vacation

[communtycard]

my work environment is sometimes pretty cool. usually it's a mass of unrelenting stress combined with fevered activity. it's boring activity, but it's constant and time consuming. so, it comes as a surprise when my boss came and talked with me today telling me that he would like me to go take a vacation. i get two weeks a year with pay, but

Comments

[skreidle]

Man, I just need a job that lets me have $5000 to spare on a vacation.

[communtycard]

i live by myself, haven't bought my own lunch in seven months and i don't spend enough time at home to buy anything. my expenses are food, books, cat toys, bills and rent. the only entertainment i consume are fifteen bucks for warcraft, seventeen bucks for netflix and about twenty bucks a month for that one afternoon i get off to go watch a movie. i've worked every day for eight months with less than five days i didn't go into the office.

it's amazing how much money you end up saving by not having a life.

[skreidle]

That sounds a lot like when I was single, living with Nathan for $650/mo rent (utils incl.), no car payment, and my bills were student loans and a few credit cards; everything auto-debited or auto-mailed, and plenty to spare.

Now, it's mortgage, two car payments, same student loans, consolidation loan for the credit cards, all utilities, cell phones, WoW, food/supplies for dogs/cats/parrots/poultry/ferrets, etc., etc...

[communtycard]

yeah, work takes care of some of the life stuff. like, i can use the at work gym and they give me a cell phone and yadda yadda. i only graduated from law school less than a year ago, so i'm in my student loan grace period and besides which i'm locked in at a super low rate (until like four years from now) and i would end up losing money tax wise if i paid it off before hand. i do save a lot of money...a freakishly large amount of money and it seemed like a good time to spend a little for myself.

i also don't have a car and have no intention of buying a car. or a house for that matter.

[perfectbound]

THIS IS WHAT I THINK.

but srsly? i dunno about package tours, never been on one (i might be too fussy to enjoy it), but new zealand sounds awesome. my personal vacation fantasy is to go around australia and new zealand eating all the obscure citrus fruits that grow there.

[communtycard]

i was really thinking about doing the lord of the rings tour but i can't bring myself to do something that dorky. i mean it's bad enough that i'm going to go by myself, i didn't want to seem a super nerd and be all self conscience. i'm probably not going to do a package deal, i was going to go book some time with a travel agent and see what they could get me; i just linked those two up top as a reference. i was also thinking about doing a tasmania wilderness tour: parks, hiking, climbing, camping.

[perfectbound]

oh, but think of the potential for meeting amazing super nerds on the lotr tour! tasmania wilderness also sounds fucking sweet, though.

[communtycard]

i dunno. the women who really really like lotr are only nerds about lotr. i perfer my super nerds to be omni-nerds. and male super nerds smell. and i do not want to be on a bus/plane/boat with people who smell.

[enydo]

Can't you do like a New Zealand cruise? That would be ideal if you're looking for something where you can totally just relax, that way you won't really have to worry too much about trying to find someplace to eat, traveling from place to place, finding things to do, etc. Although I would book all your excursions through somewhere else, rather than the cruise line, you get way more freedom that way (and the prices are a little less retarded).

Though Kyle thinks you should go to Alaska since he's been there, but I've never been though it seems just as pretty as New Zealand!

[communtycard]

cruises to new zealand are all really long if i wanted to leave from the states (32 days from seattle to zland). so if i wanted to take a cruise i would have to fly somewhere else first and then take the cruise which sounds weird to me.

the reason i would like an alaskan cruise is that there would be gambling, whales, really crisp cold air and fresh seafood. cruises in warm climates tend to be about drinking and swimming; i'm more interested in being on a boat and watching the scenery. plus, it's cold and i really like the cold. OH, and i could bring my cat which would be super awesome.

[farrow]

tough call.

they'd seriously let you bring your cat on a cruise? buh?

have you checked to make certain that any cruiselines are doing an alaska cruise in august? sometimes those things shift by the seasons.

i have parents and grandparents who give effusively pleased reviews of alaska cruises. but cruises are very canned. the new zealand thing would definitely make you feel more away from the world, i think. but it would be more stress and planning.

enjoy! post pictures please when you get back, yes?

[communtycard]

i can bring my cat, no problem but i'd have to pay a little bit extra (like five hundred bucks extra, easily the cost of having her boarded for a week) and commit to a suite instead of a smaller room (which was the whole point of this vacation, money to burn and all that).

other than occasional bad whether for that particular year alaskan cruises go pretty much all year. there isn't as much demand in the spring, but summer/late summer/winter are surprisingly popular.

i choice those two because i wanted to pick between two extremes. hot versus cold. singles versus groups. nature versus machinery. i'm going to be happy with whichever one i choose, but i don't want to be looking over my shoulder as to what i had to give up. it's not like going to europe and missing out on italy because something came up in greece and i wanted to stay a couple of days. oh no, if i give up the winery tour to play shuffleboard on the boat, i want to be able to do it with no regrets.

[mkuttan]

those both sound like great options to me. and technically i've done both so i should be able to answer any questions. except my family did the alaska cruise thing when i was 6, so it was a lot different cruise wise, but the scenery was amazing. and i traveled around NZ by myself w/o a tour which was great and gorgeous as well (esp the south island).

[absolutliz]

I think the Alaska cruise is a great idea. It's awesome not to have to deal with the hassle of unpacking more than once, never having to drive, never needing to worry about where your next meal is coming from, etc. It's easy to meet people, if that's your thing. The larger boats have so many things to do onboard...I usually catch movies, nap, read a lot, etc. Oh, and I drop a LOT of money in the onboard spas.

What line would you cruise? I've done Disney, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean. Are there any shore tours that look particularly interesting? I think RC has a land/sea package...something about a train, and lodges on land.

[communtycard]

i'm trying to decide whether i want the really big boats or the medium size boats. i'd like to gamble a little so it looks like i'm going to have to choose a big boat for any chance at a decent casino. of those, i'm thinking holland america, carnival or costa.

if i was looking for a smaller, more sightseeing cruise, i'd pick something like cruise north expeditions or lindblad expeditions. i hear really good things about those two, being companies who really get the sightseeing aspects of cruising plus are very eco-friendly.

my plan if i end up going alaskan is to cruise up from seattle and then take a train coming back. i chose a train because they cause me to pass out. like, literally the train starts moving and i fall asleep. every time it stops i wake up. it's incredible refreshing to me since i has horrible insomnia and trains are the one thing which seem to bypass that.