At 7:05am Tuesday morning (7 hours from now), we begin our journey to Europe.  First stop: Dublin.  We have a budget hotel booked there, and I'm glad to have a private room to refresh and sleep.

We've only booked lodging and transportation in the UK so far.  In Edinburgh and London, we're trying out airbnb.com, where you can stay with people renting out a room in their home/apartment.  It's very affordable and appears to offer a more authentic experience of the city.  We're excited about that!

So, what have we learned so far, before we've even left?
1. Buy Rail tickets more than a week in advance.  We thought we could just wait for a good deal and then buy e-tickets when ready to purchase.  Not so.  They send PAPER tickets only.  So we get the benefit of paying extra for the tickets themselves over the phone (because they can't process it online anymore) and then international shipping charges.  It took up to 5 business days for domestic shipping which didn't fit into our plans when purchasing last week.
2. Packing cubes are awesome.  I read about these (compact, mesh containers) and purchased some for Chris and me.  They are a terrific way to stay organized with your stuff and also pack & unpack quickly/easily.  They come in different sizes and some are waterproof for things like toiletries and shoes.  Lovin them already when packing tonight!
3. Balancing tight budget and flexible traveling is hard.  As mentioned before, we've set up the UK already--our 1st week.  But, after that, we plan to book as we go.  We hope to still find some great deals in person, but we also risk going beyond our budget.  All the fun of traveling, right? :)

So now we've packed (more details in "Packing" tab, and then will be in transit for about 14 hours tomorrow with layovers.  I'll post an update in the next few days from Dublin!!!

Well, we leave on Tuesday, Sept 13!  It is quickly approaching.  Chris and I have been enjoying the past 10 days with our families:
I drove to Texas and spent a few days with my family before joining Chris and his family in Sacramento.  We've been busy doing all sorts of fun stuff--lake, car racing, and most beautifully, Lake Tahoe.  

We visited Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe.  The water is a brilliant blue color and it's enveloped by thick pine trees.  This is a popular vacation spot, especially during the late 1800s and early 1900s.  A wealthy heiress built a Norwegian-style summer mansion by the shore, along with a 16x16 ft teahouse on the only island (in which she would boat guests over).

We also checked out the Stateline area, which is where California collides with Nevada.  Casinos are right there at the border, and Chris and I handed over a collective $25 for 10 minutes of betting joy.

It's also been a little stressful to wrap up our preparations--lodging, transportation, etc. We're trying to balance the thrill of being flexible in our schedule, while also stretching our thin budget.  We've already experienced how prices go up the closer you get to the travel date, and better deals don't always come along.  Everything seems to cost more than you anticipate...and we haven't even left yet.  It's a little overwhelming at times, but we're almost there.  Final packing of stuffs will happen tomorrow and Monday, and there will be more posted on that soon!

P.s.  Thanks to the Sony team for providing this DSC-TX10 camera for our adventure.  It's already awesome to use--really compact, crisp and clear, and extremely durable!