new destinations: Greek Islands

I'm so excited because a couple of weeks ago, I finally booked flights for my summer holiday. My sister and I are flying to London (which is my favorite city in the world) and from there, we are heading to the Greek islands of Santorini and Mykonos.
The trip isn't until August, but I'm slowly but surely making arrangements because I know that many Europeans like to holiday in the Greek islands and I don't want to end up without a flight or a room (or pay way too much) just because I neglected to be punctual to the booking party.

Our flights to London were definitely on the pricier side compared to what I'm normally willing to shill out for a flight but this was also a slightly different situation. Typically, I pick a flight based on how cheap it is and build the holiday around that. This time though, I have a place in mind and am doing whatever it takes to get there, whilst still trying to maintain a reasonable budget. So, our flights to London were $875, which in all honesty, is not that bad (especially considering it's the high season) and I'm glad I jumped on them when I did because right now, it seems that the cheapest flight available is over $1000.

We're using Easyjet to get from London to the islands and back. Those flights were about €150 each way. And since the dollar and the euro are almost in parity, I didn't think that was a bad deal at all.

There are no (reasonably priced) direct flights between Santorini and Mykonos and taking the ferry is debatable so I'm considering spending a day in Athens or Naples or another Greek island. I've been reading up on security and the impact that the refugees have had on tourism to make sure that we'll be happy and safe. With Greece's economy the way it is, they seem to be rather eager to have visitors, made apparent by the sites I've been perusing and by the surprisingly low hotel rates (despite it being high season). So, I'm confident we'll have a great time.
I'm really excited. Visiting Santorini has been a dream of mine ever since I watched Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Yeah, what a terrible movie, but I can't deny I was super jealous of Lena hanging out with the blue domed houses and whitewashed walls. And I've jealously scrolled through Instagram feeds of people holidaying in Mykonos, swimming in crystal clear waters and chowing down on saganaki. And in August, that will be me.
I'm still trying to figure out what specific cities we should stay in and I still have lots of research to do on restaurants and fun activities. And I'm excited, because the trip planning is still one of my favorite parts of traveling.

I actually booked a few hotels already, but as usual, for our safety, I won't be sharing details until after we get back.

xoxo.

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