I Really Hate Flakes

Well, it turns out that my friend that was supposed to come in December isn't coming anymore. She tells me this less than a month before she's supposed to come out! Grrr...this epic road trip around NZ and possibly Oz has been in the works since last June, and I've been planning and saving up for it like mad. I'm terribly disappointed.

I have $2.7K that I was going to use for this Epic Road Trip ($300 will be used for a weekend on the S. Island at the end of November). I'm not a fan of traveling by myself (plus, that's A LOT of driving to do all by my lonesome!), so I guess I'm not going to be going anywhere in December. I was so excited, I have been saving up all of my time off in lieu from doing all my fieldwork, for just this trip. Bummer.

I could scramble around and try to make other plans, but honestly...I don't feel like it, and everyone I know has to work or is going overseas or already has their (full) trips planned in December. I turned everyone down that invited me anywhere due to this initial plan. I'm now completely priced out of any trips home for Christmas (all of the cheap flights seem to be booked), so I'm missing Christmas with my family for nothing now! This all is making me sad. I know, I know, it could be much worse. :) It's new news, I'll cheer up in a bit.

(On the plus side, my friend coming in February has already booked his tickets. He unfortunately has to work for 5 of the 10 days he is here, but we'll try to make the most of the time off that he has. At least I know he won't flake, he's already invested $1K euros into it!)

Lots of time off and cash saved up, nothing to do with it. I'm really afraid that the time off will wither into the ether if I don't use it up soon, and the same with the cash. On the other hand, maybe I should just take this as a sign to save that $2.7K and 10 days off in lieu, in case something good comes along in January. Or maybe I should tell my supervisors that I plan to just tack on that time off to my NZ winter vacation next (Northern Hemisphere) summer, and do an epic round the world trip, visiting friends all over. You never know what could happen!