Exchange rates suck!

Jeez. I just went through and converted the prices for our "activities" while in Ireland / Scotland and let me just say, the US dollar sucks. It also sucks that Ireland uses Euros while Scotland uses Pounds. I'm nervous about converting my money once - let alone twice.

Here's a question for anyone who can answer, why when I see Ireland addresses (mainly in Dublin) does it say "Dublin 1" or "Dublin 8". What is the number? Like a zip code? I know that Dublin is "split" into two different areas, but not eight...

Edit: I've been told that the numbers in the Dublin addresses are like postcodes eight being further away from the center of the city and 1 being the closest.

Yahoo! Travel Trip Planner

I'm not surprised, but Yahoo's Travel Trip Planner is coming through for me. When I first started using it - it was great for schedule organization - but I never took full advantage of it. Now I've begun to do that and it's becoming extremely useful and dependable.

I love the schedule view because I'm able to see everything at a glance, and it's very well organized. I've also begun to use the address/phone/URL/description fields as I'm finding it indispensable to be able to go to one place (My Trip Planner) and find all the websites I use in relation to a location. I can also point anyone to this Trip Planner and they can see where we're going and stuff - great for family.

You can upload pictures (which of course links with Flickr) and there's also a trip journal too - where you can add the pictures to your posts. Though I'm keeping a journal here, I think I'll also keep a journal there (once the trip starts, until the trip ends) as perhaps it'll be able to help someone else who is planning a trip that's similar.

The only downfall? You can't use the driving directions (or Map View) for any place outside of the USA or Canada :(

What to do... What to do...

Now that we've bought our tickets, ordered our passports, and placed the deposit for the trip - we have to figure out what we want to do! I feel so overwhelmed and I really don't know where to start. There are a million things we can do in the bigger cities like Glasgow and Edinburgh - but what about the smaller ones? I'm worried I'm either going to overbook our time or underbook it and we'll be in a standstill for a lot of our time.

Because we'll be in some cities for two days and others for only a single day - I've made a deal with Paul that we'll relax on the days we have an extra day. That means I need to find stuff for us to do on the following days:

Apr-22, Dublin (from 11am until 8pm)
Apr-23, Glasgow
Apr-24, Fort William (I want to visit Glencoe, but will that be an all day activity?)
Apr-26, Portree [Isle of Skye] (I want to visit Storr, but again, is that an all day trip?)
Apr-28, Inverness
Apr-30, Aberdeen
May-2, Edinburgh
May-3, Dublin

I feel like such a bad international traveler-planner-person, here we are gladly spending all this money and we don't have any idea where we want to go?! Panic!!! There are so many travel sites, so many options and yet... I feel limited. Why is that? I wish I could just find a website that knew what kind of adventure we was looking for. I want this to be a trip I'll never forget. A trip that lives up to all my expectations of a country that I've been dreaming of going to for as long as I can remember.

I need some suggestions. Book or service or website that isn't going to suggest flights, cars, trains, or hotels - just things to do. Any suggestions?

Keeping Connected

I called T-Mobile today and talked to them about the cost for making calls internationally. They said it's going to be $.99 a minute for voice, $10 per MB for data (though they do not charge in $10 increments thank the good Lord), and $.35 sent/$.15 received for text messaging.

Shocking.

The woman was nice enough to explain that I really wouldn't find any better price no matter which carrier I was with because its the country where the call is originating from that is setting the price. Looking through a few of the countries, I'm glad we're not traveling to Russia where its a whopping $4.99 a minute and there is no data coverage.

I've been looking into some other options such as calling cards and wi-fi locations. The calling cards are a little tricky because most of them are based on originating/destination landline calls and the fact is that not all of the people I would call are on landlines. The other option, wi-fi, is a much better option. I found this site, Wi-Here, that is going to be a great source. I'm tempted to try and find locations along our way right now - but the fact of the matter is that all of these locations may or may not change in the next six months. With an internet connection I'd be able to use my webcam, a skype phone, and also your basics like email to keep connected to my friends and family.

The most important thing I got out of calling T-Mobile is that they have excellent coverage through all of the UK so I really have nothing to worry about when it comes to being in an emergency and being able to call for help.

Luggage

After booking the flights, the woman explained their luggage policy. Two pieces for each passenger - combined weight can be no more than 70lbs. We can have one carry on weighing no more than 15lbs - and women can have the biggest purse they want :) I have no luggage. I've never traveled to where I needed "luggage" so all I really have is a duffel bag. This weekend I went looking for luggage and found a lot of options.

Here's some of my requirements:

• Not Black or Blue. All of the websites I went to about the best luggage to buy all said that buying blue or black would be easiest in the beginning, but it would be difficult to spot in a sea of luggage that is also blue or black. I figure with four different luggage claims in our future I didn't want to make it any more difficult.
• If possible, matching set. Having a matching set would be the best for baggage claim and also for traveling in general. Hardware, colors, and fabrics would all be the same - consistency is the key!
• Wheels. Duh. In fact, I don't think I could have found a luggage set that didn't have wheels. Though a lot of people made it seem like the wheels were the wave of the future and explained the HUMONGOUS price tag.

I went to Overstock.com, where they had some really good prices, selection, and their policy is "no matter how much you buy, your entire order ships for just $2.95" - which was perfect for me because I hate, hate, hate paying for shipping & handling and I could only imagine how much it would be for large pieces of luggage. I found this set I was interested in, and bookmarked it.

I also went to Macys.com and found this number. I wanted it instantly - but finally my reasonable side got in control and I talked myself out of being so spontaneous. I told Paul though, "We should buy it! Then when we have kids, they'll eventually travel, and they can use it!" But of course, I didn't buy it.

Next I went to Target.com and found they had a decent online selection, but I thought that with the Target across the street I wasn't about to pay for shipping & handling (which average about $25+). We drove over the Target and their selection sucked in store - so I vetoed that.

Since we were out, we headed down to the mall. Paul remembered that there was a luggage store there. On our way off the freeway I noticed the TJ Maxx and decided to slip in there. I found that they didn't have a great many options so far as "sets" go - but they did have a lot. I found something that was perfect - though definately more expensive than the Overstock.com set I was looking at. As you can see, it's not blue or black, it's a set, and both pieces have wheels. The smaller one stacks easily on the bigger one, the fabric inside is removable (to an extent) to allow for cleaning, and it has a removable nylon drawstring pouch. The only thing I'm not wild about is how "stylish" it is - even if the style is old. I would have preferred something in more of a pea green and without the pink - but I'm willing to let that slide.

However, the price was more than we had anticipated in spending. We decided to buy it since it was the last set (so far as, they had a lot of the large piece but only one of the smaller piece) and return it if we found something better. We looked in the luggage store and realized that since they were "specializing" they were also "ripping us off" - $298 for one piece?!!! Hell no. We checked inside of JC Penny's and did find something there - but I think that Paul could tell that I liked the one I'd found and he decided to just let me keep it.

Passports!

This weekend was so productive when it comes to the trip.

I had a sudden realization and then panic because I remembered we'd been waiting to buy the tickets before applying for our passports (because of the cost). Plus, I couldn't seem to find one of my two copies of my birth certificate which you have to send in with your application. This is all on top of the fabled 10+ week waiting period for the actual application. I was panicking.

So on Friday night (after falling asleep in the early afternoon and sleeping for two hours) I spent the night rummaging through our newly, slightly better organized guest closet for the paperwork I stashed somewhere after our marriage certificate applications. I found it, finally, along with a copy of Paul's birth certificate too and finally we were ready!

Saturday morning I woke early and filled out Paul's application while he slept, and got directions to the nearest photo center that took passport sized photographs and also to the local public library where we could submit the application. We first went and got Paul's hair cut, then got our pictures taken, then went over to the library.

I'm so glad we left as early as we did because when we got to where the internet directions sent us, it ends up that the library had moved (though the building was still labeled, "Public Library"). So we drove around the complex thinking that with no note in the window as to where they moved, maybe they were still close by. All we could find was a bookstore so I popped in there and asked. Ends up the library had been moved for a good YEAR and they just didn't bother to update their directions on their website. Nice. When we did get to the library it was 2:30pm and the passport staff closed "promptly" at four. I was panicking a little when I saw the large line (where the hell is everyone going?!) and even more so when the volunteer who prepared the paperwork turned out to be sweet, but elderly slow and hard of hearing. Plus a family of four went into the passport office before us and since I had no idea what exactly they were doing in there I had all these crazy fears they would kick us out promptly at four.

I didn't need to worry though. The family of four did take awhile, but not too long. Ends up all they do in the passport office is take down your ID information, have you sign, and take your money. We were in and out quickly because I made the check(s) out while we waited.

Best news? Ends up this is the slowest time of the year for the passport office and the woman assured us it wouldn't take 10 weeks, it would take 4-6 and she said we might even get it earlier than four. GREAT news, and a real weight off my shoulders.

Okay, so tomorrow wasn't the day

My last post on September 19th was not the day but today is! That's right, I bought our tickets! Just now. JUST NOW!

I'm so excited I could burst and it doesn't seem like anyone is as excited as I am, I wonder why that is? The price was almost $200 less than I thought it would be, we're still traveling on the dates we were intending initially, and I found out that we get a full beef dinner :) Isn't that great?! Beef! I've never been on a plane before and in the span of two weeks I'll be on four.

I emailed our travel agent and told her we're ready to put down our deposit. I think I'm going to put more than just our deposit down though, because the plane tickets were less than expected AND we're getting a bonus for signing our lease again at our apartment.

I'm so excited. I feel like I'm going to BURST!

Buying the tickets was strange through. The woman who helped me was really nice, but she was strange too. She told me I was paying $308 to "Uncle Sam" and how the people of this country are going to riot soon. She was very well informed though. She confused me because at the end she kept asking if I had gotten it yet, and I though I wasn't sure what she was talking about, I assumed she was asking in regards to an email so I kept checking my email. She asked if my printer was on. I asked, "Why?" she said that everything would start printing. So confusing. In the end she said to just call her back if I didn't get the email and a few minutes later I did get it.

I'm so excited!!!