Many of the bloggers I follow jet to beautiful far off destinations what seems like every weekend or week because they have figured out how to generate income from their blog, or they are independently wealthy. Sadly that is not the case for lil ‘ole me. However, I have learned that if you want to go somewhere or do something, you just have to make it happen. Easier said than done, right? There are tons of reasons not to book a trip: money, kids, time off work, etc. However, reason is just a nice word for excuse.
I encourage everyone to read this article from Entrepreneur detailing a 20 year study that concludes that experiences and not things make us happy. According to this article, things lose their luster very quickly, while experiences do the opposite. We enjoy an experience once, then we relish the memories over time allowing us to re-experience it. We end up being a product of our experiences and not our things. Thank God, or I would be a Salvation Army tank top. Anywho, read this article, and I promise you will be trolling the internet for travel deals within 24 hours. Or if travel isn’t your thing, look into an adventure right at home. Staycations are the best. Experiences are experiences, and you don’t have to be halfway around the world to enjoy a wonderfully fulfilling one. Some of my most cherished experiences were completely free. More on that another day…this post is about how my ass wanting to go to Greece.
So, let’s go back to the excuses. The two major roadblocks in my way of hopping a plane to Greece were budget and my 15 month old son. Let’s talk money first. I originally went to a travel agent who quoted me a number that made me short of breath. Even my 2 glasses of wine in, YOLO, I do what I want, self couldn’t stomach it. In the words of my husband – you are not a Kardashian. With that, I thought my dream vacay died that day.
A key objective of my thrifting lifestyle has always been to save money on clothing purchases that give me the fleeting satisfaction. This, of course, is in exchange for money that would go to other stuff/experiences like dinner at a hot new restaurant, platinum hair maintenance, or a trip somewhere exciting. Yes, halting my shopping habit altogether would be best, but I know myself and my limits. I encourage anyone to look at their life, and if there’s not enough to do the things you really want, cut the fat. In most cases there’s at least a tiny bit fat to be cut somewhere.
If cutting some fat doesn’t free up enough (no amount of fat could be cut to make the original trip happen), look at alternatives. There is always an alternative. Serendipitously, a friend (now travel buddy) spied a 10 day Greece trip on Groupon Getaways…with only 4 hours until expiration.
Initially the 4 hour window induced A LOT of anxiety, but it ended up being the tipping point. We didn’t have time to overthink it or come up with any more excuses. Why not take a chance? I might be sleeping in a shack, but I’ll be sleeping in a shack in Santorini.
Second complication, and I hate to label my beautiful son as a complication, but traveling with a toddler can be challenging. If and when you have children, travel when they are babies! They are so easy! Well easy relative to a toddler I guess. I actually love traveling with my son, but some trips are great with kids and some simply aren’t. There will be a time for Disney and camping. That time is not now.
While on the subject of kids, I also believe it’s important to do things for yourself and with your significant other without the little one(s). I find it easier to take a break from the business of marriage when my husband and I physically remove ourselves from our home. Something about the distance allows us to just enjoy one another’s company. Whereas if we’re home, we end up watching HGTV and Disney Jr., most likely tackling some DIY project, and ordering food from the our favorite take out place. While I love me some Thai takeout, project time, and cartoons sometimes I need a little more excitement.
Ok so now that I’ve convinced myself it’s ok to leave my 15 month old for a long trip, I must to convince someone to watch him for said trip. The obvious choice is family, but they live way down in Alabama. There’s a saying that you don’t get what you don’t ask for? Truth. I was originally hesitant to ask my sister-in-law for fear that she would think I was a bad parent and trying to escape motherhood, but ya know what? I did ask, she said yes, and after A LOT of coordination, we made a plan.
With no more excuses at 11:48pm with 12 minutes to spare, we booked our dream vacay. YOLO!
