Adventures In Travel

Normally, this time of year, I would be planning some surprise getaway for the ex. It will be her birthday soon and I always tried to make it special. One year was Vegas and Zumanity. The next was Denver with skiing and Monday Night Football. Last year was New York and Mamma Mia on Broadway.

So, with no need to make plans this November, I found myself with a bit of wanderlust and a significant amount of extra cash.

I have never minded travelling by myself, but I'm not much for just sitting on a beach somewhere without a purpose. As I looked over the schedule for the Nashville Predators, I noticed that in February, they played the New York Islanders on a Wednesday night and the Rangers the next day. Perfect. I'll blow into the city and catch two hockey games, one at Madison Square Garden! I did some preliminary checking with Southwest and discovered a sale! OOOOHHHHH. Two hundred bucks round trip? Too cheap. I had plenty of time and plenty of scratch, so what else could I do?

California? Cindy had put a bug in my ear a while back about coming out so she and her husband could buy me a beer or two. Why not? I had never been to Southern California and the prospect of friendly faces showing me around was pretty attractive. Airfare to Cali? Also two Benjamins. But wait. Why fly back to Nashville? So, after getting in touch with Cindy and inviting myself to crash at her place, I settled on flying from Nashville to L.A., from L.A. to New York, then back to Nashville. Total cost? About three hundred and forty smackaroos. I'm quite the jet setter!

I have my airfare, now I have to find a place to stay in New York for a couple of nights. Those two nights of hotels threaten to double the cost of my little trip. Expedia advertises hostels for twenty-five bucks. I'm thinking about throwing everything in the back pack and going on the cheap. No reason to spend money if I don't have to, right? The kennel for my dogs could also take a big chunk of change. Gotta figure that out. All and all, I'm pretty juiced about the whole shebang.