Planning the Trip

Let's begin by introducing the travelers: Mark and Eugenia Schumacher; Jim and Nora Riley.  We are members of the Art League of North Florida based in Lake City.  The subject of the trip came up during a conversation at an Art League Gallery reception in June of 2016.  Jim and Nora had never been to Italy. Eugenia and I described our timeshare near Cortona, and some of our experiences on other trips.  One thing lead to another, and suddenly, I'm planning a trip to Italy for the four of us.  We started by researching flights, one of the major expenses, and monitored the fares for several months until, one day in November, it dropped to an attractively low level, and we immediately booked the flight on Delta Airlines from Jacksonville to Atlanta to Rome; and a return flight from Milan.  We would spend three nights in Rome, four in our timeshare, Borgo di Vagli, three nights in Florence, three in Venice and an overnight in Milan.  All that was left was to book hotels, train travel, car rental while at Borgo di Vagli, and an overnight near Jacksonville Airport, because we would be returning in the evening tired and jet lagged from the long flights.

The year leading up to the trip I researched hotels, trains, car rentals etc., and we had planning meetings and mutually decided on the final itinerary and hotel stays.  The timing of the trip was based around our week at Borgo di Vagli, which served as a rest point, and relief from the crowded chaos of the cities we were visiting. Toward the end of the planning phase, I did a cost analysis of the entire trip, and compared it to a very similar trip offered by The Pennsylvania State University alumni association.  Our per person cost was around $3,500, compared to the Penn State trip which topped $6,000 per person.