Travel Memories

Going to Europe may be a once in a lifetime opportunity for me, so I want to make sure that I remember everything and take in everything.

In an earlier post I mentioned that I will be purchasing a new camera, there are other ways that I will be documenting my trip as I go.

1. My Journal
I have been writing in a journal every night for five years. I have not missed a night and I love to write about my days, the good, the bad and the ugly. I know my journal will be full of exciting stories from my travels. we have a lot of time on trains and I will devote some of that time to writing in my journal.

2. My Blog
One of my friends recently brought to my attention how much easier it would be to do blog posts about my stories instead of individual emails. This will allow people to give me suggestions while I am in Europe. The only problem with this is I don’t know how often I will have access to a computer.

3.Postcards and Souvenirs
I would like to get a few mementos of the countries that I will go to. I may send some friends a few postcards, or if I find really nice ones, pic them up for myself.

When I get back I will make a photo album bringing all of these things together. Other than the photos, I will have quotes from my journal, suggestions that people have made on my blog and postcards that I bought in each country. This will make my photo album more of a memory book for this once in a lifetime opportunity.

The Budget Spreadsheet

This week I sat down in front of my computer and tried to budget out what the whole trip would cost me. I used the skills I learned in Paul Dayboll’s spreadsheet class, to input and add the data.

I did this because I was panicing. I felt like I was just spending money left, right and centre without knowing how much money I was going to have left. I had three separte sheets one was for the totals (i.e. food, attractions, transportation, hostels). Next I made more specific sheets. What exactly would the hostels cost us, and what would the attractions that we wanted to do cost us?

I found that making the spreadsheet not only made me feel more comfortable with my money, but also made me feel comfortable with where my money is going.

I would reccomend this method of budgeting to anyone who is thinking of taking a major trip. It will ease your mind, and you can send it to your travel partner so they will also have a budget to work from. When you make your buget spreadsheet don’t forget to include a miscellaneous section as there will definitely be items you forget to include. I made my miscellaneous section $1000.

Budgeting may sound like a boring, tedious task, but it will help you out in the long run.

Important Travel Tools

As my trip is approaching I am learning about other expenses that I will need to buy in order to have a successful trip.

1. Camera
Buying a camera is hard to do when you don’t know much about cameras. I usually go for the one that looks nicest, but that hasn’t worked for me in the past. So I decided to look online at consumer reports to find some information. I want something easy to use that is good value. I don’t want a cheap camera that is going to break down in two months, but I can’t afford a really fancy one either. I think that I have decided to go with a Canon because they are mid priced and are good quality. I just need to find a good one on sale now.

2. Footwear
My travel partner and I realize that we will be walking everywhere with 40 lbs backpacks on our backs. I need to find appropriate footwear. I talked to a friend that went to Europe a couple of years ago and she purchased Privo shoes. She said they were amazing for walking all over Europe. Below is a picture of the shoe I am looking for. I found similar Privo shoes for $49.99.

3. Backpack
I thought about renting a backpack, but I found out that I would be better off to buy one. Since I move around a lot anyway, and I always need extra storage space, I think that it will be a good investment. For this I plan on making a trip to Mountain Equipment Co-op. I trust their products and this way i will be able to go and try on backpacks for comfort. I don’t want too big of one, because I am going to pack really light. I want some room for souvenirs.

There you have it, three more things to add on to my trip. Not to mention travel clothing that can be worn in all kinds of weather. There are a lot more expenses than I initially thought of when I decided to take this trip. But all of the expenses are worth it, because I will have the time of my life.