We have set dates! Callie and I will be traveling to Britain on June 8th and returning via Dublin on June 30th. We are getting soooo close. A trip itenerary is soon to be posted!

Callie's intro

So sometime early in the summer of 2008 I became completely overwhelmed by the dullness of my daily routine. I have been living in R-town for 6 years now, and I have only lived outside of this state once, and that was only for 8 weeks during an internship. I am still young - only 23 - and I felt the need to seize the opportunity to travel while I'm still physically and mentally able. And while I'm young enough not to care about staying in hostels lol. I was feeling completely restless, and decided that I needed to get out of the country, out of my comfort zone, if only for a little while.

So, I sent out a facebook message looking for travel partner(s) to just about anyone I thought I could handle backpacking through Europe with for a few weeks. I was super-excited when Carrie said that she would be interested. It works out well for both of us, since we both are applying to graduate-type schools for entrance in Fall 09. That schedule allows us the convenience (or apparent convenience) of quitting our jobs a bit earlier than we normally would, as I doubt anyone has 3 weeks of vacation from work.

So here we are, with a rough idea of the countries we want to visit (Ireland, England, France, Italy, Switzerland) and a rough sketch of our path of progression through Western Europe. We will continue to catalog our progress on planning the trip in the days/weeks/months to come. In the meantime, I should probably start looking for independent health insurance to cover me between job quitting and starting up under school insurance (given that I actually get into graduate school...well...let's not think about that just yet).

Our plan as of now is to leave sometime in early-to-mid-June through early-to-mid-July. I have a wedding to attend to in mid-July, so we have to get back before then. It is a bit earlier than I would have ideally liked to go - but whatever, life can't be too convenient. I'll just eat rice and tuna for a month afterwards or something.

New Blog!

Yay! So here's the new blog, setup courtesy of Callie. We are Callie and Carrie, two friends that met in Biology lab during the college years at North Carolina State University. We are about to embark on a very wonderful journey to Western Europe, namely Britain, Ireland, France, Switzerland, and Italy. Neither of us have traveled outside of the U.S., so we welcome any advice or suggestions! Once we actually make it across the pond, we hope to turn this blog into a reference for other travelers by providing many photos, stories, and experiences.

As of right now, we've explored the various options for flight plans to get from the U.S. east coast to Europe. We have also researched all the wonderful things to do and see in the countries we plan to visit. We are in the process of making a mock itinerary to determine time limits, and to get a gauge of expenses for the trip.

So....wish us luck, give us advice, and happy traveling!

How Callie and I met...

Serotonin-induced Crayfish dueling. Just one of our many lab experiments together!