She works hard for the money

I don't think nearly enough credit is given to travel agents.

Now, with all the access people have to practically everything, everyone is DIYing their vacations. Which is, of course, what we're doing. When you're trying to plan a week-and-a-half long vacation to Europe for less than $3K, you can't afford to splurge 5% on having someone make the arrangements for you.

But with all the resources of the world right here, at my fingertips, comes a conundrum: the paradox of choice.

Thousands of hotels. Hundreds of city blocks. Hotels that, within a single price range, vary widely from no-frills but clean to unlivable.

Yes, the Metro connects all areas of the city, so even the far out locations are quick - but really, after entire days of drinking, who wants to worry about catching the rail, or if the service slows at night?

What trumps? Location? price? Or rating? Or amenities?

Tens - soon to be hundreds - of hours of research has gone into this trip, and I feel I've hardly scratched the surface.

On the plus side, reading all the foreign street names on the map has me very slowly becoming more comfortable/acquainted with the area.

très bien!

Type-A presents: Map-A

Click to view the Google Map

Planning this trip with another person is interesting. I'm all about value - bang for the buck. So, if you get exponentially more bang for marginally more buck, I'll go for that. Dave is very cost-conscious. He's all about the lo-rent, cheapest possible scenario. This means a certain amount of compromise on both our parts.

I kinda demanded we fly direct instead of having any layovers. I'll admit it, it was a bitch move.

But my motivations are pure: When returning from Italy 2 weeks ago, my Creative Director was delayed. And re-routed. And delayed. And kept overnight. To the point where his 14 hour travel time exploded into 60 hours of planes and airports to return home.

And really, insisting on flying direct is Me saving Dave from himself. I dislike airports, and I don't think anyone wants to deal with me when irritated in one.

So now I get to compromise big on the hotels. Which I'm totally fine with! I've lived/stayed in dorms, so I don't mind sharing a bathroom... as long as I'm not sharing the bathroom with rats. This is where TripAdvisor comes in.

I've plotted a handful of places to visit/things to do on the map (note: Museums are indicated as suns, because there was no arts icon, and the sun might look like a palette in a warped universe). Then, I plotted 3 highly rated hotels in Amsterdam, all available for $100/night or less.

Again, with my focus on value, I want the cheapest possible hotel with an amazing location. I'm recommending we go with Hotel Aspen, located in the Jordaan District (and the hotel that's Northernmost on the map). It has a walkability factor with the Anne Frank House and Westerkirk just a block away, and the Jordaan itself is known as the Greenwich Village of Amsetrdam, with lots of shops and cafes and such. Aspen also has the highest "recommend to a friend" factor on TripAdvisor of the three.

The other two hotels I've found that meet the criteria of good ratings+under $100 include Hotel Bema and Townhouse Hotel, but their locations seem slightly less desirable (I like that Bema is so close to Museumplein, but am concerned about its distance from the recommended bars and nightlife I've found so far).

Comments or recommendations? I'd like to get the map as populated with things to do/see as possible, so when we're there we can cull down our options based on how the mood suits us.

What happens when your travel planner is a designer

Your itinery notes have icons indicating type of travel.

My brain is converting to mush.

The dollar isn't nearly as bad as it used to be.

But that doesn't mean it's good. Or that I can do simple math in my head to convert funds, in anticipation of this trip. There's a reason I went into design, and not mathematics.

But more than just the exchange rate, I'm suddenly discovering all sorts of fees and ways banks and credit cards can totally snake your cash while on a European vacay.

Visa/Mastercard always charge 1% on international purchases. But on top of that conversion fee, many banks will charge a fee of their own, so your purchase on a Citibank Mastercard or Bank of America Visa is suddenly 3% more than the purchase.

Which sounds nominal, until you realize 9 nights hotel at $100/night, plus museum admission, plus souvenirs, etc... and this 3% charge starts adding up to be a couple of dinners or a pair of shoes! WTF!

HOWEVER, I have found a few great ways around paying super-high exchange rates (at currency counters and hotels, etc).

1 :: Book everything foreseeable in advance on .com websites, to avoid the international charge fee, but still reap the benefits of credit card protections (Trip cancellation/trip interruption coverage, Lost luggage coverage, $0 liability for unauthorized purchases, etc)

2 :: Pull out cash, and use it, from in-network ATMs. Bank of America charges a $5 flat exchange fee for out-of-network debit card withdrawals from international ATMs. The good news is, they consider all ATMs by Barclays (United Kingdom), BNP Paribas (France) in-network, so pulling out local cash from them avoids all conversion fees altogether.

Which is nice. because I have a limited budget, and increasing my wine consumption by 3% sounds fantastic.

An amusing thought.

I've seen a lot of concerts.

During college, if I liked a band enough to own their album, I liked them enough to go see them on concert. Sometimes, multiple times.

But all that experience jaded me. I haven't been to a show in years (with the exception of a couple free invitations here and there), and I really don't have many bands I actually care enough about to go see, much less pay to see.

Except Muse.

They are so wonderful. Over-the-top, driving rock, that's strung together in a way that's almost operatic. Hardly known in the states, but in Europe they have to play multiple stadium shows in a single city because they sell out so quickly. They're the only band I score 100% singing vocals on Rock Band.

And they're playing in Paris in November.

The tickets are expensive - a couple dinners, or a nice outfit - but, wow. Watching the live videos on YouTube, I think I'm more impressed by the insane crowd than the band's theatrics.



This will be an interesting decision to make.

"Canal Street" isn't so much a name, as an adjective

Ok, I'll admit it. I'm not ashamed.

I don't know much about Europe as a whole. In school, they taught us history, not current culture and events. So really, all I know about Amsterdam is the stereotypical information about pot and the red light district. And being one of the rare minorities who has no interest in pot, I never took the time to research a trip to Amsterdam.

Until now.

And now, I really want to visit.

The coolest thing (so far) that I want to do: St. Nicolaas Boat Club. I'm such a sucker for local little non-profits, rather than big touristy places, and what better way to wander aroudn a city of canals, than on some rickity boat drinking and eating? (and given Amsterdam's average high in November is 49F, I will be drinking something HOT)

Amputation!

A bit of background:

This trip originated over drinks. Lots of drinks.

I was bitching about having an un-used passport, and my friend said, "Ok! Let's go!" He then said, "And I know people in Vienna, so we can stay with them! Let's do London/Paris/Vienna." And it was agreed. We had a map. Now, we had to create an itinerary.

Flash forward to today.

(A little more background: I suck at Geography. No, really, that's why my trivia team never gets first place, always second or third.)

Vienna is a long freakin' trip from London and Paris. And the only way to reach it by train is to run through Germany or Switzerland. And the overnight rail costs 3/4 the cost of our round-trip Trans-Atlantic flight. Let me map it out for you:



I am totally panicked. It's going to cost x3 what I thought, just for travel. And all the travel time will cut into our touristing time! And why does it cost $200 more to fly one-way on Virgin Atlantic than round-trip?! This whole thing is turning into a complete mess, and I just don't know what I am going to do.

And then, iChat comes into play. And my friend types the glorious words, "Well, worst case we can always cut that leg out and just try to spend a couple of days extra in paris and the surrounds too." This may be the best thing my friend has ever said to me.

So now, the trip is slightly altered. By the end of this weekend, we'll have a new map in play, something more regional to the channel. I'm thinking London/Paris/Amsterdam. Or maybe just longer stays in London and France.

All I know is the trip in ON like Donkey Kong, and I'm excited to do even more research now.

In the beginning

There was Pangea.

And then the land masses separated, and made it that much more expensive to travel. WTF.

This will chronicle my first (!) ever trip to Europe, including the 3.5 months of planning prior. This passport has been burning a hole in my pocket for a year now. And whether my wallet is ready or not, I'm going to make it happen.

There's not a lot set in stone yet. So really, you're getting in on the ground-level of my Type-A planning neurosis. Congrats! Here are the details thus far:

:: 2 travelers (myself and my friend Dave)
:: 10-ish day trip
:: London, Paris, Vienna [update] Amsterdam
:: Approx. 3 days per city
:: November

How we're going to get around within the cities, how we're going to get from city to city, and where we're going to stay is all a little... ambiguous right now.

Oh, and how I'm going to learn at least 2 languages in the next 3.5 months? Yeah, not sure about that, either.

I feel a bit like a fish out of vodka water.