Quote:
Originally Posted by OmgGlutten!
Did you not fly coach? That is like $1000+/day...
3 plane tickets from LA -> Naples -> Dublin -> LA ~ $5000
Hotel rooms for 12 nights (suites, or we got 2 rooms in Rome) ~ $250/night = $3000
Food (free breakfast, snacks, cheap-ish lunch, nice dinner w/drinks) ~ $300/day = $3600
Late nights with more drinking - tack on another $200.
Rental car in Ireland ~ $600
Taxis probably ran $100/day except for when we had the car rented
Cel phones with chips $200 or so
Hired a driver from Naples to Positano and a side trip to Pompeii on the way back - $300 or so
Also tack on all the exchange rate ****ery and overseas credit card/withdrawal fees.
You get the idea. Felt like I'd drop $100 just walking out the door of the hotel. Dollar was worth like .88 Euro at the time. It was brutal.
It didn't help that in Italy we were traveling with a friend who liked to live elegantly. We plop down at some little outdoor cafe in Capri - a couple mimosas, some juice and a fruit salad thing - boom $100.
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I had to cash out part of my IRA to pay for this trip. You have 60 days to pay it back w/o penalty or taxes. Luckily the tourney bink helped me pay a big chunk of it back. (God is good) But I think I was still $6k short or something. Which is like $35k less when I retire - with penalties and all.
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Still I don't regret it. I did it for the kid and she had a great experience.
Last edited by suzzer99; 03-28-2017 at 01:41 AM.