Crowdsourcing life decisions
Okay. I feel kinda bad coming back to LJ after so long away just because I have a problem, but you know, what else is online journaling for? And also I need your opinions and Twitter is way too short for this and my Tumblr is just a bunch of fandom squee (I'm under 'amelioratrix' at both places, if you want to catch up). Where else was I going to put this?
So, under the cut is my tale of woe.
Earlier in the year I discovered I had enough leave saved up to get me four weeks of work. That seemed like such an impressive amount that I decided the only thing to do was go overseas for a month.
I decided I wanted to go to North America in September: see my family in Vancouver, check out Portland, do a city or two on the East Coast and definitely spend a week in New York. Oh, and squeeze a train trip in there somewhere, because fuck yeah trains.
Because Andrew’s in the last year of his thesis, I knew he wouldn’t be able to come for all of it, but I hoped he might be able to eke out a week of time for New York. I’d fly out at the start of September, gallivant around North America for three weeks, and then meet up with him in New York at the end.
It all seemed perfect to me. Perfect timing for work, weather and avoiding high seasons.
But Andrew has been having a tough time with his thesis for a few months now, and so he had to tell me that he couldn’t make it in September. He’s got his review in November, has to submit things for it in October, so he needs as much time as possible in September. The earliest he could think of going away was mid-November.
But have you seen what the average temperatures are in North America in November? They’re all around the 10 degrees Celsius mark. Fuck no. I already spent a cold fortnight in New York; the whole point of going in September was to have good weather, not traipse around under sixty layers forgetting I have a body.
Andrew also suggested going in May next year, for our anniversary. But that feels way too far away. I don’t want to wait a year and change for this. I worry I’ll use up all my leave by accident in the interim.
So, it seems like I have three options:
Option 1
If I go in September, I’ll get to stay with my aunt, who’s leaving Vancouver by the middle of the month. I’ll also only be spending money on one set of airfares.
But I’ll be going overseas by myself again. And I really don’t want to do that. I’ll be travelling without Andrew, having experiences without him. I know this probably makes me sound co-dependent, but I’ve done a bunch of travelling without him. It’s fun, it’s fine, but I want to share this with him. In a way that can’t be done through Instagram and Twitter updates.
Option 2
If I wait till May to go with Andrew, I’ll get to share the whole experience with Andrew. May is a good time of year weather-wise, too, and it’d be a great way to spend our anniversary. Plus, only one set of airfares.
But I’ll miss my aunt. Which isn’t that big a deal, as she’s moving to Australia, but it’d be nice to see her in a place she’s called home for the past 30-plus years. I’ll also have to wait what feels like a really long time and, as I said above, I worry that I’ll spend my leave by accident.
Option 3
If I go for two weeks in September by myself, and two weeks in May with Andrew, I’ll probably go Vancouver and New York on the first round and Portland and New York on the second round (I’d probably fit in a few other places around those cities, but just to give you a general idea). Which is doubling up on New York, but really, that’s not a hardship.
If I went with this option, I’d get to go this year and see my aunt. I also wouldn’t have to wait so long for my travel fix. Then, eight months later, I could do it all again with Andrew.
But I’d have to pay the cost of flying overseas twice. I have enough money saved up for it, but it’d take a huge chunk out of my savings, savings I maybe should be considering putting towards an apartment.
So yeah, I dunno. I’m leaning towards Option 3, but that’s a lot of money and it seems kinda ridic.
What do you think?
So, under the cut is my tale of woe.
Earlier in the year I discovered I had enough leave saved up to get me four weeks of work. That seemed like such an impressive amount that I decided the only thing to do was go overseas for a month.
I decided I wanted to go to North America in September: see my family in Vancouver, check out Portland, do a city or two on the East Coast and definitely spend a week in New York. Oh, and squeeze a train trip in there somewhere, because fuck yeah trains.
Because Andrew’s in the last year of his thesis, I knew he wouldn’t be able to come for all of it, but I hoped he might be able to eke out a week of time for New York. I’d fly out at the start of September, gallivant around North America for three weeks, and then meet up with him in New York at the end.
It all seemed perfect to me. Perfect timing for work, weather and avoiding high seasons.
But Andrew has been having a tough time with his thesis for a few months now, and so he had to tell me that he couldn’t make it in September. He’s got his review in November, has to submit things for it in October, so he needs as much time as possible in September. The earliest he could think of going away was mid-November.
But have you seen what the average temperatures are in North America in November? They’re all around the 10 degrees Celsius mark. Fuck no. I already spent a cold fortnight in New York; the whole point of going in September was to have good weather, not traipse around under sixty layers forgetting I have a body.
Andrew also suggested going in May next year, for our anniversary. But that feels way too far away. I don’t want to wait a year and change for this. I worry I’ll use up all my leave by accident in the interim.
So, it seems like I have three options:
- Go in September for four weeks by myself.
- Go in May for four weeks with Andrew.
- Go in September for two weeks by myself, go in May for two weeks with Andrew.
Option 1
If I go in September, I’ll get to stay with my aunt, who’s leaving Vancouver by the middle of the month. I’ll also only be spending money on one set of airfares.
But I’ll be going overseas by myself again. And I really don’t want to do that. I’ll be travelling without Andrew, having experiences without him. I know this probably makes me sound co-dependent, but I’ve done a bunch of travelling without him. It’s fun, it’s fine, but I want to share this with him. In a way that can’t be done through Instagram and Twitter updates.
Option 2
If I wait till May to go with Andrew, I’ll get to share the whole experience with Andrew. May is a good time of year weather-wise, too, and it’d be a great way to spend our anniversary. Plus, only one set of airfares.
But I’ll miss my aunt. Which isn’t that big a deal, as she’s moving to Australia, but it’d be nice to see her in a place she’s called home for the past 30-plus years. I’ll also have to wait what feels like a really long time and, as I said above, I worry that I’ll spend my leave by accident.
Option 3
If I go for two weeks in September by myself, and two weeks in May with Andrew, I’ll probably go Vancouver and New York on the first round and Portland and New York on the second round (I’d probably fit in a few other places around those cities, but just to give you a general idea). Which is doubling up on New York, but really, that’s not a hardship.
If I went with this option, I’d get to go this year and see my aunt. I also wouldn’t have to wait so long for my travel fix. Then, eight months later, I could do it all again with Andrew.
But I’d have to pay the cost of flying overseas twice. I have enough money saved up for it, but it’d take a huge chunk out of my savings, savings I maybe should be considering putting towards an apartment.
So yeah, I dunno. I’m leaning towards Option 3, but that’s a lot of money and it seems kinda ridic.
What do you think?