Ticket: Check!

I know this is crazy, but I bought my ticket.

After reading the TAPIF information packet, I was advised not to buy a ticket until I know for sure where I am placed even though I will be filled with anticipation to do so. Well... I didn't listen. Of course I have been looking at plane tickets from the day I started even thinking about applying to the program! I gave it a couple of weeks after I was formally accepted, but I saw prices creeping higher and higher all around me, and I just went for it! StudentUniverse.com is a wonderful thing for young travelers such as myself. On this sight, I booked a ticket for only $311! BUT WAIT! After google searching "student universe promo code" (note to readers: always search for online promo codes), I found another $20 savings. So at the end of the day (April 18th to be exact), I had booked my one-way ticket leaving Tuesday September 13th from Minneapolis to Paris through Icelandair for a mere $291! That's cheaper than flying in the States!

Here's the deal. I figure that even if all falls through or I need to change flights, I either: a) have a cheap vacation to Paris! or b) will only have to pay an extra $60, plus the difference, of a new ticket. Very reasonable for the risk of buying this early.

So now I've already started planning like mad. I have a long list of things:
to bring (ex. Catch Phrase, Mad Gab, Banana Grams- great for students learning English, right?)
to get in order here before I leave (ex. debit card with no ATM fees)
to save money for right away when I arrive (ex. bedding, rug, things to make wherever I'll be staying more homey)

BUT... The list that I'm not so sure of is my travel list. I know for sure that I want to go to Spain. That is my number one place to visit. Hopefully Madrid, but I also here Seville is "quintessential Spain". And although I've been to England, I have not yet been to London. This trip, however, is reserved for my mom and I, so we can't or choose not to fit it in while she is visiting me this coming year, it will just have to wait for another time.

My mind loves planning things out, but I'm trying hard not to get too carried away, especially when I don't even know where exactly I'll be! I can see it now though. Once that news arrives, my mind will be spinning a whole new set of wheels.

Oh! Here's an idea of where I will be staying:

I'm in the pink and Paris is the navy.

(La Lorraine isn't actually that big. This photo includes Alsace, which is where Strasbourg is located. I just like that you could see where I am in relation to Paris.)

And more specifically, here is La Lorraine up close:

I could be in any one of these cities!