Living the dream (1) : dreaming, planning, boarding !

Hi everyone, how are you? I hope you had a wonderful week. Mine was pretty stressful, I’m so grateful it’s finally the weekend, to relax, and talk about one of my favorite things: TRAVELLING! Today, I’ve decided to share something a little different. I’m still experimenting a bit with that feature, so let me know what you think!

Two weeks ago, I told you we were going a little bit farther away…well, for me! This post is the first in the series I’ll call, “Living the Dream”, so…as you can guess, I’m going to talk to you about a dream trip. In many parts… I’ll let you discover the rest for yourself…

💭 Dreaming

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been dreaming about the USA. I guess for Americans, it’s the other way around? There’s just something about a place that’s so far away it seems out of reach, a different culture, it seems like a whole different world. But, unlike the Shadowhunters world, we can actually visit it. New York was one of my biggest dreams. The tall, endless buildings, the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Central Park, the yellow cabs, everything about it just made me dreamy, and anxious to get there myself.

You know what’s funny, about dreams? You think you can’t get there, sometimes. You feel insecure, not good enough, not like you’ll have the money, the guts, the people around you to support you, or all of that combined, to get there. Well, I’ll let you on a little secret, here. If you can dream it, you can do it. Okay, that’s a Walt Disney quote, but it’s true. The main question here, is, HOW?! I dreamed about the US for many, many years. I saved money for many, many years for that. I planned (well, we planned, with my wonderful best friend sister) for months. We believed that 7000 miles couldn’t separate us from one of our dreams. And we DID it. So, whatever you’re dreaming about, do not give up, you’ll get there.

📝 Planning 

You should know by now how much I LOVE planning travels. The rest of my life, not so much, but well, that’s another question. If I’m not reading, writing or well trying to adult, you’ll most likely find me browsing on websites, looking for new places to explore, looking for train and plane fares, looking for hotel rooms and places to stay, planning out days in places I’m not even sure I’m going to go, watching maps of cities I’m dreaming on visiting. DOES that make me CRAZY? Maybe.

Since we were going so far away, my sister and I didn’t plan on staying two days. We weren’t having a 6-hour flight (actually, it was a three-hour train, 3 hours of waiting and a 6 hours flight) for TWO little days. We wanted to see EVERYTHING. Going to New York was our first dream, but we wanted to do the big cities of the east-coast. WHY not, since we were here?! Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington D.C. Greedy much, I know. But reason got to us (Did you know there are FOUR hours from Boston to New York? WHY ARE YOU SO BIG, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA). After days and weeks of wondering and planning out, we got it right, and here’s how our schedule ended up : New York for 7 days, Philadelphia for 1 day, and Washington D.C for 5 days.

Especially for a travel this far away, and this long, I, well, we, with my sister, HAD to plan out things. We kind of messed-up and went crazy this year, I’ll have to admit it, because we booked our plane tickets for July in May, so it’s not too long before…but not last-minute, either?

I LOVE hotels. Is that weird? I’m not sure, but anyway, looking at hotel rooms -sometimes crazy-ass things, I’ll admit it- is something I really love to do. So let me tell you: I had FUN searching where we were going to stay. Even if I had to have a calculator open to see if it fit our budget, and a map opened to see if it was in a great place. Planning is so much fun.

PLANNING A TRIP #101:

I’m not going to pretend I’m some kind of master who knows everything about planning a trip, and everyone plans however he prefers. Here are some tips I follow, and, if you want, so can you.

💸THINK ABOUT YOUR BUDGET. I’m not lucky enough to have won the lottery for now, so budget plays such a big part in my planning-frenzy. From plane fares to accomodation, from train fares to subway tickets, even food if you feel like going that far, well, it has to be thought of. Here’s what I do: I set a FULL budget for everything. The amount obviously depends on the destination. And then, I try and find periods, accomodations, that can fit into this at best.

🚕 GOING TO MORE THAN ONE PLACE? PLAN THE DAY. If, like my sister and I, you don’t like to stay in one place, here’s something I would advice: PLAN out the day. Days. Weeks. Maybe it’s ’cause we like planning, but it’s so great to know how many days you have in one place, and what you want to see. Without giving up on getting lost and finding wonderful things in the city, well, you can know where you’re going, and what you don’t have to miss.

📖 GET A GUIDE AND/OR A MAP.  You might be scared of getting lost, or, on the contrary, you’d rather ask people. But trust me, if you’re a planner, you’ll love your guide and your map, to see where you’re going, what’s not to miss. And, hm, getting lost a bit in the city, okay, but it’s really not okay when there’s no one and you can’t find your way back, am I right?

✈️ Boarding.

Who said planning isn’t as fun as actually GOING? The moment when you’re counting down the days, anticipating, and the actual moment when you’re on the train drinking free tea because you’re going on a flight later, and completely FREAKING OUT?! That’s the moment I love. It’s the anticipation, but right before everything is actually happening. Just like when you finally got the book you want, and seconds before reading the first line.

Early wake-up, I can’t remember when exactly. First train. Second train. Yes, I live in a small city, BUT IT IS BEAUTIFUL. Waiting. Freaking out. Buying some food. Freaking out some more. Crossing security. Waiting, again. Seeing the hour of boarding on the screen. Green light, boarding has started. People. A bus to get onto the plane. Last seats at the back, just the two of us. We left at like 8 in the morning. We arrived, it was 3 in the morning. The next morning, obviously. So, this was a pretty long day.

But I’ll forever remember when the dream came true. After the exhaustion, so tired we could barely keep our eyes open, trying to survive ’til we could get into a bed, and finally sleep. We were in the cab, from the airport, going into the city. Crossing the bridge, and finally, it was there. When you see something in the movies, you can’t think reality is just that good, or just that breathtaking. Well, there it was. Outside the windows, all light-up from inside, sparkling into the night, the buildings of New York City. The Empire State Building, all of the other buildings, right here, the exact picture perfect you see in the movies. It was here, and it was real. The dream came true, and, in that moment, I’ve never felt more happy.

ESSENTIALS FOR TRAVELLING:

🔍WHAT’S IN MY BAG? Obviously, whenever you’re going somewhere, you need to have everything you need in your bag. When I travel, I TRIPLE-CHECK everything, because well…it’s even more bothering when something’s missing. So here’s my essentials check-list for any travel.

✔️ Your plane tickets / train tickets / boarding passes / whatever confirms that you’re travelling here
✔️ Your passport / papers / credit card / money / everything that says you’re not a penguin, so you’ll obviously need all those things
✔️ FOOD! Water! (after security check, if you’re in an airport!) because who knows, you’re hungry and thirsty.
✔️ Obviously, all the other essentials you might need, such as medication, your phone AND an USB charger, antibacterial hand gel.
✔️ Am I missing something? Oh, yeah. A BOOK. Obviously. But just one in your carry-on. I’m not controlling whatever lives in your suitcase. Mine is filled with at least 4 books all the time. No regrets.

😱 And hm, another essential: DO NOT FREAK OUT. Be calm, and try and get your bearings ’til you arrive, or you’ll risk looking like a crazy person and, just wait ’til you arrive. THEN, you can freak out, because THIS IS HAPPENING.

 Where do you dream on going? How do you plan out your trips? And in life, are you a planner, too? ! 💬

Did you already went to the USA? Or do you live there? What do you think about those cities! ✈️

Are you excited to see more of this “Living the dream” feature?  Let’s chat in comments! 💬