As the trip gets closer (just over 18 days left until we leave!), I have been spending hours a day researching, planning, and booking things for our trip.  (Clearly, not worthy of any sympathy, but it has taken A LOT of work to figure everything out!)  I am working through the trip in the order we plan to travel, so we are not stuck with transportation or lodging that doesn't line up.  We've found lots of things to do and see along the way, and plan to do a lot of exploring!

For those of you that know me well, you know that I am an organizing freak.  Planning this trip has been no exception.  I've created a binder, divided into sections for each city we will visit, and have been filing away information so that we are as informed and prepared as possible!  (Although, I still have the feeling we will resemble chickens with our heads cut off once our feet hit the ground!)  I also tried to make a basic itinerary, just so we can tackle each place in sections (which means more walking between places instead of trying to figure out and pay for public transportation).  The itinerary for March (Dublin, Belfast, Manchester, London, and Brussels) is finally done, and I'm excited to start tackling April.

There is so much to consider when planning each part of the trip: for lodging, we have to think about price, location, access to public transit, and reviews.  Transportation has also been very difficult to figure out - but the great thing about Europe is that their public transit system is much better than that in the US - it just means there are a lot of confusing train schedules, bus route maps, and connections to figure out along the way!  We originally considered buying Eurail passes - which allow for unlimited travel throughout most of Europe on a selected number of days within a designated time span - but after doing the math for every single route we were planning to take, and because the Eurail passes don't work in parts of the UK, we decided to forgo the passes and book each route separately.  By doing this, we will be saving over $1,000, but we will have to be on time for all of our trains, ferries, and buses because we now have specific times we have to catch a ride.

Overall, I think we are making good progress, and I am getting really excited to leave.  We just booked a high-rise apartment in the heart of Brussels with skyline views, and we are looking forward to enjoying some of their famous chocolate...  (My Brussels bucket list includes: 1. eat a lot of chocolate, and 2. eat more chocolate!) For now, I will continue my planning and booking until it's time for perhaps the biggest challenge to come: packing!

Love,

Laura