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Things have been coming along nicely in the ‘planning my 2010 trip to Europe’ stakes.

Today I paid for my flights, so my itinerary is now confirmed. Now that I know my exact dates, I have the fun job of trying to fit all the places I want to go to in between the races…

Thing I don’t like: first flight leaves Melbourne at midnight. What a crazy time to fly.

Thing I do like: I get to go Singapore – London on an A380! Big plane!

Thing I love: As you can see I have also decided to stop over for four days in Singapore on my way home, as it just so happens to be the weekend of the Grand Prix there. My theory is if you’re going to two races, why not go to three? I had a fantastic time in Singapore in 2008, and watching it on TV this year just felt odd, so it will be very nice to go back.

I have emailed the place I stayed last time, Sleepy Sams, to see if they have any beds available. I am planning on avoiding hostels for this trip if I can, but because Singapore was an after thought I really hadn’t factored it into my budget so am doing it as cheap as possible. This extends to the cheapest grandstand too. I am definitely not a General Admission person. I am short, and I don’t like having to stay in one spot for 10+ hours just to get a good vantage point.

Sleepy Sams were fantastic in 2008, the main dorm rooms didn’t look ideal because they were huge, but I had a bed in a female-only dorm with 4 others. It was a separate room with a lockable door so it felt a bit more secure. I am also easily bought with food, and they gave us free breakfast in the morning. Some days I had toast, some days I had cereal, every day I had cold, cold water. Far too hot in Singapore for coffee!

After a quick shower in the morning I didn’t see much of the place because the great thing about a night race is you can stay out all day shopping or sightseeing and then go to the track in the late afternoon, meaning you really only go back to your accommodation to have another shower and sleep. I really don’t like the Singapore climate, it’s far too humid for me and it makes me feel gross, hence all the showering. If there wasn’t a race on, I’d never go there on holiday.

The other thing I have recently booked is a hotel in Milan for Thursday – Sunday of the Italian Grand Prix. The one I have chosen is Hotel del Sole because I got a fantastic deal on booking.com which saved me AU$200 total for the four nights over the standard rate. Unlike a lot of cheap, central hotels, this one actually has good reviews! It’s very simple, but once again I will be there to sleep, so it suits me fine. Plus, it’s not a hostel!

Accommodation for Spa is a little more tricky than Melbourne/Singapore/Monza because it’s not in the middle of/just out of a big city where there are plenty of hotels and the prices of the hotels that are around the area were scaring me slightly. Kathi has saved the day and has arranged a mobile home at Camping Spa d’Or. Generally I’m not a big fan of camping, but that’s because I don’t sleep on the ground. I also don’t sleep without walls and a ceiling (canvas does not count) so a mobile home with a proper bed for me is just perfect.

If Sleepy Sams come through with a bed for me that is accommodation for all three races sorted, which was my main priority. I still have ten months to sort myself places to stay in England, Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain and the rest of Italy. I’m tired just thinking about it.

The last thing I have got organised is a Cash Passport. I have heard a few bad things about them, in that Travelex are hard to get assistance from if you need it, but for me the pros outweigh the slim-to-none chance of actually needing their help.

I like that it’s just an ATM card I can slip in my wallet, so I don’t have to carry huge amounts of foreign cash on me. I like that they give you two cards so if you lose one, or it gets stolen, you’ve still got access to your money, (handy hint: don’t keep them both in the same place!) I really like that now I have it, I can top it up at any time. At the moment it only has 300 Euro on it because that was the minimum opening balance, but I have ten months to load more value onto it. For the way I like to organise things, incredibly early and with a minimum fuss, it’s perfect for me.