PLANNING AN 18 DAY TOUR OF ITALY

THE BEST BIRTHDAY GIFT: THE GIFT OF TRAVEL

Flashback to my 27th birthday, when Coty surprised me with a one-way ticket to Italy. I couldn't believe he just bought the tickets and made it happen. Between the two of us, though, he's always been the dreamer, while I'm the realist. After I had got over the initial shock, I called my mom, because I was admittedly a little overwhelmed. We hadn't been saving for this, nor had we any idea where to start planning, and I knew there would be a lot to research for an 18-day trip abroad.

I purchased a Fuji X100S camera the day before we left with the intention to post photos of our trip every night. I knew my family would appreciate regular updates to see what we were up to and know that we were safe. What I didn't anticipate was so many people asking about planning a similar trip from start to finish – budgeting, where to stay, and how to get around. Here are some items we considered as we prepped for our first trip abroad together.

BUDGETING //

Since we hadn't booked a return flight, I put together a budget to help us figure how many days/weeks we could afford to stay there. Below are the rough numbers we tried to stick to; we gave ourselves some cushion in each area and researched anticipated expenses.

Accommodations - $100/night x 18 days = $1,800/2 adults = $900/each

Meals - $15 breakfast - $15 lunch - $20 dinner = $50 day each x 18 days = $900/each

Transportation - $40-70/person per destination - estimated 10 trips = $400-$700

Activities & Miscellaneous - $500

Flights - NYC -> Naples, Italy = $325 Zurich, Switzerland ->NYC = $475

Total: $3,000/each for 18 days + flights

See below: I put together an Excel spreadsheet that I could maintain on my phone and kept track of expenses as we went. I highly recommend using something similar to this when traveling on a budget.

DECIDING WHERE TO GO //

After determining the general budget, we discussed the high priority places we wanted to see and brainstormed the traveling logistics. Some questions we asked ourselves:

How would we get to each city in the most affordable way?
Which cities were too far out of the way, or too expensive?
What kinds of things would we want to do?

We wanted to incorporate a mixture of relaxing and adventurous elements to our experience. We each did our own research and came up with separate lists of places. Then we reached out to friends on social media, knowing a number of them had recently been there. Here was our rough itinerary.

Naples -> Capri (2.5 days) -> Rome (2.5 days) -> Siena (4 days) -> Florence (3.5 days) -> Venice (2 days) -> Milan -> Brig -> Zermatt (2.5 days) -> Zurich (2 days)

ACCOMMODATIONS //

I wanted to keep accommodation prices under $125/night and save wherever we could. This would allow us to pay for a few places that may go over budget. For example, to stay in Venice cost $135 per night; Zermatt cost $150 per night, and Zurich cost $164 per night. If I had to do it again, I would look into more B&B options because the hosts we encountered made our stay an enjoyable experience. From elaborate breakfasts, welcome drinks, recommendations, and meeting other travelers, it was better than being by ourselves. Really!

Be flexible. We booked about 14 of the nights in advance before leaving and gave ourselves a couple of dates to be flexible. I didn't want to have to look up places to stay for every night at the last minute, and I knew it would limit our options if we waited. Leaving four nights open seemed reasonable. We ended up loving Siena and stayed two extra nights. We then stayed one extra night in Venice because of the rain. Looking back, I'm so happy we had that flexibility!
Keep distance in mind. When looking for an Airbnb or B&B, we looked at options only within a 10-minute walk of the train station, or bus stop. I knew dragging my luggage any further than that on cobblestone just wouldn't be fun. We also didn't want to spend unnecessary money on a cab or to trudge a great distance in the rain.
Hang with the locals. We also did some research to see where the locals preferred to live. Living in NYC, I know you couldn't pay me to live near Times Square. We knew being away from all the tourist destinations would enable us to spend less, eat more authentic food, and avoid large crowds.

MAKING AN ITINERARY //

Once we decided on the places, we wanted to visit, and where we planned to stay over night, we put together a rough plan. When I say rough, I mean we plugged in all the cities and estimated how much time we wanted in each place. We looked up how much time we could anticipate spending on traveling between locations as well as modes of transportation available. We researched some return flights and found we had a couple of good options. Organizing the trip together this way made us realize how much time we would spend traveling to each place. We moved things around based on flight availability and cut a destination that was just too far out of the way. We decided it just was too much and we would rather spend more time at two of the places than adding another destination into the itinerary.

RESEARCHING SPECIFICS //

Next, I researched things to do or visit within each city that looked interesting. The first place I always look is TripAdvisor. Why? Because activities and attractions are ranked in popularity; travelers can leave honest reviews and post photos, and you can easily save things that look interesting. It's perfect for activities, points of interest, and restaurants. I mark anything and everything that seems interesting. From there, I move to Pinterest and begin pinning away. This trip for us was about exploring but also relaxing. My goal was to wake up, take a look at our options, see what the weather was like, and go from there!

Once we had a better idea of what each place had to offer, we booked our accommodations and then started to think about what we were going to pack.

PACKING //

We each packed for 18 days in a carry-on, and I still can't believe that actually happened! It was so nice to be able to travel with one bag and have everything I needed in one place. I admittedly did get tired of putting the puzzle together every couple of days, but I managed. We also brought a collapsible duffle to carry souvenirs, which saved us! I couldn't imagine dragging a full-size suitcase down a cobblestone road or, even worse, two bags!

Because the last week of our trip would be spent in Switzerland, I was a little worried about the weather difference from Italy. Either way, we couldn't depend on the forecast three weeks in advance, so we just packed things that layered well. It was 80 degrees in Capri, Italy and 26 degrees in Zermatt, Switzerland. I picked a color palette (maroon, red, black, gray) and stuck to it. This allowed everything to work together so I could maximize my options easily. I will do that for every long trip from now on. I tried on everything in advance and took quick photos with my phone. This helped me remember what I had so I didn't have to unfold everything in my suitcase when it was time to get ready. Beware of throwing everything you own in your bag!