It’s funny living here in London amongst some very well traveled individuals with Europe literally at the backdoor waiting to be explored…you see they’ve already seen it, or most of it, so they dream of sunny Caribbean holidays or southeast Asian adventures or wild South African explorations. But this, this location, this easy access, it’s truly an American wanderlust’s dream come true. Europe is so expansive and so diverse; for an American traveler that equates to expensive and time consuming, especially considering the average 10-15 days of paid time off a year. And even you are lucky enough to hoard all those days and roll them over to the next year, can you really get away from work, from day to day affairs, from life for 2 or 3 weeks at a time?! YES. YES, YOU CAN. And you should. It’s good to break away from the mundane and have some freedom, to not set an alarm, to wander somewhat aimlessly, and explore the different cultures of a land afar. So here’s my plan for you, for your escape: Research. So much research. We might repeat this step a lot, btw. What are your goals for your time away? Relaxation? Exploring? Outdoor adventures? What is the one place in the world you must see? Do you enjoy art? Music? Food? Is it important to be at the beach (these are much different than beaches in America though)? In a city? Countryside? You need to decide what is important for you on this holiday so you can build a plan. Think Bucket List type items. Set a budget. This is important, because without some guideline you could spend an endless amount of money. Which is why I also recommend saving a lot and starting early. Depending on where you’re planning to start (look up average flight costs to the city you want to begin your adventure…sometimes one way tickets are even pricier than return tickets so it might be wise to begin and end in a centrally located city… London is great because it’s amazing, duh, but there are direct flights from all over America as well as direct flights all over Europe.) and where you’re planning to go (you need at least a rough itinerary to set a budget… the south of France and Italian coast are going to be much more expensive than Eastern Europe) will guide your budget. Research. Again, yes. So you decide Paris is the place you must see and you want to fly in and out of Paris and average flights from your town are $1400 return. So you set your budget at $3000, leaving $1600 for travel around Europe. Now where to go… Research other options, look at a map, review options for travel out of Paris such as trains, buses, flights. Buy a book about traveling Europe. Ask around about where other people have been and recommend. Build an Itinerary. This is my favorite part. I love looking at a map and making routes to explore. Paris to Amsterdam to Brussels to London to Paris. Paris to Marseille to Nice to Monaco to Genoa to Paris. Or keep on past Genoa to Cinque Terre. Paris to Barcelona to Madrid to Lisbon to Marrakesh to Paris. Paris to London to Edinburgh to Dublin to Bath to Paris. Paris to Zurich to Milan to Verona to Venice to Paris. Paris to Prague to Vienna to Bratislava to Budapest to Paris. I could literally do this all day. I would build a tentative itinerary of the places you want to hit but be prepared to alter it as budget constraints allow. Research. Yep. So you have a tentative plan of what and where you want to see but you need to make sure the plans align with your budget. So it is obviously quicker to fly between cities but you may find that the price isn’t quite right for your travel plans and that taking a chartered bus is better (most are quite nice and roomy and very affordable). During this research and planning phase, you also want to be sure you identify what you want to do in each city you visit as to determine how much time to spend there. Now personally, I like to work out all these details before I make purchases but maybe your flights are really discounted and you need to purchase immediately, you can make all the other plans pretty easily after. Check out my favorite travel apps of the moment here! Think about how you can use or acquire points and perks for travel–maybe signing up for that new credit card you’ve been thinking about in order to gain as many points from booking travel as possible. I know of people who have signed up for airline credit cards in order to get a free flight abroad. I would just caution you from signing up for credit cards you do not need or if your credit is not in a good place. It may seem too good to be true for a reason. With that being said, there are a lot of great ways to accrue points and perks for travel. We personally use Hilton credit cards for all our expenses (AND PAY IT OFF IMMEDIATELY, I cannot stress that enough) and reap the benefits with loads of free stays at some pretty amazing properties. This step may require you doing some research… 😉 Start booking! Book your flights first, then travel between cities and then find the accommodations. My best recommendation for finding great accommodations is to check Trip Advisor and read the reviews. Also, check out Airbnb and HomeAway for great options with great prices and a more “homey” feel. Here are a few places I’m swooning over at the moment… Paris .. Amsterdam .. Marrakesh .. Dubrovnik.. Stockholm After you’ve worked out the major pieces of this puzzle, it is down to the details. Check out my post over here before you take off, you jet-setter!