Green-eyed Wanderlust

So, I love to travel. Some of it must be in my blood. My parents met 1,600 and 6,500 miles from their respective homes. One was on a new continent, the other in a new country. My first international trip happened before I was 12 months old. A large part of why I chose my school for undergrad was the ease of study abroad, something I did 4 times in 4 years.

Ok, so we've established that I like to travel. My girls from undergrad feel the same way. One is in grad school and just got accepted to a 3 week program in a country on my short list.* I was thrilled for her and just a teensy bit jealous. Then she let me know our other girl would be joining her for a week of traveling. My first questions were when and how much. When works with my work schedule. But the how much stopped me in my tracks. The plane ticket price, while well priced for the area, has 4 figures. That's before food, accommodation's, and travel, none of which have been figured out.

I am well versed on how to travel on a budget but for many reason I know I can't work my magic to make this trip compatible with the budget and debt repayment. I could put away enough between now and the time of the trip. Though the doors to the Bank of Mom are generally closed these days I'm sure she'd loan me the money for the plane ticket between now and when I can pay for it. The problem is that every snowflake and other monies budgeted for debt reduction would have to go to the trip. This doesn't fit with any of my/our goals in the short or medium term.

So I'll tell myself Gameboy and I will make it there one day and wish them well. A few months later we'll all get together and share stories and pictures about life, their trip, my last big trip, and anything else that strikes our fancy. but I may be just a little bit jealous until then.

*I have a list of places I'd like to travel broken into short, medium, and long term goals, much like investing.