Going Places...

As I mentioned in my last (and first) post, my little family and I are off to Montreal, thanks to a strange but super twist of fate. We're greatly looking forward to it. We'll enjoy seven nights there, primarily because it was cheaper that way... I got a special deal on Air B'n'B for booking our intended  apartment in the Old Port district for a whole week rather than just the five nights I initially had in mind.

Travelling all the way from Australia, I know (from experience) that we'll be completely blitzed for the first three days anyway, so will need that recovery time in a stable place, while we find our land-legs (and relocate our brains).

After a week there, we're catching the train for a couple of hours across to old Quebec City. We're  staying inside the walled fortress for three nights. For me personally, Quebec City is the big drawcard, so as we're going to Montreal, in the first place, it makes sense to spend some time checking out QC. By all accounts, it's a compact kind of place, so we only need the two full days there. Again, we're utilising Air B'n'B, so just as with our time in Montreal, we'll have a self-contained apartment, in which we can economise by having breakfast and dinner in, on our own terms.

Were it not for Air B'n'B we'd not be doing this trip at all. The total cost for self-contained accommodation throughout our trip is one third of what we paid seven years ago using good standard hotels, and that was just for two people. Throughout this trip we're accommodating three of us! And in most instances our daughter gets her own room.

As it's Air B'n'B, we won't have to tip anyone or worry about the intrusion of room service staff. I am aware that Air B'n'B may well be endemic to a particular period of contemporary history. Come what may in the future, I just think that it's brilliant that it exists at present, for what it is now.

In the beginning we thought we'd just spend ten nights total in French Canada, then fly home, based around what we thought the purpose of the trip was - an academic conference on critical heritage. But it's so damned hard for Australians to break away from normality and travel across the skies, and it costs an awful lot of money for international flights, whichever way you look at it. I felt it important that we fulfill some of our adjacent dreams while over there. With that in mind, I knew exactly what else I'd like to see while on the U.S. East Coast...

Sixteen years ago, when planning our wedding, we had considered spending a big part of our honeymoon in Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia. For whatever reasons, we did not do that, and did something else instead. But I've held the thought of it close to my heart ever since. And so... When we've finished with Quebec City we're boarding an Air Canada flight to Newark, NY, and changing over to a flight that will take us down to the Deep South.

We'll have three nights in Charleston. I've booked an SUV (same model and type as my own car, coz I figure that's safest when in a strange land...) to collect from the Airport, so we can move about the place. Again, it seemed cheaper that way than fussing with taxis and the like. My hub has bravely volunteered to drive on the wrong side of the road for our entire time down there. He's organised his 'international license' so we're ready, or as ready as we can be. Again, we're staying Air B'n'B, in a gorgeous heritage cottage, and after three nights there, we're heading further South.

I think I'll leave this post now, and make a late dinner. Must prepare myself to lecture tomorrow. Further elaboration of our plans to be continued in a couple of days...