We booked our tickets yesterday! For the past month it seems, I have been religiously checking hotwire and kayak and plane tickets were still over $1,300. However yesterday we found them on travelocity for just under a thousand! Traveling pointer: it is extremely important to check multiple websites for airfare. Travelocity was the only place that had the tickets at a discount. While expedia, vayama, etc. were still well over a grand. Bottom line.. I am extremely happy. It finally feels as though something I have been planning for over a year is coming to life.

Now the next step is planning our itinerary! Meredith and I set up a schedule that allows for a minimum of three days in each place. We have 35 days to backpack and eight places to go. So 24 days required, which allows us 11 flexible days to add to the places we want to stay longer. Originally we were thinking of flying from place to place, however now are leaning towards the rail pass for more flexibility . Trains are more timely, but we are going to try to book our longest trains (from paris to venice and then venice to vienna) during the night. There is a reservation fee for "sleepers" of about $30, but we won't have to pay for a hostel that night or waste our day traveling, so I would say its definitely worth it.

With most of our transportation figured out, the next thing to start researching is accommodations! We're doing hostels, in true backpacker style.

So lots of planning to do within the next two months, but I'm still super excited!

-brooke.