Vacation Accounting

All the bills are in, so I can do this now. I've often been curious about the cost of other people's vacations, but when I've asked them directly, more often than not the answer is "We really don't know." Rog and Carolyn, for instance, blithely get on an airplane and fly to Europe to hike and travel for 3-4 weeks. Their response to my "how much did it cost?" question is typically non-quantitative, as in, "Well, we got a good deal on airline tickets, ..." Carol and Ron travel in a motor home but stay overnite in nice hotels (another question?!) and eat all meals in restaurants. Ron's answer goes more like "Too damn much!". None of this helps my planning.

We spent exactly two weeks on our Tucson trip. Six days traveling, 8 days in the Varsity Club suite in Tuscon. Varsity Club is a time share hotel. Our suite was like a large two bedroom apartment, two baths and a kitchenette, swimming pool and good restaurant and bar on premises. It was very nice, and thanks to Phillip's sister's membership in the timeshare, the cost per couple was only $255. Our overnite accomodations enroute were only adequate, but somewhere along the line Susan and Phillip and Jennifer and I agreed to economize. All 5 nights on the road we shared "double-doubles", two double beds and a bathroom, at an average of about $55, or $27.50 per couple. Figure another $135. The best night was at a Hampton Inn in Kayenta AZ, which was done entirely in a Navajo theme, with a completely Navajo staff in costume. It was delightful. The worst night was at a Travel Lodge in Sterling CO, which was on the verge of going out of business. Econotels offered a good, average, adequate accomodation.

We probably traveled almost 4000 miles to and fro. Susan and Phillips' Dodge Grand Caravan was the perfect vehicle for this trip. It has plenty of power for western speed limits and mountain driving, lots of space for luggage and a big cooler, and averaged almost 25 mpg. That's 160 gallons of gas at an approximate average cost of $2.25 for a total gas cost of $360, shared equally. (Susan and Phillip graciously absorbed all of the depreciation and ownership costs for the Dodge -- thanks again.)

The last big block of cost was food and drink, which is a little harder to nail down. Sometimes Susan and Phillip bought, sometimes we did, and sometimes Phillip's brother and sister-in-law Tom and Lois bought. We probably averaged $40 per couple/evening, and a lot less for breakfast and lunches (which I swear were sometimes skipped. I lost 3 pounds on the trip.) The cooler in the back of the Dodge was kept stocked with fruits and cheese and bread and peanut butter. Jennifer made sure we always had dark chocolate to pass around, and there was plenty of trail mix too - -entirely appropriate. Let's just figure $60 per couple/day for food, for a total of $840.

We did some kind of tourist event every day, starting with the Dalton gang's hideout and ending at Arches National Park. Most of the events were in National Parks/Forests, or municipal attractions in Tucson and nearby communities. The least expensive were free; the most expensive was Grand Canyon @ $25 for the vehicle and contents. We probably sprinkled $200 around the Southwest for tourism events, or about $100 per couple.

We economized in some unique and innovative ways: 1) I didn't buy the Yellow Boy 1873 Winchester replica in Tombstone for a savings of over $700. I also passed on a hat, a vest, another pair of boots and a shot of whiskey at Big Nose Kate's saloon. 2) Nobody got snakebit. According to one of our guides, this saved us between $40,000 and $65,000 for emergency room services, not to mention the funeral costs. 3) Jennifer and Susan shopped at a Tucson thrift shop instead of a department store. Untold savings! 4) Jennifer also skipped the adventure of Riding Thru the Desert on a Horse with No Name. This saved us at least $100, and possibly additional medical bills (subject of a future posting.) She says we can save horseback riding for another trip out west. Women harbor some strange fantasies.

The bottom line is that the total trip cost for us was just over $1500, and we enjoyed every dollar and every minute of it.