Bucket List Vacation and required modifications

For years I had been thinking of a solo road trip in the US from Thousand Islands to Key West. I had also been thinking about how much I loved the holiday season in the US and wanted to be there late October till early January one more time. A hybrid of these two separate vacation ideas is cooking.

With these dreams, I did a lot of calculations over time and the costs of these two dreams turned out to be quiet high especially given that TL is very weak against US dollars lately. It was a lot more doable couple of years ago but then, I was working and I could not take so many days off. Well, life is all about tradeoffs right?

During my visit last year my American friend whom I will call M, kept saying that I should go back for a long visit, stay with them and spend more time in the US with her and her family. I kept saying it would be difficult and very expensive and she kept saying I would have no accomodation costs, so what was the big deal? Honestly, despite the fact that we have been very close during the last 29 years, I was still hesitant about staying with them for so long. It was very sweet of her to offer this. We get along very well and have loads of fun together.

Last year I was thinking that with the income I would bring through the part-time consulting gig, I would be mostly traveling. This year the economy is tanking and the potential customers are reluctant to spend money on consultants although common sense dictates otherwise. We do bring tons of efficiency and cost savings through our work.

So, after much thinking and urging M to talk to her family about how they felt about a long visit and getting a positive confirmation, I have decided to take a long vacation which will involve a road trip in the US from the end of October till early January.

I will be staying in upstate NY mostly but, I will take a solo road trip to Tampa FL and Charleston SC to visit two more friends. The one in Tampa was my mentor and cubicle friend whom I will call G, way back when I used to work for a Turkish-American JV in NY. The other was an HR person at the same company with whom we have become very good friends during the same time. I will call her P. Needless to say M and her husband E are also from the same company.

Recently, I have been spending a lot of time to come up with the route plans, the hotels to stay and cars to rent. The worst budget buster in this trip will be Car Insurance. Since, I am a foreigner, I do not have an insurance coverage to take care of rentals.

I will be spending 78 days in the US and am looking forward to it. As I make plans and reservations, I will share my experiences and how I plan to save money and still enjoy this huge, once in a lifetime vacation.

When I look at the total amount of money I am budgeting to spend, it is overwhelming but, I have worked for more than 30 years and spent a lot more money on others such as my family member who went bankrupt and needed financial help, such as my cousins who wanted to sell their shares in the family home and etc. I think, I have deserved this and I should spend this money on myself.

More posts to come on this topic.