Counting My Pennies » vacation

Better than a raise

Megan — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 16:50:11 +0000

I just hit the three year mark at my job. I never thought I’d make it through three years there, but by some magic, I did. On my 3 year anniversary at the agency, I got the call that I got the transfer (within the department ) that I had applied for, which makes my job a hundred times better.

One of the perks to hitting the 3 year mark is that I now get more vacation time. Seven more days, to be exact. I can’t tell you how exciting that is. I don’t take a lot of big trips, mostly little weekend trips here and there, but my whole family lives halfway across the country. A lot of my vacation time is spent with them. So getting an extra seven days is awesome. I can spend time with my family and take trips for myself and not feel guilty about it.

Definitely better than a raise.

Still conflicted

Megan — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:23:49 +0000

It looks like you are just as conflicted as I am with my wedding dilemma. I’m still debating. This friend is a good friend, but not a great friend. We live in the same city but only see each other occasionally, and have gone years without speaking (not for any reason other than distance). Really, I think if we weren’t living in the same city, we just wouldn’t be in touch. Don’t get me wrong, I really like her, and she’s a great person. But she’s not my best friend from forever. I agree though, if this were someone I was super super close to, I would be spending the money without question.

They are having a reception here later this summer for all their friends who couldn’t attend the wedding, so they clearly realize that not a lot of people will be able to attend.

A big part of it for me is also the time. I can’t get additional time off work, so it would be about 18 hours of travel total for not a whole lot of time there. I know that’s a bit selfish, but the idea of that much wasted time just makes me cringe.

Right now, there’s a chance I won’t be able to get that Friday off work (office policy change again), which would make the entire conversation moot. If I have to work all day Friday, there are no flights to get me there in time for the wedding on Saturday. It’s a little frustrating, but at the same time, it would solve my dilemma.

Wedding Dilemma

Megan — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:02:02 +0000

One of my very good friends is getting married in a few months. She’s having a very small wedding, and only a few of her friends from college were invited, myself included. Initially, I was very gung-ho about going. Then I started researching.

She’s getting married in a resort town over Memorial Day Weekend. The location was chosen because it’s a midpoint between her hometown and her fiance’s hometown. With layovers, the quickest trip for me will still be almost 8 hours. But that’s not the bad part. The bad part, as you can expect, is the price. After looking at the cost of flights and splitting a rental car (necessary in this town) and hotel room, and meals out, I’m looking at close to $1000.

I love my friend, but $1000 is a lot of money that could be spent elsewhere. I spent less than that for my entire trip to Hawaii last year (admittedly, I stayed with a friend, but still, it was a much longer trip).

Admittedly, a big part of my hesitation is also the travel time. Even if I go for a 4 day weekend, I’m still spending two of those days traveling.

I know that the couple understands the cost of the travel, and would understand if I backed out because of the price, but my friend has already asked me if I was coming, worrying that none of her friends would be able to make it. So I’m feeling a little bit obligated.

But $1000. I can technically afford it, but it puts a big dent in my budget.

She lives near me, so it’s not as if we never see each other. And only one of my other friends will be there, a friend who I will see many times throughout the year. So this isn’t one of those weddings that’s also a bit of a reunion.

I like her family a lot, and I’m sure the weekend would be fun, but right now, I’m really hesitating. What would you do?

Lots of planning

Megan — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:42:29 +0000

So I haven’t even finished putting away my luggage from my last trip and I’m already making plans for the next one. Well, the next few. In the past few days, I have booked hotel rooms for three trips, registered for a race, and will probably register for another one soon.

The first trip planned is just a quick overnight stay. Since my half-marathon didn’t happen, I wanted to get one in before the summer so that I don’t end up with a mental stumbling block over the distance. I found one that’s fairly local and has great reviews, so I registered, and then, in the interest of not having to get up at 3am, decided to book a hotel room within walking distance of the start line for the night before. It will be a nice little treat for me.

The other two hotel stays are also for races – one in Florida and one in California. The California trip has been planned for months, my friend and I just didn’t have a hotel room yet. The Florida trip is a replacement for this most recent trip that turned out to be a bit of a bust. I haven’t registered for the Florida race yet, so for now, the trip is mostly refundable, though I really want to go. Next up will be looking for flights.

It feels like a lot of travel, and it is, but at the same time, it’s just a few weekend trips. It’s not cheap, but I do what I can to make the trips as cost effective as possible, and this is one of the reasons that I try to watch my spending in other categories. I would rather save on groceries and rent movies rather than go to the theater and then spend my money on fun trips. Other people don’t like to travel, so they splurge on fancy groceries or cute shoes. It’s all about the balance.

I kind of like the idea of traveling to run a race. It gives me an excuse to go to a new destination and something to do while I’m there. Plus it’s a good way to stay in shape. Never a bad thing.

Now to just kick the rest of this illness so I can get back to running this weekend!

The Best Laid Plans

Megan — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:33:24 +0000

I guess I should have been more clear that I was on vacation over these past few days! Whoops. I was just so excited that I forgot to remind everyone to not worry, that I was just out of town and not worrying about blogging.

Sadly, the trip was a bit of a bust. This was the weekend I was scheduled to run the half-marathon I’ve been planning for for over a year. Because of all the snow, I’ve been slogging through many treadmill runs, sometimes spending almost two hours on the treadmill. I overcame that and worked through a few injuries. I was ready.

And then I caught a stomach virus. It’s no fun to be sick on vacation. It’s especially no fun to be sick when you’re supposed to be running a huge race. I was so upset to not be able to run. I could hear the fireworks from the start line and it made me so incredibly sad. But sometimes things just don’t go as you plan.

Other than that, the trip was great, but there’s still kind of a dark cloud over it all. Thankfully, no one else got sick. I was so worried that someone in my traveling party would end up sick the day that we were all scheduled to fly home. As my mom put it, they still might get sick, but at least now they’re all home. Being sick on vacation is bad. Being sick while traveling is much worse.

Because the race was a no-go, I decided to take advantage of the “book now and save” offer that was in the hotel room. There’s another race in October that I really want to run. So I called and booked a hotel room. I can cancel it later for a full refund, but the discount was pretty great, and it’s nice to take that first step towards committing. My race partner did end up running the race and she did amazing, so I’m happy for her, and she’s willing to come back with me for the October race. I just hope it all works out. After all, what are the odds of getting sick again?

So now I’m looking for a local half-marathon to run so that the half-marathon distance doesn’t become my albatross. I think there’s one in June that looks good. Plenty of time to get healthy and train.

A much needed break

Megan — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:15:28 +0000

Today is my last day of work before I start my holiday vacation and I am incredibly excited to have some time off (would-be burglars take note – I have someone staying in my apartment with my cats and she knows kung fu). As much as I love vacations where I get to travel somewhere fun, I’m very excited about this vacation, where I get to go to my parents’ house and be lazy. Well, sort of lazy. There’s lots of visiting to be done, of course, and I will be helping with Christmas preparations, but it will be nice to have a trip free of responsibility for a while.

2009 became the year of the Staycation, and the more stressed I get at work, the more the idea of a Staycation appeals to me. Just a week to hang out at home, plow through my household project list, sleep in, watch movies, and just do whatever I want. Unfortunately, that’s not really an option. I don’t quite have enough annual leave stored up for that.

Sometimes, I forget that a vacation doesn’t need to cost a lot of money. For this trip, I bought my plane tickets and will probably try to pay for dinner if we eat out. And it will be an enjoyable trip. I think in 2010, I’m going to try to take a long weekend to myself, where I just use the days off to relax and do things that I want to do. Even if I spent the whole time on household projects, getting those off my task list and off my mind will reduce my stress level and that’s exactly what a vacation should do.

What are your plans for the holidays? Are you already mentally planning vacations for next year?

TGIF. Seriously.

Megan — Fri, 22 May 2009 12:13:54 +0000

Due to technical difficulties (meaning that I wrote a post and have no idea where it went), today’s post has been postponed. Maybe the blog decided to leave early for Memorial Day Weekend. It definitely appears that my office has done so.

Memorial Day Weekend kind of snuck up on me this year. I’m hoping to get down to the War Memorials this weekend, maybe bring some flowers with me and thank all the veterans who are visiting and remembering fallen comrades. It’s a nice way to spend the holiday.

I know a lot of people are traveling this weekend. Anyone taking any good roadtrips? Be safe, and remember to pack snacks! It’s so much cheaper than buying food at the gas stations (though not nearly as fun – I still think of Combos as vacation food thanks to many childhood roadtrips). What’s your favorite roadtrip snack?

Relaxed and Refreshed

Megan — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 10:00:09 +0000

Vacation was absolutely amazing. While I was there, I realized that some time off was exactly what I needed. I can’t tell you the last time I went on vacation where I didn’t have a set plan of things I wanted to do or a schedule I needed to keep. A lot of times, my vacations are go go go. This trip was to visit a friend, and while there were things planned, every day wasn’t completely planned. He unexpectedly had to work more days than he thought he would have to, so that meant I had quite a bit of time to myself. I spent time laying out in the sun (but not too much time, and covered in SPF 50 - those of you who have met me will understand). I slept in and watched the news in the morning, but ignored the internet and my responsibilities. I didn’t bring my Blackberry, and left strict instructions at my office to not call me unless it was a complete emergency (or if something ridiculous happened, like someone quitting or getting fired). I didn’t worry about my PF blog (I love it, but it’s a bit like a job). I read books and we went to the movies and went out to dinner and just had a really relaxing time. It was perfect.

I’ve tried to have the same theory when it comes to long weekends, but my relaxation always falls to the wayside in favor of the numerous tasks on my to-do list. There’s always something to do around the house, in terms of cleaning or organizing or any number of projects. Obviously, that wasn’t an option here, and I did my best to keep all thoughts of all of those things out of my mind (and hoped that my roommate would do her best to keep things clean in the apartment – though seeing as though she’s getting close to grad school finals, I was not hopeful).

This vacation was incredibly refreshing, and I think I need to make it a yearly thing – even if I don’t go anywhere quite as beautiful, I think I need to find the time to get away from everything and just relax. I think it’s necessary for my sanity.

A much needed vacation

Megan — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 10:00:56 +0000

Today, I’m leaving on a week-long vacation to visit a friend and spend some time on the beach, enjoying my time off and ignoring all responsibilities of the real world.

I’ve got a few (very few) posts scheduled, but not enough to cover the whole time I’m gone, but rest assured, I will be back next Friday. I might be tweeting every now and then, so if you’re curious, check out my Twitter page. I’m making no promises, as part of the plan for the vacation is to disconnect a bit and not worry about work or blogging.

When I get back, there might be pictures, and hopefully a great report of all the fun I had while still staying on budget.

Anyone have any great vacation stories to tell?

What would you do?

Megan — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 10:00:13 +0000

While watching the inauguration with some friends yesterday, we commented how strange it must be for an outgoing president to just go home and then… what? I’m sure that the Bushes are exhausted and will enjoy a bit of relaxation and settling into their new lives, but after having your life so very rigidly scheduled for eight years, how do you go back into a normal life? And what do you do with all of that new found free time?

I can’t even imagine what I would do. Read all the books I never got the chance to read and watch all the movies I never got to watch, perhaps. Most likely, I would just waste a lot of the time, as I managed to do with this long weekend. Of course, with traffic, I really couldn’t go anywhere, but all my plans to scan photos and organize things got waylayed by a sinus headache, a backlog on the DVR, and a few really good books.

Not that I’m complaining, of course!

Imagine that all your work and school responsibilities are suddenly gone. You still have some responsibilities, of course, to your family and your home, but what would you do? Let’s also assume you’ve got a bit of money so you can take a nice vacation but probably can’t go on a 6 month cruise around the world. What would you do?

I think I would go on a very quiet vacation, somewhere secluded where I could avoid the news and just relax and read and enjoy the peace and quiet. But I’m not sure what I would do when I got back home!