I've come up with a couple of things I will be trying out. The first option is to travel over a holiday. Memorial Day and Fourth of July are good options. But travelling at that time does have its disadvantages.
- 1. Unless you decide very early when you are travelling you will pay more for your flight, hotel and car rental. For Example. I am thinking of going to Sanibel over Memorial Day weekend. In order to get a reasonably (not great) priced flight, I had to leave on Saturday later afternoon or evening. Ok. I can live with that.
- Then I tried to book a car rental. I want to use a car rental place at the airport for convenience. Well, a small car--renting from Saturday night until Wednesday afternoon costs $350. Compare to a non-holiday weekend last year where a rental for a week was $97. I keep checking and prices have done nothing except go up to more that $50+ a day AND the pick-up locations are Off Site.
2. Travelling over holidays is much more crowded and usually, has many more families at kid-friendly destinations. For me, personally, I prefer not to share the pool, restaurants, beach etc with kids--they generally are being kids and I don't get the calm vibe I like to experience on vacation.
Travelling during the times most kids are attending school is my personal preference. However, when trying to maximise your vacation time, choices need to be made. I haven't quite made up my mind what I am going to do.
The other option I am considering is taking less time off for my vacations. And again, there are pluses and minuses to that approach as well.
-s
1. You don't get the same relaxed vacation vibe from a long weekend as you do from a week long trip.
2. It is more costly to take multiple shorter vacations- especially when there is airfare and car rentals involved.
3. You really can't fly anyplace more than a couple of hours away or you will spend the better part of 2 days just getting there and getting home.
+s
1. hmmm.. having a hard time thinking of pluses.
Another option is to conserve your PTO - or at least part of it - for the year and use it the following year. That is what I have to do this year. (UGH) I am planning on a multi-week trip to Sydney and Fiji in 2018 and will need 13 PTO days. The beauty of this vacation is that it is taking place over our Thanksgiving--so I have two paid holidays there!! And that was intentional.
I hope to carry over a minimum of 5 days. Wish me luck on that. LOL
So, in summary, at least one vacation this year is going to take advantage of a holiday. But other than that, I have no plans. Kicking around Aruba over 4th of July.. but nothing definite. I may end up cancelling Sanibel...again who knows? Plus, I prefer vacationing when the weather here is cold. Life here is so much more bearable when it's sunny and warm. Makes it much easier to stay home!
I'll keep you posted on my plans.
Oh and by the way, in case you were wondering, I love living in my new place. It's perfect! And I am getting used to the 'other side of the river'. Someone asked me if I miss my house--not one bit, which I find strange because I really did love my place. So, it must have been time for me to go!
TTFN
Next up is an 8 day cruise to the eastern Caribbean!
