There is nothing more relaxing than the time spent waiting at the gate before boarding.  You are exactly where you are supposed to be, and cannot be expected to be anywhere else.  Shortly you will board a plane to an exciting place.  Baring the overly-chatty, -smelly, or -rotund seat mate; the flight itself can be equally relaxing.

This is the time to catch up on the silly fantasy novel you’ve been meaning to read, to listen fondly to the iPod travel mix your cousin gave you, or catch up on some writing.  And when you’re lucky enough to be sitting at a gate in an  airport with complimentary wi-fi; the possibilities are endless.  For example, I am sitting at gate C7 in Dulles International Airport, about to embark on my five week adventure in Turkey, France, and Morocco- and blogging about it live!

Getting to this point was easy enough.  After checking my backpack- 39.5 lbs (17.9 kilos) to start- and collecting my boarding pass, I had an uneventful trip through security.  Now that I’m on the cusp of my adventure, I’d like to review my budget one last time.

So, I started with a journey from November 14 to December 20- 37 days.  That allows me a budget of $3,700.00 ($100 a day).  After spending a quick $999.09 on flights, I was left with $2700.91.

Before leaving, I did a little research on lodging, and decided to start the trip with a stay at an AirBnB room.  So $227 later, and I rented myself a private room in a flat in Fatih, Istanbul for the first two weeks.  That worked out to be just over $15 a night for a private room with access to a bathroom and full kitchen (as in stove AND fridge).  In Paris I will be staying with friends of mine, for $0 a night.  Similarly, in Casablanca I have connected with some hosts in the CouchSurfing community, and don’t anticipate budgeting for lodging there either.  I’ll be returning to Istanbul for a few days at the end of the trip, and a good friend will be meeting up with me.  I’ll wait to book any rooms for that portion of the trip until we have had a chance to talk, and decide together where to stay.

So, out the door I have a budget of $2,473.91 remaining.  That works out to be about $66.86 a day.  Tight, but I think manageable.

Well, that’s all for now! I think I’ll sign off, find a water fountain to fill my reusable water bottle, and snack on my apple.

Cheers!

~Aeri