Making a Budget

Budget: a mathematical confirmation of your suspicions. ~A.A. Latimer

We leave for Spain in 5 days. I'm finalizing the budget and getting a bit nervous. We're attempting to spend 10 days in a gastronomic paradise and only spend $1800. Here's how that's going to break down.

Lodging
9 nights in hotels = just under 500 euros, which as of right now is coming out to about $700

Transportation and Sightseeing
We've already bought our bus tickets to get between major cities (for $200), but may buy a few more tickets for short jaunts and day trips. These should be under $20. Add another $30 for taxis and city transportation in Barcelona.
We're planning on about $50 in museum entry fees and wine tasting costs.
We have a cooking class scheduled which will cost about $200.

Food and Wine
This, of course, is where we spend the most of our money.

As luck would have it, unlike most of the hotels we try to stay in, our hotels in two of the three cities do not include breakfast. Since Dan isn't a big breakfast-eater anyways, to help save money I'm packing some power bars that I can munch for breakfast some days. We'll try and get by on about $20 (15 euros) for breakfast for the whole trip.

That leaves us just under $800 for food and drink for the 10 days, or about 550 euros.

We figure three of the days we'll want to do a nicer dinner (once in each town). On those days we'll need to balance that out with either a cheaper lunch, or compensate by eating more cheaply on another day. Luckily, it seems that for every amazing culinary temple, there are several options for cheap eats. We're looking forward to filling up on round after round of $3 cava and tapas.

We never figure shopping into our budget but are taking an extra $200 or so to hit Zara, my favorite discount retailer (which is based in Spain). Of course, the less money we spend on food, drink, and sightseeing, the more we have to shop!

We'll see how we did when we get back!

Two Cool Vacation Ideas

I've already discussed my disdain for tours. But if I was going to do a tour, and if money was no object, I would consider contacting In Touch Travel. The premise is that there's no better tour guide than a local. Rather than operating a standard superficial tour, these local guides get in depth. A sommelier in France will take you wine tasting at various wineries and then show you the best wine bars in town. A personal shopper in Milan will show you the best boutiques, take you to a fashion show or get you after-hours access to a designer's store. It's pretty pricey, but I think some of the experiences could be worth it. And the tours are private - just you and the guide.

Another neat trip idea is offered by Vocation Vacations. This tour company gives you the chance to test drive your dream job. Common dream careers like actor, chef and model are represented along with a few more off-the-wall choices like pro-wrestler, dude rancher, and swordmaker. Guests spend a few days with an expert in that field. They watch the person work and get coaching on how to break into that particular field. it's not my dream job, but I'd love to spend a weekend learning how to be a cheese-maker, if only for all the free samples I'd get!

Jet Lag

The time to enjoy a European trip is about three weeks after unpacking. ~ George Ade

So far in my travels, I've done pretty well with avoiding jet lag. I tend to think of it as a mind-over-matter thing, and the fact that I can sleep pretty much anywhere, anytime definitely helps.

To avoid jet-lag, try these tactics:

- If you wear a watch, set your time to that of your destination as soon as you get on the plane. Banish any thoughts of "it's X o'clock my time". Your time is now the time of the place you are headed. Don't even think about what time it would have been at home. You aren't there so it no longer matters.

- Sleep on the plane on the way over. Not only will it make the journey go by faster, but waking up when you land at 8am in Europe will immediately put you in the mind set that it is morning. Your body clock will be re-set to the new time zone. If you don't think you'll be tired enough to sleep the whole way, try disrupting your sleep the day before - stay up later and then wake up early the next day so you are tired when you get on the plane. Or try a sleeping aid like some Benadryl or Ambian (my drug of choice, just try it once at home to see how you react. I sleep like a log for 8 hours off half a pill).

- Going the opposite direction (from east to west) is a bit more difficult. It's hard to wake for an 8am flight and then sleep on the plane. I try to make sure I'm a bit tired that day - stay out late and enjoy the last night of your trip (just make sure you don't overdo it and miss your flight!) so that you are tired enough to sleep on the plane. Again, Ambian can be helpful.

- Once you arrive in your destination, remember you are in that time zone now. The time it is back home does not matter. If you are absolutely exhausted or didn't sleep on the plane, take a short nap (no more than 2 hours) and the commit to stay up until at least 9pm. Get in some physical activity by taking a long walk to check out your new surroundings and then take a long shower to rejuvenate and rehydrate. By the next morning you should be feeling fine.

- On the way back, again it can be more difficult to adjust. If we land early I'll sometimes take a quick nap, but usually I just commit to staying up until 9 or 10 pm. Generally I have just slept 6-8 hours on the plane so you would think falling asleep would be difficult, but I have no trouble. Traveling tends to take a lot out of me, plus I think I was just gifted with an ability to sleep unlimited hours.

With a few strategies and the right mind-set, you can avoid, or at least minimize, the effects of jet lag.

Our Weekend in Detroit

Over Thanksgiving break Dan and I went back to Michigan to celebrate the holiday without families (well part of mine, as my sister and mom are were in Florida). While there we decided to play tourist and check out some of Detroit’s attractions.

Wednesday we drove around and took a million pictures. We went to the DIA- the Detroit Institute of Arts - to see the new expansion and visit some of our favorite works.

The facade of the DIA

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Diego Rivera's mural

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We had lunch at Cass Café, a cheap restuarant/bar popular with Wayne State students (and one of Dan's old hangouts) with our old boss from the radio station where we met, then visited the Detroit Historical Museum. Neither of us had ever been and we were very impressed. The model assembly line and other exhibits were neat and the famous “Streets of Old Detroit” exhibit (a whole floor made in to a replica of Detroit from the late 1800’s – early 1900’s) lived up to the hype.

The assembly line

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The Old Streets of Detroit

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Then it was on to the Museums of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) next to our old apartment on Woodward (where we saw the Thanksgiving Day Parade floats driving down the street to move into position for the next day) and to Sole Sisters, a cute boutique owned by a friend.

A preview of the floats

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We checked out the demolitions progress at the old Tiger Stadium and got a few shots of the never-to-be-torn-down train station.

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The Old Tiger Stadium, or what's left of it.

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Looking down Woodward to the RenCen.

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The train station

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Then it was off to John King Books, home of over 900,000 used and rare books, to pick up some gifts.

Just one corner of one floor of John King - book lover's paradise

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We stopped by the new gourmet Zacarro’s market, just to check it out, and then met up with friends at Slow’s BBQ. Dan had eaten there about a year and a half ago and loved it, but it was my first time. It was amazing! We had copious amounts of bourbon and lemonade drinks, and 2 apps, and 2 entrees (which came with 4 total sides) between 4 people and our bill was just over $100. And it was good! Pulled pork, creamy mac and cheese, and gooey cheesy waffle fries. The apple bbq sauce was so good, I snagged some to take home!

The day after Thanksgiving we did a bit more exploring, heading down to Eastern Market, a collection of gourmet stores and produce retailers, and the Heidelberg Project, an open air art instilation incorporating abandoned buildings and junk.

Eastern Market

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The Heidelberg

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That night we had wanted to go feather-bowling at the Cadieux Café but all the lanes were booked, so we settled for some beer and tasty mussels.

Other than that we got in a whole lot of much needed face time with family and friends.

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The old “I want to move back to Detroit” bug that I always get when we are home reared its ugly head, but until the economy picks up or Detroit significantly upgrades it’s public transportation, that won’t be happening.

The pathetic people mover - for looks only

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Ah well, at least we can visit often.

Where Have We Been?

Well, Detroit for one.

But the reason that we (I) haven't been updating so much recently is because I was working on a few other things.

I did a block of 20 trips as a freelance gig for Trazzler (keep your fingers crossed that there's more to come).

I received two freelance contracts from elance.

And I spent some time putting together honeymoon ideas for Carmie and Steve (yes, I love planning even other people's trips!).

I hope to resume regular posting, starting with a recap of our time in Detroit, next week.