|
|
|
|
Planning Part 4: Money, money, money! Going, going, gone!
August 2001
This month we made our first voyage to the local branch of
Cotswold to have a look at walking boots, sleeping bags and all
the other travel paraphernalia. The store was an awning chasm of
a building, stretching as far back as we could see. The walls
dripped with multicoloured sleeping bags, technical posters and
expensive looking rucksacks. We stretched our muscles, then
pushed fourth through the jungle of travel gear and explored
this strange new shop.
Buying our travel kit was a big
step. It was the first major spending of money. But as many of
the items we wanted were pretty expensive, it took us a number
of visits before we reluctantly prized open our creaking wallets
to swap our cash for goods.
We ended up visiting a number of
outdoor stores as Cotswold didn't have everything we needed.
Although they are quite good, on our first visit, the service,
for want of a better word, sucked. The second time was a little
better, but in the end we also visited Blacks and the Nomad
Travel Store in Russell Square, London.
I must say, the winner of the
outstanding service award, must go to....(trumpet fanfare)... the
Nomad Travel Store. If you're in London, it a small but
incredibly friendly & useful store inside of the Russell
Square branch of STA travel. I insist, go there and buy stuff!
Note, your travelling gear will be expensive,
but its just like travel insurance. Skimp now, and you'll pay
for it later. Dig deep and buy good quality equipment (and
insurance) and you'll have a much better time. You don't want to
be half way around the world when your £35 rucksack and £20
sleeping bag fall apart simultaneously. Similarly, you don't
want to get injured in the Amazon to find that your insurance
doesn't cover the hiking/driving/sight-seeing/bungee-jumping you
were doing and you have to pay the £20,000 for your
air-ambulance.
September 2001
|
This month, the worst
terrorist attack in living memory occurred in the great
country of the USA. Countless lives were lost and the
world was changed forever. Please take a moment to
consider these innocent people who were lost to acts of
horrendous terrorism. We need to remember that life is
fragile and should be cherished. Special thought should
be given to the fearless rescuers who risked, and lost,
their own lives.
|
The events in our lives this month were
overshadowed by the huge and unexpected events in New York on
September 11th. Much of this week felt like some unreal
nightmare. It was hard for us in the UK, over the other side of
the Atlantic, to really grasp the scale of the tragedy.
Due to the events, flight companies were closing
down and cutting costs left right and centre. The number of
international and internal flights were cut drastically. Rumours
were flying of flight prices soaring (no puns intended), so we
decided to act now...
We stumbled back into STA Travel
this month. The once foreign faces all looked up smiling. (We
ended up visiting this place more than a traveller with the runs
visits the bathroom). But on a journey like ours, we needed to
plan as thoroughly as possible, which required multiple visits
to STA Travel. On this particular visit we were planning
to pay off the rest of our plane ticket (We had only paid a
deposit to date, so the price can fluctuate all over the place.
But once the whole lot is paid, the price is fixed, and the
flight companies can't change it). But Neil said we didn't
need to. So we just paid for our insurance (essential) and our
Amtrak Rail pass (essential to roam the US).
2 days later I received a phone call from Neil
at STA (still valiantly working while ill) suggesting we pay the
full ticket price a.s.a.p.. Two days later our bank accounts
were sucked drier than a monkey's armpit as the tickets were
fully paid for. Now, with all our major costs out of the way, we
could concentrate on replenishing our accounts with money solely
for use while travelling.
This was a scary month for my bank account. In
all, including flight tickets, insurance and kit, I spent about
£1500 this month. Ouch.
Next Diary Entry >>
|
|
To know the road ahead, ask those coming back
|
|
|
|
|