How to slash the price of this year’s vacation
No Vacation?
I had been expecting the question for some time. Now it was on the table and I had to reply. “Listen, everyone, you know how rough things are down at the plant, reduced orders, guys being fired, no bonuses, four day week and all that? Well, I thought we’d do something different this summer.”
“Different like how?”
“Like camping… at the bottom of the garden. We have that old tent that we haven’t used for years, we have pots and we can make a fire and we’ll get meat and stuff…”
A quick look at the ring of faces told me my sales pitch wasn’t going down. I was actually planning on taking a Payday Loan for each member of the family, that’s six, not counting the dog, and spending the money having fun at home this summer. There is no way I can take the family away, but it’s difficult for me to tell them.
My ends are not meeting anyway
In the good years I never thought twice about blowing a couple (or more) thousand dollars on our summer vacation. It all came out of the end-of-the-year-bonus anyway and if I had to add a bit, so what? There was always another month and another bonus coming up. Last year we went to LA and took in Disneyland and Universal studios. I took Lisa to Spago in Beverly Hills and we ate the Asian Snapper with Baby Bok Choy. We went shopping, only for tee-shirts mind you, on Rodeo Drive.
The year before we went to Italy, hired a car and messed about in Rome, saw the Vatican, ate spaghetti till we bust and drank Chianti with every meal. Another year there was that Caribbean Cruise on some Norwegian liner where our stateroom was on the tenth floor and we ate non-stop day and night.
Those are what I call vacations. That’s the time I relax and re-energize for the coming year. As far as the kids are concerned these are great adventures, all part of growing up in our family. Now I have to tell them, “not this year kids”.
Travel is expensive
All travel is expensive, whether it’s to the nearest beach or the nearest overseas country. Gas is up, hotels are astronomical, entertainment is prohibitive and the thought of buying clothes for the holiday scares me. And then when you are at your destination, money flows freely as you spend on fun and entertainment and eating. You can’t very well stay in some plush hotel and smuggle in sandwiches for dinner.
I’m cutting everywhere
The vacation is not the only item on my “redlist”. I stopped my membership at the gym, and I didn’t renew my subscription to the symphony concert series. I’m taking sandwiches to work instead of going out to a diner or restaurant, but there’s another problem. As things get worse, everyone out there is putting their prices up to stay alive as well. It’s a Catch-22.
Back to the holiday
So, dear family, I hope you understand. We will not be going anywhere this coming summer. And I can assure you that neither will anyone else.
Thanks for this post. It’s really sad that we cannot afford to spend holiday vacation somewhere now like we use to enjoy every year since we’re on tight bugdet. Because it’s wiser to think more of our needs than wants in this time of financial crisis. We just have to think of creative ways and use of our resources to spend the holidays at the comfort of our home.
Many people are quick to forget about one of the greatest of family vacations, or vacations you don’t have to bring the kids along for – the great outdoors. So often our idea of vacation is inexorably tied to either visiting relatives or to some insipid tourist trap. The splendor of the natural world, and the inculcation of respect for it’s aesthetic qualities and respect for it’s preservation and health is a value that so many of your younger generations are losing. Try this one on for size – instead of paying for gas, restaurants, and hotels – get packs and the gear and take the kiddies hiking. Not only do they get out into the fresh air, but they learn about nature at the same time. And parents can revel in the exquisite joy of making them cart around their own stuff for once. But for heaven’s sake, please be careful and know what wildlife is in the area you’re looking at, and whether or not campfires are allowed. Also, remember to leave the soda in the car, as there is nothing more frustrating to a person who genuinely loves the outdoors than to find gobs of trash and soda cans festooned about the areas that are so beautiful and unspoiled by man.