Reviews | A Girl Travels

“The I can’t wait to go generation. The early risers for the morning cab, last minute packing, full of excitement generation. The head first into water, wine, or work generation. The I don’t want to go home, let’s stay longer generation. The we’ve been coming here for years, but still fall in love generation. The everyone doing it their way generation. The more places, more choices, more often generation. This is generation easyJet” – www.easyjet.com

I LOVE that quote! It definitely speaks to the traveler in me. I flew easyJet roundtrip from Paris to Rome to cutdown on travel times and to maximize my stay at each location. I’d read several reviews about cheap airline travel around Europe primarily focusing on easyJet and Ryanair, with most reviews shedding a negative light on each airline. I opted for easyJet because there was a direct flight from Paris to Rome.

I purchased my flight about 2 weeks out and managed to get a ticket for a total of 186,50 EUR ($252.20 USD). Which seems pretty good to me considering the timing on my purchase. I could have gotten it even cheaper if I’d booked sooner, but since I was flying Space A to Germany I didn’t want to purchase a ticket too far out. I’d read somewhere that some people incurred surprise charges on the backend of their purchases, but the only fees that I saw were an aviation tax and an admin fee, which were included in the overall total. So everything was pretty cut and dry and there were no surprises.

Getting to ORLY airport in Paris was pretty simple and took about 1hr and 15min from the flat we rented off of AirBnB. You have to purchase a separate metro pass for the airport, which costs 11,30 EUR and the train stops at the South Terminal. Perfect, because this is also where the easyJet check-in is located. I arrived about 2 hours early in case of long lines at security. Since I’d checked in for the flight and printed out the boarding pass before getting to Paris. I opted to travel light and not check a bag, so I made my way through security and with my carry-on a proceeded to the assigned gate for my flight.

During boarding there were 2 lines; a speed line (for those who paid to board the aircraft first) and the regular line, and from there 2 lines were created for those sitting closer to the front of the aircraft and those sitting toward the back. Everything moved rather quickly and before I knew it we were ready to take off. The flight crew was awesome and very friendly, and of course multi-lingual to accommodate passengers. I actually scored a pretty sweet deal and had a whole row to myself :)

My Travel Buddies

Food and beverage service came through the cabin which costs an additional fee, but they had lots of options like soup, sandwiches, salads, quinoa, candy, alcohol, and non-alcoholic beverages. I went with the Tomato/Mozzarella/Basil Panini combo with came with chips and water for 8,20 EUR since I knew once we touched down in Rome I planned to hit the ground running.

On the return trip there were a few options for getting to Fiumicino Airport:

Leonardo Express Train – 14 EUR
Shuttle – 7 EUR
Taxi – 40 EUR

Of course I went with the shuttle. Once at the airport and through security the terminal was provided, but there was a wait for the gate assignment. During boarding time everything went smoothly as it had the first time.

I would definitely flight easyJet if the opportunity to arise again. The service was great, the flight was easy, quick, and clean, and they have excellent deals on airfare even for last minute purchases.The biggest challenge for me was finding a bag small enough to use as my carry-on for the plane and large enough to fit 5 days worth of clothes.

Wishing you safe and happy travels! -xo AGT

What better way to ‘Go Local’ during your travels, experience new places and find those “off the beaten path” spots all the locals are hanging out at than with the help and suggestions of friends and friends of friends? We usually either read reviews, google “things to do”, or reach out to people on our social media platforms for travel advice pre-trip. Wouldn’t it be great if we could make one stop and get the answers to our questions and connect with a friend or friend of a friend?

Newly launched Friends of Friends Travel is an online marketplace and social network that allows friends and friends of friends to exchange travel services for free. These services include things like free accommodation (“roofs”), storage facilities (“lockers”), travel tips and advice (“guides”) or even just a chance to meet up with a friendly, trustworthy local (“coffees”).

Now, perhaps you’re thinking – “oh no, not another social media platform”, but this one is unique to your travels – providing you with access to travel tips and advice, the opportunity to hangout with locals, and connect with companies offering tours and deals. Friends of Friends Travel is a social network for travels, inspiring those 18-35 to explore a new city through the eyes of locals, and to see the world one friend at a time. Before embarking on a new adventure we usually ask ourselves:

How much do I need to budget for the trip?
Where am I going to stay?
What am I going to do while I’m there?
What do I need for my trip?

On the Friends of Friends Travel platform you can easily connect with people to help you answer your questions. Traveling to a new place can be a bit unnerving at first, but arriving to a new place and meeting a friend or a friend of a friend for coffee or lunch eases the stress, especially when traveling solo and to places where you are unfamiliar with the language. This October I’m heading to Europe for 10 days to explore Germany, France, and Italy. Of course I’ll have guidebooks and mini language guides in hand. I know that hotel and hostel concierge are all willing to provide information to help your during your travels, but I’m looking forward to meeting up with friends, and friends of friends over coffee/wine, lunch or dinner to chat and experience the each city.

Here’s how it works: