Kev's Wonders of the World Tour

FAQs
POST EUROMEDITERRANEAN LEG
Just two major questions: 1) How much did it cost and 2) How did you do your Web site?

1. How much did it cost?
Good question - not sure and haven't checked my credit card bills yet. My flights were free (miles) and I stayed in hostels and at friends' to keep costs low. In my travel journal, I tracked all my expenses, from a $2 souvenir pin to a $385 RT flight from Rome to Athens. So, I still need to enter all that data in the mother of all spreadsheets for the final answer. Until I get around to that, here are some ballparks:

Item	Description	Just give me the numbers, man
Flights	I used frequent flier miles for my major cities. It's much better to spend 100,000 freq. flier miles for this 15-city international trip than to blow it on four 25,000 domestic trips. If you don't have miles, you can try those credit cards that give you miles, and the little programs to get miles. I got my miles from years of consulting, including several round trips to Brazil. If you don't use miles, this will be your biggest expense. As I traveled, I bought additional short flights here and there.	Majority: 100,000 freq.flier miles Add-ons: Rome-Athns-Venice: $385 (bought 2 hrs before flight departure -toldya I was spontaneous!) Edinbgh-London 1way: $120 (overpriced, bought on gofly.com 3 days before)
Other transportation	Most intercity boat and train rides average about $50.	Varies
Lodging	Averaged about $50 a night, ranging from $11 in a 10-bed room hostel in booneyville Scotland, to $103 a night in a hotel in the Beverly Hills of Rome (near the Spanish Steps). Note that Euro hostels are actually nicer and cleaner than whatever you imagine. No chores or curfews any more. And while hotel rooms in Europe are small, making a Holiday Inn room seem like a mansion, the quality is usually good (except watch out in Paris and London).	Hostel - Multi-bed room: about $20/night - Single room: about $35/night Hotel, 3 star - Single room: $50-75/night Hotel, 4 or 5 star - Single room: $100/night
Food	I skimped on food, keeping most meals to about $6-9. Prices range from a $1.50 gyro in Mykonos to a $18 pizza in Oslo. I splurged on food cause in Italy, paying $15-$25 for meals with appetizer, main course, salad and dessert cause well, it's Italy.	Meal on-the-go: $6-$9 Sit down dinner: $15-$25
Internet	Spent about $25/week for $5-6/hour Internet cafe access, to upload digital photos and write text for this site on the road.	Internet cafes: $25/week (or about $350 for the 3.5 months).
Attractions	Museums, castles, group tours, theme parks, shows, movies,	Varies
Souvenirs	About $25 of souvenirs/major city
Postage	I mailed 5 boxes of souvenirs home, each costing about $45 for shipping. I saved on buying boxes by scrounging at the nearest store or restaurant	Approx $225/trip
Daily stuff	Toothpaste, haircut, stuff you need anyway: about $10/week	About $150/trip

2. How did you do your Web site?
I used my digital camera to take photos, and then uploaded them every week at an Internet cafe. It was definitely a good thing to upload to this site at the end of each city because the events were fresh in my mind, and I kept losing my digital photos. While EasyEverything net cafes cost $1-2 for an hour of access, I couldn't upload my photos there, so I had to find the more expensive net cafes ($5-6/hour), preferrably with Frontapge. I took 4-5 hours a week to upload 3 cities' worth of photos and write text, so my access costs are about $25/week. Here are details for you techies out there:

No way was I going to bring a laptop, so I looked for Net access at Internet cafes, "Internet points" (no cafe), PC gaming centers, Kinkos-like business centers, pricey hotel business centers and even a library. The bare minimum I was looking for was a computer with a

Note that if you don't have a Web site and wanted to upload your on-the-trip photos to Ofoto or Yahoo Photos, all you would need is the Net connection and the USB driver/port; you can skip the CuteFTP and Frontpage for text editing.

3. Did 9/11 affect travel in Europe?
In a word, nope. I took more than a dozen flights within Europe with no hassle at airport check-in. I didn't have to wait longer than 15 minutes to get through most check in and security, thanks to my strategy of flying in the early afternoon during weekdays (Mon-Thurs) when airport traffic is light. British Airways' policy is to check in heavy bags, so I had to check in my rolling backpack. That's OK cause that avoids tossing my boxers around at security bag checks. And I never had to take off my shoes for a shoe check. The ridiculous 45+ minute lines started when I had to catch my flight from Paris to New York, and NY to LA.. And yes, the Paris airport security asks a ton of questions. I thought I was going to have trouble when the security officer asked me "What other countries have you been to," and I listed "Cairo, Jordan, Germany," etc. After having my bag inspected, no problem. But all the other Americans in line with me were glad about the beefed up security, no one minded too much (well, except for people cutting in the long security line).

The only other times post 9/11 stuff came up was when I passed a peaceful pro-Palestine demonstration in Stockholm, and when I had conversations with people in Egypt and Jordan. Words of wisdom: when people want to talk politics, change the subject by asking "What are your favorite movies?!" Very usefu.

4. What's your favorite part of the trip?
Overall, I really enjoyed attaching a mental image to places I'd only heard about, like Stockholm or Ireland. And if you've been following along with site photos, you have a picture too without leaving your desk! My favorite city is Paris, favorite region is Southern Spain, and favorite country is Italy. I also had a blast meeting people from all over.