Today is the "6 months to go" mark and I can hardly contain my excitement! I've really got the ball rolling on quite a few plans this week.
Since we have started planning our trip, Danny has made it his weekly duty to read the travel section in the Sunday paper. His diligence has paid off! About a month ago he read an article on biking in the Netherlands. We knew we were going to go to the Netherlands (I am Dutch after all) but we really weren't sure on what to do! Well, this article explained the terrain in the Netherlands is very flat and therefore very easy to bike. Most of the residents in Holland ride bikes rather than drive to work and other daily activities. And believe it or not, there are more bikes than there are cars and more bike paths than roads! Danny and I love the outdoors so it seemed like a biking tour of Holland would be perfect for us. I did some research to find the most reputable company and decided to go with http://www.tulipcycling.com/. They were able to send us a customized itinerary for a self-guided tour and make our hotel reservations at our stopping points. We'll be biking about 40 miles/day and will get to see the Dutch countryside, windmills, and waterways. Before we leave for the bike trip we will spend a day in Amsterdam where I am hoping to stop by the home of Anne Frank.
I also made progress on our plans in Ireland. Our flight from the US is directly to Dublin and before we leave for the Netherlands we will spend a couple days exploring there. While I am excited to see Dublin, I am even more excited for our last stop before return to the United States in Westport, Ireland. After visiting all our other stops we will come back to Ireland and head to Westport. My good friend Jessica has an aunt and uncle there and she has been kind enough to loan them to me so we can experience another side of Ireland. Westport is on the western seaboard and from googling it looks to be the perfect, quaint place to experience the true Irish culture. Jessica's uncle, Olcan, is a folk musician as well as a tour guide for photographers (can you say PERFECT?). I have been e-mailing with his wife, Shari, and can already feel their Irish hospitality! I think this will be the perfect close to our European adventure!
With these details starting to fall into place it was clearly time to stop using random scraps of paper and really get organized. Danny and I have created a spreadsheet to help us track where we'll be and when, and how we are getting there. We still have to book all of our hotels (minus the ones included in the Netherlands bike trip) as well as most of our flights. I am using tripadvisor to read up on hotels and also doing a lot of research on the different public transportation options throughout Europe. If anyone has any tips... please feel free to let me know!!
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Why a blog?!
I get a lot of questions about the planning of our trip and I LOVE to share how that is going, however do not want anyone to confuse my excitement for bragging. I thought a blog may be a more appropriate way to tell our friends and family how the planning of the trip is coming along and also to keep in touch about the trip while we are there. I mentioned the idea to my mother and she loved it... so I say it's a go!
Right now, the trip is approximately 191days away (thank you http://www.timeanddate.com/counters/customcount.html) ... but whose counting?! We really haven't set up many of the details of trip as of yet and it's about time to hunker down and do that.
Here is what we do know...
Our trip is scheduled for May 15, 2012-June 1, 2012.
We want to hit 4 countries: Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, & Greece.
How did this trip come about?
First of all, one of my biggest regrets from my undergraduate degree was not studying abroad. I didn't even realize it was an option until it was too late. Plus, I was an athlete the 1st two years I was there so I really couldn't leave. Side note - I would have stayed an athlete all 4 years had they not cancelled the swim program... but that's a whole 'nother blog. When I entered into the MBA program at Aurora University I was so excited to hear that I could take a trip to Rome with the program and earn International Business credits. I would finally be able to get to Europe! I was saving up so I could afford to go and asked my mom to skip a Christmas gift that year and instead give me funds for the trip. Unfortunately, the envelope with cash labeled "For Rome" is still in the top drawer of my dresser. The trip was cancelled as not enough students signed up. They assured me the following year the trip would take place, and it did. However, in the months between my own life had changed a ton! Danny and I had moved into our house together and shortly after we were engaged. With a new home and big wedding to plan in 2008 there was no way I could have my dream wedding, honeymoon, and my "educational" trip to Rome. So, Rome was put on the back burner. But before I made this decision, Danny promised that before we started a family we would take a trip to Rome.
So, we have been talking about taking the trip since before we were married in 2008. Sometime last spring/summer we decided to stop talking about it and start planning! The first step was airfare. I started watching the prices and that is when our trip to Rome turned to Ireland, Netherlands, Greece, & Rome. It was thousands of dollars cheaper to fly into Dublin vs. Rome and as long as were up there I wanted to stop by the homeland (The Netherlands). I discovered flights within Europe are very affordable and since this is going to be our last hurrah for awhile we may as well see as much as we can! At any rate, we booked the flights in August and have since done very small amounts of planning.
Right now, the trip is approximately 191days away (thank you http://www.timeanddate.com/counters/customcount.html) ... but whose counting?! We really haven't set up many of the details of trip as of yet and it's about time to hunker down and do that.
Here is what we do know...
Our trip is scheduled for May 15, 2012-June 1, 2012.
We want to hit 4 countries: Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, & Greece.
How did this trip come about?
First of all, one of my biggest regrets from my undergraduate degree was not studying abroad. I didn't even realize it was an option until it was too late. Plus, I was an athlete the 1st two years I was there so I really couldn't leave. Side note - I would have stayed an athlete all 4 years had they not cancelled the swim program... but that's a whole 'nother blog. When I entered into the MBA program at Aurora University I was so excited to hear that I could take a trip to Rome with the program and earn International Business credits. I would finally be able to get to Europe! I was saving up so I could afford to go and asked my mom to skip a Christmas gift that year and instead give me funds for the trip. Unfortunately, the envelope with cash labeled "For Rome" is still in the top drawer of my dresser. The trip was cancelled as not enough students signed up. They assured me the following year the trip would take place, and it did. However, in the months between my own life had changed a ton! Danny and I had moved into our house together and shortly after we were engaged. With a new home and big wedding to plan in 2008 there was no way I could have my dream wedding, honeymoon, and my "educational" trip to Rome. So, Rome was put on the back burner. But before I made this decision, Danny promised that before we started a family we would take a trip to Rome.
So, we have been talking about taking the trip since before we were married in 2008. Sometime last spring/summer we decided to stop talking about it and start planning! The first step was airfare. I started watching the prices and that is when our trip to Rome turned to Ireland, Netherlands, Greece, & Rome. It was thousands of dollars cheaper to fly into Dublin vs. Rome and as long as were up there I wanted to stop by the homeland (The Netherlands). I discovered flights within Europe are very affordable and since this is going to be our last hurrah for awhile we may as well see as much as we can! At any rate, we booked the flights in August and have since done very small amounts of planning.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)