unfortunately, my momma did raise a fool

And for once, I am not talking smack about my sister.

But first, can I get a holla for travel agents? Seriously, they are awesome. I have lived all over the country, which has always necessitated a lot of travel back and forth. How do I do it? Internet, of course. I barely remember another way to make or check a flight reservation. So in that way, travel agents are dying breeds.

But if you, say, are interested in getting dirt cheap tickets that go all around the world, they are handy. And if you're near gouging out your eyes in frustration that you cannot get from Cairo to ANYWHERE from 2am on Saturday until...2am the next Saturday, they can come in handy.

Because they can make you realize that you have been an idiot.

I was search, search, searching everywhere for flights between Egypt and mainland Europe. When I first started looking, I had cheap ticket to and from Germany, without specific dates, so that formed the plan:meet my parents in Greece, do Eastern Europe, go to Egypt, finish in Scandinavia, go home. But as I have previously bitched ad nauseam, I simply could not get from Egypt back to Germany/Western Europe, and especially not in such a way that I could then efficiently continue to Copenhagen.

I wonder if it's obvious from reading the above the major, major flaw in getting stuck to that plan. If not, is it a clue that there are daily, reasonably priced fares between Athens and Cairo? And then does it become pitifully obvious that I should obviously go to Egypt earlier, after I separate from the 'rents in Greece, and come back there and then just do all of Europe in one go at my own pace? Total duh, right?

I don't mean to be so blue, but it's been hard for the last couple of days. All of the planning and plotting, combined with my obsessive budgeting and the feeling like I am going to go way over my money (or the related worry that fear of going over budget will make me stingy and miserable, which is about as much fun as having no money), have exhausted me. I've been feeling nickel and dimed an overwhelmed.

But my travel agent (and patient mother) helped a lot. I found a totally different tour, reasonable flights, got them all booked. I am going to Egypt, and actually spending more time in Jordan, and I am pretty much booked and ready to go. So I was low, but having it all done, and I feel much better now.

So my new resolution is that I have got to stop getting fixed on order plans. It will all go so, so much easier for me.