Exactly 72 hours and counting...

Stupid shouldn't-have-left-these-til-the-last-minute stuff...

_I bought a 1 terabyte external hard drive yesterday. Yes, probably overkill, but I needed a hard drive anyways, since I accidently deleted my entire music folder and have no more room on my hard drive to transfer it back from my iPod. As of right now, the only physical evidence of my life's worth of music is my iPod, and I would very much like to back that up before I leave. Unfortunately, I just ordered it from Dell yesterday, and its estimate delivery date is Friday. *fingers crossed*

_I ordered euros from TD Bank this weekend, but miscalculated the time it would take to get delivered to my bank. SHIT. So, on Tuesday I got an e-mail confirmation saying that it would take 3-5 business days to get here. That's crazy pushing it. And then today, I get my second confirmation e-mail saying that the czech currency (I ordered them within hours of each other) would get here in 3-5 business days too. SHIT SHIT. Ah well...looks like I'll be converting it at the airport then...

_Extended travel insurance. Yep, I should get on that.. Done.

_Laundry. Yes, as stupid as it sounds, I can't pack a bag full of dirty clothes...and it takes time to sort them, throw them in the washer and dryer/hang them. Oops. Done.

_Misc. items: USB card reader to upload pics on the go, mesh bags, locks...

_And I still need to book Venice/Vienna, and the train rides to/from/inbetween. Not to mention the complete itinerary for the trip is still up in the air...

6 days [!] left til we fly out. I still haven't booked the Venice and Vienna hostels, nor the train rides between Venice/Vienna and Vienna/Prague. [freakout]

Just put in the order for money tonight. Hopefully it should arrive at the bank by the end of the week. Can't order czech currency yet..no money in the bank =\

_updating template. Bear with me for the next few days, as I try to squeeze that in between work and planning..

Finalized half the rest of the trip! Woohoo!


Paris
Boissiere
http://www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/france/paris/1477/
(2 nights)

Barcelona
Barcelona Ramblas Hostel
http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Barcelona-Ramblas--Be-Hostels/Barcelona/435
(4 nights)

Rome
Stargate Hostel
http://www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/italy/rome/1478/
(3 nights)

Venice
Hotel Minerva & Nettuno
http://www.hostelsclub.com/hostel-en-6045.html
(2 nights)

Vienna
Red Carpet Hostels Vienna
http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Red-Carpet-Hostels-Vienna/Vienna/24892
(1 night)

Prague
Czech Inn
http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Czech-Inn/Prague/14982
(3 nights)


Overnight trains:
Rome -> Venice --booked (Trenitalia)
Venice -> Vienna --not yet booked
Vienna -> Prague -- not yet booked

Spent the last 5 hours looking up hostels in Europe. Most Def didn't think it'd be this hard. *sad face* Trying to balance between budget and comfort.

I've narrowed down my top 2-3 picks for Prague, Vienna, Venice and Rome (working backwards!). Still need to look up Barcelona and Paris. Ugh, it's frustratingly expensive. Decided not to go white-water rafting in Slovenia after all, too much of a rush. Took those two days and added it to Venice & Rome instead.

19 days and counting...

Still so many things we need to do!

-Book flights from Paris to Barcelona and Barcelona to Rome
-Book hostels and/or hotels
-Buy a Eurail Select train pass Opted to get individual train passes instead
-Get Nam to buy a backpack
-Book whitewater rafting date Not going to Slovenia after all

And then there's the small detail of actually planning out our itinerary and what we're gonna do...

Since everyone keeps asking, I have to update this now. While I'm sick. And hallucinating ponies and mushrooms. And my fever is fluctuating so like a bad carnival ride. But I heart blogging. And I didn't go to work today, so now my typing fingers are restless.

We're backpacking Europe for 2 and a half weeks. Weeeeee!

Saturday July 25th
Toronto > New York > Paris

Wednesday August 12th
Prague > London > New York > Toronto

The tentative itinerary at the moment:

• Fly to Paris, France
  
• Fly to Barcelona, Spain
  
• Fly to Rome, Italy
  
• Train to Venice, Italy
  
• Train to Ljubljana, Slovenia (white water rafting)
• Train to Vienna, Austria
• Train to Prague, Czech Republic
• Fly to Toronto, Canada

Of course, that is subject to change. The only definitive cities are Paris and Prague, which is where we're flying in/out of.

Suggestions, tips, hints, recommendations would be highly appreciated =)