Preparing for another trip to Europe

It's been over a year now since I made my first trip across the Atlantic to Europe.  I knew last year within a few days that I surely had to make sure I returned in a timely fashion.  I fell in love with Europe and the way life was lived there.  It's not like the United States is *that* much different, the majority of people walk with their eyes glued to their Iphones just like they do over here.  However there will small things that made me love the way countries were run like the healthcare and how much vacation time people received.  I also liked that I didn't have heartburn the whole three weeks I was there since the food I was eaten wasn't created in a laboratory. 

I initially was hoping to spend the entire summer abroad but as always, plans changed.  I settled upon five weeks since the price of a one-way ticket doubled to get home.  I ended up finding a freak flight from Lisbon to Boston for only $390.  I do have to spend a random night in Madrid and still have to make my way back to California eventually, but considering other flights were around $1,200, I considered it a steal.  I bought my ticket going there back in February for $530, another low cost ticket with a bit of inconveniences for the value.  My way there involves a layover in Denver, Colorado and then seven hours of nighttime bliss to Reykjavik, Iceland. I'll have just enough time to longingly gaze out the window of the airport in Iceland before heading back on a morning flight to London. 

I've been really afraid of this coming vacation because uncharacteristically, I took forever to book the rest of my adventures for Europe.  I didn't even book my ticket home until two weeks ago it was just yesterday that I started booking all the other chunks of adventure for the five weeks I am there.  My two cousins from Chicago are meeting me in Dublin, Ireland ten days after I first land in London.  One cousin, Jenny, is just roaming the UK before heading back after a week, and the other, Anna, is going to escort me on a wild adventure of country hopping for another ten days. 

Anna and I are taking a Megabus from London to Brussels for $30.25 each and staying the night with six strangers, for two nights, in a hostel for $25 a night.

After that we'll take a three hour Eurolines bus ride for $28.75 to Cologne, Germany where we'll be staying at the Meininger Hotel/Hostel for two nights at $51 each.

We've been having some issues with the German Eurolines website and it not letting us book our journey, but eventually we'll be booked for an overnight bus ride to Paris for around $45.

Paris is proving to be our most expensive city and since it's summer, they're raping the wallets of students and charging $50 per person just to stay in a hostel dorm.  Instead, we'll be staying at a small little hotel for $10 less.

After two days in Paris, we'll hop on another Megabus, this time for only $15, to take an eight hour day trip to Amsterdam.  I'm fortunate that I have a wonderful and hot Dutch friend there, who I met last year, who we'll get to stay with so that helps a great deal.  If not him, I just discovered I have another friend who just moved there and offered up lodging as well!  I'm happy that we're well taken care of in our last city!

Quinta da Regaleira, Portugal

After an undetermined amount of time in Amsterdam, I have to make my way to my final destination of Lisbon to catch the flight back to Boston.  Lisbon is really the one place I am most excited to visit on this trip.  I definitely wanted to go to the other cities on my plans, but Portugal has been a travel obsession of mine since my British friend pointed out how cheap and gorgeous it is a few years ago.  Unfortunately the $59 Easyjet flights I once saw two months ago are no longer and the cheapest flight I can find is $206.  There are a few inconvenient things I can do, like taking a bus to Brussels and then flying to Madrid for a night, then off to Lisbon... but I would only save about $65 and lose a day and a half in travel.


This trip has so many little details that it's been hard for me to get truly excited when I still feel I have so much to do.  Planning a trip in the summer is way more difficult than the Spring.  Like in the United States, tourism rates increase greatly and booking in the winter months could have saved me a few hundred dollars.  I'm also nervous because I have never been gone so long.  I think part of me booked myself coming home early just because I was so afraid of how much I will miss everyone.  I was missing everyone a lot after the three weeks last year so I expect this will be just as challenging and probably even harder.

Hopefully I'll encounter more dogs who I'll be able to get some love from like a labradoodle I befriended on the London tube.  That dog recharged my happiness levels so much...