EMBARKING ON ANOTHER EUROPEAN ADVENTURE!

EMBARKING ON ANOTHER EUROPEAN ADVENTURE!

A few days ago, I made a spontaneous decision. Instead of taking a short trip to the US in September, which was part of my financial goals for 2013, I decided to cross the ocean for the second time this year and spend a couple of months in Europe!

I often browse for flights randomly and had been comparing the cost of going to Miami or New York to the cost of a last-minute flight to Europe. Then, I stumbled upon a $150 flight from Cancún, Mexico to Madrid, Spain. The catch? The flight was less than 48 hours away, and I needed 24 hours just to get to Cancún without stress. This journey involves taking a microbus to the Belizean border, crossing Belize, crossing the Mexican border, and then taking a six-hour bus to Cancún.

It was possible, but when I told my boyfriend, who hates last-minute surprises, he wasn’t thrilled. In hindsight, he was right. There wasn’t enough time to arrange for someone to watch the house, feed the animals, and find a substitute to check with my bureaucrat friends about the progress on subdividing our 90 acres of land. So, I let the offer go, knowing another flight would come up soon.

Five days later, I found another flight and tried to book it, but my credit card didn’t work, and the flight disappeared again! Now, I don’t have a flight, but like last time, I might end up paying a higher price and traveling from Guatemala City.

Update: I made it to Paris! The details and costs will be shared in another post.

Traveling to Cancún costs about $120 round trip. You have to cross two borders, which is the worst part, but otherwise, it’s not much longer than going to Guatemala City. Then, there’s a $150 flight to Spain and a $150 flight to Paris, totaling $300. Last-minute flights within Europe can be as expensive as crossing the ocean due to high rates from low-cost airlines. Assuming the same deal on the way back, the total would be $720.

My boyfriend paid $1,250 to fly from Guatemala City to Paris, with a stopover in Miami on the way out and Madrid on the way back, plus $100 to get to Guatemala City, totaling $1,350.

He’s joining me in mid-September, and we’re driving my motorcycle to Morocco! I’m so excited! He’ll be here for six weeks. We’ll land in Paris, head to the South of France, visit Bordeaux, the Basque Country, cross into Spain, visit Santiago de Compostela on the North coast, head South to Portugal, take a ferry to Morocco, explore the Sahara and the imperial cities, then return to Spain, travel to Barcelona, and finally back to Paris by the end of October.

As usual, I’m a bit disorganized and have almost no posts queued up, but I have two weeks before my boyfriend arrives to find something to write about. Expect some travel updates! If you’d like to guest post here or host the carnival of Financial Independence, just let me know. See you!

What was the last crazy decision you made?