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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?

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