My wife and I will be celebrating our 2 year anniversary this November, and we want to do something special together. Not only because we didn’t officially have a honeymoon, but as soon as baby #4 comes in April, life as we know it will cease to exist, replaced by sleepless nights, dirty diapers, a terrible twos toddler, an increasingly moody preteen and a rambunctious 1st grader who gets 1 ½ hours of homework every night. Yep, it’s vacation time!
After throwing around a few ideas we decided to spend an extended weekend in San Francisco. Jen has never been there, and it’s been close to 20 years since I have. It’s an exciting place, and we are excited to be going. But the hardest part is budgeting and trip planning…
It is extremely difficult to plan a stay in a hotel and city you’ve basically never been to! Especially when you tend to be kinda particular. Ok, that’s not entirely true… we are actually very particular and have tons of trouble choosing and settling on things. I want the best money can buy, and would rather spend the money to have the best. I also have an insatiable urge to see, do and experience everything I possibly can. Jen on the other hand wants the best that money won’t buy, meaning she hates to spend money and will avoid it wherever possible, while still expecting the best available. She needs to have plans and itineraries, and is happy with a relaxing time. So you could say our powers don’t exactly combine into a vacation superhero. Still managing to thwart the forces of evil who would attempt to stimey our vacation, we settled on a price range and general location within the city to stay.
I like to think of myself as an internet search and deal finding master, so I instantly took up the quest to find the ultimate deal on the ultimate hotel+flight vacation of destiny! My quest took me to Orbitz, to Expedia, to AAA, to Costco and Sam’s Club, to Hotwire, back to Expedia, back to AAA, to some off the wall site I’d never heard of, back to Orbitz… you get the idea. I spent a bit of time at Priceline, mouth hanging open at their listings coming in as much as $100 less than everyone else. That is until I read that this rate was for a Priceline Value Rate that basically says they guarantee you get a room, but who knows what it will be like. The possibility of my wife and I having to share a twin bed just isn’t gonna cut it for us, $100 be damned!
Expedia is my weapon of choice this time out. They are offering the best rates with the most customizability. Choosing flights was pretty easy; Nonstop, check. Acceptable arrival and departure times, check. Best airport commute, check. Only choice left is the hotel…
More like the Hotel Choice of Doom! There are about 50 in our price and star rating range to choose from, all with enough reviews either way to make them basically equal. We both want to stay somewhere unique, interesting and not typical floral pattern bedspread and drapes hotel. Ok, list now down to 25. An interesting thing about older, unique San Francisco hotels is the communal bathroom concept. Not gonna happen. List down to 12. Since we won’t be driving while visiting, my wife want to ensure our hotels location is the best location to access Union Square and it’s surrounding points of interest, as well as easy access to public transportation. Final list now down to about 6.
I’ve spent hours going back and forth on Expedia and individual hotel websites trying to make a choice, and so has my wife. We’ve viewed the always misleading, professionally lighted and decorated room photos and enticing descriptions. Still no decision on day three of searching. I’m hoping we lock it down today and officially book our trip. When we do I’ll be sure to update.
My final thought though is this. Planning a vacation is hard work! It should not be taken lightly or entered into without a plan. You will drive yourself crazy, especially if you are very particular and a bit of a control freak like me. I just gotta remember, it’s building memories right, and that’s worth the effort, right? And hey next time, the vacation booking ninja skills will be honed and experienced, able to slice through all the craziness sure to be!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Organizing a family trip is often troublesome if you’re going to complete it all by your self. You possibly can have your family members to assist you so that it’ll be additional enjoyable.
Hey there! I ran into this site while I was searching a few health and fitness related terms in Yahoo earlier today. After I wound up here I stayed around a bit to look over some articles… insightful stuff. I’m going to be returning around again in the foreseeable future for sure.