Planning a Trip – Time and Money

One of the fundamental goals of this blog is to “Explore life…Share amazing things!” In doing so, our hope is to create opportunity and ways to explore life and a forum to share great ideas. Part of creating opportunity is to address roadblocks holding us back from embarking on those adventures. Probably a theme we can all identify with is limited resources…“I don’t have the time, I don’t have the money”. Joshua Becker’s Becoming Minimalist website is a great place to check out ideas on prioritizing resources and ways to free up time and money. I continue to find myself expending a significant amount of time and money in accumulating and maintaining stuff that really is not important. Those challenges will never go away.

When discussing time and money, I must acknowledge that this is a very personal topic. Individual values come into play, there is no right and wrong answer, and there is no answer that works in all situations. Assuming the Decision to Travel has been made, we just need to figure out how based on what we have to work with. Approaching time and money discussions is like eating at a buffet, so many options, just need to make choices.

Time

I began working side jobs as an early teenager and got my first formal job at KFC as soon as I turned 16. I worked up to 30 hours per week while going to school full time in college and never really slowed down until retiring from the Air Force. Early on, I worked so I could afford to play but that quickly evolved into life’s responsibilities of paying rent, utilities and car expenses. As the family grew, so did the expenses and Gayla went back to work part time to offset our lifestyle choices. This all took time and society conditioned us to believe that working and going to school are the right thing to do. But, at this point in my life, I would argue we need to be responsible which includes making time to play and explore. Becoming Minimalist posted a quote from Ellen Goodman that speaks volumes:

“Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for – in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.” ― Ellen Goodman

I would never wish this “normal” on my family or my friends. Life needs to be in balance.

We worked hard but despite all the work, there were times when we found time to play and create the great memories. When in balance, this is what we did:

• If we only had a weekend, we went camping.  Even if it was a local state park or community campground, it got us out of the house and experiencing the outdoors.
• We made many cross country road trips visiting family.  Some of the most memorable family gatherings were when we all traveled and met at a central location other than someone’s house. We pitched in to rent a cabin or house which was affordable and lots of fun.  We got to explore new places and enjoy the family.
• We went on several neighborhood outings such as ski or camping trips.
• We took advantage of day trips to local parks.
• We set aside time in advance to take longer family vacations.  This forced us to plan the time off work and commit to this time together, not letting it become overcome by events.
• MOST IMPORTANTLY, looked for ways to SAY YES to opportunity, not excuses to say no.

We often tend to fall into the trap that work owns what goes on our calendar, or we are irreplaceable and can’t get away. Most of my professional career, I somewhat fell into that trap. Looking back, my experience has proven time and time again that schedules are negotiable and every job I left carried on without me. It doesn’t mean there is always total flexibility but if you look for ways to make time, there is opportunity.

My daughter and son-in-law recently had a baby and were trying to decide if she would continue to work after the baby was born. They realized that most of her income would be going to pay for child care and other work-related expenses if she worked full time. My daughter negotiated with her boss to work part time from home and go into the office two days a week. We, and the other grandparents would watch the little dude when she went into the office. End result is that the boss gets to keep a great employee, she gets to keep income coming in, and we get to spend time with our grandson…win-win!

Not all jobs have this flexibility but the point is to look for creative ways to make time to get out and play. Give play equal priority on the calendar and schedule it appropriately. Don’t take “no” for an answer, but rather how to work smartly to SAY YES!

Money

I have flown first class and I have stayed in 5-star hotels…they are nice. However, if my travel standards were to only fly first class and stay in 5-star hotels, I would never travel. First, I don’t have that much discretionary spending and if I did, I am too frugal to pay for it. I like to think I am being fiscally responsible. The important point is that if I am willing to open my aperture on how I travel and where I choose to stay, my opportunities to explore and experience great things in life increase dramatically. I don’t like to think I am lowering my standards, I like to think of it as creating options!

One memorable evening is when Gayla and I were on a road trip to the west coast. We had one evening where we planned to camp along the beach. All we had was a 2-man tent (with plenty of padding for the sleeping bags, of course) and two beach chairs. We picked up a bundle of firewood and a bottle of wine at a local store plus two wine glasses for a touch of class. We could hear the ocean waves as we sat and watched the fire. We didn’t get distracted with all the stuff but rather enjoyed each other and our natural surroundings. Simple and romantic…awesome night!

My goal is to find and share fiscally responsible ways to get out and experience great things and create lasting memories. Separate posts will highlight specific ideas on options for cost-efficient travel. Much more to follow!

Camping – Grand Canyon NP, Arizona

Today is a new day!  Find a way to enjoy something amazing!!