Gaggle Splat

The trip to Europe this August is pretty much all set, thank god. I think this is the first trip that I've planned completely on my own and, while I love planning and think I would make a terrific travel agent, I can definitely see why people pay extra so someone else will do all the work. This trip has been like my full-time job the past couple of weeks.

A couple of recommendations for other travellers:

• Don't work with Susan at Breakaway Travel in Ypsilanti, MI. She's annoying, very slow, and adds hidden surcharges to your total for all of her "hard work". On second thought, I guess if you're rich and have all the time in the world, you could work with her, but still...
• Buy stuff through STA travel! They're super nice!
• Allow three hours every time you call Rail Europe (and trust me, to get your seat reservations right, you'll have to call multiple times). You will be on hold for AT LEAST an hour, unless you manage to time your call just right smack in the middle of the day.
• And that reminds me... make sure to allow room in your budget for seat reservations in addition to your EuroRail passes. Someone got smart and decided to charge the tourists for both their discounted passes and an additional price for their actual seat, lucky us.
• Remember to breathe... just because the one perfect hostel is booked doesn't mean there isn't a cheaper, nicer hotel available that happens to be closer to the train station.