We're going to PARIS!!!

Thanks to Scott's Cheap Flights, Nick and I just booked our first international trip together to Paris - only $322/person ROUND TRIP!!! Since we started dating over four years ago, we've been saying that we'd book a big annual trip together - and we finally made it happen! 🇫🇷 🏰

The closest we've been to the Eiffel Tower together @ Bastille Days in Milwaukee, WI

I really wanted to take advantage of United's Explorer credit card deal, which would have brought down the flight price to $89 and would have given me 65,000 miles, but unfortunately I forgot that I froze all of my credit pulling reports and didn't get immediate approval. Boo.

The $322 deal was too good to wait another month to get officially approved for the United credit card, so we just went for it.

Back when I was 20 years-old studying in Sevilla, Spain, I took a trip up to Paris for a few days, and then was able to return several years later when I was working in England. It's been over a decade since I backpacked around Europe as an undergrad and I'm excited to return with Nick, who has never been to Paris or anywhere in France.

We'll be in Europe for a week - from September 8 - September 15. It's not as long as I would have liked (I mean, I'd like it to be three years or more), but we're making it work with our remaining vacation days.

We're not quite sure yet if we want to try to zip over to nearby hot spots and quickly explore Brussels and Amsterdam for a few days too, or if we should just stay in France the entire week and make our way down south to Nice. We're flying in and out of Paris, so we just have to be back into Paris by the afternoon of the 15th. Either way, it's going to feel a bit rushed and travel-packed, but it's going to be worth it.

Europe, I've missed you so much.

Now, to save all-of-the-money between now and September so we can actually enjoy this trip like 30-somethings instead of on the bunkbed hostels, shoestring budget I had in 2005 (and let's get real, every trip I've ever booked).

In fact, the last time I was in Paris I was so bad at managing my travel budget that I spent every last euro on nutella and banana crepes. This was before I had a credit card and didn't have enough cash left to pay for a hostel that night, so I ended up having to sleep on my luggage under a bench near the Moulin Rouge. 15 years later, I'm still going to spend every last euro on corner crepes, but I'm leaving the bench nap in my 20's.

Update: Nick's sister, Laura, and her husband Joey, are joining us!!! THIS IS AWESOMEEEE.