T-minus 1 month to Italy 2017
Hello ladies and gentlemen and welcome back to another installment of a gal who loves to travel. This year, my family vacation focuses on Italy. My mother and I will start in Paris and travel through Switzerland on into Italy. Rome, Venice, and Florence are on the objectives list for the trip, but as with every trip I take, we'll see where the road takes us.
My sister will not be joining us this year. She has some obligations off her own and can't get away with us, but we will think about her every step of the way! For a reminder of what we did last time, check out the blog from Ireland from last year.
Our countdown for this trip beings with one month to go. I'm going to let you in on what I'm doing with each new post to prepare for my trip and how you can plan for yours the next time you take one.
Prep Work
Right now, as far as prep work goes, I have ordered a new bag, which I will eventually review for you. Our flights have been booked and so has the hotel for the first two nights in Paris. Knowing that we'll be tired and somewhat disoriented from the long day of travel, we wanted to have all of that squared away.
This trip will be a little different for me as I've never taken a tack in the luxury travel bin. Now, the whole trip won't be this way, only Paris. The transit plan is also a little different this year. Mom and I are flying out after work instead of the next day. It's going to be a long day for us, but an extra day in Europe is worth the small sacrifice.
Planning
At this point, I recommend figuring out how many days you have for your trip. Identify three less things that you want to do. What I mean is my trip is ten days, so I figured out seven things I want to do. Paris: Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, & Le Grande Colbert restaurant. Rome: Vatican Museum & Piazza Venezia. Jungfrau Summit in Switzerland and last, Venice: St. Mark's Square. Those are my seven for this trip. My mother, of course, has her seven. Some are the same, some are different. This is the easiest way to retain some structure without overpowering your trip with plans.
Method
I'm using the Chase Sapphire Reserve card and its benefits to help with planning and purchasing this trip. This card had a significant sign on bonus and now, there are several parts of the trip that have been paid for with points exclusively. I used the concierge service to help me sort out a few of the details and they made our reservation for Le Grand Colbert in Paris for the night and time we wanted. This card comes with a $300 a year travel credit which I took advantage off when booking the flight and they paid for my TSA pre-check already. Overall, this card has been a pleasure for this trip and I'm looking forward to continuing to use it.
