Happiest Place on Earth

Happiest Place on Earth

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Free Stuff is Fun *or* Why the Heck are You in Florida Again



How to Pretend You're on Vacation While on a Business Trip, Part 1

Although I feel no specific need to explain to anyone why I am in Florida for the third time in 10 months...  Well, never mind...  I actually do sort of feel a little bit of a need to defend this...  thus, this post...

I'm here, this week, because I accepted a position, for the fall, as an early childhood music teacher, and I have training to accomplish.  The training is here in Orlando.  That's the short story.  The long story on this is coming at some point, but not today.

Upon realizing that I would need to make a trip to Orlando, I began deal searching, because that's how I roll.  No one I know can vacation at a better price than I can, and even though this is decidedly not a vacation, I think it is wise to be thrifty when traveling.

I often stay with friends when I can, but seven nights of free lodging is a lot to ask.  In addition, many of you may know that I have had the worst summer in many years in regard to asthma and allergies, so even though I am usually OK to stay in homes with non-feline pets; I am being particularly careful because of how precarious my ability to breathe well has become.  Because of this, I started looking for a cheap hotel.

When I say cheap, in this case, I mean really cheap.  I mean really cheap, but not quite Motel 6 cheap.  It's not that I'm a hotel snob or anything, but a friend of mine recently told me that since we're in our 30s, it's OK if we don't pick Motel 6.  I went with her logic.  When I started planning this trip, however, I had another reason for shunning the cheapest of the cheap.  I was not certain, at the time, if I would be traveling alone, and although I am something of a tough solo traveler; I do like hotel rooms with doors inside the building if I'm by myself.  Weird?  I don't know, maybe.  But I'm keeping it real here.  I found a cheap hotel.  A really cheap hotel.

Then I thought to myself, I'll bet there's a way to save more money on this.  Because, friends, this is always what I think to myself when I travel.  I then proceeded to take this cheap hotel thing to a new level by working the system to score a free night, free tickets to Sea World and Aquatica, and some free food.  Please do not misunderstand.  When I say it was cheaper to go with this package, I do not mean it was cheaper than all of these things combined.  I mean it was cheaper than the hotel price, alone.  I walked away from my negotiations feeling pretty awesome.

Upon researching travel options, I found that it would cost nearly the same amount for me to fly or for Phil and I to drive, together.  This is the point at which I said to Phil, "Hey!  Do you want to go to Florida with me for eight days?"  If you know my husband, you know that what followed was a sideways glance that questioned my sanity.  There is no way I ask him for more than a week of his time... alone... and he says no.  So I made my next pitch...

"Food is going to cost more if you come with me, so you're going to have to take care of that..."  The truth is, I have super odd eating habits when traveling alone.  Unless somebody says, "Hey L...  you really have to eat now," I am probably going to survive on coffee and whatever (if anything) the hotel provides for breakfast.  This is probably a huge part of why Phil often sets me up in hotels with decent breakfast options when he makes reservations for me.  It's like he knows I will be unable to resist shuffling down to the lobby in my Hello Kitty pajama pants if I can smell cinnamon rolls and cheesy eggs, but if it's just cold cereal, I might forget to eat altogether. 

Phil's response to this food dilemma was a pretty typical response for our family...  "Gift Cards!"  We are sort of gift card hoarders.  I am being completely honest when I tell you that we have a bag full of gift cards that we keep in the van.  The nicest thing anyone can offer us for birthdays or Christmas or graduations or random acts of kindness are gift cards.  At this point it occurred to me that if I took Phil to Florida with me I would eat well all week.  This is a great plus for me, but it's also good for you, blog readers, because it means that you will not be subjected to multiple pictures of random grilled cheese sandwiches for which I have foraged over the course of eight days...

So, very early this morning we got in the van after about 90 minutes of sleep and began our journey.  About three minutes later we turned around, because I had forgotten my shoes.  I hate shoes.  I mean, I really hate shoes.  But I have no idea what the dress code is for this training, so I am trying to play it business casual safe (legit, business casual, not Naz business causal, which means business suits), and this means at least breaking out the good flip flops...

I proceeded to drive for 21 hours and 4 minutes.  I should admit here that I may have tricked Phil into this particular itinerary.  When we drove straight through from Ohio to Florida in 2006 with a five year old, a four year old, and a two year old; Phil informed me that we were too old to ever do the non-stop thing again.  True to his word, we have taken two days to drive to Florida on every trip that has followed.  I knew that I was going to do this drive in one.  I have known this for months.  It was just a tiny bit awkward when Phil asked me, earlier this week, where we were stopping on Saturday night.  I think he was less than happy with me when my honest and very understated answer was, "Orlando."  Ahem.  So, we stopped far more than usual, but Phil kept me supplied with coffee running through my veins and probably more food than I would have eaten on the entire trip if I had left him at home.  About three hours into our drive I remembered why airplanes are beautiful and worth the risk, but I'm thankful for a husband who thinks it's a privilege or something to sit in the passenger seat and watch me rock out to loud, angry music in my sweatpants and t-shirt and bandana.  I didn't say I understand it.  I said I'm thankful.  I'm pretty sure there was a moment at around 18 hours when it became less incredible to deal with my exhausted driving and the crabby attitude that creeps in when I have been essentially sleepless, but then he fed me again and we made it the rest of the way...

My original plan was to use those free Sea World tickets in the morning, and let's be real... this is mostly because of the free breakfast (do you see the theme here?).  However, my new plan is to sleep as long as I want and to focus on the first day of training, tomorrow, which begins mid-afternoon.

'Night

L.