TWO minutes ago, with The Mummy playing in the background of my bedroom, I took the plunge and booked a 15 day tour with Travel Talk Tours from September 19th – October 3rd 2020. I’m officially going to be visiting one of my top 3 dream travel destinations in less than a year!
I’ve spent the past week scouring the internet for the perfect tour to book, reading so many reviews and comparing prices. I’m nervous to be going to Egypt when the weather will be so hot, but the end of September was the compromise I made so I wouldn’t be in the country during the middle of Summer. This also means I probably won’t be starting my Europe trip until at least June, but I feel better pushing it back when I think about how awkward the conversation with my manager is going to go. “Yes thank you so much for hiring me for an incredible first job that I studied my ass off for 4 years to get, but I want to go travel around Europe for a few months because I’m a total cliche and want to eat pizza in Italy lol.” Yeah, not looking forward to that part. But at least I’ll also have a few more months of saving!
I think at this stage I’m most excited for the trip to Abu Simbel, and of course Petra and the Pyramids of Giza (that I still cannot believe I will actually be seeing with my own eyes). I’m also strangely excited for the Felucca cruise and overnighters, even though I’m already worrying about the toilet situation! Long bus rides and being hassled by locals to buy souvenirs and 40+ degree weather and I am still SO EXCITED.
Anyway, I have to go get ready for work tomorrow and finish watching The Mummy. For the next 292 days until I arrive in Cairo I don’t know how I’m going get anything done because I’m just so excited!
BLACK Friday sales are starting tomorrow and over the past few days it’s occurred to me just how expensive tours through Egypt/Jordan/Morocco are, and that I may be able to snag a great deal this weekend to save some money on my trip. So this past week I’ve been spending my spare time researching tour companies, looking for my perfect itinerary and comparing prices. This involved reading review after review on Facebook, blog posts, reddit and watching as many YouTube videos as I could find.
I think I have settled on a combined Egypt/Jordan Travel Talk Tours and I’m going to look tomorrow to see if I can get a good deal on a trip. I feel like it’s too soon though because I don’t know when to book the trip for! The Summer period seems too hot but the shoulder seasons I wanted to spend in Western Europe. Plus I still haven’t decided if I’m really going to quit my job after only 14 months in May or if I want to attempt to stick around for longer and save more money. Honestly I don’t know what I’ll do tomorrow. I’m thinking of booking the trip for mid-September and leaving in June instead of May. But I seem to have my heart set on May and I’m very anxious to get travelling already.
I thought I had more time to figure this out but this weekend I may have to take the plunge and book something to get my plans into motion. It might be a good thing to have dates booked so that I can start actively planning, but it’s hard to commit to anything right now when I’m not sure what to do about my job.
Who knows, maybe the next time I write something on this blog will be to let you know that I’m officially heading overseas in May of 2020 and I’ll be able to start a countdown already…
I’VE spent this past weekend doing nothing, just trying to recover from a very long and stressful week at work in order for the cycle to being again on Monday…
It’s okay though, I have an amazing dream to spend a significant period of time next year solo-travelling around Europe. I’ve been planning this for years now and 2020 is going to be the year those plans come to fruition. In less than a year I won’t be daydreaming about it anymore – I will make it my reality.
One of my friends asked me last weekend where I saw myself in a years time, and I realised that talking about this trip isn’t enough – I need to get serious about planning it. It’s been a rough couple of months but I feel like focusing on my 2020 travel goal will help me get through the next few months as I’m tucked away in this little corner of South Australia wishing I was already on the other side of the world.
So this is the exciting part I guess – deciding what I want to do. Where I want to be in November 2020, in terms of physical location and goals accomplished. Obviously there are limitations – factors such as money, female solo-traveller safety and the Schengen Visa restrictions to consider. But I’ve never been in a position before where I finally have the time and (some) funds to move abroad or go on a long-term trip. And I get to plan the whole thing, and go and do whatever the hell I want! It feels so liberating, but it’s very intimidating. What do I actually want 2020 (and beyond) to look like? At least I have time to figure this out before I go, and I can always change my mind once I’m over there..
I guess I’m lucky that I have spent time planning this since semester 2 of my first year of university (in 2015) and immersing myself in A LOT of travel content (when really I should’ve been studying and thinking about my career, oh well). I’ve even started making budget spreadsheets, as you can see. It will be interesting to see what they look like before I leave..
But I have so much to organise and it’s overwhelming. A lot of this changes too if I decided to move to the UK for a WHV. Maybe I’ll plan for both scenarios (4 month trip or WHV). I think I will start today by figuring out how much money I can have saved by mid-May 2020. I might also make some back-up plans for leaving in August in case I decide to stick around in Mt Gambier for a bit longer. Honestly though, I have my heart set for leaving in May, which gives me about 6 months to plan this and save another $10,000. At this point I’m estimating I’ll need about $20,000 for a 4-month budget trip, but you know what they say – bring half the luggage and double the money. I think I’d be waiting a long time before I could save that much!
Some other things I will need to organise that I’m just thinking about off the top of my head: bank cards, travel insurance, a one-way or return ticket, organised tours in Northern Africa and any events I want to go to and will have to book tickets/accommodation for early.
I’m not sure if anyone aside from me will ever read this post, or this blog. I guess it’s a way to update my family and for me to look back when this whole adventure is over. Who knows – maybe I’ll be having too much fun to update this once I’m in Europe?!
I’m going to spend this afternoon listening to my ‘Europe 2018 Playlist’ and beginning to fix up my spreadsheets and figuring out how much money I can save by next May. Wish me luck – posting this really feels like the start of something amazing and I’m so excited for next year.
JESS TRAVELS EUROPE 