Officially Official

So it turns out these two guys I know are going on this trip (Mark and Andrew). It is always nice to have people you really know and trust their traveling skills and competencies because, let's face it, not all people are born travelers. But I know that we are so that makes things much more comforting.

We have been on the hunt for good ticket prices for I cannot tell you how long. In the estimated budget the school gave us, they instructed us to expect to spend $1400 on a ticket. That figure is very out of date. Looking online most places you could not find a ticket cheaper than $2100. As previously mentioned, I had a bunch of SkyMiles I could have used to bring that $2100 ticket down to a $1600 ticket. But it was still a swift kick in the pants and the itineraries were complicated and would probably be really annoying. That was, until today. I struck the motherload. I found tickets on Travelocity WITH TAX for $1470. As Liz Lemon would say, "what the what???" Air Canada flights with one layover on the way there and two on the way back. I was so happy that we didn't just give up. It took a lot of hard searching. A lot of those travel websites have agreements with certain airlines to claim they are the cheapest option when they really are not. **Travel Tip: Don't be afraid to narrow your search to specific airlines because then you can look at them one by one and know which one really is the cheapest.

So this means that Mark and I will drive to Cleveland, stay at his parents' house and his mom will take us to the airport the following morning. No paying to park, nothing! And it will be nice because it will be just us. I really don't care for traveling in large groups. We will have three weeks to hang out with these people so I think that will be enough. Large groups make things logistically more complicated so avoiding that when possible will be a plus.

On a wonderful note, my beautiful TravelPro bag got a companion (as you can see in the photo). A deep red tote to carry on the plane. The color combo is rather chic if I say so myself. Now all I need to find is a luggage strap and I will be set to go. I already have the perfect luggage tag. It's a Victorinox (Swiss Army) tag that will pay to bring your bag back to you should you be separated. Instead of having your name on it, it has an ID# and a phone number for the person to call. They call the number and then Victorinox arranges to get the bag back to me. AMAZING.

Well that's enough for now. I have gotten a lot accomplished today and it is time for some serious vegging out.