fbpx

Link love (Powered by olive oil and gelato)

link love nzmuse

As I alluded to earlier this week, I used to adore travel planning.

NOT ANYMORE. Especially after the last couple of weeks!

First, the couple (Couchsurfing buds) whom we planned to visit in Grenoble stopped responding to my messages. Without a reason to stop in southern France, and the desire to avoid long train rides for T’s sake, I decided we should take those few days and fly straight to Paris. Cue a lot of searching trying to figure out what Italian city was cheapest to fly from, whether Ryanair was worth the savings (considering they fly to a really far away airport) and whether a slightly cheaper late night flight would be worth the savings over a daytime flight (considering we might miss the last subway of the night and be forced to catch a taxi).

Just a few days after booking our (nonrefundable) flights, one of the women we met at Englischhausen in Germany emailed suggesting we visit her in September as she had some free time. Those dates would have been absolutely PERFECT, slotting in to fill the Grenoble gap. Alas, the fees to change our flight and factor in another extra journey meant it just wasn’t meant to be after all.

With a week lined up in Paris, I wanted to rent an apartment and immerse ourselves in the city. But after identifying several promising possibilities, none have panned out yet. TIME IS RUNNING OUT. (Poor show, Paris Attitude. You’d think a professional agency would see a request through, rather than abruptly stop responding to emails.  Have now moved on to Airbnb, where I can at least understand why hosts might ignore enquiries.)

A lovely guy in Iceland accepted our Couchsurfing hosting request, but has yet to reply to my subsequent messages about coordinating our arrival.

And of course, our American road trip is fast approaching, which is shaping up to be the biggest logistical challenge yet.

 /deep breath

Here, have some lovely links. Because reading makes you smarter.

MONEY

Little Miss Moneybags ponders the economic system that gives us enslavement by debt, and by extension, capitalism

Over at L Bee and the Money Tree, how to move to New York with $300 in your pocket

I love a good airing of personal finance confessions, like this one at Get Rich Slowly

CAREER

At Get Rich Slowly, a few signs that you’re over your job – and what to do about it

And at Ask a Manager, some insightful advice on how to evaluate how well you’re doing at your job

TRAVEL

Need a countryside holiday? Of course you do, as Yes and Yes explains

Some poignant reflections on travel, courtesy of Zen Habits

What’s it like to be a food-obsessed traveller? LandingStanding elaborates in GIFs (Heck to the YES!)

Kim of So Many Places on funding a RTW trip

Is Portland really like Portlandia? Kathleen at Frugal Portland lays it all out

LIFE

Stacking Pennies unpacks the meaning of identity and tries to define herself by certain criteria

Manda of Break the Sky shares some life lessons and some fictional boyfriends

I was riveted by Ganda’s recent parking drama, as I’ve been there, done that before

Funny About Money rounds up some sites to check out for good longform reads

Finally, Cordelia Calls it Quits is thankful for life’s hurdles (the shit times) and confesses to letting dumb things affect her happiness sometimes (amen!)

8 thoughts on “Link love (Powered by olive oil and gelato)

  • Reply Funny about Money August 31, 2013 at 08:39

    Thanks for the link love!

    🙂 Have been following your travels with mixed amazement and envy. Keep on posting!

    If you come to Arizona to visit the Grand Canyon (or anything else around here), let me know! Hospitality is offered.

    • Reply eemusings August 31, 2013 at 13:13

      We’d like to stop by the Grand Canyon for sure! Thank you, will drop you a line soon 🙂

  • Reply Tony@WeOnlyDoThisOnce August 31, 2013 at 11:07

    Some great reading here, for sure! Glad the trip is looking good!

  • Reply Marissa @ Finance Triggers September 1, 2013 at 03:18

    I’m certainly going to check out: “Is Portland really like Portlandia? By Kathleen at Frugal Portland” because I’ve been asking the same question. I hope it gets answered this time. Ha!

  • Reply Marissa @ Thirty Six Months September 1, 2013 at 03:20

    Love this list. Thanks for sharing!

  • Reply Budget and the Beach September 2, 2013 at 03:45

    Sorry for all the travel headaches!! If you’re in LA please feel free to call me or email me. I live right next door to LAX so I can try and help you out. When will you be here?

  • Reply Manda September 2, 2013 at 08:52

    Travel headaches are the worst. A half-smoke and side of chili cheese fries from Ben’s will make you feel better 😉

    Thanks for the link love!

  • Reply Michelle September 3, 2013 at 18:33

    Sigh. Things will work themselves out! There is a hostel that I want to stay at in Iceland called: The Kex Hostel. It looks AWESOME!! And I will stay there when I go to Iceland. Check it out.

Leave a Reply to Funny about Money Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.