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Sunday, February 23, 2014

Planning my Euro Trip

It amazes me how much time has passed since my last post. I have been meaning to write a post for some time now...well for two years to be exact, and kept putting it off... I always told myself it was because I had nothing to write about, but even after I went on an amazing trip to Spain and Italy, it still took me five months to update my blog.

It has always been a dream of mine, as I am sure it is for almost everyone, to visit Europe. This is something I did not really dwell on too much because I did not think I could even afford to go in this century... Unluckily Luckily for me, my boyfriend decided to move to Spain, so I was provided with an even greater incentive to visit. 

Checking flight prices to Barcelona became a routine. Every night before bed, during work, and twice on weekends, I scoured the internet, trying to find the best flight prices. I started my "Spain fund" in March, 2013, hoping I would have enough saved to take a trip in the next year or so. Little did I know I would be able to fulfill my dream a couple months later.

I stopped going out to parties, tried to eat more home cooked meals, and only splurged on my two loves (wine and ice cream) once a month. By June, I had  managed to save up enough money to cover the cost of my ticket, but I still needed to save more for spending money. My aim was to save up enough money so that I could budget at least 100 Euros a day. I decided to make a big splurge and use all my savings on this trip. I would worry about my finances after the trip! 

Before I could buy my ticket, I had to make sure I got my Schengen Visa (Visa required to travel to most European countries). Thankfully the visa process was not a very tedious or expensive one. My visa application fee was JMD $7095, which has to be paid in cash and the exact change preferred (prices are subject to change depending on the exchange rate). Click here to see Schengen visa requirements.

I decided to visit at the end of September when the ticket prices were a little less pricey ( I got my ticket for under a $1000 USD! using www.trafalgaronline.com, www.cheapoair.com had similar prices). Since I was going to go all the way to Spain, I figured I would try and visit another country while I was there. I always wanted to visit Italy and France as well, but due to time constraints, I had to choose one. 

I was now well on my well to crossing off two countries off my bucket list.

In my next posts ( I promise I won't wait another two years to post them), I will share my experiences of these two amazing countries with you.