Planning Recommended

For my super cool holiday I was just going to find somewhere to begin with and then decide what I wanted to do as I went. After my friend (who for the purpose of this blog I shall name A) decided to join me on my epic adventure I figured I couldn't just wing it as I intended. Especially since she's more travelled than me, and she recommended a lot of planning.

So I planned.

A was supremely busy at work so I pretty much planned things, updated A, got her response and then had to re-plan. I used a notebook specifically for planning, making notes on hostels, hotels, places, costs, activities, etc.

We finally agreed on our route:

Chicago
Memphis
New Orleans
Gunnison
Grand Canyon
Las Vegas.

Of course things changed while we were actually away, but we did get to these places on our list, and then some. We purposely left some time with no planning so we had some flexibility during the holiday. We booked our hostel in Chicago, a hotel in New Orleans and a hotel in Vegas. Other than that we were pretty open to suggestions and recommendations.

We had our projected budget, which came in at £10,000. But that included my spending three weeks in the UK beforehand and A spending time in Canada after America. We settled on £1,000 per week, each, to include all meals, accommodation, travel and spending.

I booked my return flight to the UK, and a few weeks later we both booked our American flights via Expedia's multiple destination option. I paid a little under £1,000 to fly from Manchester to Newark for a connection to Chicago. Part-way through the holiday I was to fly from New Orleans to Denver and my final flight (for the American Part of my trip) was from Las Vegas to Washington to connect for my flight to return to Manchester.

Money, of course, was an issue. With the help of a bank loan, and with my wages coming in throughout my holiday, I managed to get the £10,000 budgeted for. So, by the time June came around I was organised, with my travel plans, with my shopping list, with my money, with my packing.

And it seemed I had managed to keep my visit to the UK a surprise from my mother, which I was very pleased about. It was a helluva surprise for her!

So, the next thing for me to do was finish up at work and double, triple check everything and head off on my Epic American Adventure.