Apr 11, 2008

My "Free" Trip is Costing Me a Fortune

I'm going to Israel for free in a month. That's all fabulously frugal.

But my passport is costing me about $200, all-in-all, to get replaced.

I'm missing at least 2 weeks of work or about $2400 of income while I'm abroad.

Now I'm finally looking into the price of a flight from SFO to New Jersey. How much could it be?

Uh -- $450 is how much it could be. Talk about inflation hitting home. A flight home used to cost $330 at most, and that was on the high end. A month ago, for about one day, the flights dropped to that price, and then they went up again. Should have booked then, but what-can-ya-do?

I have the money in savings to pay for all the associated costs that go along with this "free" trip and I know it's a great opportunity, yada yada, but still, it's painful to justify taking such a huge "free" trip that is costing me, including lost income during my vacation time, about $3000.

$3000 for a "free" structured vacation. That's hard to chew on.

I was (and still am, sort of) considering staying on for another week... but to change my flight it will cost me another $150-$400. Then I'd also have to figure out how much it would cost to travel and stay there... more income lost... and then there's the cost of hostels, transportation, and entertainment. Some of the people going on the trip are thinking of going to Greece or Turkey for a bit, and that would be awesome, but now I'm thinking it's a bad idea.

Then again, I'm getting a free flight, and mostly free living expenses for two weeks in Israel. My rent will still be due back home (sigh) but at least I'm not paying for a hotel and such elsewhere during these two weeks. Plus, I'll be spending some time in New Jersey before and after the trip, with my parents, who will hopefully feed me and such - so maybe my other costs for the month won't be that huge.

BUT -- my boyfriend was supposedly going to meet me in Jersey after I got back for a small vacation of his own. We'd stay at my parent's place, which would keep costs low, but if we want to do anything... like go see a Broadway show, etc, those costs are going to add up too.

All the sudden, I feel like this entire experience that sounded so great from afar is going to cost me $5000.

I have the money... I have $5000 in a liquid CD. Is it worth spending it all in June in hopes (and with the expectation) that my income is going up and I'll be able to earn that money back? How often do I get a free trip to Israel? I'm so glad I traveled around Europe for a few weeks in college and I've been dying to go back.

Oh... and then there's that $1300+ camera I promised myself if I ever went back to Europe.

oh, god.



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