I want it more than I can tell

-Beauty and the Beast

Have you ever been in one of those moods where you felt like your life was just rushing past you? So you think, “Oh man, I’m already (insert age here)! I’ll never have time to (insert adventure here)!” Okay, maybe not you at a fairly young age, but I have. This mood is what set off a week of planning an adventure that I was sure was destined never to happen so soon; a trip to New York City. Let me start from the beginning.

As I mentioned, I had been in quite a mindset at the beginning of last week. In order to feel more fulfilled I had made a list of things I had wanted to do before the start of the next semester (as in, fall) and posted it on an online journal so my closest friends could offer feedback. Looking at some of the things on the list, like skydiving and white water rafting, I figured I’d get some resistance. I was very wrong, however. My closest friends and I had decided to pursue the first thing I had written first, which was to go to New York City, as I had said.

Easy, right? Wrong! Very, very wrong. We soon realized how naive we must be if we really thought we were going to go to New York for 4 days for, oh, I don’t know, 100 or so dollars. If you’re laughing now, I completely understand. While slightly discouraged at the expensive prices of train tickets and hotel rooms, we were not put off. We kept researching (only after we went sledding!) and found less expensive, more conveniently timed bus tickets! We also decided to cut our stay a little shorter, thinking maybe a weekend would suffice. Already we felt like a human form of Travelocity, Expedia, or Orbitz. As for the hotel, we figured we needed two rooms. Unfortunately, the cheapest hotel in New York seems to be at least 250 dollars a night. Call me crazy, but I think that’s a tad above budget. So I did some bargain hunting and found another hotel for 150 dollars a night, which isn’t as bad, considering we’re splitting the costs of the two rooms among 7 people.

Let me give you some background about this hotel, if I may. Half the reviews say, “Pretty nice place to stay; has a great location” and the other half say, “Never, EVER stay here! There were bed bugs! The place is a DUMP!” I began weighing my options; bed bugs vs.s. saving a ton of money. Again, bed bugs, money. The choice for me was bed bugs. Gross, I know, but cut me some slack, I’m an unemployed eighteen year old. My friends were under the same dilemma as me until some news came that two people had decided not to go. That was fine by everyone since they had their own reasons, but then we became intrigued. If only 5 of us were going, did we REALLY need two rooms? We decided no.

So the story has a happy ending! Not only did we discover we could save money and gain more time by taking a bus instead of a train, but we could stay at a nicer, more conveniently located hotel for the same amount we were going to pay in the first place. While we’re still planning all the details, it has occurred to me that this trip is definitely happening…and I am definitely excited. Call us geniuses if you’d like, but we’re just determined. New York City, here we come! (in a few months, that is)!