Longing for a vacation
I’ve been longing for a vacation for quite a while now. I keep seeing great deals everywhere I look (cheap cruises, inexpensive flights, reasonable accommodations) for places all over the world and I just want to GO.
I want to explore some place we haven’t been, laze around, and take in the sights. Unfortunately, we can’t right now. There’s too much to do at work.
Maybe we can squeeze in a weekend scuba trip close by sometime. Or heck even a trip to the mountains where it’s bound to be 30 or 40 degrees cooler. Sigh.
What about you? Do you have any vacation plans? I’ll probably be jealous, but share anyway and maybe I can vacation vicariously.
IF I were on vacation, I’d be doing some reading. So I guess that’s one thing I can do while in the meantime. And with that, here are a few links:
Broke Grad Student tells us how to be a horrible credit card customer.
Brip Blap asks how much emergency fund is enough?
Clever Dude reminds us to use CFL blubs, but use them wisely.
The Wisdom Journal gives the lowdown on how businesses plan to sell to you post recession.
Almost Frugal compares costs between New York and Paris.
I’m in the same boat, unable to take a “real” vacation this year, for various reasons.
Here’s mine. We didn’t take a “family vacation” last year, but I’ve been saving all year since last year for one this year.
We live in Poland. We’re going to take the last week of August (school starts here on Sept. 1) and go to Denmark and Germany. I bought a year’s pass for each of us (5 of us will be going–oldest two sons are in the states going to college–) for Merlin Entertainment which includes Heide Park and Legoland in Denmark and an aquarium in Berlin, and a historical museum in Hamburg (I think it is). I’m hoping with the passes, we can go for one full day to Legoland and Heide Park and then go back the next day/morning for the highlights before heading on our way to something else.
Because of the high cost of hotels, though, we’ll be tenting. It might be getting chilly at nights by then, but it’s okay. We’ve tented when it’s been really cold before (in Canada). The kids are fine with tenting and our focus financially has to be the food/fuel and entertainment–not the place to sleep. Everyone’s happy with that. I’m buying canned soda pop here since it is quite a bit cheaper here than Germany, and we’ll just carry it with us in the car. We’ll just go to fast food for meals, probably, or buy something at the grocery store that is easy. For me, vacation means no cooking or cleanup, so….if we go to the grocery store, it needs to be prepared food. :)
In September, I’m hoping to take a girls’ trip out with a lady in our church who has no family, and my 2 daughters, and fly to Crete (one of the islands of Greece) for a week of All inclusive resort living. If the prices hold and the dollar stays strong, we should be able to do it for $500 each (includes flight, hotel and all food)…doesn’t include any day trips we make to look at ruins or volcanoes, etc.
My husband and older daughter are on “his trip of a lifetime” this summer. He’s at a dig in Israel with people from all over the world. They come back on Sat. This is quite a chance for a 17-year-old girl. They’ve been going all over Israel on the weekends when they don’t have to be at the dig. (3 weekends…Masada, Dead Sea, Jerusalem, En Gedi, Sea of Galilee, Joppa, etc. It has been my husband’s dream since he was in college to go on a dig. We started saving for it a couple of years ago.
So, hope this helped you vicariously travel. I love to do it, too. In fact, my daughter and husband are posting often on Facebook so we can enjoy their trip with them as well. :)
Oh man Becky, all of that sounds fabulous! I definitely am jealous. And more determined than ever to get a vacation in later this year. Too bad I can’t go now though.
We went to the Atlantis in the Bahamas back in April. My oldest son is starting college this fall, so this was probably the last trip we’ll be taking as a family. We had a great time, and the weather was terrific. Because of the cost of that trip, we’re probably doing a staycation for the next couple of years.
Corporate, what was Atlantis like? The Bahamas sound like a nice family trip :)