Skip to main content

Travel broadens your mind, BUT....

....narrows down your wallet. A lot. Vacations have become very expensive these days. Don't agree? If you need more proof, come near my house and feel free to listen on the huge 'gasps' and 'oh nos!' when our travel bills come in.

It's great when you start picking out exotic destinations. You get excited and start planning every detail. Go online. You shout - brace yourselves Expedia, Orbitz, Trip advisor - here we come. Carefully pick your dates. Crowded holiday weekends. Nah. The air fares go upto Mars. So, you cleverly avoid the peak times, yet, pick out a time when there are no hurricanes, cyclones etc that visit the tropics. Speaking of disasters, one thing that scares the bejeepers out of me is the dreaded "T" word. I can't even print it. Hint. Ocean - waves - recede - wash away.

Moving on to hotels. So many options - enough to give you a headache. Does it have a suite, a swimming pool, is it child-friendly, is continental breakfast included, is it nearer to the beach, is there a restaurant on-site? Etc etc. On top of it all, you need to check the room cam, ratings - give it the full works. And, when you think you've nailed it down to one hotel, some trivial fact comes up. You have been given a room in the 10th floor, which has a great ocean-view. But....but....there's no elevator service. &*#%@#. Because you have no burning desire to run for a marathon in the near future, you go back to searching for yet another hotel. All over again.

After what seems like eternity, you finally finish all the bookings. Aha. Go ahead. Give a pat on the back that you have done your best penny pinching spree ever. But, hey, wait a minute. This vacation is not until 3 months. Aren't you tired and exhausted with all this planning? I have an idea. Bright idea.

How about taking another smaller vacation before the big one- like, right now?

Popular posts from this blog

Minding the language...

So, the ability to use language as a mode of communication is one of the main differentiating factor between us and the rest of our primate friends. It gives us that crucial "one-up" to dominate the earthly scene, making us feel all superior. Of course, we easily gloss over the fact that some of us can share so many other traits with the animal kingdom - don't we have enough samples of sly foxes, wise owls, slimy weasels, scared chickens, sharp eagles, vain peacocks etc all around us? Makes one raise an important, poignant question: are we so different after all? Me thinks nah, not so much. More on this topic, it's also fascinating that there are around 3000-6000 languages spoken by us humans around the world (as per our friend "Wise Wiki"). In India, even if you're linguistically-challenged like me, there should be an average of at least two languages acquired over a life time by each person (this is my own extrapolation, so please don't ana...

Human Needs and Relationships......Part 2

continued from part 1..... Let's start from the bottom of Maslow's pyramid, which is Physiological & Safety needs . These are our basic survival ones like eating, breathing, clothing and, living under a decent roof. The human mind will come to grinding stop if these are not met, and you'll be unable to even think about the next level of needs. Don't believe me? Try dieting/fasting for a day, and you'll be amazed how your fat brain (please, it's a compliment) which used to process complicated thoughts like the greenhouse effect, looming elections, world economy etc. till the day before, can obsessively think of only one thing and nothing else now, which would be the magical, four-letter manna - FOOD. Anyways, these needs would probably come from the closest relationship of all, i.e. parents or caregivers. And, from an evolution point of view, would be our Infant/Childhood stage. Next, is the Love/Belonging needs, which deals with our sense of ...

You and your compass....

Let's talk about what each and every one of us have within ourselves. That deep, down voice that tells us strongly what to do, not to do, what we ought to do but choose not to and regret later on with a "I-told-me-so", things that we wish to do but dare not try in our lifetime....you get the drift. Yes, it is that all-pervading, metaphorical inner compass, or the SatNavs of our lives that I'm getting into. Young adults  think they have an independent mind, and do and act that way. In reality, though, in most of the cases, it's not even of their own choice, but out of peer pressure. Which interestingly, brings a point- whose collective, mob voice is it then? If everyone is busy copying someone else doing the same, then who the heck started the fire? No clue, but let's assume for sanity's sake that some life form starts a trend which gets viral, bacterial, whatever. And, suddenly there's a strong urge that compels every youngster to do it ...