I just finished a marathon task.
I FINALLY booked all the details for a few days get away with our little boys. It will not be fancy, it will not be extravagant, but it will be fun. We have planned a trip to the zoo, children’s museum, meeting up with the kids and grandkids, and hoping to catch a NBA game, but the little boys don’t know about that yet, so shhhhh.
These little getaways take some money but not a ton, and you can save for these little trips a little easier than a 5-day Disney vacation (although we are saving for that epic experience, too).
Two decades ago, I found myself doing the single mom gig and working three jobs to make ends meet.
It was hard and I watched every single penny that was spent. I really did not think that I could take my boys on a trip or have a fun adventure. We had done a few small “special” treats. I saved for months and we watched every episode of Deadliest Catch, and after the last episode, I surprised the boys with a dinner of lobster, where they devoured every single bit of that deadly catch. It was a sweet memory, and I knew that whatever it took I wanted to create more.
I had seen the advertisement for the Tiki Hut on a billboard as I was traveling in Cincinnati. I knew I wanted to create another memory for the boys and started saving. I saved Christmas money, tip money from one of my jobs and little by little, month after month, I saved until I had enough. I called the hotel and booked a one night stay in a Tiki Hut. This was also our spring break, so I spent the week with the boys cleaning the house and telling them there was a surprise at the end of the week.
We took off and drove through the big city and landed at a hotel with a cool waterpark.
We checked in and immediately played at the waterpark part of the hotel until the boys were exhausted. I had one more surprise, our accommodations for the night. As we drove around the property, the boys had got their second wind. They could not believe that these little Tiki Huts were places that we could stay, and then when I pulled up to one and turned the van off, they squealed with excitement.
This Tiki Hut was amazing, complete with mosquito net to cover the beds, a huge screen TV and a whirlpool hot tub – all in a little round bubble. The calendar said March and there were these amazing basketball games on that we watched late into the night from the hot tub. We had the best time. We made all the memories.
I am so glad I scrimped and saved. My boys are grown men now and they STILL talk about the Tiki Hut adventure and the fun that we had.
Even though the trip I just booked took hours to search and plan and it felt like a marathon, I’m glad that I did it because I know the memories that are ahead will last a lifetime, even if they didn’t cost a fortune.
