I am on my way ... again!
... and it has been a heck of a long wait to get there, with still another 6 weeks, three days left to go! So, how will I justify this one?
Well, even though I have experienced major financial ups and downs (mostly downs) this past year, thanks to a friend who presumably needs a vacation more than I do, I have booked another two-week stint in St. Kitts and Nevis. My friend has never been there before and wanted my company as tour-guide and general "partner-in-crime." At one point, it looked like there
would be 4 or 5 of us traveling together, but alas, the others couldn't justify the expense this year. Well, neither could I, really, but I have found that when you really want something to happen, you will find a way to make it happen.
Last fall I started in earnest trimming a few dollars a week from my regular budget, because I really needed to find a way to fund my vacations while I also figure out a way to re-create my now non-existent retirement fund. I have tried for years to live frugally, but this year, I took it to "another level" by finding creative ways to live within my means. So, by using the car less to save gas, reducing my grocery bill by cooking everything from scratch and avoiding any packaged foods as much as possible , going to the library rather than buying books, finding a much less expensive hair stylist, colouring my own hair instead of paying the salon to do it, putting a complete moratorium on clothing shopping, unless it is to rep
lace any items that have gone thread-bare ... among many other strategies, I have been able to salt away a bit of money each month. Sadly for me I also denied myself new winter boots, which were actually much needed, but I managed to get another year out of the old ones during one of our worst winters, and actually feel good about because new boots would have been heart-breakingly abused this winter ... But two purchases I was really looking forward to were ones that I put off last year, and which I continue to put off: that lap-top that I promised myself last year, is going to have to wait on hold until next year. I am most proud of the spending limit that I have put on Christmas shopping. Choosing instead to focus on other, more meaningful expressions of love for this very special holiday. The recipients on my gift-giving list hardly noticed the total absence of, or drastic reduction in material gifts ... or if they did, they barely flinched.
Eventually, I tally up all my savings, minus unexpected expenses, of which there have been a few, then tighten the belt even more and find still other ways of economizing ... I think there is a new term recently coined for this behaviour: "recessionista." And voila ... I have come up with the price of the flight! My loving family has come forward to assist me in my cause - dad, the retired shoemaker likes to give his middle-aged daughter some cash for Christmas and birthday, and voila again - instead of feeling guilty for accepting money from my aging parents, I accept their gift with humility and gratitude and rather than buying "stuff" with it, I plunk it down on the trip!
And, I have learned a few things after a few years of doing my own research and planning when I travel, so I figure this trip will cost much less than what I spent last year, even though last year, I was very fortunate to be offered accomodation gratis, by staying with a most generous friend. Though the trade-off was a three night stay in Nevis that brought me way over-budget. And then there was the full cost of the
car rental for 16 days, as well as the additional charges incurred when I lost the keys to the same rental car!
Still, I feel a bit ambivalent about going back. Not because of the crime that I mentioned in my last blog-ramble, but because I am not sure if my friend will like it or embrace the place as I have. After all, until now, to a large degree, St. Kitts has been "my little secret" - the place I run away to when I want to get away from my family and friends and job stresses. The place where I touch base with a whole other group of friends, where I don't care if people "don't get me" because, for some strange reason, on this island a lot of people DO seem to "get me." We share little in common in terms of professions or backgrounds, yet, I feel as if I return to long lost family every time I come back. Consequently, I know innately, that I have found something special and all my own: a home which I was not born into, but to which I was drawn through a series of random an unrelated coincidences.
More importantly, I wonder if my friend will see the same beauty in the island and its people that I did all those years ago when I first arrived. After all, the island has changed considerably since then. And finally, I feel selfish and greedy about my love afair with St. Kitts - I don't know if I want to share her with my friends and family. I found my way here first, after all, and if I bring all my friends here, I fear that some of the magic will be diluted somehow. Conversely, I worry that it is all an illusion and that my friend might think that I am totally insane for being obsessed with the place.
On a practical level, I also wonder if I will get the much needed rest that I claim I need, as there always seems to be some aspect of socializing to be done when I am there. Connecting with those other friends, as if in an alternate universe, since I don't seem to mind sharing the island with them. I can't seem to get enough of the stories and dramas when I am visiting this little island and it's sibling across the two-mile channel. How will I manage to balance r & r with the need to be out and about?
Ah well, why fret and worry about all this stuff? At the end of the day, I seem to have made my decision long ago and I will keep returning because it appears "to be written" ... the island has carved its niche in my heart, and I am a committed "returner." Maybe it is about time that I share my little corner of heaven with those folks with whom I have abiding connections.
OK, so I will stop worrying effective immediately ... because, let's face it, how much trouble can a couple of middle aged Canadian workaholics really get up to? Stay tuned, and you will find out!
Well, even though I have experienced major financial ups and downs (mostly downs) this past year, thanks to a friend who presumably needs a vacation more than I do, I have booked another two-week stint in St. Kitts and Nevis. My friend has never been there before and wanted my company as tour-guide and general "partner-in-crime." At one point, it looked like there
would be 4 or 5 of us traveling together, but alas, the others couldn't justify the expense this year. Well, neither could I, really, but I have found that when you really want something to happen, you will find a way to make it happen.Last fall I started in earnest trimming a few dollars a week from my regular budget, because I really needed to find a way to fund my vacations while I also figure out a way to re-create my now non-existent retirement fund. I have tried for years to live frugally, but this year, I took it to "another level" by finding creative ways to live within my means. So, by using the car less to save gas, reducing my grocery bill by cooking everything from scratch and avoiding any packaged foods as much as possible , going to the library rather than buying books, finding a much less expensive hair stylist, colouring my own hair instead of paying the salon to do it, putting a complete moratorium on clothing shopping, unless it is to rep
lace any items that have gone thread-bare ... among many other strategies, I have been able to salt away a bit of money each month. Sadly for me I also denied myself new winter boots, which were actually much needed, but I managed to get another year out of the old ones during one of our worst winters, and actually feel good about because new boots would have been heart-breakingly abused this winter ... But two purchases I was really looking forward to were ones that I put off last year, and which I continue to put off: that lap-top that I promised myself last year, is going to have to wait on hold until next year. I am most proud of the spending limit that I have put on Christmas shopping. Choosing instead to focus on other, more meaningful expressions of love for this very special holiday. The recipients on my gift-giving list hardly noticed the total absence of, or drastic reduction in material gifts ... or if they did, they barely flinched.Eventually, I tally up all my savings, minus unexpected expenses, of which there have been a few, then tighten the belt even more and find still other ways of economizing ... I think there is a new term recently coined for this behaviour: "recessionista." And voila ... I have come up with the price of the flight! My loving family has come forward to assist me in my cause - dad, the retired shoemaker likes to give his middle-aged daughter some cash for Christmas and birthday, and voila again - instead of feeling guilty for accepting money from my aging parents, I accept their gift with humility and gratitude and rather than buying "stuff" with it, I plunk it down on the trip!
And, I have learned a few things after a few years of doing my own research and planning when I travel, so I figure this trip will cost much less than what I spent last year, even though last year, I was very fortunate to be offered accomodation gratis, by staying with a most generous friend. Though the trade-off was a three night stay in Nevis that brought me way over-budget. And then there was the full cost of the
car rental for 16 days, as well as the additional charges incurred when I lost the keys to the same rental car!Still, I feel a bit ambivalent about going back. Not because of the crime that I mentioned in my last blog-ramble, but because I am not sure if my friend will like it or embrace the place as I have. After all, until now, to a large degree, St. Kitts has been "my little secret" - the place I run away to when I want to get away from my family and friends and job stresses. The place where I touch base with a whole other group of friends, where I don't care if people "don't get me" because, for some strange reason, on this island a lot of people DO seem to "get me." We share little in common in terms of professions or backgrounds, yet, I feel as if I return to long lost family every time I come back. Consequently, I know innately, that I have found something special and all my own: a home which I was not born into, but to which I was drawn through a series of random an unrelated coincidences.
More importantly, I wonder if my friend will see the same beauty in the island and its people that I did all those years ago when I first arrived. After all, the island has changed considerably since then. And finally, I feel selfish and greedy about my love afair with St. Kitts - I don't know if I want to share her with my friends and family. I found my way here first, after all, and if I bring all my friends here, I fear that some of the magic will be diluted somehow. Conversely, I worry that it is all an illusion and that my friend might think that I am totally insane for being obsessed with the place.
On a practical level, I also wonder if I will get the much needed rest that I claim I need, as there always seems to be some aspect of socializing to be done when I am there. Connecting with those other friends, as if in an alternate universe, since I don't seem to mind sharing the island with them. I can't seem to get enough of the stories and dramas when I am visiting this little island and it's sibling across the two-mile channel. How will I manage to balance r & r with the need to be out and about?
Ah well, why fret and worry about all this stuff? At the end of the day, I seem to have made my decision long ago and I will keep returning because it appears "to be written" ... the island has carved its niche in my heart, and I am a committed "returner." Maybe it is about time that I share my little corner of heaven with those folks with whom I have abiding connections.
OK, so I will stop worrying effective immediately ... because, let's face it, how much trouble can a couple of middle aged Canadian workaholics really get up to? Stay tuned, and you will find out!
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