THE RESULTS ARE IN... and my bank account says "Ouch!"

So I finally did my accounting for everything spent in the 2+ weeks of travelling, and it turns out I was almost exactly w/n the recommended limits (by Lonely Planet’s budget traveller standards... I was a bit above the article that recommended $50 a day, not including travel expenses), even though I felt like I was spending way too much. Considering I was gone for about 2 weeks and spent 1000 euro (1200 dollars) on everything, I feel like I did spend too much, seeing as how I don’t have that much left for the travelling to come, two months worth at that!

So... I've been mulling over some ideas for where I might be able to cut down in the future:

- Couchsurfing! Staying with friends, friends of friends, friends of friends of friends of friends... and profiting from the offerings of couchsurfing.com! I spent very little money at Derek’s, because there was free board (thank you!) and a very handy kitchen to make and keep food (must discover and use hostel kitchens more!). So, particularly when travelling with Gretchen, who has also delighted in the discovery of couchsurfing, I feel like hitting up that opportunity would be a great and cost-effective experience. I already have a place set in Cork if I make it back to Ireland (explain)

- Cooking in... especially at cute little hostels like the Sugan, preparing a meal can be fun and much less costly than going out to eat (especially with multiple people chipping in). Must do this more often. Must stay at hostels like this more often...

- Stay in the countryside! Profit from nature! My favorite place visted was Killarney, for its cute small charm, it’s beauty, all that. County = vacation, city = trip. Trips cost more, move faster, and often leave you exhausted. Vacation is supposed to be relaxing. Yes, there are many cities I want to visit and see, but there are no doubt just as many small out of the way villages and beautiful hide-away spots that would serve a wonderful respite from bustling city life and daily spending on activities.

- Do the eurrail pass, profit from the beauty of the trainrides, however long they may be, and avoid the low-cost flights that may end up setting you back even more b/C of how much it costs once there to actually find your way from the obscure, out of the way airports to your destination, often times either very late or very early in the morning. Also, just a word the the wise... besides that, there's a reason RyanAir is so cheap... they spend the entire flight making announcements of this that and the other that you can buy through them, whether it be lotto tickets or watches or n'importe quoi. Thank god our flight from ireland to england was only an hour, and thank god for my iPod having enough battery power left to drown out the announcements. As far as cheap flights go, I was much happier with EasyJet's service.

- Utilize the beautiful, wonderful, amazing power bars my parents lovingly sent me at my desparate request. When Patti had suggested I bring power bars for easy and sustaining afternoon snacks/lunch, I thought it was a good idea, but had a day before leaving and figured I’d just get them once here. But alas. There are certain things that are indeed lacking. Veritable power bars seem to be one of them. Trying to get by with “cereal bars” that taste like a mouthful of sugar with some fruit mixed in really just doesn’t suffice. So now I have 36 wonderful bars, of the Cliff, Luna, and Tiger’s milk variety, most of which I will be saving for my summer travels.

- Don’t buy as much chocolate... and perhaps cut back on the alcohol taste-tests... when I added up my costs for “treats and drinks” I’d spent nearly half of what I’d spent on the food overall category merely on alcohol and treats (79 euros!). Given, in Ireland, it’s all part of experiencing the culture (I think I had some form of alcohol, usually multiple forms, five out of the six days we were there... but come on, when in Ireland, do as the Irish do, right? I had to try Irish Coffee, Bailey’s coffee, Bailey’s straight up, Guiness, Guiness variations, other local beers, cider... really, I mean it’s all part of the experience!). As for chocolate... besides having become an addict thanks to my hanging out with Jason all last semester, it’s really just another thing Europe does much better than America... you have to try every kind, right? Dutch chocolate (, English (i.e. Cadbury’s eggs every day... not classy stuff, but damn good)... okay, well maybe I didn’t have to buy chocolate in Ireland, but hey, I spent enough on drinks to even it out.

- OTHER IDEAS??? Suggestions??

One thing I did discover, that I hadn't thought of before hand, was a necessity in terms of privacy and down-time. Ariana and I spent a week and a half moving from one hostel to the next, sharing a room with anywhere from two to six other people. While this worked out fine and was certainly better at some places than others (Killarney's Sugan Hostel = cutest, homey-ist hostel ever!), it does get a bit harried at times, what with all the travelling (four hostels in 10 days was a bit much). In any case, saturday night we ended up having to pay for a hotel room near the airport b/c there were no hostels nearby, public transit didn't run cheaply at odd hours, and our flight left at 7 am the next morning. I was almost livid when i found out the cheapest thing we could get was a 50 pound room... which translated into 50 dollars for each of us, for what I forsaw would be a mere number of hours spent there. But it was really the only choice. As it turned out, it was the perfect choice.

We decided to forgo trying to do another day in london (which meant, sadly, that we couldn't meet up with ryan and abi and the other lc-ers studying abroad there), and we ended up taking a shuttle-train from our airport into london straight to our airport for the next morning. We checked in to our hotel with the plan of profiting from, for once, a clean, private space, downtime, blissfully comfortable mattresses, and... the best part... A LONG AND LANGUID BATH!!! Believe me, after travelling and wearing the same clothes over and over and enduring short showers in shared spaces, a bath was just about the best attraction london had to offer! There was nothing we HAD to see, nothing we had to do... we just hung out in the hotel room, went out for some indian, and then did a little self-therapy with bubbles and all!

So... my new rule come this summer... Every few weeks... I'm going to make sure to give myself at least a full day and night of down time, self-therapy time, in a private room (whether in a hostel, hostel, or at someone's house), with no plans other than to spend some time recooping, refueling, relaxing... As much as I resented having to pay a ginormous sum to spend our last night in a hotel near the airport, it turned out the be just what we needed. Hopefully, though, seeing as how I don't plan to be travelling in pound-laden countries come this summer, I'll be able to find something for cheaper.