I have always had mixed feelings about going on holiday.

Don’t get me wrong, I love to travel, and I want to do more of it. I love taking my kids to new places and having them experience in the world, but the guilt of spending the money on it wears me down.

The gut wrenching feeling of pressing the “complete payment” button when purchasing airline tickets sends me over the edge.

Knowing all the of the “long term” purchases we have waiting for us makes it so stressful putting money towards something as short lived as a 2 week holiday.

But we do it. Every year.

And we do it because we know the long lasting affect is has on our children. We know that they will get so much learning from, not only seeing new places, but spending close and committed time with us.

I think a lot about life, and money (possibly because hubby and I over think anything to do with money)  and appease any spending I do with the following thought.

There are a few ways to look at life.
You can live moment to moment (ie: only looking ahead to your next cup of Starbucks coffee) or you can live hour to hour (buy a lunch, who thought of packing one this morning) or day to day (as long as we have enough to get groceries) or week to week (ie: paycheque to paycheque: are you starting to get the idea?)
Or month to month – rent and car payments
Or Year to Year (holidays and some comforts) . . . or decade to decade (the big house, the massive purchases)

I don’t want to only live for the big things. I don’t want to save every, single penny for our home purchase. I want my life to balance between the odd moment to moment purchase and the big ideas. I want to still enjoy the months and years as we work towards our goal.

Yes, this means some sacrifices, but not everything. I am happy to sacrifice eating out and moms weekends for time with my family and ski trips with the kids. I will keep wearing those grotty runners so the kids can have riding lessons and I will only buy the nice cheese (and nice wine) for really special occasions!

What I noticed this week was that I didn’t have the guilt normally associate with holidays. It has allowed me to be more excited than ever to hit the beach and has helped me re-evaluate what I spend my daily dollars on, so I can enjoy the things I want without the guilt.

Now, yes, I know . . . we have no guilt about the trip because we won it. I get that. . .

but, I am hoping I can remember how wonderful it was to anticipate a holiday without the money stress.

What is it that you are missing out on? Or giving yourself guilt over? And what can you give up that you don’t need to allow yourself to appreciate it without the fear?

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