6/3/19
Although I’m very fortunate on the travel front I’m sometimes stuck in my NYC apartment planning for the future. Staring out at the tree that overwhelms my fire escape on my Upper, Upper (This is not a typo, I’m on 180th St.) West Side apartment daydreaming about faraway lands. Every major vacation takes a bit of planning, which I love, but sitting is not my favorite thing in the world. On this early June day, I’m focusing on the planning section of my travel, a
With my upcoming wedding, there seems to be a lot of planning for the future which has to be one of my favorite parts of getting married. I couldn’t be more thrilled to marry the partner I’ve chosen but planning a wedding seems to be a little more than I bargained for. With his family in Upstate New York and mine in Michigan, it takes more effort to connect, thankfully we’ll be hosting the wedding on a rooftop in Brooklyn, NY.
I’m currently planning several trips, in a week we’ll be taking off to Boothbay Harbor, Maine, one of our favorite locations, to celebrate our 3-year anniversary and a new job for Brandon! July 4th weekend we’ll be on our way to Michigan to join my family for a bridal shower then heading back to Michigan August 10th for my brother’s wedding.
All of this, while minor trips, takes a bit of planning. What I’m most excited for though is the three week’s we’ll be spending in Italy in September and October after our wedding on August 31st. We’ve been putting a lot of energy into planning for this incredible time away. I’m so grateful to be marrying someone who has the same aspirations as myself to see the world. As a little girl, I would write that my dream was to live in every country for one month. As I grew up I realized that with 195 countries that might be hard to do but that’s not going to stop me from trying!
Last time we took a trip to Scotland for Christmas I learned so much about traveling to a different country while being sick and with a significant other. This time I can adjust the trip to release some of that tension, like getting travel insurance. I don’t believe I will ever travel overseas again without travel insurance because it turns out good intentions don’t always protect you.
By planning so far in advance we have the added advantage of being able to pay off all our basics (Airbnb’s, flights, scheduled tours) before we even set foot in Italy. I’m one of those incredibly annoying budget minded people who obsessively check my credit score and login to all our accounts daily. Additionally, and this one may be the most appealing, we’re able to look up the best time to go with the lowest foot traffic and save money.
While researching the Vatican I stumbled upon Vatican Museums by night. Normal Hours are still in play all-year-round but for seven months out of the year on Friday nights, they shut down for an hour then reopen from 7-11pm. I was able to get two tickets for $100 which included an hour of wine and buffet aperitifs and a guided tour to follow. During this time they only sell 8,000 of their usual 35,000 tickets. This allows guests to Rome around the galleries at a more enjoyable pace. Okay, sorry for the terrible dad joke that just unfolded but it was just too easy. This is one of the luxeries of planning for the future of your travel plans. I cannot wait to see what other secrets are revealed while working on my travel plans!
If you’re searching for more information like this, head over to my NYC Home Life page
Leave a Reply