(5/2/14)
Railpasses and
finances
So I finally knuckled down and bought the Eurail Pass.
Couldn’t even wait for my cc to arrive. Why? They were having this promo and
offered 2 extra travel days for FREE. That’s right, 2 travel days for FREE!
Remember my initial plan to activate my 15-day Pass on
Saturday the 19th, heading for Amsterdam from Paris? It would’ve expired
on the 3rd, leaving me having to get a separate ticket from Spain (I
was planning on being in Spain by then) to Paris on the 5th (my
flight home is early morning on the 7th, so I thought that I’d give
myself a day to travel to Paris, and spend the 6th in Paris before
going home). But now I don’t have to =)
Confusing? Ok, let’s put it into tables. Mama loooooves
tables.
Date
|
Without promo
|
With extra two FREE travel
days
|
W 16
|
||
H 17
|
||
F 18
|
||
S 19
|
Activate Pass. Head for Amsterdam
|
Ditto.
|
U 20
|
Pass Day 2
|
|
M 21
|
Pass Day 3
|
|
T 22
|
Pass Day 4
|
|
W 23
|
Pass Day 5
|
|
H 24
|
Pass Day 6
|
|
F 25
|
Pass Day 7
|
|
S 26
|
Pass Day 8
|
|
U 27
|
Pass Day 9
|
|
M 28
|
Pass Day 10
|
|
T 29
|
Pass Day 11
|
|
W 30
|
Pass Day 12
|
|
H 1
|
Pass Day 13
|
|
F 2
|
Pass Day 14
|
|
S 3
|
Pass Day 15 -Expires
|
|
U 4
|
FREE Travel Day 1
|
|
M 5
|
FREE Travel Day 2 – Head back to Paris
|
|
T 6
|
Head back to Paris – buy a separate ticket.
|
|
W 7
|
I’m coming home..I’m coming home..tell the world that I’m coming
home..
|
|
Do you get it? Do ya?
However, as an amateur would-be traveler, this latest
acquisition has brought on a few revelations:
(i)
A panic attack at having spent such a large
amount of money (again)
(ii)
A second panic attack when realizing that it
cost more than I expected.
Panic attack (i) was easier to get over because I knew I
wanted it and I somewhat knew I was going to have to fork out the cash anyways.
Now (ii) however, brought out my Accountant intincts; and they not only tingled,
they jingled, rattled, sizzled, and thankfully, didn’t fry.
There was 100+ difference between what I expected to pay
(the price of the Eurail is quoted in Euros – NOT my currency) and what I saw
in my online statement. Whoaaaa…100+ is a lot. After a few frantic calls, I
found out that different banks apply different exchange rates (ughh,
Accountancy Graduate, you should have known this!), and this bank in particular
charged a whopping 4.74 as opposed to what I Googled at 4.49. So there’s the
difference.
Anyhow, purchases paid and done. All I have to do is bite my
nails in anticipation of the Pass’ arrival. Now that, is a different kind of nail biting I won’t divulge just yet.
I decided to place a few calls to my banks, and found out
the following:
Bank A – 10 bucks for ATM withdrawals, 1.25% Admin fees for
overseas transactions.
Bank B – 12 bucks per ATM withdrawal, no admin fees for
overseas transactions.
Bank C – They promised to call me back, but haven’t done so.
Both my cc’s haven’t come through. No news from either.
Now another toughy is deciding when to exchange my local
currency to Euros and where to do it. Mr. Google suggested this area where a
lot of tourists frequent, so there’s a lot of competition amongst the money
changers there. Since I’ll have to go there in search of my fleece jacket, I’ll
give it a go. That settles where. In
terms of when, erm…well, first and
foremost next paycheck will be the earliest. Ehem.
So far so good. As in, I used my current savings to pay for
my flight, then my bonus to pay off the Railpass. I’ve been buying a lot of
nitty gritty stuff (which I probably should stop) which I assume I’ll be
needing in the near future. What matters most is that up to this point, my
fixed savings remains untouched. Good news for you budget-worriers out there
wanting to go on your very own adventure.
To those assuming I have a tonne of cash stowed away and
that’s why I’m going on this trip, think again! I don’t! Which is why it’s part
of why I’m doing this. I’m forced to find out all these finance thingies which
I should know anyways, and being
broke means I’m all the more careful of how I spend what limited money I have.
It means that I’ll teach myself to forgo certain creature comforts that some
people deem to-die-for, and hopefully that will bring me out of the circle of
spoilt people.
On that thought, would anyone like to go hiking with me?
That’s something I don’t dare to do alone..but perhaps if I had someone with
me..hmmm
Tales of
toiletries
You know how when you don’t want something, it’s always
there staring at your face (like that irksome pair of scissors); but the moment
you set out to get it, it’s nowhere to be found? Well, I was having this exact
problem finding a towel. A travel towel. A microfiber lightweight travel towel.
Usually their everywhere! Bath size, face size, you name it!
I already set out 3 times to go buy that (all in places I’m 90% sure I’ve seen
selling them), but to no avail. I finally got irritated so I bought a 40cm X
40cm towel, thinking it would at least be usable and dry fast. My friend told
me those microfiber towels stink up pretty fast is you use them over and over, but
I said it’s ok because I’ll just chuck it away at the end of my travels.
I went to another place (of all things, a hardware store),
and saw they were selling those microfiber towels, but it’s only 30cm X 30cm,
but sold in a 4-pack. And it was only 5 bucks! Err, guess what I did? I bought
that, went home, and sew the four “handkerchiefs” together to make an oddly
long towel. Well, at any rate it can be wrapped around my waist. Sort of.
Reminders to
myself:
I - Print out your tickets (flight, Railpass, Hostel
bookings and get them all photocopied)
II – Prepare document packets to leave with at least two
separate people back home
III – You haven’t gotten a bottle for your facial cleanser
IV – Ziplock bags
V – Leave your jewelry at home (or with someone you trust)
VI – Travel insurance!
VII – Break in your walking/sports shoes
VIII – Get your cc’s and ask Bank C for details
IX – Book accommodation for the first two nights in Paris
X – Update your journal (important numbers, places to see,
etc)
….and most importantly, enjoy every moment. Even the
flustered ones where you feel like giving up. You will experience a lot, and
from there, learn a lot. And that matters.
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