My Imaginary Trip to Europe that Will Someday Be Real

Here are my plans so far:

Fly from LAX to Dublin Airport, then on to Liverpool, London, Paris,  Antwerp,  Amsterdam,  Berlin, Vienna, Zurich, Venice, Florence, and then finally ROME! I may have to cut out a city or two once I complete my financial analysis of this trip, but that would be okay. I only plan on spending 3-4 days in each major city, and 1-2 and possibly less than 1 in the minor cities.

Some sites that excite me:

Buckinham Palace – London

St. Paul’s Cathedral – London

Eiffel Tower – Paris

Pantheon – Paris

Zurenborg neighborhood – Antwerp

Red Light District – Amsterdam

The Vatican – Rome/Vatican City

Other Travelers

When thinking about this trip, I found a few travel blogs from others who have traveled Europe. One by Cecilia Cotton was especially helpful because she did a lot of things that I would do (go to art museums, travel on a budget, etc). Also, I found a spreadsheet made by someone only identified as aross33, which was nice because it gave me an idea of what my trip should cost. I found this site by James Martin, but it wasn’t as helpful because it was also too analytical and a lot of the costs were cars and gasoline, and I don’t plan on driving anywhere in Europe.

Barriers

I am still a student with one more year of undergrad and one year of grad school to get through. My parents are supporting me right now, but when I am done with school, I worry that I will have trouble supporting myself. If I can get a job as an art teacher right away, then I should be fine. However, I see people graduate with a degree and work in some lame job at a restaurant or something because they can’t find work. So, securing a stable job will be my first barrier. Also, I plan on getting married to my boyfriend once I have a stable job and can support myself. I’m sure there are marriage expenses that I do not foresee that could hinder my travel plans. So, marriage is barrier #2. Lastly, if I go to Europe before I get married and after I had a stable teaching job, in other words after I get past my two barriers, who would I travel with? I don’t want to go alone, and most of my friends probably wouldn’t be able to afford it. Tht is to say, most of my current friends. My travel plans are for the future, so maybe my friends will also have good jobs by then and be able to afford it. These are my barriers.

Support Systems

I have my family as a support system. My family travels a lot, and has lived overseas a lot, too. So they would be good to ask for help with planning my trip, as they would have good advice and experiences to share. Also, they may be willing to front me some money if I pay them back, which is good to have in the back of my mind. Hopefully it won’t come to that.

Needs vs. Desires

I am already used to ignoring some of my desires in order to fulfill my needs. I am a student; I don’t have any extra money! So when I travel, I figure I will be able to handle staying in a cheap fleabag hotel over a swanky one because of my experience now with saving money and not splurging on desires. However, I am not perfect, nor am I a total nomad. I need hot water, clean water, decent food, and warmth. Or that is to say, I desire all of those things while I travel. I am not sure that I am primitive enough to sleep in parks just to save money. But I am fairly confident that it will not come to that.