Sooooo - if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you probably already know I did too much in 2017. I mean, I was celebrating my "Year of 50" and it was more than I could have ever imagined. I started the year off in Puerto Vallarta (my yearly family trip), and then I went to Barcelona and Rome, and then I headed to Greece (Athens, Santorini and Crete), and I finished the year off - and my actual birthday - in Jordan (Amman, Mt. Nebo, Wadi Rum, Dead Sea, Bethany Beyond Jordan, and of course PETRA) and Egypt (Cairo and Luxor). Whew....I'm tired just thinking back on it all. Going into 2018, I had a few things lined up: Playa del Carmen in January (yearly family trip), Singapore and Malaysia in February, Haiti in April.....I looked at my travel budget, and BAM..it hit me. Not only did I really enjoy my 2017, but I was OVER EXTENDED! I honestly hadn't paid too much attention to the amount of money I spent to celebrate my "Year of 50", I was just enjoying life, being in the moment, YOLO, and all of that; but when I sat down at the end of the year to reconcile my travel account, I realized that I had already dipped into 2018 cash! #OhMy I was shook and I had some decisions to make: do I continue #SpendingAhead and hope my travel savings account could keep up, do I travel on credit, or do I simply CANCEL some of my upcoming travel plans? I knew I couldn't continue spending from my travel savings account when what was coming in couldn't cover all of what was going out. I couldn't even cover hotel costs and the flight from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur with the cash I had in the account, which would mean using a credit card - which would mean another monthly payment - which would mean less money going into the savings account - which would mean using a credit card for my Haitian trip - which would mean a higher monthly payment - which would mean less going into the savings account - UUUUGGGHHHHH, it's a vicious cycle. One that I couldn't see myself living, and eventually losing sleep over. I had to have a conversation with myself, and myself said to me: SAT DOWN! It hurt, I won't even lie; but I went ahead and cancelled my flights to Singapore and Port-au-Prince. I shed real TTT (TravelThugTears). But it's what I had to do.
#TravelButDontGoInDebt is my motto and I don't believe in coming home from a vacation and being hit with the burden of paying off credit card balances incurred on vacation. It kinda takes the joy away and for me, the memories will be wrapped around "how much was that excursion?". So I don't do it. I have since recovered, emotionally. And my travel savings account is rebounding nicely. I took a quick trip to Havana (which is very affordable) for a friend's wedding (couldn't be missed) and in a couple of weeks I am headed to Cartagena. I have a flight to Madrid in August and was planning to travel around Morocco. I'm not so sure that will happen. I'll be sure and let y'all know if I make that trip! Until next time travel friends!
Angela
Founder
2 Girls & a Bikini