Saving Up for Europe & Becoming More Responsible in the Process

  Hello!

Doesn't this picture just give you chills?! Look at all of that! There's a whole world out there!

   Many moons and many issues of National Geographic Traveler ago, I made a post about my longing to visit Europe. I guess my insane desire to see and experience everywhere is probably rooted in too many viewings of Mary-Kate and Ashley movies as a child (looking at you, Passport to Paris), but whatever the origin of the obsession is, all I've ever wanted to do was travel (Europe, especially).
  Anyway, to summarize that post, during Winter Break of 2010, I convinced my mom to vacation in Europe for two weeks in the summer of 2012. If you've stuck around since the summer, you know that mine didn't involve life-changing adventures in foreign lands, unfortunately.
          Why not? Finances would be the most basic answer. Finding this out last January was genuinely devastating; a tragedy in my eyes. My entire life pining to experience the world (or, begin to) was in sight, then the rug was pulled out from under me. Being so near to my dream (more like destiny) then immediately being so far from it just destroyed me.  I didn't know what to do with myself or what would keep me going.

  Anywho, before last September, this was the way I felt every day. During that month, though, I saw a movie that completely changed me. Really, it was one detail that changed me: the stories that a backpacker would tell every so often, and the sights he could say he had seen. Walking out of that movie, I realized something: that's who I want to be. That backpacker. I want to travel and backpack and see sights no one in my town could ever imagine; visit places I couldn't even dream to exist. I want to say, "Hey, I've been there!" in passing, send people postcards from places they've never heard of but look pretty darn great, not know where I'll be sleeping that night but be okay with that because I get to be in that place for a night.

  This was an epiphany of sorts. I knew I couldn't rely on my parents to take me, and realizing this made me realize I was going to have to become completely independent and own my dream; I realized I'd have to pay for every part of it, even if that meant saving for years and years. I very roughly mapped out the cost; websites said backpackers could live on $50 a day in many cities, $70 in bigger ones, like London. Then I needed a plane ticket, a bus pass, insurance... I decided I would aim for going for sometime in college, even if that crazy saving and budgeting necessary would mean giving up regular teenager activities, liking going to the movies all the time or shopping at the mall every week or sitting home when the "game of the season" is being played because I just can't afford that eight-dollar ticket. But I didn't care then and I definitely don't now; I said this, Europe, is what I'm going to do, and I've been saying that ever since.

   Well, since my revelation, I've found some guided tours that are actually pretty affordable. There's one that covers the countries I want to see the most-- Belgium, the Netherlands, Paris, Austria-- along with several others. The entire trip is about four grand per person, including the ticket. I realized that I didn't have to wait for college for that, if I started saving immediately. Sure, it was no dirty and spontaneous backpacking trip that I've been romanticizing for the last six months, but it was freaking Europe. I ran it by my mom, and we're going to try it. Basically, we're each paying our own way. She'll save up her 4k, and I'll save up mine. If all goes as planned, we'll earn a trip to Europe in the summer of 2014. Cross your fingers for me!

  Every so often I'll make a post in a new feature "If I had 24 Hours in...". I'll give an hour-by-hour itinerary of a day in a city I want to visit (not necessarily a European one... Since I want to travel the whole world, there's an awful lot to choose from. :)


 xoxo,
   Zoe

 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 //

Oh, Europe! How I Long for Thou!

 Bonjour!

 Source

   Europe. A magical continent, full of countries, food, and adventures. That I've never been to, but want to visit.
  Desperately.

 

 Source

  A year ago, I asked my mom if we could go to Europe. After the wake-up call of her scoff, I re-designed my plan, and, eventually, its presentation. Here's what I said:

  "If we were to go to Europe, we could backpack across multiple countries in a matter of two weeks! We could visit all the famous places we've ever seen, and bond as a family. You and I both want the time of our lives, and this could be it!"

  So maybe I went overboard with the "time of our lives" deal, but it worked. After much negotiating, here's what we came up with: the summer after this one and the next one, we'll go backpacking in Europe for two weeks. We won't go on any vacations starting after fall break of next year, and we won't spend over ten grand. We won't tell dad until the summer before, so he doesn't have a fit.

    That was last Christmas, when we decided. Since then, it's near all I can think about. Sometimes, I'll lie awake thinking about it. It's my dream, and I don't know what I'd do if I lost it.
 
   How would I lose it? There's too many ways to count. Let's start with money. It could get too expensive. Then go to unexpected family problems: death, disease. Probably the biggest and most obvious? My dad. He could say no. It's not like he's a healthy young guy--he'll turn 57 in January, he has a pace-maker, and he still smokes. I try not to think about that, though.
 

  Since the initial rough draft, I've been kind of planning the trip (it's still extremely coarse, though). I've got seven countries/cities down for the two weeks: Paris, Florence, Rome, Venice, Vienna, Amsterdam, London. I had to ax Germany and Transylvania, to my great disappointment; as well as Scotland and Dublin, to my minor disappointment (I just wanted to see the Loch Ness Monster, okay?)

    

  We'd go on a train everywhere (I've never been on a train!), sleeping on the way. We'd see places like the Sherlock Museum and the Louvre, and go on things like the London Eye. It'd be the adventure of a lifetime!

   Back to finance, though. For all of those places, it's at least $2200 per ticket. Per ticket. That's fair, considering. It's not desirable, though. There's four of us. Four. With a budget of 10 grand? I don't know how it'll work.

 

    What I mentioned is just what I've researched and put into my Europe folder. That glorious little folder is what keeps me going. I simply don't know what I'll do if we're not able to go. It's my beacon of light on the dark sea of teen anguish.

 xoxo,

     Zoe

What's New?

----Originally posted to Teenage Times on 3/7/11----

Hey there.
  (In case you’ve never heard of this thing called the past, that little coo coo rhyme is a lyric from the Beatles.)
   Allllllrighty then! <—As you just read, I’ve been watching Ace Ventura lately. That rhino scene will change your life. Anyway, I recently got some mail. Hoorah! It’s my Doc Martens all the way from Europe.

  
     No heel, no bulkiness = perfection only Doc himself can achieve.

  They’re called Shoreditch/Eclectic Leather (holla!) Dr. Martens. I had to import them due to the lack of awesomeness(/leatherness) that U.S. online stores have available. I ordered them from KBK Shoes. These guys were on sale, alas, shipping wasn’t cheap(shipped next day without special payment; took around six weekdays to arrive). Since U.K. sizes are different, I ordered a size 4(I’m regularly a 6 – 6 1/2). If I’m wearing socks(I usually am…) and the laces are tied, they fit nicely. Oh, I also definitely suggest buying leather–it’s five dollars more expensive, but leather lasts longer and all your mud-n’-diseases from everyday adventures wipe off a whole lot easier. I won’t do a review, since I’m so biased about these.
  Moving on, there’s not much new I have to say. I haven’t been doing much shopping, so no item reviews. I haven’t had many free days, so no blog-worthy adventures. Due to this coolness-lacking, I’ll share with you some recent discoveries of things that I’m currently digging.

•   The word deck. It’s rad-person speak for cool(“Dude, that’s totally deck!”).
• The band Mumford & Sons. It sounds like some furniture company from the South. However, it’s the coolest rock-folk-alternative band on the circuit right now. (Download “The Cave” and, if you’re looking for folkier, download “Winter Winds“.)
• The TV show Chuck. Um, adorably kickass.
• The book Red Riding Hood. Sounds totally lame, but if you want to see the movie, check it out. What intrigues me? The book was based on the screenplay, not vice versa. Or, if you can’t wait till the movie, read the last page–everything you need to know, right there. (:
• The prehistoric Brontosaurus. What’s not to love?

   To makeup for my extreme lack of posts last week, I’ll try to post in a day or two. Alrighty, then.
  xoxo,
    Zoe