Today was a tough day for me. It was one of those days where you question alot of things and later you remember that all those things happened for a reason. So this evening I settled down with my cup of tea in my hands and my alpaca blanket wrapped around me and went through things I was thankful for. Like my husband, who brought me a darling rose after my bad day. And my family, who calls frequently to check in on me. So after I’d had a good thinking things through, I refocused positive energy onto our Europe trip.

Going to Europe is something I have wanted to do since I was a child. I looked at hundreds of pictures and read history and biography books of lives led in Europe. I despaired with Anne Frank in her secret annexe in Amsterdam, shared the same love of the Swiss Alps as Heidi, and wept with those who suffered in the potato famine in Ireland. And in every survey for the school paper, I wanted to visit somewhere in Europe. Now…for some of the trip details.

We bought our 3 tickets (Morgan, Jalen, & I) through SmartFares for less than $500 each. It’s a cheap airline ticket site that is similar to BookingBuddy or Kayak. The airline we are flying is Aer Lingus, which is based out of Ireland so most of their flights have layovers in Dublin. Another really reasonable search engine for checking international tickets is with Wow Air. They have limited days and places but they are worth checking out! Keep in mind they run alot like Spirit Airlines, with few amenities, high baggage prices, etc..

We have already booked our first 2 nights in Amsterdam since we know we will be there the first couple days getting our bearings and sightseeing. We have an app called Hostelworld that is great for finding anything you’re looking for as far as hostels go. I have NOT had a good first hostel experience, my first time being in Mexico&Belize this last Christmas, so I am hoping for a good one this time:) Morgan and Jalen have stayed in lots of hostels in different countries with good experiences so that’s hopeful.

And last of all, but so so exciting, is that we have a high chance to buy a bus we found in LA! We went and looked at it a couple of weekends ago, and we have narrowed it down between some other options we have. The thing with converting and buying a bus is that no bus will ever be perfect, although we had high hopes at first. Each one we’ve looked at has something that will need work, or repair soon, or the price is too high for what we see. We are so ready to get our dreams in motion! Morgan has been keeping in touch with the LA bus guy so if it works out, and this is “the” bus, we will hopefully close on it before we leave for Europe! We’re scared to leave it until we come home because what if someone else sees it and we have to start our search all over. So lots going on in our heads right now. And so much excitement over the funny directions my life has taken since getting married 5 months ago. cheers everyone.