Travel goals
October 4, 2007Thanks for visiting! If you like what you're reading, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed.
Blame the miserable weather in the UK or my recent trip to New York, but I have been thinking a lot about travelling recently and when I reviewed my savings a few days ago I realised that I had totally neglected my travel goals.
Yet I have already made a few cautious plans for the remaining year and next year. First of all - and no matter how silly it sounds - I want to go back to New York before the end of the year, ideally around Christmas time. I imagine the city being very festive and the gigantic Christmas tree that will go up near the Rockefeller Center should certainly help.
Further, I might be going on a short trip to Milan with an old friend of mine that I don’t see very often since I’ve moved to the UK. The trip is planned for February and will likely be very budget - she has apparently found two return flights to Milan for only €76. Yet, I will still need some spending money bearing in mind we’ll be visiting one of the fashion capitals in the world!! 
On top of that, another trip to Italy might be happening around Easter - this time to visit Rome and Venice. While all of the above won’t necessarily involve exorbitant expenses in themselves, combining them might lead to a bit of financial distress if not planned properly. And so far I haven’t even mentioned the regular trips to Germany my family expects me to undertake. These currently add around £150 for flights and a further £50 for trains and petrol while I’m home.
All of the expenses that can be expected to follow from the plans I just outlined above have only been made worse when I decided it was a good idea to pick up the “Travel Book” published by Lonely Planet. Looking through pages and pages of breathtaking photos, intriguing information and facts about the most remote countries and travel advice for actually visiting these countries made it quite hard to be happy and content with where I am at the moment. Hence I might have to plan some extra budget for a slightly more extravagant vacation in summer or autumn next year. Tibet or Argentina are among the favourites at the moment.
Thus, here’s what I think I’ll need in travel money until the end of next year:
- Weekend in New York: £300
- 5 days in Milan: £300
- 5 days in Rome & Venice: £500
- summer holiday - country to be confirmed : £1,000
A whopping total of £2,100. Wish me luck in restraining my shopping trips and Starbucks afternoons! 
