Gearing Up For Greece...at the Library

In just four weeks from today, my family and I will be headed to Greece for 9 days! It's been three years since my last international travel experience, and I'm itching to do it again. I've been interested in visiting Greece ever since the 5th Grade. That year, my teacher Ms. Zazlov would read to our class from the beautifully illustrated Greek Gods and Heroes after lunch every day. I was fascinated by Greek Mythology, and oh, did I want that book! My sweet mother drove us all over Southern California to find a bookstore that carried it. (Thanks Mom! Now, if only I could find it!) Well, it looks as if my little Ella, at only age 5, has developed a similar interest in Greek Mythology as well. We've got a copy of D'aulaire's Book of Greek Myths that she loves to have read to her. It gives me hope that she'll really be interested in the sights we will be seeing -- Athens and some of the Greek Islands! It should be a fun and exhausting trip...but we're very much looking forward to it.

As with all of my trips overseas, I love learning a bit of the language and getting a Travel Guide. A few years ago, we started a collection of the Eyewitness Travel Guides by DK Travel. They are beautiful books with plenty of photographs and historical information. (If you're looking for practical info like hotels and such, a different brand of guide like Lonely Planet might better suit your needs.) But for us, the Eyewitness Books are great. So far, we've got the Eyewitness guides for Italy, France and a pocket-sized Athens Top 10. Since we'll be taking a cruise around the Greek Islands, I really wanted a copy of the Greek Islands guide as well. But seeing as we really need to save money for the actual trip expenses, I'm having a hard time justifying spending another $30 on a guide and language books.

Finally, it dawned on me to try the local library. Although we live in a small town with a very small library, our library is part of a wider system of libraries. I can search the online database and request books from other libraries in our system for a mere $0.50 each to have them delivered to our local branch. After a little searching, I found the Greek Islands guide as well as the Berlitz Greek Phrase Book and CD in our library system. So, instead of spending over $30 on travel books, I'm spending just $1. True, I would love to have these books in my home and maybe I will someday. But for right now, getting them from the library suits me and my budget just fine.

For other budget-friendly ideas, check out Frugal Fridays at Life As Mom.