We’re in Hawaii! OK, so we got really lucky. J’s sister and her family live in Hawaii, and we got airline vouchers when we flew to visit his other sister last spring and got bumped from our flight. So we got here almost for free, and have a place to stay. We’re having a great time, being true to our frugal selves, and loving our vacation. More details later on how we have fun without maxing out the credit card.
Normally when J and I fly somewhere, we drive to the park-and-ride about four miles from our house, leave our car, and take the bus to the airport (about 25 miles away). It costs $6 each to ride, so the round trip ends up costing us $24. Much cheaper than leaving a car at the airport ($5/day is the cheapest parking they have) or taking a shuttle bus, which runs about $45/person for the round trip. But you can only leave a car at the park-and-ride for 14 days, and we’re gone for 18 days. So this time, we had to figure out something else. We looked into taxis, shuttles, and connecting busses, but it all seemed either very pricey or very complicated.
I am a runner. And a biker, hiker, yogi, snowboarder… pretty much anything active makes me happy. I do have a gym membership – a free perk with my side job at the library – but I prefer to be outdoors. All of a sudden, the answer was obvious. Early on Monday morning, I dropped J off at the park-and-ride with all of our luggage. I drove back to the house, gave the cat a hug, locked everything up, and headed back to the park-and-ride on foot. It was a new route for me, and the pre-dawn air was chilly and clear. I got to watch the sky start to lighten in the east as the city began waking up (actually, it amazed me how many people were out and about that early in the morning. I normally can’t even move my big toe when it’s still dark outside). It was a great run, and it felt even better knowing that I was actually getting somewhere I needed to be, rather than running just to run like I normally do. I had even found some coupons for the bus, so we ended up getting to the airport for free!
Once we got to the airport, I changed in the bathroom and used wet wipes to clean myself up. Good as new. I normally feel sluggish on travel days. Sitting on planes, eating airport food… not the best combination. But on Monday, I felt great.
Instead of running or walking on treadmills, think how much money and time we could all save if we ran or walked to do our errands, and skipped the gym. I ride my bike to my job at the library, but I think I should start trying to ride it to the grocery store aswell. It’s got a basket on the front, should work fine…
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