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Vacation Time

October 12, 2018

As you probably know I went to FinCon 2018. Since I was going to be out for several days I decided to make it a little vacation time.

So I go to look up flights to Orlando several months out. Tickets are about $200 per person. I thought well, thats not too bad. Since my in-laws usually travel with us, that would be about $800 in airfare, about $285 for a Jeep Compass while we are there for a week or so. Then there would be lodging and food also.

After thinking about it for a little while my wife said that she did not want to spend over a week in Orlando with me being in a conference for 4 days. As always, we discussed the issue for a few days and I came up with a frugal solution that would make everyone happy.

I would drive out there in my car, a 2016 Honda CR-V. I would go to my conference classes and do my thing for my 4 days. Gloria and the gang would go out there on Friday afternoon. I had some classes on Saturday and then we would start the vacation.

I thought we were going to go to Disneyworld or Universal Studios or some of that stuff, but the nobody wanted to be out in the heat. We drove around and had some lunches and dinners around Orlando. The pool and hot tub were really nice so we stayed there most of the time.

We ended up staying in Orlando until Monday morning. We decided that all four of us would drive back and we could stay a couple of places along the way. This kinda reminded me of vacations of yesteryear.

Families would pile in the car and we would stay a couple of places along the way. This time, we had  AirBnB reservations instead of staying at the Holiday Inn or Howard Johnson in the city where they got tired and wanted to sleep.

We also put more planning into the stays as well as the units where we stayed. We decided to stay in Santa Rosa for the first stop. Its a very nice little town on the beach in northern Florida. It is the area that they call the Emerald Coast. So called because of the beautiful green hue that the water has right by the shore.

We had some icecream and snacks over by Destin which is not too far away. We also drove through Panama City on the way over to get to Santa Rosa. Both Destin and Panama City are favorites for the college crowd during spring break.

Where we stayed in Santa Rosa there were no spring breakers in October and it was nice and calm. This was just like we like our vacations. We walked along the beach and we even cooked out on the gas grills that were provided by the condo complex. It was a very relaxing couple of days. Next stop, New Orleans, LA.

Again we had a place reserved through AirBnB. This was a nice condo just minutes from all the hustle and bustle of the French Quarter. This was not our first trip to New Orleans and we wnated to see a little more of the city that was not a part of the drinking scene. Plus we were in relaxation mode instead of drinking mode.

I am almost 50 and my wife is a little older (she would kill me if I told you her actual age). If we were younger or more into the party scene we probably would have stayed in the French Quarter so that we would not have far to crawl home after a night of drinking.

We did go to the Harrah’s Casino. Being the frugal guy that I am, I dont really like gambling. I like to have more of a calculated return on my money. Gloria spent a few dollars. I watched her hoping for that lottery payoff. It took about 2 minutes to go through $5 whole dollars.

While my inlaws spent probably $20 or $30 while we walked along the Mississippi river. We listened to sax players, singers, guitar players, everyone trying to make a few dollars. It was nice and relaxing to take a little time away from work.

Back to San Antonio and back to work. But first I wanted to go over a few points of the trip from a frugal perspective. I drove. The whole point of the trip was to learn and to relax. Driving for me is very relaxing. I can see the trees, the architechture, the pastoral landscapes along the gulf coast.

Of course I learned quite a bit from all the classes. I will try to include some of the items in the upcoming blog posts so that hopefully I can get to over 500 subcribers by the end of 2018. At the moment I am at 72 subscribers and adding a few people every week.

So the trip from San Antonio to Orlando was just over 1200 miles. Yes a long drive by myself. It took a whole 3 tanks of gas which cost about $100. The speed limit for most of the way is 70 miles per hour. I do tend to go a little heavy on the pedal so I think I averaged about 77 or 78mph.

Sometimes I could get in back of an 18 wheeler and draft in back of him. At a few points in the trip I was getting over 40mpg!!! Drafting in back of trucks works. I never stay right in back of them. I give them a few car lengths, but close enough to use them to break the wind for my little Honda.

Their flights were about $350 for 3 adults for the one way tickets to Orlando. I picked them up from the airport since I had my own car. I drove about 2600 miles total for the trip of 11 days. It sounds like a bunch of miles, but almost half was done in one day. The other 1200 miles was broken up in 3 segments.

Total gas cost was about $230 for the entire trip. Now that is a great savings over flying. If all of us would have driven over and back instead of just back that would have been a super savings. Airline flights have come down in price quite a bit, but if you have 3 or 4 people it is WAY cheaper to drive.

We loved the drive back together. There is always great conversation. “Remember when…” would start a bunch of the conversatons. It was great to have so many conversations and discussions, just the 4 of us. This was the first time we have spent so much time together in a car. I would highly recommend it, at least once.

The AirBnBs cost about $2000 total for the trip including all the fees and taxes. This is pretty cheap considering if we would have had two hotel rooms for 8 days and then my room for a few days if we stayed in hotels. Since hotels are running about $150 a night that would have come out to about $3000 plus taxes. Hotel taxes tend to be 10-18% or about $3500 total.

Our AirBnbs were condos that were 2 bedroom units. Actually the one in Orlando was a 3 bedroom. It was kinda wierd staying a couple of nights by myself in a 3 bedroom unit. Staying in a condo, there is a kitchen so that we can prepare some meals if we choose to for convenience and cost savings.

I would much rather have a kitchen. NOT having to eat out at all the meals is a great feeling. I save a few bucks AND more importantly I have the food just like I like it. When you have more people on vacation together there is more of a savings when you cook there at the unit.

When I was there the first few days by myself I spent about $50 in groceries. I used these items for my stay alone and they lasted until the end of the trip. Once everyone got there we spent about another $100 for the week.

Eating at a restaurant is about $75 when the 4 of us go out to eat for dinner. The cost is about $45 for lunch and about $30 for breakfast. We cooked almost all of our breakfasts, a few lunches, a couple of dinners and a few snacks with the $100 in groceries, $150 when you add in my spending.

So we ended up saving a few hundred $$ by not eating out at every meal. We are not on a super tight budget so we did not have every meal in our room. But as you know, eating at home is cheaper.

I almost forgot to mention the Gas Buddy App. This app tells you how much gas costs at almost every gas station around the country. I used it to see how much gas was so that I could spend the least amount. You see a big difference from prices on the road and when you get into a city. I saw prices change about .20c within about 10 miles.

This is a good everyday app to have on your phone. When you put in 10 or 12 gallons every week and a half like I do, you can save a few dollars a week. Not too big a deal, but if it doesnt cost you any money and very little time, why not save a few bucks.

All in all it was a nice, educational and relaxing vacation. It is always great to spend time with family. Now I am ready to get back to work.

Talk to you soon.