Eat, Pray, Love

I have recently read the book "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It's not a sappy love story (for the most part), or overly religious.  I liked it mainly because, while I can't relate to a lot of the situations that Ms. Gilbert was in that lead to the writing of this book, I can relate to her need for inner peace, to her need for solidarity whilst also wanting companionship, to her need to find herself.  After reading this book I now REALLY want to travel to Italy.

I've wanted to travel to Italy for years now, and reading this book has reaffirmed my want to go there.  I have lived in the Czech Republic. Visited France, England, Austria, Poland, and Germany, but Italy has this draw to me.  The ruins that are in the middle of the city with modern, western life going on all around it.  The sheer history that is Rome, Piza, Venice, etc.... Last summer when I was in Europe for a month I desperately wanted to visit Italy and Greece, but sadly there wasn't enough time to do so.  Or money, for that matter.

I am also trying to plan a return trip to paris for at least two weeks.  Just Paris.  I was in Paris for a week in 2004. I absolutely loved it.  My best friend and I love cooking and food, and what better place to experience it than in Paris?  The center of French cuisine! 

Back to Italy.  I want to go to Italy, and Greece.  Both are entirely too beautiful to never visit, and visit I will.  I just have to work long and hard to save up enough money for trips like these... These kinds of trips will take wills to save for, not as long to plan, but I want to make sure that I have enough money to enjoy myself.

I guess that's why I like working so much overtime.  I like making money.  I also like spending money.  I'm learning how to tighten the purse strings a bit so that I will not be living paycheck to paycheck, but that I will actually be able to save up money for these trips that I so desperately want to go on.  I'm not going to work so much that I become burnt out, but I am going to work towards this goal. 

In the near future I'm going to start actually planning on where I will want to stay in Paris when I return.  What I will want to do--admission prices, rough food prices, etc--and what I will need to have saved up for extra spending money... play money as I call it.

Anyone have any good ideas on cutting costs? Not only here at home in the US, but also on my travels?