Where will you be for the Holidays?

Cool sign in Murphys, CA

This morning Kevin left for South Lake Tahoe again. He's been working up there on a remodel. Poor him, right? I use to love having time to myself but now that I have 3 other adults in the house; even when Kevin leaves I don't have time to myself.  I thought about calling in sick and going with him but honestly I'd feel guilty doing that.  Darn conscious. 

I'm getting excited about my Thanksgiving weekend drive.   I plan on stopping at Roadside America stops along the way.  Check it out, the app makes almost any drive more interesting. I'll be spending Thanksgiving in Nampa  with family. Sat morning I'll drive over to Twin Falls to have lunch with another cousin who I haven't seen in 20 years before driving back.

North Pole, AK

Our 2015 Visit

Right before Christmas I'm flying to the North Pole to watch a couple of dogs for 2 weeks. Yes, I'm spending Christmas in North Pole, Alaska. Seriously, how cool is that? Pun intended. It will be around -30F while I'm there. Also I'll only see sunlight from around 10am to 2pm.  That's 4 hours people. I have a feeling that my brain will be thinking it's midnight when it's probably only 7pm. If you know me though, you know I love "experiences" and this will be one for the books.  At least my closest relatives will be only 20 min away in Fairbanks. The best part is the Northern Lights. The chance of me seeing them is super high since I'll be there for 2 weeks and it will be cold and dark 20 hours per day. 

Where are you going for the holidays? Comment below...

Round the world trip

I wanted to see if I could create a RTW trip for under $2000 USD to places I actually wanted to visit. I wanted as close to a week at each stop as I could get. I live in Sacramento but for most International flights I drive to San Francisco.  So that’s where my trip begins.

		San Francisco (SFO) to Montreal (YUL) — Wed, Mar 30
		San Francisco (SFO) to Detroit (DTW) — Wed, Mar 30
		Delta 1148	Dep: 10:25 pm		Arr: 6:02 am	4h 37m	Boeing 757	Economy (V)
			Layover in DTW		Thu, Mar 31	1h 23m
		Detroit (DTW) to Montreal (YUL) — Thu, Mar 31
		Delta 4127	Dep: 7:25 am		Arr: 9:13 am	1h 48m	Canadair RJ 900	Economy (V)
Total cost for 1 passenger	$159.13

 

 After a week visiting Canada and learning a little French I travel over to France for 6 days.

		Montreal (YUL) to Paris (CDG) — Wed, Apr 6
		Air Transat 396		Dep: 7:25 pm	Arr: 8:15 am	6h 50m	Airbus A330	Economy (X)
					Thu, Apr 7
Total cost for 1 passenger	CA$502.65

This is $364.94 USD

My husband is Italian and off we go to visit his family for 6 days because honestly who can spend more than a week with family?

		Paris (ORY) to Pisa (PSA) — Tue, Apr 12
		Paris (ORY) to Copenhagen (CPH) — Tue, Apr 12
		Norwegian Air Shuttle 3639	Dep: 9:35 pm		Arr: 11:30 pm	1h 55m	Boeing 737	Economy (Q)
			Layover in CPH			6h 30m
		Copenhagen (CPH) to Pisa (PSA) — Wed, Apr 13
		Norwegian Air Shuttle 3736	Dep: 6:00 am		Arr: 8:20 am	2h 20m	Boeing 737	Economy (X)
Total cost for 1 passenger	€116.87

This is $130.10 USD

I’ve seen movies and heard stories but let’s visit the ramparts of Morocco for ourselves. Bonus: We will overnight in London – Big Ben here I come. Crumpet’s and tea anyone?

 

		Pisa (PSA) to Marrakech (RAK) — Mon, Apr 18
		Pisa (PSA) to London (LGW) — Mon, Apr 18
		British Airways 2601		Dep: 3:50 pm	Arr: 5:05 pm	2h 15m	Airbus A319	Economy (O)
				Layover in LGW		21h 40m
		London (LGW) to Marrakech (RAK) — Tue, Apr 19
		British Airways 2666		Dep: 2:45 pm	Arr: 6:30 pm	3h 45m	Airbus A320	Economy (O)
Total cost for 1 passenger	€146.97

This is $163.60 USD

From Morocco we travel on to Spain.

		Marrakech (RAK) to Madrid (MAD) — Sat, Apr 23
		Iberia 8379		Dep: 7:25 am	Arr: 10:15 am	1h 50m	Canadair RJ 1000	Economy (P)
		OPERATED BY AIR NOSTRUM L.A.M.S.A.
Total cost for 1 passenger	MAD1,208.00

This is $123.71 USD

I’m sure a week in Spain will only wet my appetite but off to Turkey I must go.  My mother spent time in Turkey when she was a teenager. She use to tell me stories of walking along the Bosphorus and how beautiful it was. According to her she even dated a prince for a while.  I love my dad; however, seriously, you went from a Turkish prince to him?

Madrid (MAD) to Istanbul (IST) — Sat, Apr 30
		Madrid (MAD) to Athens (ATH) — Sat, Apr 30
		Aegean Airlines 687		Dep: 12:55 pm	Arr: 5:35 pm	3h 40m	Airbus A320	Economy (P)
				Layover in ATH		1h 35m
		Athens (ATH) to Istanbul (IST) — Sat, Apr 30
		Aegean Airlines 994		Dep: 7:10 pm	Arr: 8:30 pm	1h 20m	Airbus A319	Economy (P)
Total cost for 1 passenger	€103.60

This is $115.30 USD

 

Two of my three staff grew up in China and I’m always hearing both good and bad stories about the country. Besides after I see the ramparts of Morocco I’m going to have to see the great Wall of China.

		Istanbul (IST) to Shanghai (PVG) — Thu, May 5
		Istanbul (IST) to Moscow (SVO) — Thu, May 5
		Aeroflot 2137	Dep: 2:55 pm		Arr: 6:20 pm	3h 25m	Airbus A321 (Sharklets)	Economy (N)
			Layover in SVO			2h 15m
		Moscow (SVO) to Shanghai (PVG) — Thu, May 5
		Aeroflot 208	Dep: 8:35 pm		Arr: 10:10 am	8h 35m	Boeing 777	Economy (N)
Total cost for 1 passenger	TL952.38

This is $322.44 USD

After a month and a half and 8 countries, I will be ready for my own bed again. I hope my dogs will remember who I am. I know my cat will pretend she doesn’t. 

Shanghai (PVG) to San Francisco (SFO) — Thu, May 12
		Shanghai (PVG) to Guangzhou (CAN) — Thu, May 12
		China Southern 3614	Dep: 8:45 pm		Arr: 11:20 pm	2h 35m	Airbus A320	Economy (K)
			Layover in CAN			13h 10m
		Guangzhou (CAN) to San Francisco (SFO) — Fri, May 13
		China Southern 657	Dep: 12:30 pm		Arr: 10:10 am	12h 40m	Boeing 787	Economy (Z)
Total cost for 1 passenger	CN¥3,590.00

This is $550.36 USD

My total RTW flight cost for 8 countries (yes, I’m counting England) comes to $1929.58 USD

 

So I did it 8 countries for under $2000. AWESOME!