Friday, June 10, 2011

Is that a backpacker I smell?

UPDATED: What worked and what didn't.

Alright the two of you reading! It's time for a round up of the 21.3 pounds (9.9 Kilos) I'm hauling across Europe. My standard packing list for staying in one place has, not surprisingly, been altered a tad.

I still think I somehow ended up with too much stuff even though I packed and chucked half of it back in the closet. Most of the pack was eaten by cold weather clothes I have to haul to Iceland, and even though I plan on looking like an oompa loompa on the plane it still takes up some room. That and I have to bring a sleeping bag instead of just a liner.

I picked up this Eagle Creek packable day pack a while back. It's ridiculously tiny, ripstop nylon, and it still fits more then I probably should inside. I have room for my netbook, phone, camera, ipod touch, passport, and makeup. Not to mention, I can stuff my stupidly restricted, evil, dangerous, national security harming face wash and shampoo inside. Win/win? I think so.

Seeing as I barely wear any makeup on a daily basis, and I still want to feel like a girl, I brought the bare essentials for this expedition.

My "oh, crap" kit, as I'm so fond of calling it, is tiny but completely worth the bit of space it takes up. Included in my mini triage kit are band-aids, mini anti-bacterial ointment packets I picked up for free somewhere, bottle of random medications (pain reliever, Pepto, Imodium. I'm sure there's something else in there). Also included are alcohol swabs I've been completely, unintentionally collecting at school and work, and some Sudafed off brand decongestant because my sinuses and I are not ever on friendly terms.

This final bad boy of a packing list is all stuffed in two Eagle Creek compression bags.


The final tally (including the above):
2 sports bras
1 regular bra (wear on plane)
2 cami's (one on plane)
5 pair underwear (one on plane)
3 pair merino wool socks (one on plane)
1 quick dry t-shirt
3 t-shirts (cheap hanes tee. One on the plane and I may be ditching the older one.)
2 quick dry long sleeve shirts
2 quick dry long underwear/leggings Ended up using one and washing every two days .
2 pair zip off pants (only one made it home)
1 pair jeans (wear on plane)
1 pair sandals
1 pair flats
1 pair hiking/walking boots (wear on plane)
1 pair dress pants (Never wore them)
1 sweater (on plane)
1 light bolero/sweater (on plane)
1 one piece bathing suit
1 pair running/jogging shorts (Best Idea ever. Wore it under a leggings/long top in way too hot spain)

Of course, all of that is in my previously mentioned TETON pack.

I'm all packed, finally. Now, I just have to get through the next two days at work and I escape Sunday afternoon!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Greenbacks and the Girl who loves to spend them

In order to take any trip, day trip or year long world tour, you always need money. Understanding where you get it and how you spend it is important if you don't want to end up sleeping in the back of a chicken truck in Ecuador. If you do want to sleep in the back of a chicken truck then feel free to ignore this post.

For this particular trip, I'm attempting to maintain a budget (gasp!). Western Europe is expensive enough in the off season so I'm interested to see how well the off season budgets I've looked at compare. All prices are quoted in local currency. Some have been converted to dollar pricing based on average June/July 2011 rates.

The nity grity:

  • I'm not including gear in this budget because I'd already cobbled together most of it for other trips.
  • This is a tentative budget which will be updated as I move along this month and I most assuredly determine that my version of cheap and Europe's are continents (ha! continents) apart. This budget has been updated to reflect the actual costs I encountered in Europe.
 Plane flight to and from Europe: $1191 (leaving from PBI to KEF and returning via TXL to PBI)
  • I used kayak.com for the initial search and ended up booking with Delta/AirFrance via Expedia because they had the cheapest price.
Registration and Placement fee for Volunteers for Peace in Iceland: $330
and
Project Fee €150 (about $220)
  • These two include housing and food for two weeks plus access to the hot springs and discounts on other things in Iceland.  Average $40/day
Hostels by City and Country
  • Reykjavik, Iceland Kr 2500 x2 nights
  • Akureyri, Iceland Kr 3500 x3 nights
  • Barcelona, Spain: €21 x1  
  • Berlin, Germany: average €16 per night

Tours and such:

Transport:
  • Round trip to Akureyri on Air Iceland $138
    • Surprisingly cheaper then the bus
  • One way Reykjavik to Barcelona Spain $337
  • One way Barcelona to Berlin $221
  • Metro in Spain and Germany: $175
  • Buses
    • Barcelona-Madrid one way $42
    • Madrid-Granada round trip $43
    • Madrid- Barcelona one way $42
I wish I'd known about the Berlin Linien Bus. I would have probably halved my cost. . . but then I would have lost a day or two in transit. Next time I'll make sure I have more time allotted in for transit.
Food:
  •  Food was hit or miss in terms of reasonable prices. An espresso in madrid and barcelona ran €1 to €1,5. Cheap diners and quick grocery meals (sandwiches, salads etc) ran from €2 to €5 a meal. I didn't cook in a lot in Akureyri or Berlin, unfortunately.
  • Resturant meals ran from €5 to €12. 
    • Total spent: €193 (about $275 at the June/July exchange rate)
    • Add in Alcohol: €111 ($77) for a month
And there you have it! I'm sure I missed some things that I spent money on, but this is a pretty comprehensive list.


    Wednesday, June 1, 2011

    Elephants In Joplin


    It's been a wild weather ride in the Midwest US this past month or two. Unfortunately, there is more  on the way. I saw references to elephants aiding the cleanup in Joplin, MS and didn't believe it. I was wrong. These elephants are from a circus that was scheduled to perform in the arena in Joplin.

    Looking for ways to help?

    Donate at:

    http://bit.ly/redcrossUSA
    or
    http://bit.ly/allhandsrelief