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Today is the day that we are heading to Europe! We are flying out of different airports so I will actually be meeting my mom and sister in Rome. If I didn’t fly all the time, I might be freaked out to travel across the world alone, but I’ll be happy to see their faces in the Italian airport! As this was the first big trip I’ve planned (with the help of my mom and sister) I wanted to share some travel trips that we’ve learned along the way! (Don’t worry, I’ll be reviewing all kinds of things as we get going but this is the start of the adventure!) Today I am sharing three things I’ve picked up in the process of planning in hopes that y’all can plan your own spectacular adventure overseas!
1.) Determine which cities and countries are most important to you and dedicate the majority of the time to them. For us, we are spending three days in both Rome and Paris and two days in Cinque Terre and Nice. Since Rome and Paris have so many tourist spots that are sort of must-sees, we wanted at least one extra day in each spot to get through all of the bucket list items and onto the “getting lost and figuring it out” sort of days. I am a big believer in mixing touristy stuff with some solid rest and relaxation so we wanted a few chill days with not much planned.
2.) Figure out what type of lodging will be best for your travels. As we were planning we debated between three options: hostels, hotels, and Airbnb stays. We went back and forth on both comfort and affordability discussions. I am at a place in my life that I am willing to pay a bit more to have a private room and shower but my sister who is in college was more fiscally interested in staying in hostels. While I am always up for an adventure, knowing I would have my camera and computer along, I preferred a more private stay! We ended up booking all of our stays through Airbnb and are so pumped about the uniqueness of each spot. Not only will we have kitchens to cook in, we will have access to wash our clothes, private rooms, and access to their amenities (hello, rooftop pool in Nice!) The other great thing about this option is your host can serve as a resource for you in terms of knowing where to go, how to get there, and what to do while visiting!
3.) Pack everything you need into a carry on. Say what? This one was hard for me to handle but my goodness, you would be shocked at what I fit into my suitcase and how hard I thought about every piece that was going into that tiny little thing. I got almost 30 articles of clothing from dresses to tanks, light jackets, to pants, along with 3 pairs of shoes. I am bringing just a carry on and a backpack along! I am still pulling things out of my bag (in case I shop while I am there) and plan to do a “how to” post on what to bring and how to make outfits out of the items I chose carefully, so stay tuned for that! Packing cubes, strategic colors, and comfy shoes were a must! Also bringing only the essentials since we are traveling by train every few days and have to haul whatever we packed makes this important!
Lordy, the adventure is about to begin! I can’t wait to share our favorite things and tips for each city as well as a little travel outfit inspiration (pray that I can wear real clothes for ten days, this will be a feat that should end with a trophy or something awesome!) I can’t wait to share more of our experience and I am writing this to push myself to edit my travel photos ASAP so that six months later I am not wondering what happened to them (why is it that our personal work is always done last? Ay, yi, yi!) Au revior, babes! Wish us luck, safe travels, and stay tuned for some European goodness!
If you have any suggestions for our travels or tips of places to visit, comment below!
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can’t wait to hear and see more of your trip!