/living expenses). 

****A PRECAUTION INCASE YOUR CARD IS STOLEN: my parents are putting in money as needed into my debit account, I only have a very small sum in at any given time (never more than 400USD) incase my wallet/card gets stolen. I’ve also contacted both my debit and credit card companies so god forbid that does happen, I can shut down both accounts and not be charged for any of the unauthorized payments.

******MORE ADVICE! : Tell you’re bank/creditcard company when and where you are traveling and do not be afraid to give them a list of places you plan to go. The last thing you want is your card being denied and frozen while you are out of your host country and out of cash.

**************Wow you’re still reading? : connect with family, friends, distant relatives, neighbors, a friends family, etc. if they are in the area that you are thinking of traveling in. They may not host you/ you may not want to stay with them, but its always good having someone who can help you, show you around, or even grab coffee with you while you are visiting an unfamiliar place. Connections make the world go round.