Seven Golden Rules of Vacationing II

I am continuing on Yagna dai’s “Seven Golden Rules of  Vacationing” (http://www.peopleofnepal.com/wpress/2010/04/05/seven-golden-rules-of-vacationing/)  without his permission. If I was working in Bollywood, I would have probably said “I am inspired by” even though I might have copied word for word. Nevertheless, just so that I don’t get sued, I have already consulted a very smart future lawyer friend of mine, if he completes the course that is.

My friend is currently pursuing Juris Doctor (JD) and has proudly earned C’s and C-‘s in most of his courses. The rest are D’s and F’s which we will not talk about. Well, he has promised me that if we (actually I, why would he get in trouble, he is a lawyer after all) get into trouble, we can most probably settle out of court with Yagna dai by buying him a double scoop Dulche De Leche at the local Oberweis. Of course, the future lawyer will also charge the same as his fees.

Recently my wife and I went on a vacation. This was the result of my taking literally Yagna dai’s article. I wanted to go on a “real” vacation. My wife was trying to dissuade me. She was of the opinion that we would have as much fun if we went to places within the US.  I then asked her to reread Yagna dai’s article and get some ideas. The further you go the better the vacation. Well, after a week over there and a decent hit on the savings, I felt like somebody kicked me in the stomach after I did the math once we were back. The vacation cost had reduced the savings we had for a down payment on a home. But hey, why worry? I am following the golden rules. Vacation is more important than having a place to live.

Actually, a book can be written about our home search. It has been a year since we have been searching for a home. We still haven’t found the right one. I don’t know how Ram, Shyam and Krishna found their homes within 4 to 5 months. Now Krishna has already sold his and is closing in on another next week. Our friends and well wishers have been very kind and have suggested many different homes. But due to one reason or another, we still are not able to close the deal. We might have even wore down our real estate agent so much that she is now seriously thinking of going on a 10 day Vipassana course.

Okay, back to the original topic. I went to a couple of places last month and met a few friends and a few relatives whom I had not seen in several years, and had a really good time with them. But that does not count as a vacation. That is a family-friend get together. A vacation should be a faraway place where you stay in a hotel and get involved in all those activities that you normally don’t do and drastically reduce your savings. So what if you can get the same feel and thrill at Wisconsin Dell’s, you should still go to the water park in Ayia Napa, Cyprus. It doesn’t matter that Colorado white water rafting is just as good, you should still go to Pite River, Lappland, Sweden. So, I will continue to live in this one bedroom apartment in a non-descript building but when it comes to vacation there will be no compromises. I will continue eating “Dhi(n)do” and “Saag”—err that is hard to find and expensive in the US—maybe Tilda Basmati rice from our very own Patel Brother’s and “Qua(n)tiko Jhol” but when it comes to vacation it must be outside the US.

- By Binod Dhungel