It's a match!

When I first found out about au pairing I had no clue where to even start. I was googling au pair and hoping that a good website would come up. I was lucky, because right when this search began a girlfriend of mine recommended aupair-world.com. For anyone looking to do an au pair in any Country, I would definitely recommend this webpage. After making my profile and e-mailing many families, I received responses almost instantly. I was able to communicate with many of the families well, given that English was not their first language and I soon came across a lovely family. This family consists of 3 gorgeous girls and two lovely parents and through only a couple of e-mails sent back and forth, I believe I've found my match!!! 

With having never done an au pair before, I began asking your typical questions (a little about the family, the house, the arrangement and timing). The mother was wonderful and even offered to meet with me during my trip friends in order to show us around and formally meet before I were to move in. However, given that I have never done an au pair before, nor has this family, I think we are getting a little too hung up on the fact that we both can communicate well and like each other and not enough on the logistics. With this said, have any of you done an au pair before? Is there specific questions I should be asking or should know about? 

If you have any experience in this area, please feel free to comment. It would help me out greatly and I'm sure, many other viewers as well. Thanks :)

What Savings?

The closer I get to take off the more I realize how broke I am. I came to the realization that last year at this time I was working my butt off with over 4 jobs, 2 of which were consecutive throughout the whole summer and 2 were for only a couple of weeks here and there. With minimal money in my pocket and the realization becoming real that I am going to have no money to live in this new country I am on a frantic rampage trying to find online jobs.
I need something that I can do when I come home from work, on my days off and while I'm in Europe from my computer. However, the more I look the more I run into scam and websites that I don't think I can trust. If anyone knows of any awesome online jobs that allow me to work at my own pace PLEASE let me know. I am getting quite desperate.

When it comes to managing money, I always thought I was decent considering I never tend to splurge on myself. The only problem, is that I tend to splurge on everyone else. Drinks at the bar, birthday presents, food... pretty much anything that I can buy for someone that I think will make them happier and have a better time in life, gets purchased by me. I have no problem doing this, in fact I absolutely love it because it means that those who I surround myself with are always happy and having a good time. However, it does also limit what I am able to do... or does it? My problem is even though I know I'm broke and trying to save for an awesome trip, I still seem to spend a lot here :S

Anyways point of story HELP ME hahah

Au Pair in the air

hehe my rhyming is amazing I know... but the title comes for a reason. As mentioned in my previous post I am going to be traveling around Europe with a few friends from my high school. Since I am the only one with an Italian citizenship and desire to actually live in Europe for a while, after my four months of travel I am hoping to find a job. With this in mind, I figured the best way to get my grounds, learn the language and adjust to my surroundings would be to au pair.
Unfortunately, so far it has been like a dating site that has gone wrong. I made my profile and sent many host families a message, however, many of them are looking for a minimum stay of A YEAR! Yes, I mean that would be awesome, you basically become one of the family.. but I don't know if I can commit myself to a family for a year based on ... essentially a dating profile haha
With all the basic questions answered (how many kids ..1, 2, 3, do you smoke yes/no, have you had an au pair before yes/no) it has come down to how much information you can slam into one e-mail about yourself and the family you are attempting to live with.
As of right now I have yet to find my perfect match :( unfortunately, the one host family I was really looking forward to hearing about found an au pair before I even got a chance to reply. So ... the hunt continues and hopefully I find my magical family soon... but for now all that I know is that au pair is in the air.

The objective - do not spend!

In light of the fact that I have not posted on here for a while, I thought I would start to use this blog as my public version of my travel journal. A couple months ago, a few of my friends from high school and I booked a flight to Europe! Yay!!

As soon as I saw the message "pack your bags" everything became real! I have been planning this trip since I first walked into University. Having my life planned to a T I knew that the day I graduated I wanted to book a trip to Europe, learn the Italian language and study culinary while I was there. By the time graduation day finally came, I realized that I have no idea what I want to do with my life. With everything in my mind changed, one thing stayed the same, and that was the fact that my butt was going to be in Europe no matter what! 

After booking my flight, all my money and attention was based on what I will need for Europe. Shopping became a game where the objective was to only purchase what could fit in a backpack. Of course with my addiction and the fact that I have like 15 closets.. this simple task became much more complicated. It is now May 27th and I'll be in the air as of August 25th, so from here on out it is SAVE SAVE SAVE.... we'll see how this goes.