I had plans to leave the country at least once more before the end of 2017. At one point I even thought I'd be leaving twice. I was planning a birthday weekend away and a weekend to Vienna to visit a university friend. The birthday weekend was postponed, somebody already had that weekend off work. No big deal. I'd go another weekend.
Then the Vienna trip was cancelled. Disappointing but something that could be rearranged. However, I'd already got the time off work because I'd learnt that getting a weekend off was difficult and planning (way) in advance was the way to go. So I decided I'd use my time off to go on my birthday get away.
But by the time this all happened it was only two weeks until the weekend I'd booked off. And flight prices to my chosen destination (Copenhagen) had become rather pricy. I told myself it didn't have to be Copenhagen. I'd see if there were other places that were cheaper.
Then there was the issue of who was coming with me. My birthday trip was supposed to be my mum and I. However, because of the change of plans my mum couldn't go on the Thursday. Having one less full day wasn't the end of the world but the flight times really weren't working in my favour. My brother said he'd see if he could get time off and even my dad said he'd go.
Really, I'm waffling but what I'm trying to say is as much as I wanted to make use of the time I booked off and still go away before the New Year it really wasn't going to happen. Flight times meant we wouldn't have much time to explore, hotel prices had gone up and I was looking at any random place. I no longer cared where I went I just wanted somewhere cheap and not in the UK.
I'd got to the point where I was going for the sake of it.
It wasn't worth going to Copenhagen and it wasn't worth going wherever the cheapest flights took me. Because, honestly, I didn't want to go to that destination, wherever it was. I'd become obsessed with travelling somewhere abroad. I wanted to get another trip done more than I wanted to go on the trip itself.Even with cheap flights and accommodation a weekend in Europe involves spending money. It soon adds up. Food can be pricey even if you do try to be frugal.
I decided it wasn't worth spending money on a trip that was just for the sake of it.
Don't get me wrong, choosing a random place because it's got the cheapest flights isn't always a bad thing. You can discover some amazing places and have a really fun weekend. But I wasn't going on the trip for the right reasons. I wasn't looking at the cheapest flights because I wanted a spontaneous adventure to a new city. I was looking at them because Copenhagen had become too expensive to justify.
So I never did go on any more trips in 2017. Instead I'm hoping to go in early 2018, when I have time to plan ahead and get a good price for my chosen destination.
And, if in the future, I do decide to hop on the cheapest flight for a last minute get away it will be because I want to discover a new place and not just for the sake of being able to say I've ticked off another country.
Sophie
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