Category Archives: Vacation

Vacation Packing Chaos!

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I admit, I procrastinated getting ready for our vacation this year!  Now It’s a quarter past 11:00pm and I”m still getting ready!

We copied our old pictures off of our digital camera, and I’m converting my audiobook to an MP3 format.  Since the ripping process created about 20 files per disc (and there are over 20 discs), I decided to merge all of the files per individual disc into 1 large file.  So if I continue this process, I’ll have 20 some mp3s  instead of 400 individual files…

Our car isn’t packed, actually our suitcases aren’t done yet either, Auggghhhhh!

Hopefully, I’ll be better (albeit tired) tomorrow and have something to write about other than continually working about getting things ready for our vacation!!!

To make matters even worse, these last few days I’ve come down with a summer cold.  Needless to say, tomorrow’s drive down will be an interesting one!  Luckily, my wife went out and bought me some sinus medicine, so at least I won’t be in pain like I have been for the past few days 🙂

Usually we have things packed and are ready to go days in advance!  But this summer has been busier than other ones for us…

With all that I have left to do, you may be wondering why am I blogging…  Well, what can I say…  I’m addicted! 🙂

Have you ever had to scramble at the last minute to get ready for vacation?  I have not, at least not to this degree!  I kind of feel like I’m cramming for a college test…

-MR

Frugal Steps To Take For Our Vacation

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I’m going to Hilton Head Island in less than 48 hours (we leave Thursday morning), so I thought I’d discuss some of the frugal techniques we use to make the trip as economical as possible!

Frugal Techniques that are out of the ordinary.

  • Copy audiobook from CD format to MP3 format!  This enables me to listen to more adult or scare novels (like Stephen King’s “Insomnia”) on the way down to S.C. without having to worry about the kids hearing something that they shouldn’t be listening to!
  • Send me Dog to family to be watch instead of a kennel. We use to put our dog up at a kennel or have a neighbor kid watch her.  But, this time we are going to send the dog to stay with my wife’s parents.  This will save us over $150!  And in addition, it will make the process more enjoyable for our dog too.
  • Traveling at night instead of in the morning!  Yes we are traveling down on vacation in the morning, but when we are driving back, we are going to travel at night.  Yes it’s a bit more dangerous (especially because of deer), but it’s not as bad as you’d think (I’ve done it two times before).  With the audiobooks that I listen too, I’m surprisingly awake during the drive.  The beauty is it’s easier on my car because it’s not so hot, much less traffic, shorter waits for traffic lights and my family sleeps thorough the entire process, so they have a more enjoyable trip.
  • Pack the cooler with snacks and drinks!  This helps keep the food price premium down, and enables me to stay on the road longer!
  • Use www.TripAdvisor.com to determine which restaurant will provide the best bang for the buck!  There are also other online resources that I will discover while I’m down there too.
  • For the first couple of night we are staying at a friend’s house nearby.  This is a win-win!  We leave a little earlier than when our time in the Hilton Head Island house is available so that we can stay with friends in S.C.!  Then after our house is ready, we say our goodbyes and go out to the island!  This way we get to see old friends for at least a few days!

These are a few of my “getting ready for the trip” tips!

We’re all excited to get rolling!  Only one more workday to pump out!!!

What are some of your favorite frugal tips or tips to enjoy the trip a little better?

-mr

Watching For The Perfect Financial Wave

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Mr. Obama caught the Presidential wave

When I was in my tweens, I use to go to Myrtle Beach practically every year with my parents.  Back then, people didn’t take a friend on vacation too, so I was down there with nobody else to hang with. 

So what does an active 11 or 12 year old boy do to entertain himself while on vacation without his friends?  BODYSURFING

Body Surfing is basically what it sounds like…  you don’t have a surfboard and your parents won’t rent one (I’m not bitter, lol), so you swim out to where the waves start to turn and get your body in from of it and ride it like you would do if you did have a surfboard (I’m still not bitter)!!!  But I digress (I always wanted to write that)…

So what does this have to do with personal finance?

 Basically, I learned if you constantly wait for the perfect wave, mostly you wait there wasting time and light.  Of course, if you grab just any wave, the ride would be lame and not enjoyable…  So eventually you learn to distinguish which wave is fun and which one is a waste of time.

IMO, life is much like choosing your wave, if you wait to long in making choices, you miss a lot of good opportunities.  But if you settle for just anything, you won’t really know how much fun you can have, and at the end you are unfulfilled.

It’s all about balance, and I can tell that I’m out of balance because I keep thinking about going on vacation and doing the things that we do down there!

-MR

Hilton Head Bound… In August

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This will be the third year that my entire family will go down to hilton head again.

Ironically, my son (while asking about Hawaii too) said that he wanted to go down to Hilton Head with the family again.  I have to admit, I’m looking forward to it myself this year too (see my post from this past winter).

We will probably go kayaking (hopefully) with the dolphins again this year, rent bikes to go on the various trails, and of course… hit the beach.  Now that I’m pretty comfortable with the location and have a feel for the location, I’ll probably read a little more and try to do stuff that I haven’t done the previous two years.

My only regret will probably be that fact that we didn’t  book a vacation on one of the plantations. The main reason that I would like to stay on a plantation is because my 6 year old is going to be riding a bike by herself.  The house that we are staying at is close to the main road into the island, and while the traffic on the road that the house is on isn’t too busy for an adult it’s still pretty busy for a 6 year old.  I might break down and rent another tag-a-long bike attachment.  That way, she would be more safe than ride a bike by herself…  I’m sure she’ll protest, but safety first!

This time around, I’ll also be taking my golf clubs, and perhaps even my son’s clubs  🙂

Unfortunately, we are not schedule to go down until August though, so we’re in for a long wait.

If you ever go down to Hilton Head, consider kayaking with the dolphins…  It was a much better experience than I thought it would be.

-MR