So I finally got around to booking my first holiday in ages and I’m left wondering if the shit that goes with the experience is actually worth it.
I’d initially planned to cycle to Western Ireland, but having spent about 3 hours planning the journey yesterday, I finally concluded that it’s so much hassle getting a bike back on buses trains ferries that I may as well just fly instead – So I booked a flight, and I feel like I’ve been well and truly shafted.
The cheapest flight I found – £46.42 return –
The final amount ended up being nearer £190
Due to the following additions –
| Airline’s Credit Card Fee | £10.91 |
| Travel Insurance – which allows me to cancel | £9.42 |
| Additional Services – baggage allowance | £24.26 |
| Booking Fee – which was added on only after I’d actually paid | £25.66* |
| Total Price (Incl. FlexiFly) | £189.96 |
This is ‘worth it’ if you factor in the time I’d save training and ferrying – but this experience, as well as the general stress of organising hotels and transport really has not been fun. Not only has my general experience been one of thinking that around every corner there is someone just waiting to charge you extra fees on everything, but I’ve also effectively wasted half a day of my bank holiday weekend sorting this out.
I mean, I know people bang on about their holidays being fun – but honestly, do people really do that much that’s different on holiday? Sleep late, eat more, watch TV, gawp at the local attractions (not that much different from watching TV really), maybe read a bit more, drink too much.. It’s not as if these aren’t things you can’t do at home?
This has just given weight to my theory – GIVEN THAT the stress of organising a holiday is only just outweighed by the actual ‘joy’ (not the mythical joy) of being ‘on holiday’ – you effectively end up spending a lot of money on a neutral happiness outcome – so there must be another reason why people go on holiday and I would dare to suggest that the reason is this –
People just hate their lives, and possibly their partners, and the holiday stands as a mythical time when all will be well because ‘we won’t be here’ – thus helping distract people from and hoping them to cope with the present.
So I’m left wondering why I’ve bothered organising this ‘holiday’ when I don’t actually hate my life. Perhaps I just needed to remind myself that ‘not doing’ really is the way forward? Or there may be other reasons?
Answers on a postcard please…..
Gives you something to talk about when you get back, ‘Did you go anywhere nice?’
Oh I haven’t actually been yet – the anticipation is killing me…