More travel plans

[afuna]

* getting on my flight Tuesday morning my time, so I'll be out of office starting then, with occasional bouts of the internet. Will be bringing my main laptop instead of the netbook, because I'm not sure about internet access (though I'm pretty sure I'll have it for at least some of the days there :D)

(though -- ew -- I just downloaded Coconut Battery and apparently my poor abused battery is at 30% capacity. I think that's only enough for about an hour of regular use. Will need to buy a new battery at some point during my trip)

* going to go on a quick commit run on Monday. I don't think there are any urgent bugs that require attention, so I'll be concentrating on committing rather than writing patches of my own

* speaking of patches of my own, mmm, jQuery

* still waiting to hear back from family in the USA before I can figure out how to handle the California portion (will reply to comments as soon as they respond!).

* I packed yesterday :D I've never finished packing so early. I've never started packing so early, either! Trying to figure out whether my suitcase is too large, and whether I'll need some warmer clothes. It's most definitely not too small, hah.

* I have also discovered that you can (most likely) bring bamboo circulars on the plane. Will confirm at the checkin counter, and of course, will bring books. These bamboo circulars are cheap though, and the knitting it's on is uncomplicated, so worst case I can just take the needles out of the work and throw them away.

(It would make me sad and my hands itch, but well)

* will withdraw money from the bank on Monday! Have asked for smaller bills so um. Hopefully I don't get stuck with all hundreds.

* I still can't place how much a dollar is worth. Or five dollars. Or twenty. Or a hundred. Absolute converted value is easy, but how much would you need for, say, lunch or dinner?

Comments

[zorkian]

Depends on where you go.

Budgeting ~$10 for lunch will get you food most places (unless you're at a fancy sit-down, have-a-menu place) and budgeting ~$20 for dinner will do the same.

There are ways to keep it cheaper. There are sure as hell ways of making it way more expensive. :-)

[afuna]

*laugh* I can well imagine! Some of them might even be worth it.

And okay, those sound like good baselines to start from. Thank you!

(chemicallace went over tipping and taxes with me over in IRC, so I'm feeling a lot less lost than I was before *G*)

[foxfirefey]

Be sure to let me know what day I should make plans to come and get you for Seattle, if that's still what you're planning on!

[afuna]

Yes! I am checking with D for until when my hotel reservations are *G*

[azurelunatic]

Few things are less than a dollar, these days. A cheap cup of takeout coffee might be a dollar. A normal-sized single candy bar might be less. There are "dollar stores", with goods of dubious quality, where most things are a dollar. (Some are two for a dollar. Some of the good things are more than a dollar.) (They were dime stores, once upon a time.)

[kateshort]

Yeah, food really depends on where and what you're eating.

For breakfast, if you're at a convention or at someone's house, you can possibly buy some cereal at a grocery store nearby. Or buy some Nutrigrain bars or Zone Bars or something like that. Add in some fresh fruit like apples or bananas. Quick, easy, and CHEAP. Hotel may or may not have a mini-fridge, but if they do, having juice and milk on hand will be much cheaper than going out to IHOP or Denny's for pancakes every morning. Not to mention, healthier!

Breakfast if you eat at a fast food place (McDonald's, Burger King, etc.) will probably run you $3-$7, depending on if you get juice or coffee or not. If you eat at a sit-down pancake joint, it'll be closer to $7-15, again, depending on how much you want to eat and if you get juice. Sit-down you will need to add a tip for the waitress.

Lunch for fast food or dinner will also run you around $3-7 on the low side and $6-12 on the high side, depending on how much you want to eat and if you get pop or juice or stick to water. Remember that water is healthier and cheaper!!!

Sit-down lunch will run you from $7-$17 depending on entree, whether you get pop or not, whether you get dessert.

Sit-down dinner will have the largest price range difference.

Entrees at a sit-down restaurant can range from $8 to $17 by themselves; if you're thinking of steak or seafood, the price will be more like $15-$28 or higher. Some will include choice of soup or salad, possibly with one or two sides such as potatoes, fries, vegetables, or even pasta (if at an Italian restaurant). A sit-down restaurant may also offer a bread basket, bread or rolls on the side, breadsticks, or crackers.

Appetizers will often be $5-$15, but may be split among several people. Ask your server how many people might share an appetizer. It's easy to fill up if you share an appetizer, and have a side salad, before you even get to your entree! Desserts are the same way-- at one local restaurant there are "small bite" desserts for $3 or $4, and desserts-to-share for $6-$12.

If you wish to get wine, get it by the glass. You can expect to pay between $4-8 for most glasses of wine, with some wines as high as $10-$12 per glass at a fancier restaurant or at a hotel.

Some places will add in the tip and will not split the check for you, so be careful! If you go out with 10 friends and the bill is $180, they may ask you to pay $18 even if you have only had a $10 salad and $2 soda.... but remember whether you shared in an appetizer or dessert with others! You may wish to make a note of how much your items were if you're going to be splitting the check with a larger group of people.

[holyschist]

If you are not a huge eater and have somewhere for leftovers, a lot of dinners and some lunches will stretch to 2 meals. U.S. portions are big.