Friday, February 28, 2014

More Planning for my Dream Vacation


Spent the majority of the this rain filled stormy day inside and planning or at least researching stuff for my dream vacation to Ireland / the UK. Today I looked up castles and there are hundreds of different castles all through out the UK and Ireland. I started making a list of ones I wanted to see but after fifty I decided it would be easier to find a book or website that has names of cities and what castles can be found with in them.

I also spent a good deal of the day debating on weather I would take the train up and down the coast or rent a car.

First comparing costs:
  • For the train I can get a Britpass for 15 stops only for $745 dollars. That will limit me to how many times I can get off and on the train and I'm sure there are other restrictions that go along with that. 
  • For the car it would cost me just over $500 to rent it for the three weeks while I am in the UK, plus I would need gas which I would add another $250 for a total of $750.
So basically both will cost me roughly the same amount.

Pros for taking the train;
  • Don't have to deal with traffic
  • Can relax and enjoy the scenery
Cons for taking the train;
  • Limited to where and what I can see
  • Will have luge around luggage with me if I can't store it at a friends house. 
Pros for renting a car;
  • Can travel where ever I want
  • Don't have to wait for train schedules
  • Can explore more of the rural countryside
  • Can store luggage inside car
  • Can sleep in car (if necessary). 
Cons for renting a car;
  • Will have to drive on the opposite side of the road
  • Will have to deal with unknown weather conditions
  • Will have to find parking for the car
  • Will have to deal with traffic
Seeing it all laid out like this and discussing it over with my buddy Erik I think I'm going to go with renting a car. Sure I'll have to deal with traffic but hey I'm from LA and deal with traffic all the time.

2 comments:

  1. The weather conditions aren't that unknown, it will probably rain!

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  2. On a big trip like this I would try to come up with an itinerary of everywhere I would want to be, for how long and what I would want to see or do at each stop. This would help better plan and budget your car usage. And, if you do it right, you can still maintain some flexibility in your schedule. I've done this before with some trips I did to Japan some years ago. It's rather expensive there so, we went with the Rail Pass there. We also allowed extra time for when travelling from one town to another. :)

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