Blow That Dough - 2022

[gayl]

A boring(?) dilemma. Not as interesting as a boat, or new floors & furniture & appliances (did that this year). Friends from 3 other states are meeting up on a cruise. Do I go or donate to the Philharmonic? That would be my 4th trip this year but they live in AZ, TX, & NY. I'm in California. Feeling a little self-indulgent. Would still make charitable donations but only 4k this year.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Gayl take the cruise!!!

 

[Music Lover]

A boring(?) dilemma. Not as interesting as a boat, or new floors & furniture & appliances (did that this year). Friends from 3 other states are meeting up on a cruise. Do I go or donate to the Philharmonic? That would be my 4th trip this year but they live in AZ, TX, & NY. I'm in California. Feeling a little self-indulgent. Would still make charitable donations but only 4k this year.

Ask yourself how many more times you think that the opportunity to meet friends from 3 other states at the same time will come along. I'm guessing it's not that many times.

 

[FreeBear]

A boring(?) dilemma. Not as interesting as a boat, or new floors & furniture & appliances (did that this year). Friends from 3 other states are meeting up on a cruise. Do I go or donate to the Philharmonic? That would be my 4th trip this year but they live in AZ, TX, & NY. I'm in California. Feeling a little self-indulgent. Would still make charitable donations but only 4k this year.

I'd take the cruise. We lost 3 good friends in 3 years, all younger than 75, mostly cancer. Will still talk about our last epic trips and dinners. The symphony can enjoy your generosity when you are done, but friends and family shouldn't have to wait.

 

[doneat54]

Where do you store that after you've finished your project? Will you be doing gig w*rk eventually?

It gets stored in the barn basement. No need/interest in doing any gigs. Done a bunch of work with it already.

 

[NW-Bound]

It's absolutely true that RVing is just a different way to vacation, not a way to save money. If people ask about how much it costs, I say that you're better off buying a new Lexus and staying at the Four Seasons. If you include ALL costs, this isn't entirely unrealistic. Maybe a truck and trailer, assuming you already have a truck, would be much cheaper, but a big motorhome is just a money pit. Still it's all about the lifestyle, heck, just like ER!
...

If one wants to see Alaska, a Lexus may not handle the rough roads there very well. And sticking with luxury hotels means one does not go outside of downtown Anchorage and Fairbanks. Alaska is much more than that. It's the same as cruise ship passengers not learning much about Alaska.

 

[TripleLindy]

And sticking with luxury hotels means one does not go outside of downtown Anchorage and Fairbanks.

We’ve been so close to buying an RV several times - Class A, Class C, truck with trailer, etc. I wanted to hit the road for months at a time, going all the way to Alaska, but my wife was more inclined to a week or 2 at most. Given that we live in Texas, it’s a full day’s drive just to get out of the state (going west), so I could see “disagreements” arising. What we’ve found instead, is that most of the places we want to visit have really nice lodging, like the Jenny Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park. We also found a VRBO house inside of Yosemite that had a perfect view of Half Dome with the sun and moon each rising directly behind it. We’ve flown to these destinations, but now are finally planning a road trip to Santa Fe, Arches and Grand Canyon. Lots of lodging options that put us right where we want to be.

I fell in love with RVing with a rental unit in Alaska. I’d still opt for the RV lifestyle if my wife was onboard, but given that I’ve avoided a $200k+ capital expense, plus ongoing storage and maintenance, I’ve been pleasantly surprised that we’ve been able to achieve much the same experience without one.

 

[aja8888]

We’ve been so close to buying an RV several times - Class A, Class C, truck with trailer, etc. I wanted to hit the road for months at a time, going all the way to Alaska, but my wife was more inclined to a week or 2 at most. Given that we live in Texas, it’s a full day’s drive just to get out of the state (going west), so I could see “disagreements” arising. What we’ve found instead, is that most of the places we want to visit have really nice lodging, like the Jenny Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park. We also found a VRBO house inside of Yosemite that had a perfect view of Half Dome with the sun and moon each rising directly behind it. We’ve flown to these destinations, but now are finally planning a road trip to Santa Fe, Arches and Grand Canyon. Lots of lodging options that put us right where we want to be.

I fell in love with RVing with a rental unit in Alaska. I’d still opt for the RV lifestyle if my wife was onboard, but given that I’ve avoided a $200k+ capital expense, plus ongoing storage and maintenance, I’ve been pleasantly surprised that we’ve been able to achieve much the same experience without one.

One of my friends who is in his early 70's, finally gave up his Class A motorhome. Too much hassle and expense and long trips are hard on his wife. He had a good run, though, as he had big coach for 20 years.

 

[rodi]

Just blew the dough on open jaw flights to/from Italy for next April. Biz class kept going up but I found a combo of premium economy and business that fit our budget. Premium economy there, and business back. Will look to see if they offer a cheap upgrade to business... AA sometimes does that.

 

[FreeBear]

One of my friends who is in his early 70's, finally gave up his Class A motorhome. Too much hassle and expense and long trips are hard on his wife. He had a good run, though, as he had big coach for 20 years.

Just heard that our 75 year old friends just sold their little class B van after only 3 years. They were very conflicted, but in the end it was too much money tied up and too much ongoing maintenance and cost. I do admire your friends that Rv'd for 2 decades. We'll be lucky to both be alive AND healthy over the next 20 yrs. I do wish I started sooner, but there is no way I could have FIRE'd owning a motorhome when w*rking. Just too $$$. Besides, I never had enough vacation to enjoy a rig back then.

 

[aja8888]

Just heard that our 75 year old friends just sold their little class B van after only 3 years. They were very conflicted, but in the end it was too much money tied up and too much ongoing maintenance and cost. I do admire your friends that Rv'd for 2 decades. We'll be lucky to both be alive AND healthy over the next 20 yrs. I do wish I started sooner, but there is no way I could have FIRE'd owning a motorhome when w*rking. Just too $$$. Besides, I never had enough vacation to enjoy a rig back then.

Over his 20 years of motor coaches, he had three of them, all money pits, but they liked to travel and hit the campsites. he did a lot of his own repair work, so it was kind of a hobby.

 

[athena53]

In Chicago at the Hilton O'Hare with promised runway view. Third trip here from Des Moines with my 8-year old granddaughter and first for the 5-year old, since we had to wait for COVID to be less of a threat. SO much fun being on a plane with two excited little girls and being in a hotel where everyone else is going off to meetings, checking their office e-mails and engaging in networking. Three airfares, 2 nights in hotel, Children's Museum tomorrow, dinner in the hotel restaurant ($$$$). Worth every dime It is good to be Grandma.

 

[explanade]

How far from the city is the O'Hare hotel?

I wouldn't have thought it would be a thing, hotel with a view of a runway.

I guess some airport lounges have runway views.

There's a hill in Wellington, New Zealand which has a view of the airport runway.

There's a cable car which runs parallel to Hong Kong International airport, from a distance.

Only been to Chicago once. I imagine there are skyscraper hotels in downtown with view over Lake Michigan?

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

How far from the city is the O'Hare hotel?

I wouldn't have thought it would be a thing, hotel with a view of a runway.

I guess some airport lounges have runway views.

There's a hill in Wellington, New Zealand which has a view of the airport runway.

There's a cable car which runs parallel to Hong Kong International airport, from a distance.

Only been to Chicago once. I imagine there are skyscraper hotels in downtown with view over Lake Michigan?

One of my favorite hotels is the Renaissance Concourse Atlanta. If you had a good pitching arm, you could hit the airplanes from some of the rooms.

 

[Ronstar]

How far from the city is the O'Hare hotel?

I wouldn't have thought it would be a thing, hotel with a view of a runway.

I guess some airport lounges have runway views.

There's a hill in Wellington, New Zealand which has a view of the airport runway.

There's a cable car which runs parallel to Hong Kong International airport, from a distance.

Only been to Chicago once. I imagine there are skyscraper hotels in downtown with view over Lake Michigan?

Ohare is 12 miles from the lakefront. Several skyscraper hotels overlook the lake.

 

[Koolau]

How far from the city is the O'Hare hotel?


Only been to Chicago once. I imagine there are skyscraper hotels in downtown with view over Lake Michigan?

ORD (O'hare) is roughly 35 or 40 miles from the lake IIRC. I would guess you can see the sky line from there on a clear day. Heh, heh, on a (very) clear day, you can see the skyline of Chicago from 150 miles away from an aircraft at 10,000 feet. I've done it.

Yes, there are hotels with view of Lake Michigan. IIRC, the YMCA hotel had such views, but that's a 45 year old memory so possibly faulty. YMMV

 

[braumeister]

For those looking for new ways to BTD:

Not something I'm likely to try, but this was in an email from Hertz today, advertising their latest offerings. Something tells me it will have a bit of a premium on the rental rate.

 

[NW-Bound]

...

I fell in love with RVing with a rental unit in Alaska. I’d still opt for the RV lifestyle if my wife was onboard, but given that I’ve avoided a $200k+ capital expense, plus ongoing storage and maintenance, I’ve been pleasantly surprised that we’ve been able to achieve much the same experience without one.

On the subject of RV'ing in Alaska, here's this story. We stopped at a public library in Homer to use the Internet because our T-Mobile phone access was denied in Alaska despite their claim of coverage.

There, while I used the Internet, my wife read a book that said RV'ing in Alaska was the cause of the demise of the motels in many towns. Then, lack of decent lodgings brings on more RV'ing, and the effect reinforces itself.

The subject of the book was old run-down and abandoned motels throughout Alaska. It had many photos of these places.

 

[NW-Bound]

Just heard that our 75 year old friends just sold their little class B van after only 3 years. They were very conflicted, but in the end it was too much money tied up and too much ongoing maintenance and cost. I do admire your friends that Rv'd for 2 decades. We'll be lucky to both be alive AND healthy over the next 20 yrs. I do wish I started sooner, but there is no way I could have FIRE'd owning a motorhome when w*rking. Just too $$$. Besides, I never had enough vacation to enjoy a rig back then.

No point in owning an RV while you still work, unless you live in a place that is close to many nature spots such as California. It is not likely one gets enough use out of the RV to make it worthwhile.

And then, in California I have seen so many RV state beach campings that made me cringe. Awfully crowded, and noisy. I would rather stay in a hotel.

 

[Teacher Terry]

We owned a motor home while working but it was older and we paid cash. Living on the west coast lots of beautiful close places to enjoy. We also had a group of friends to go with on the weekends.

 

[athena53]

How far from the city is the O'Hare hotel?

I wouldn't have thought it would be a thing, hotel with a view of a runway.

I guess some airport lounges have runway views.
<snip>
Only been to Chicago once. I imagine there are skyscraper hotels in downtown with view over Lake Michigan?

We saw a lot of the international flights taking off and landing- granddaughter was thrilled to see Ethiopian Airways! They liked watching the trains and the cars and the people, too. They did NOT like the skyscrapers downtown (worried they'd fall over) but thought the pigeons were the coolest thing ever. Go figure. So, downtown is out for a hotel but I imagine the ones with a lake view are crazy-expensive anyway. It was also wonderful to just pick up our stuff and walk to O'Hare when it was time to leave.

Fantastic trip even though some things didn't go as planned, which always happens. They were spilling over each other with stories from the trip when DDIL picked us up. Priceless.

ETA: They might go for the Hilton Navy Pier with the water views and it's NOT that much more expensive than the O'Hare. That's where the Children's Museum is. (Yes, they know about the Ferris wheel, and turned thumbs down on that.) It would mean a much longer "commute" back to ORD but they love the subway. Plenty of time to decide- we'll probably go back in the spring.

 

[ivinsfan]

Failure to blow! Closing up our summer park trailer at the lake. Family run resort small, places hard to come by. Yesterday mentioned to the owner our GKs getting bigger and we'd like to get a second unit
. at noon today owner rides up and says one came up in the last hour. We get the keys go looking it's perfect and the price is more than fair. Get the owners number and text an offer full price offer. He texts back and says his cousin wants it and we are the backup. Blow no dough today

 

[GoBears]

We purchased round trip Business Class tickets from SFO to Barcelona via Zurich for our 3-week Mediterranean cruise next May. I wasn’t going to subject DW or me to coach when the estimated one way travel time is 15+ hours. Cruise payment is not due until January or so; this will definitely be the most expensive vacation that I have ever taken.

 

[Ronstar]

DW just bought a purse for a gift that cost about as much as my first new car.

 

[street]

DW just bought a purse for a gift that cost about as much as my first new car.

Now that is blowing the dough! lol