Tuesday, August 14, 2007

A Lot o' Money... But Worth It!

Today I slapped down the largest sum of money I've ever spent in one place! Booked my flights to and from the US, paid for my passport, insurance, tax, a flight to Vancouver from Chicago, and an Amtrak pass for one month for anywhere in the US. So it's definitely done now, I'm all booked ready to go.

I leave Brisbane on the morning of the 24th of October, and arrive in Denver on the afternoon of... the 24th of October. Gotta love the time difference thing hey? I actually come home from Chicago, leaving there on the 7th of January 2008. So all in all I am in the US (with a sojourn to Vancouver) for 11 weeks.

I've also booked my flight from Chicago to Vancouver on the 19th of November, and I hope to spend about a week there. I'll head back into the US via Seattle, where I pick up my month long nation-wide Amtrak pass, and I want to make my way across country to Florida, then up the Atlantic coast to NYC!

From there I'm not sure, but I have to be back in Chicago on the 7th of January to fly home.
This is so exciting! I can't believe I'm finally doing it!

7 comments:

Amy said...

Congratulations! It sounds very fun. An Amtrak pass! I never thought of that--we don't have a train here. But don't worry, I'll pick you up nearby.

There's so much to see and you've got lots of time. Have a great time planning and replanning and exploring.

Anonymous said...

from vancouver, you will be boarding a ferry to the beautiful sunshine coast of british columbia. home of the longest running series in canadian t.v. history (the beachcombers)
theory has it that the renovations in my basement will have been completed by then so you will be housed in relative luxury .
of course, food and coffee won't be an issue while you are with us on the coast - seeing as i do own a bistro/bakery with the best coffee, soup etc on the coast!.

really looking forward to your visit...will need to know flight #, arrival time etc so i can make the trip in to vancouver to pick you up!
see ya soon!

oh yeah...bring promite!

Sleepydumpling said...

Amy - the Amtrak pass is for after I've been to see you. I gotta get from Seattle to Tampa!

Ian - Promite hey? I think I can do that!

leany17 said...

I am excited for you.. we want lots of news and photos on the way and if you meet Goofy - give him a hug for me.

Bikini By Xmas said...

Having travelled in the US of A I have been racking my brains to think of things for you to do.

The best way to look at what a city has to offer is find their "official" home pages and research what would be of interest to you before you go. But be realistic (unlike me). Don't plan to do 4 or more things in a single day as that will just set you up for disappointment. Choose 1 or 2 things and allow yourself all the time you want to look at something. Also, have a back up activity for when things turn out to be closed for repairs (which would have happened to me in London but fortunately I checked the website for St-Martin-In-the-Fields and discovered that it was closing 2 days after I arrived so I readjusted my itinerary).

Also, prepare a document that has a rough itinerary for every city and put all the opening hours, costs, websites, and phone numbers for everything that you want to see. Make 3 copies of this. Place one in your carry on luggage, one in your luggage and one with your travel documents.

Also, use Google Maps to print off maps of everywhere you want to go. Believe me, this is a godsend when you get lost somewhere.

I'll think of more things and get back to you.

Love

Kate

Sleepydumpling said...

Thanks for the tips Kate, I'll definitely take note!

Brocky said...

Cool! Can't wait to see the photos and read all about it.