If you're planning on time abroad you could consider avoiding the herd and set off to South Africa. As of now I don't have any personal experience but after a great deal of research and have only heard good things about the courses there. I'm off there in July for my PPL. You won't need to learn to shoot (there are courses all over the country so overnighting in Jo'burg isn't compulsory) and it's almost embarrassingly cheap. For block hours it's possible to get them down to below 30 notes an hour and they'll even throw in a scheduled flight.
Just a though,
Cap'n Crunch