Next Stop Anywhere!

Dear Reader,

Do you like to travel? I love it and I am always eager to do more of it. For a while now, my boyfriend and I had plans to go to Europe in January. We were able to do this because we found flights and accommodation through a program we would help out with. However, we recently found out that this option is no longer on the table, which means any trip to Europe would be 100% out of pocket. Now, our January schedule has a giant empty hole in it. What to do?

Although I am quite upset that our European adventure fell through, it is fun to plan out other hypothetical trips. Immediately, my boyfriend and I started coming up with destinations. We started out close to home– other parts of New England, Portland, Maine. Then we thought about other U.S. destinations– Florida, Chicago. Then, we jumped all the way to the Caribbean! We limited our search to destinations that we could fly directly to from Boston. The list started to sound like the Beach Boys song “Kokomo”– Aruba, Jamaica….

Then, we began to look up hotels and things to do. Is it cheaper to fly out on a Wednesday? Should we book flights and hotel together? Is it worth it to book all-inclusive?? We felt an invisible time constraint on ourselves — if we don’t act now prices will go up tomorrow! We got pretty carried away. So carried away in fact that we were already deep into our hotel search in Bermuda when we realized that the average temperature in January is barely 70 degrees Fahrenheit! So much for a “tropical” vacation!

Sometimes it can be hard to make a decision (or even think rationally) when our options are seemingly limitless. Although I would looooove to fly away to the Caribbean this January, I should probably take a rain check. Time is a gift. Two weeks free in January, should be seen as a gift rather than a hole to fill. 

Staying at home does have it’s advantages: 1. we can explore Boston and the surrounding areas, 2. we could take a shorter weekend trip, and 3. it’s MUUCH cheaper! However, staying at home also has its disadvantages: 1. we will probably get carried away with work (as per usual), 2. there is probably going to be a blizzard (it is Boston afterall), and 3. frankly, we may even regret not taking the opportunity to travel. On this last point, my boyfriend and I both have very intense jobs, which means working long days and weekends. A break in January really could be our only time to take a true (sans email) vacation.

Regardless, any decision that is to me made, should be made rationally and meaningfully. What will we do in January? I don’t know yet, but I’m not going to touch a credit card until our excitement dies down.

I don’t know if you plan to travel anywhere this winter, Dear Reader, but if you do… check to see if there are any Black Friday deals. Sometimes you can get flight and hotel packages cheap then for January travel 😉

Love,

Raven