We weren't planning on going to the US this year. When we moved here, we tentatively planned to visit the US only every other year. But we also planned to be flexible.
A few months ago, we were trying out the idea of certain summer plans, and a big component of them was going somewhere where we could hike and bike and spend a lot of time outdoors in beautiful surroundings. Originally, Germany or Austria or Slovakia was going to be the venue for this travel. Then one Saturday morning, I got to thinking about it and realized that we could hike and bike and spend a lot of time outdoors in beautiful surroundings...in the US. FOR FREE (except the plane ticket*). And see family in the bargain. So we changed tacks and went to Germany/Austria for Spring Break, thus freeing up our summer for another epic American adventure.
This change in plans was facilitated by the fact that I had left my weekly DXB-SEA kayak.com fare alert in place. It's always good to keep an eye on fares for routes you plan on traveling so you know a good one when you see one. Well, during the same week that we were reconsidering our plans not to go to the US, fares dipped as low as we'd ever seen them in two years of tracking them. It was a perfect storm.
So, yeah. We are going to the US this summer! We leave in a few weeks. This time, I will take the kids ahead of Jeremy (he's teaching during summer term) instead of having a two-week-long Me Party like I did last year. We won't be there for quite as long as last year, but it should be enough time so that we don't wear out our welcome. We are also experimenting with flying only to Seattle (a direct flight on Emirates) and having some long-suffering soul from my family come pick us up there, instead of paying the extra $x to fly four people from Seattle to Portland (and back). We'll see how that goes. On the one hand, it's nice to get off the plane and be at your final destination city. On the other hand, direct flights can be worth their weight in gold (whatever that means...you know what I mean).
I'm not looking forward to the long-haul travel and the brutal time zone adjustments, or shifting along in childhood bedrooms. But both sides of the family did such a fantastic job of showing us a great time last year that we are all looking forward to another action-packed summer in the US. Action-packed or, you know, me lying on the couch gorging on library books I can't get here (though working on my thesis is more likely) while the kids forage for blueberries or raspberries in the grandparents' backyard. Ahhh, SUMMER!
*FAQ: I thought Jeremy's work paid for the family's plane tickets every year! A: Kind of. There is a fund we can draw from to purchase plane tickets to wherever we want. However, if we don't use it, it gets deposited in our bank account. So yes, the tickets are paid for, but also, they're kind of not. See?
A few months ago, we were trying out the idea of certain summer plans, and a big component of them was going somewhere where we could hike and bike and spend a lot of time outdoors in beautiful surroundings. Originally, Germany or Austria or Slovakia was going to be the venue for this travel. Then one Saturday morning, I got to thinking about it and realized that we could hike and bike and spend a lot of time outdoors in beautiful surroundings...in the US. FOR FREE (except the plane ticket*). And see family in the bargain. So we changed tacks and went to Germany/Austria for Spring Break, thus freeing up our summer for another epic American adventure.
This change in plans was facilitated by the fact that I had left my weekly DXB-SEA kayak.com fare alert in place. It's always good to keep an eye on fares for routes you plan on traveling so you know a good one when you see one. Well, during the same week that we were reconsidering our plans not to go to the US, fares dipped as low as we'd ever seen them in two years of tracking them. It was a perfect storm.
So, yeah. We are going to the US this summer! We leave in a few weeks. This time, I will take the kids ahead of Jeremy (he's teaching during summer term) instead of having a two-week-long Me Party like I did last year. We won't be there for quite as long as last year, but it should be enough time so that we don't wear out our welcome. We are also experimenting with flying only to Seattle (a direct flight on Emirates) and having some long-suffering soul from my family come pick us up there, instead of paying the extra $x to fly four people from Seattle to Portland (and back). We'll see how that goes. On the one hand, it's nice to get off the plane and be at your final destination city. On the other hand, direct flights can be worth their weight in gold (whatever that means...you know what I mean).
I'm not looking forward to the long-haul travel and the brutal time zone adjustments, or shifting along in childhood bedrooms. But both sides of the family did such a fantastic job of showing us a great time last year that we are all looking forward to another action-packed summer in the US. Action-packed or, you know, me lying on the couch gorging on library books I can't get here (though working on my thesis is more likely) while the kids forage for blueberries or raspberries in the grandparents' backyard. Ahhh, SUMMER!
*FAQ: I thought Jeremy's work paid for the family's plane tickets every year! A: Kind of. There is a fund we can draw from to purchase plane tickets to wherever we want. However, if we don't use it, it gets deposited in our bank account. So yes, the tickets are paid for, but also, they're kind of not. See?