April 20, 2007

Dreams for Next Summer

From the darkness of the IP project and the wreck it has made of my soul I am looking forward to next summer, which seems filled with possibilities. I'll be working two jobs as soon as schools out, and I'll be continuing with my job at the library all year, 16 hours a week. I also want to try to take less time off... so I can make more money. Essentially, if I keep on a moderate budget... Say about 20$ a week, for a girl who only needs to buy herself books and luxury foods... Well, I think I can really have a nice time.

Here are my three beautiful possibilities:

1.) Costa Rica - Spanish Department Trip
This is a great possibility because it's school sponsored, so all arranged for me. Two weeks - the first week is sight-seeing in Costa Rica, the second is a home stay on a llama farm! Okay, you're not guaranteed a llama farm, or a farm at all, for that matter, but it will be a home stay, and they will not speak English! Hurrah! You get to go to school with them, too. This would be an awesome chance to practice my Spanish and get really good in time for college. I'd love to achieve a nice, working knowledge of one of my language, although learning trivia and basic phrases and conversation is fun, too. As there is no Atlantic Crossing and everything is managed for us, the price will be reasonable.
Approximate Expenses: 2,000


2.) Curacao - Foreign Exchange Beach Bum
Okay, you know those awesome people we met in Curacao? Well, they totally invited me to come stay with them some summer. Curacao is awesome because everyone there is quadra-lingual; speaking Dutch, Papiamentu, English, and Spanish. So it would pretty much be linguistic heaven for me! Also, the food is delicious there, and it is a Carribean paradise - the best holiday vacation ever. My parents are fine with it as long as I pay for my own plane ticket. There's no Atlantic Crossing, again, so the plane ticket shouldn't be THAT much. I don't know how much I'll be expected to pay for while I'm there, but all in all the expenses would likely be comparable to Costa Rica. The main mark against this trip is that, well, I've been to Curacao, so it's not quite as exciting, but I'd still love it.
Approximate Expenses: 2,000


3.) Finland - Pen Pal Visit!
This would just about be the coolest trip ever. Liisa told me I was 'welcome' to come visit her - I'd obviously have to iron everything out, but again, I've talked to my mom and she's okay with this idea - even excited about it. It would be Scandinavia, of course, so I'm the most excited about this possibility. I also absolutely adore Liisa and would love to meet her! The main problem with this trip is that I'd have to totally organize everything myself and it would be, by far, the most expensive. I'm even thinking that while I'm in Scandinavia and 'border' hops are comparatively cheap, I might make a detour to Norway, but we'll see. That would really complicate things and raise the price. My price estimate is very, very rough and could be totally off.
Approximate Expenses: 3,500


The really, really sad thing is that I don't have to pick one. I can pick 2. ^^

Right now the Costa Rica trip is kind of in danger of being canceled (not many people signed up), so if it doesn't go through I'll do Curacao and Finland, or maybe just Finland and be sure to include Norway. If it does go through, I'll have a choice to make, but I'd really love to meet Liisa. So again, we'll see.

At any rate, I'll have worked app. 832 hours at the Library, 87 hours as a nanny, and hours off and on, maybe v. roughly 120 hours babysitting. With different rates, this means:

5,200 for Library
783 for Nanny
1200 for Random Babysitting
----------------------------------
7183 Net Income



----- Warning: Boring Budget Information -----------


My current balance in the bank is about 500$... so... 7683. Yeah... seeing as I have no real expenses, that's a sizable sum. So let's do some more math. Let's say I keep to a budget of 30$ a week - very, very reasonable - anything I save above that is bonus for me! That's about 1500$ that I will spend in this time.

6183 Income after Gas, Books, Chocolate, Hanging Out, other Reasonable Expenses.
Now I subtract 2,000, because I will almost certainly go on either Curacao or Costa Rica.
4183 Leftover from Costa Rica Trip-Curacao
Now, if I go on Curacao and Costa Rica Trip...
2183 Leftover from Costa Rica Trip and Curacao.
That's a decent amount to have behind me for college!

- Alternative 1 -

6183 Income after Gas, Books, Chocolate, Hanging Out, other Reasonable Expenses.
Now I subtract 2,000, because I will almost certainly go on either Curacao or Costa Rica.
4183 Leftover from Costa Rica Trip-Curacao
Now, if I go on the Finland Trip...
683 Leftover from Costa Rica Trip-Curacao and Finland...
This isn't very much, but it's something. Besides, I may be stretching the cost of Finland, and my mom said I'd get some money for graduation, so I may be sitting on about 1500$ for college, still.

- Alternative 2-

6183 Income after Gas, Books, Chocolate, Hanging Out, other Reasonable Expenses.
I only go on Finland Trip, so I subtract 3,500.
2683
This is a hell of a lot to have for college. So, if the Spanish trip doesn't go through, I will consider only going to Finland. (and maybe Norway detour). :)




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