Saturday + {Day Five: Financal Run-Down}

Since several people have asked us how much our trip is costing, I thought I'd keep a running list of expenditures; I'll rehash this in a larger post at the end, but I wanted to chime in periodically both for whoever is following this blog (if they're curious) and for ourselves. As you might have read, we had a little crisis when we missed our flight and had to rebook, but otherwise we've done a spectacular job of sticking to our budget. Fingers crossed.

9.16.13

Spent flying; didn't spend anything, since my parents took us out to an early dinner before our plane left.

total: $0

9.17.13

£1.50 on a muffin 

£7.00 on airport shuttle bus to downtown edinburgh
£3 on a sandwich
£2.00 on bus to our airbnb (we accidentally paid minor fare and they didn't question us)
£14.00 on dinner at Merlin's

total: £27.50/$44.05
transportation: £9/$14.42

food: £18.5/$29.64

9.18.13

£3.90 for sandwich & two apples
£7.00 for two all-day bus passes
£3.00 for gelato
£25.90 for dinner
£6.64 for groceries: yogurt, sandwich, apple, pretzels

total: £46.40/$74.33

transportation: £7/$11.21
food: £39.44/$63.18

9.19.13

£3.00 for bus
£2.25 for hot chocolate
£78.00 for tour
£3.20 for quiche and macaroni pie
£0.60 for bathroom
£0.88 for postcard stamp
£22.00 pounds loch ness boat ride
£3.50 for shot glasses for brother
£2.00 for postcards
£5.00 for scone & soup

£3.00 for bus
£2.88 for dinner: soup and Indian food

total: £126.31/$202.34

transportation: £6/$9.61

food: £13.93/$22.31

attractions: £100/$160.19

gifts: £6.38/$10.22

9.20.13

£20 cab
£220 rebooking

transportation: £20/$32.04

emergency: £220/$352.42

€30.00 for two 3-day bus passes

€8.60 for dinner + drinks + breakfast: pizza, bread, cream cheese, beer

transportation: €30.00/$40.57

food: €8.60/$11.63

total: £240 + €38.60/$436.63
transportation: $72.61
food: $11.63
emergency: $352.42 

9.21.13 

€1.00 for coke

€8.98 fish & chips

€1.00 locker fee

€0.50 for postcard

€5.66 for dinner + breakfast + toiletries

€1.60 for chocolate milk

total: €18.68/$25.2
food: €17.24/$23.31

attraction: €1/$1.35

gifts: €0.50/$0.68

GRAND TOTAL FOR FIRST SIX DAYS: 

transporation: $71.85 (average $6 per day per person)
food: $150 (average $12.50 per day per person )
attractions: $161 (average $13.46 per day per person)
gifts: $11 (average $0.90 per day per person)
emergency: $352.42 (average 29.36 per day per person; over the course of our entire 40 day trip, this cost will be essentially $5 per day per person)

So, having crunched the numbers, so far it has cost both Gooligan and myself $32.86 a day! Hopefully your curiosity is now sated!

Saturday + {Summertime}

After we got back from the Color Run, life has been non-stop. Well, I guess, technically, life has been non-stop ever since Moving Day. We spent a week sharing a twin mattress on the floor of our otherwise furniture-less apartment, intermixing our last few days of work with cleaning marathons, utilities-disconnecting, errands, last-minute socializing, and copious amounts of television watching in the wee hours of the evening when we were too exhausted to look at another cleaning rag.

Then, as soon as our apartment inspection was over, we got in the car and drove straight down to Portland to meet up with Maddie & co. for the Color Run.

Which was a blast. We were coughing up color for days, but it was well worth it. I've never had so much fun running. There were so many people and everyone was in such high spirits; even though we only ran for about two-thirds of the actual race, it was amazing. I felt strong, energetic, and felt like I pushed myself.

As you might have noticed, amidst all this chaos, I stopped updating this blog for awhile. So what have I been doing?

Well, during our week in-between getting back from Portland and flying to Scotland on Monday, I've been finishing our itinerary and enjoying the last few days of Seattle summer. When we get back, it'll almost be the end of October, and fall will definitely be here with winter on its way.

On Thursday, I went for a bike ride to a park about five miles away. It was an absolutely gorgeous day; the park is beautiful, too, and I had it almost all to myself. Well, myself, a sack lunch, and Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. Then yesterday, Alex, Gooligan, and I went hiking in St Edwards State Park. 

Moving away from Bellingham is tough, in part, because of all the stunning nature that is so readily available to you. We used to be able to literally walk out our door, cross the street, and disappear into the woods. Or hop in the car, drive five minutes, and arrive at a gorgeous lake or park.

But the last few days has been an important reminder that we still live in a beautiful place: we just need to invest a little time into (re)discovering it. Whether it's hopping on our bikes to go for a ride, or going for a walk or a run in the winding streets nearby, or driving somewhere for a slightly bigger adventure, we're still blessed to live in an incredibly nature-rich area.