Well, Michigan went well. We ended up sharing a cottage with some friends, and a lovely time was had by all. Our friends hooked us up with the cottage, which is owned by their next-door neighbors.
We even got a ride on a pontoon boat. Why don’t I have neighbors like this?
Does someone out there want to buy a pontoon boat? We can’t get one ourselves, not just for the monetary reasons (although, that’s certainly a factor), but also because we can’t handle the commitment that comes with boat ownership. But if a friend or neighbor would come through, we could just catch a ride a couple times a year… Someone has got to step up here.
***
We’re planning a trip to South America next spring, and the vacation planning is driving me mad. MAD! On Thursday, we found round-trip airfare to Santiago, Chile for $517 each. However, Jay wants to double-check with his boss that he can take a week and a half off of work. So we don’t jump on the fare.
On Friday, the fare has gone up to $906. !!!!! One day’s wait has now cost us almost $1000 as a couple. So I find a fare on another airline for $546 each. I have now learned my lesson, so I booked the flight. If we have to change it, we’ll pay $100 fee, but if we waited, the cost might double. (I’m working with rudimentary knowledge of airline ticketing, so I could be wrong on this point.)
Then I’m wondering about the airfare we’re going to need once we’re in South America. We want to go to Rio de Janeiro, Iguassu Falls, Buenos Aires and Santiago. So once we land in Santiago, we want to fly to Rio and then work our way west across South America back to Santiago. But the flight from Santiago to Rio on LanChile is more than $800 per person! Yikes. However, once we add in airfare from Iguassu to Buenos Aires and Buenos Aires back to Santiago, the cost is just $700 per person. Huh? We just added 2 more flights and the price goes DOWN $100?
The flight from Rio to Iguassu is the most difficult. I can only find 2 airlines that do that trip. Between when I check in the morning and when I check in the evening, the price went down $50. Who knows what it will be when I actually go to buy it.
Booking airfare is not good for the obsessive compulsive in me. I feel like I could just sit at home all day and check airfares, and I still won’t feel comfortable with what I end up paying.
So anyway, we’re going to Chile in the spring. Not sure about the rest of the trip, but we’re definitly going to be in Santiago.