The Best Vacation Ever

What is your favorite summer vacation?  I have gone on some pretty cool trips over the years.  Just before my wife and I were married we spent 2 weeks in Argentina.  We visited family and spent a few days in Buenos Aires.  Soon after we were in Kauai on our honeymoon.  Several years went by but we went on this fantastic vacation to an all inclusive resort in Nuevo Puerto Vallarta Mexico.  That was super fun.  We have even gone back to Hawaii since then when my sister got married in Maui. 

This may come as a surprise but my favorite vacation is the one we took last summer.  Last summer we went camping by the beach in a borrowed tent trailer.  Why this over the others?  Well, quite frankly, it’s the only one that didn’t follow me home.

Most people feel that they work hard and therefore ‘deserve’ a vacation.  So they justify not only spending money they don’t have, but overspending money they don’t have by putting it on their credit card.  Then, a month after their vacation is over, they get to start making payments on it at an average of 18% interest.  This is the definition of a vacation that follows you home. 

I know the past two years have been rough.  The word staycation has become part of our vernacular and no one thinks anything of it.  That’s a good thing.  Everyone needs to take time to unwind but broke people shouldn’t go on elaborate vacations.  All of those great places I mentioned earlier were paid for with credit cards and some of those trips took YEARS to pay off.  That is no way to unwind.  I would have been less stressed had I worked the whole time and never took those trips.  What made my camping trip so relaxing is the fact that I paid cash.

Did you know that the smores taste better when you are debt free.  The fire is warmer when you are debt free.  Sand is less annoying when you are debt free.  Packing and unpacking is fun when you are debt free.  I could go on but that would just be irritating.  You get the point.  This was the best vacation because it did not follow me home.  I didn’t mind buying more ice, or making a trip to the store for something we forgot.  It was a truly relaxing and enjoyable experience for the whole family.  Ironically it had nothing to do with where we were physically, but where we were emotionally and financially.

I am not sure what your plans for vacation might be this summer.  I sure hope that those of you who have debt are putting things on hold until you get that debt paid off.  Take it from someone who has made the same mistake.  You don’t ‘deserve’ to do that to your family.  Pay off your debt, then go have a blast.