(as opposed to those of the rich and famous.) I am not wildly wealthy, and for most of my life -- especially while raising my children -- I often lived paycheck to paycheck. I was fortunate to travel a lot mainly because my mother was a meeting planner for a national organization. Sometimes I went with her to check out places (fam trips), and other times she used her airline miles and good negotiating skills to take me and/or my family along for meetings. We got to play while she worked, but she often scheduled side trips after the meetings where she could enjoy the time too. Yes, I'm getting to a point, just giving some background first.
This afternoon I met with the travel agent to see what she had put together for me when I'm "in country". I almost fell over when I saw what it would cost! I'd given her a broad budget, and while she did manage to stay within it, the overall price was more than I expected. That's okay; as I've said this is my once-in-a-lifetime dream trip. Usually when I travel, I don't care much about the room. Safe and clean are my main concerns. Anything beyond that is gravy. And it appears I will have a lot of gravy on my upcoming trip. All of the hotels I'll be staying in are 4-5 star properties. And the craziest thing is I'll have a driver/guide/translator/bodyguard the entire time I'm there, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. He will be at my beck and call during those hours, even if we don't have a preplanned activity. This is something entirely new to me. At first I thought the travel agent meant I would share rides and have a guide. But no -- it's just me. I probably sound like a total bumpkin, but this really is like a dream come true.
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