CHEAP FLIGHTS X2!!!!!!!

So I finally sucked it up and got the guts to do this.

I have officially booked tickets.

On March 27th, our study tour ends at 3:00p.m. From Oxford, I'll be heading back to London to Heathrow Airport. At 7:50p.m., I'll be headed over to Dublin, Ireland, arriving at 9:10p.m. Consider me master travel-planner - tickets were booked at only $73.63.

I'll stay in Dublin until the 1st of April, and on that Wednesday morning, at 10:50a.m., I'll be headed to the Dublin Airport to make my way over from Paris - arrival time: 1:30p.m.

Price? $56.80.

Rock on.


Wish me luck, 'cause I'm just gunna wing it. I'm not booking hostels, I'm not doing anything. I'm going to Ireland with no plans in mind...just a backpack, some clothes, and a sheet. Yikes.

What else I'm thinking:

I can book a flight from Paris to Barcelona for $88. I can't decide. I think I'd rather hop over to Italy, but...SPAIN. I definitely want to accomplish at LEAST four countries in two weeks, if not five. I'm going to be exhausted, but I think it's worth it.

Other thoughts:

I'm really struggling to figure out what I want to do in terms of train tickets. I'm wondering if in this situation, a Eurail pass is the best idea. They're SUPER expensive, and I guess I'll use it and it'll be totally worth it. There's a package where I can get four countries, but I can only use it over ten days, and all within two months. I don't think that's a problem - I think that might actually be a logical idea. The only problem I see is that it's worth more than all of the plane/train tickets I plan to buy - combined. The thing about a Eurail though, is that it gives me ridiculously good discounts. I can get a night train from Paris to Venice for (low)$48, though I think I'd go for a little higher class (the $48 is with five other travelers), and shoot for the $82. Without the Eurail, they'd be (respectively) $221 and $230. I honestly dont know what to do. I know that I'll need the pass anyway...but the prices are so, SO high that I'm not sure I can bring myself to do it.

A four country pass with 10 days worth $459.

You can only do these on adjoining countries (aka - connected by train or ship). This would actually work out for me though, because I would get the pass for France, Republic of Ireland, Italy, and Spain.

If I don't get this pass, I'd have to figure out means of travel - and this is unlimited train. I feel like that's 10 days of endless possibilities - how amazing! So maybe it is worth it after all. I think I'll wait to book until at least March, though, because it's only valid for two months.

Any suggestions? Ideas? Concerns? Don't tell me about your concerns, actually, because they've probably already gone through my mind. I'm doing it - you can't convince me out of it. So if you're concerned, then just wish me good luck, and pray that I don't get stuck in Ireland harvesting potatoes for the rest of my life or something. I guess there's always Guinness.

Anyway, I've exhausted myself with planning for what's shaping up to sound like a fun spring break! I'm thinking that I'll go from:

Denmark - London - Oxford - Dublin - Paris - Barcelona - Venice - Denmark.

So far I'm to Paris - and have spent less than $150 - three more to go, and if I can keep them all under $100 per flight/train ride, I'll begin to consider myself a totally successful travel-planner. A totally successful traveller, though, I guess that's yet to be determined. The flights from Venice to Denmark are pretty expensive, but I don't know, I guess I'll have to take what I can get, because no matter what, I'll have to get home. So aside from my trip home, expenses should be good. The flight from Venice to Copenhagen, though, would stop in Brussels for about 10 hours - shitty layover, but wait! I'm in Europe. Time to explore? Maybe?? Belgium...supposed to be gorgeous, and a place that I'd have liked to see anyway. Am I allowed to leave the airport in the middle of a layover? Does anyone know? So I guess who knows - perhaps I'll spend 10 hours in the city, hop back onto my flight, and deal with the $214 trip back home to Copenhagen. Sounds good to me!

It's almost 2a.m. and I have an 8:30 tomorrow with a less-than-two-minute presentation that I haven't started. But I don't really care, because it basically means I have to stand up and say who I'm photographing for my final project. Done, and done.

Sweet dreams when you get there!

Lots of love,
Your Potentially-Successful-Travel-Planner