For as long as I can remember, I've dreamt about traveling to other countries. Almost everyone I know has traveled abroad, some on multiple occasions, and every time I hear of their travels I turn a shade greener. Fortunately, my time has come. Next month my husband and I will embark on our first trip to Europe, visiting London and Paris.
The seeds are planted: Admiration of different cultures from afar
My fascination with England started when my Dad introduced me to the Beatles when I was 8, and they became (and have remained) a favorite band of mine. Since then I have always been drawn to all things English, especially pop music and television shows. My interest in French culture began when I studied French in high school and, unfortunately, that's as far as I went with my foreign language education. I had aspirations of learning and mastering the French language, but, alas, that was not to be. I have been trying to brush up on my French just enough to get by while visiting Paris. Most of my anxiety relates to possible language barriers, and just being in an unfamiliar place. To ease my mind I have begun doing a lot of research about the places I will be visiting. I will inevitably be doing a lot of touristy sightseeing, but I also hope to get off the beaten track as well, and really experience the cities as the citizens do.
Getting there: Planes, Trains and Passports
Planning this first foray into traveling abroad has been daunting. Starting with the passport process, which was probably the most time-consuming and frustrating part of all. I was fairly diligent and proactive with gathering all the information needed for obtaining a passport. I went online to the official government passport site, and went over the checklist of required documents a few times. But it seems that no matter now much forethought is put into the process, the US Postal Service will always find a way to make it as difficult and time-consuming as possible.
With application, drivers license, social security card, birth certificate, photo, and DNA sample in hand I made my way to the nearest post office on a weekday during lunch (this was actually my second attempt to get my passport, the first time was on a Saturday, and passport applications aren’t accepted on Saturday). The line was maybe five to seven deep for passports, and I was there for about an hour and a half (in line behind the guy that yapped on his cell phone for the duration). Six weeks later my passport arrived, complete with probably the worst picture ever taken (think of your worst drivers license picture, and this would be far worse).
The next step was finding affordable plane tickets. I typically use Travelocity and airline specific sites, but this time another travel site, SideStep, was particularly helpful. I looked up virtually every date from April 2008 through January 2009, and was having difficulty tracking the best travel dates. I worked on this for probably a solid two weeks. I am sort of a maniac when it comes to travel planning, especially when trying to find the best prices – I will spend hours, days, and weeks scouring the Internet for the best deals. I finally lucked up on a great deal: $1300 for two roundtrip tickets – that IRS stimulus check was just in time.
Where to stay: Hostels, Hotels, Apartments Oh My!
So far we can get there and enter the countries, but now where to stay? Hostels or budget hotels? I know friends that have done the backpacking and hostel route in college, but that isn’t really on our ten-day agenda. We’re not going for luxury, just a safe, comfortable, and affordable place to sleep every night without having to worry about our belongings or feeling as thought we have to carry everything around for ten days. Similar to the plane ticket process, I began searching for hotels, one in London and one in Paris. With London search came a pleasant surprise. One of my husband’s friends frequently travels for work, and was gracious enough to use his wealth of Marriot points to book us four nights at the four star Marriot Park Lane in the heart of London.
Next up, Paris. I probably spent about a month on the Paris hotel search alone, using the various travel sites as well as craigslist. There were so many varying types of accommodations ranging from hostels, apartments to hotels, but Paris being the tourist gem that it is, prices were not proving to be budget-friendly. Frustrations growing, I started documenting my finds in an Excel spreadsheet, complete with a map of the various districts or arrondissements of the city so that I could track the locations of my findings. In Paris, and in many large cities, location is very important – and in Paris specifically it is suggested to stay as close to the city center as possible to avoid lengthy and costly daily metro travel in/out of the city center. Hotel Saint-Honoré is a one star budget hotel in the first district, the heart of the city.
Being There: All planning aside, now what?
In both London and Paris we are lucky to have hotels located in the very heart of the cities. We’re in walking distance to many of the major attractions, museums, and monuments. We have been advised to take advantage of the various hop on/off bus tours offered in the cities to get acquainted with the areas, as well as a good way to see some of the major attractions. Luckily most of the travel arrangements, like day trips and daily metro/bus travel passes, can easily be purchased once there.
While in London we will be partaking in tea time, visiting Buckingham Palace amongst others, and doing some shopping on Portobello Road and Camden Lock. A trip to Paris would not be complete without a day trip to the Palace Versailles and other must see and do sites like the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, to name a few. This trip is sure to be a one my husband and I will never forget, and hopefully a jumping off point for planning future trips abroad.
