Little Black Guidebook

Uploaded by ajburgess

The saying: “If you fail to plan you plan to fail.” usually holds true for me. I did get lucky and my failure to plan worked out. My work provided lunch at a meeting, which avoided the choice of buying something or going hungr. I totally missed that today was no spending day and didn’t pack anything. Oh well, chalk that exercise up as a try again later.

Amount saved $16.00 for lunch and gas at lunchtime. ($8×2 for me and hubby as he also forgot lunch and got my leftovers) = 11.6 Euros or the price of 1 ten pack (un carnet) of Paris metro tickets, which I know we will go through this fall.

Next challenge, get through the grocery store without anything not on the list and not absolutely necessary. Somehow my cabinets are full and yet we both looked at the fridge yesterday and said there was nothing to eat except for frozen pizza. Clearly we need to evaluate what we have and then make a list around a meal plan and cook some of these staples or donate them to the food bank if we aren’t going to use them.

Looks like I’m not the only traveler effected by Oprah’s take on Denmark. Here is another longer take: http://lifeexcursion.com

Link Love: Should You Adapt When You Travel? by Almost Fearless gives an unexpected response to this question.

I saw these clips of Oprah in Denmark (happiest citizens on Earth) over the weekend and was struck once again  with how less things can lead to more life. I’m no minimalist yet  trust me, but I have been trying to eliminate things that get in the way of living, wether by taking up my time to maintain/clean them or mentally cluttering my life. I have made over $400 on Amazon selling used books, videos, video games, etc. over the last two months and cleaned out a lot of our unused media in the process.

Now I’m up for a new challenge, not bringing new stuff in the house. This attempt to save money and space will result in extra savings to put towards our Europe trip this fall. First challenge is not spending money for ONE day.  I don’t mean this literally as in dumpster-diving for dinner, but I won’t spend money that day. I will plan ahead and pack lunch, etc. so some may consider me to be front-loading my expenses. Trust me, this will save money over my average day.

This morning I’m thinking of Paris. I know that our trip is really about new places and I should be excited about that, but Paris has a special place in my heart as the first city in Europe I visited and since we are flying into and out of there I know I’ll be able to carve out a little time to see some new places.

When I saw this teacup nestled among the photographer Elena’s favorite things it made me think of the book “Paris: Made by Hand: 50 Shops Where Decorators and Stylists Source the Chic & Unique.” It is by a fellow blogger and offers a different perspective on one of my favorite cities. I may just have to read it before we leave in August.

Link Love: A Year on the Road by Timothy Allen

This guy totally lives inside the pages of National Geographic. Seriously! I need to take a photography course. At the very least to improve my personal photos.

Anna Inghardt via {this is glamorous}

Flickr Photo by striped-socks on 6 Mar 09.

Rolf Potts posed a dilemma today. What do you do when a place really captures your heart and you want to go back? Do you keep going back or keep seeing the world? My initial reaction was, come on people stop going to the same place, see the world. It annoys me when people who go to Florida on vacation every year and love it, but then they hear I’m going to Europe and say nostalgically to me, “I wish I could go to Europe, but I don’t have the time/money/courage.” Maybe take a year off from Florida, save your money and go?

Then I think of Paris. I love Paris and could go back over and over again. Paris is my Disneyland. But even though I am flying into Paris on my next trip I am really only transiting there. No right answer of course, but I’m thinking that you shouldn’t feel guilty about going anywhere you love because its all about the experiences you are adding to your life not some arbitrary definition of what travel should be.

You could tick every country in the world off your list and not have half as good a time as going somewhere you truly love. I’ll try not to judge those people who love Florida so much, except when they tell me they can’t go to Europe because they can’t afford it, but they can afford a week at Disney. That’s just crazy talk.

Ironic to be posting an article on carry-on ettiquette after so many people are hassled out of carrying on lately. CNN, you’re timing is great.

Toting carry-on bags? Etiquette will take you a long way

“where do you want to go today” via Interludio.

Enjoying a sip of tea and a guidebook during my lunch break.