Itinerary Planning

Hello hello!

The planning continues...


We booked our flight from Faro (Portugal) to Schiphol, Amsterdam (a smaller, albeit still quite large airport outside of Amsterdam, Holland). So, that's where we'll be starting from! We'll most likely head into Belgium from there and then into Western Germany.

Now that we know we'll be gone for 8 weeks (or more if Jeff refuses to return home from having so much fun! lol I can hope, right?) we've really started to buckle down with trying to figure out where we're going and how we're going to get there through Europe. It hasn't been an easy task exactly, as we navigate our way through the Eurail (train) website and compare it to our itinerary... then to realize how expensive it is and then figure out if it's worth it or not.

So, our next option is Busabout (http://www.busabout.com/) which is hop-on-hop-off bus transportation, which essentially means, you can hop on the bus at one spot and when it gets to the next stop you can hop off and stay as long as you like, then hop back on the next bus (it arrives every two days) and continue your journey. There are preplanned routes and tours you can do as well as ones that are more flexible (this is what Jeff and I are looking into)... but because we have to be in Munich by the 28th of September for Oktoberfest, it's throwing things for a little loop with the Busabout route... so, is it cheaper to just manage the transportation ourselves via local transit and slower buses, or use the Busabout where we can? Not sure yet.

There's so much to think about! Especially when trying to keep our costs as low as we can.

Also, I'm thinking that the 3 hour bus to Paris from Brussels may just be worth the trip... must talk to Jeff more about that one... :)

I'm currently wearing my hiking boots (in my apartment) to break them in as I'm hoping to ward off any blisters ahead of time! Jeff and I will have our first real breaking-in of our shoes when we go camping in July. Which reminds me... I still have to spray them... urgh...

I also still have to figure out the best way to get/carry money in Europe without paying through the nose with bank fees... I'll have to call the bank this week and talk to someone.

After raiding mom's medicine cabinet at home this weekend, I managed to score Gravol, Pepto (chewable AND liquid) and Immodium... your three major staples when traveling (Thanks mom!). Jeff and I've got the polysporin, benadryl, and bandages... we still need a full first aid kit though.

We've also got to photocopy our documents and figure out how we're getting to the airport... not to mention a dozen or two other things as well.

There are still 2.5 months before our departure date so we're not panicking yet... although not knowing how we're going to get around is a little unnerving (but still exciting).

Let the planning continue!