I have got a serious travel bug. Not hard to figure out why I have this niggling, I haven't left the state in 2 years. Blurgh. That is too long. But we are in the middle of some major fix-its and travel right now would just deplete our funds. So we figure out other cheaper ways to entertain ourselves. They work most of the time, but I can't wait until these expenses are paid and we can continue to save to get out of here.
We are sincerely trying to avoid touching much of our savings and stick with the one car without the payment for as long as we can- this means for as long as I can handle it before I demand to have a second car so I can roll into work later than 5am. But for as much as I *hate* my schedule I do find that getting work over and done with that early in the day is really nice. So I get up and go at 3:20 ( I've pushed it back 10 minutes lately- too hard to face the world at 3:10am.)
Recently, I have been torturing myself, looking at travel websites and "planning" cruises or just 4 day weekends at amusement parks. I haven't been to an amusement park since....since I was a teenager! The last was Disney when I was 19. But this would be Universal Studios in Orlando to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I am such a dork where Harry is concerned.
But the powers that be have reminded me we have a couple of commitments that cannot be put on the back burner....SXSW 2011 and the move of one mother in law. Oh and a wedding for one of my best friends, who apparently wants a bachlorette party in Las Vegas. 2 major expenses that I am not sure I can even pull off right now or in the next year with all these other expenses that are taxing us. So we save and save. We are still waiting on the HOA to approve our "construction defect" repairs and a bathroom that needs some love. After those are done I sure hope that we can get our butts to Europe. So tired of waiting on this. And I'd like to do it before England's damp and cold could stop me from acting like a kid.
We have looked at a 7 night cruise of the Mediterranean then taking a train north to Paris ( I have to see Versailles, Jardin des Tuileries, the Louvre, and the Marais neighborhood) then over to London and then up to Edinburgh. I am not sure if the cruise will be at the end or start of the trip yet, but a 10 day trip just turned into 21 days. I am not complaining. The poor dog will need to go to Pete and Mac's as I cannot leave her with family and I cannot shut her up in a kennel for that long. Pete and Mac's would provide doggie day care and playtime for 6 hours each day. I haven't found another kennel that can do that nor one she is as happy at as she is at Pete and Mac's. Last time she was happy to see us, but didn't want to come home! haha. In my mind that is better than the alternative where she just gets to lay in a kennel and get a walk a couple times a day. This is going to be an expensive trip, but aren't all trips to Europe somewhat expensive? Funny, the cruise is the cheapest part!
