Are We Doomed to Suffer?

E: So these days I've been worrying quite a bit about our grad trip. We know we've got a budget to keep. But after researching on transport, car rental, tours, attractions and adding up the cost for our entire itinerary, I realized that we are reaallllyyy tight. And keeping to our budget means we are gonna have to be very careful with our spendings, especially when it comes to food, tours and attractions because these are the three items that we pay for based on our own discretion. And it makes me disappointed knowing that I would not be able to see/eat/do everything that I want. 

I'm not a fussy eater at all and I basically eat anything but that doesn't mean I wouldn't want to have a taste of all the local cuisines. And as much as I'm not a supporter of being a mere tourist, I'm not going to visit Iceland without dipping myself in their famous blue lagoon or go all the way to the Loire Valley and not visit Chenonceau.

But doing all these things comes with a price. And so this is gonna be a huge test of our wisdom, discretion and a play of our wild side/creativity how we are gonna work things out without bursting our budget. 

Seeing things from a more positive angle, not being able to eat out also allows us to have the authentic experience of shopping at a supermarket like a local and learn more about the local produce. Not having the budget to visit fancy attractions forces us to stray away from doing the usual things that tourist do (and getting caught in tourist traps). Not being able to afford staying in the city centre allows us to get a glimpse of the "real-er" side of the city/country we are visiting. 

Ultimately, the trip wouldn't be as interesting and exciting if we had the comfort of staying wherever we want, doing whatever we like. It's certainly gonna be a challenge but speaking about this now, I can't wait to see how this whole trip pans out - what funny situations we will encounter, what kind of people we will meet along the way..  

Putting things into perspective now is definitely helping to ease the worries and I guess having a tight budget doesn't sound that bad after all?